ITV

Category: Media and Advertising

  • DDB MudraMax Media wins media mandate of Athena Life Sciences

    DDB MudraMax Media wins media mandate of Athena Life Sciences

    MUMBAI: A start-up in the space of cosmoceutical and therapeutic beauty treatment, Athena Life Sciences has appointed DDB MudraMax Media as its media agency.

     

    The agency will be responsible for all media activities viz. planning, buying and implementation.

     

    Athena Life Sciences is a relatively new organization and hence its association with DDB MudraMax Media becomes crucial since the agency has become the brand’s first ever media agency.

     

    For their maiden campaign, the company will focus on building awareness for D’Free, an overnight anti dandruff lotion.

     

    On appointing DDB MudraMax Media, Athena Life Sciences CEO and MD Prabhu Karthikeyan said that startup dynamics are so different from established businesses – budget constraints, faster changes, narrow focus and much more.

     

    “DDB MudraMax Media gave us the comfort of a large planning and buying house, strong FMCG/consumer mindset, and yet brought in the kind of attention, collaborative thinking that a startup deserves,” Karthikeyan added.

     

    DDB MudraMax Media associate vice president Navin Kathuria said, “It is an interesting assignment to deploy our consumer planning and holistic implementation skills, with ideas at the centre of the consumer engagement. We are very delighted to partner with Athena Life Sciences in their journey towards building a cutting edge Consumer Products Business.”

  • Kolkata’s Academy of Fine Arts condemns blogger Avijit Roy’s killing

    Kolkata’s Academy of Fine Arts condemns blogger Avijit Roy’s killing

    KOLKATA: Activists, artists, intellectuals and writers staged a protest in Kolkata to condemn the killing of Avijit Roy – a Bangladeshi-American blog writer in Dhaka last week.

     

    Roy was also the founder of Mukto-Mona (Free-mind) blog site, which champions liberal secular writing in Bangladesh.

     

    Organised by Bhasha O Chetona Samiti (Language Awareness Society), a Kolkata-based organisation for promotion of Bengali language and culture, the protest saw people gather at the Academy of Fine Arts to condemn Roy’s killing and called for fighting against fundamentalism.

     

    Roy, a 42-year-old bio-engineer working in the United States, was hacked to death by two attackers wielding machetes in Bangladesh capital Dhaka on 26 February, when he was leaving a book fair with his wife Rafida Ahmed Banna, who was also seriously wounded in the attack.

     

    Religious radicals had been threatening Roy over his active campaign against Islamist extremism and for improving secularism in Bangladesh.

     

    As per reports, it should be noted that India as a county has reacted sharply over gruesome killing of liberal author Roy by suspected terror operatives and warned that such acts of extremism aided by groups like Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) could further fuel terrorism in region, a day ahead of Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar’s visit to Bangladesh.

     

    The United Nations (UN), US State Department, UK and the European Union (EU) have condemned the murder of Roy.

  • Lowe LDB Sri Lanka appoints Hari Krishnan as CEO

    Lowe LDB Sri Lanka appoints Hari Krishnan as CEO

    MUMBAI: Lowe + Partners Worldwide has appointed a new CEO for Sri Lanka. A former protégé of the group, Hari Krishnan has been appointed as the Lowe LDB Sri Lanka CEO. He will report to Lowe Lintas + Partners, India CEO Joseph George.

     

    Commenting on Krishnan’s appointment, George said that having learned the nitty-gritty of the business since his formative days at Lowe coupled with his vast exposure across other agencies in senior roles, Krishnan is perfectly placed to lead the agency in Sri Lanka. “It’s good to have Hari back into our fold after all these years. Over the last five years, Sri Lanka has seen high GDP growths and the country is at an exciting inflection point now,” he said.

     

    Krishnan added, “I started my career with Lintas in India in ’96-97 and learnt my fundamentals from the great University of knowledge that is Lowe Lintas. So I’m extremely happy and thrilled to be back. It’s a homecoming of sorts in that sense. It’s an honour and a challenge to lead such an operation and I’m really looking forward to partnering the young, talented team there in driving the philosophy of ‘Populist Creativity’ and taking Lowe LDB to greater heights.”

     

    Krishnan joins the agency from Grey where he was the SVP and business head for South. His new mandate would be to drive Lowe LDB Sri Lanka into being a leading creative powerhouse in the country. The only ‘Superbrand’ in the advertising category in Sri Lanka, Lowe LDB manages a diverse portfolio of brands across various categories from Detergents to Insurance to Telecom.

    The agency was also the most awarded agency at the Effies in 2013 and together with Unilever is the most awarded partnership in the history of Effies in Sri Lanka.

     

    Krishnan has almost two decades of work experience; nearly all of it in advertising besides a stint with Star TV as VP, marketing. He has experience across multiple categories/consumer segments, in leading large multi-functional teams and in leading a P&L operation to success.

     

    In his last job at Grey India as SVP and business head, he spearheaded the transformation of the agency operations in South including leading the agency to a spree of new biz acquisitions including DELL India, ITC Foods, Stovekraft, Fortis Healthcare amongst others.

  • Pakistan cricket team loses face in front of their fans: TO THE NEW analyses

    Pakistan cricket team loses face in front of their fans: TO THE NEW analyses

    MUMBAI: It’s just the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and it has gone from bad to worse for the Pakistan cricket team. Almost everything has gone against them starting from key players being banned from international cricket to losing two critical matches in the start of the tournament against India and West Indies that have brought them to the bottom of the Pool B Points Table. To add to this, they are now hit by fresh scandals like the fake retirement announcement of Younis Khan and their chief selector– Moin Khan doing the rounds of casinos post his team losing the match.

    TO THE NEW Digital, a digital services company carried out a detailed social media research on how these events have led to a total let down of the Pakistan cricket team in the eyes of their fans. The report analysed more than 105,648 mentions on various social channels like blogs, forums, news and Twitter and found a net negative sentiment of – 62 per cent against the team.

    The Pakistan’s Team Report Card clearly labels captain Misbah-ul-Haq for his bad decisions in both the matches and Sohail Khan for his bad bowling performance against West Indies as the top villains with a net negative sentiment of – 56 per cent and – 55 per cent respectively. The next on the card, are the undesired ones for Pakistan who have now aged a bit to fit into the team – Younis Khan with a negative sentiment of – 47 per cent and Shahid Afridi with a negative sentiment of – 43 per cent.

    Amongst the lineup of events that have pushed Pakistan to further criticism, Younis Khan’s fake news of retirement after the Cricket World Cup 2015 received the most negative mentions with a net negative sentiment of – 86 per cent and Moin Khan’s casino visit received 18,500 mentions across social media channels with a net negative sentiment of – 65 per cent. The onus now lies with the Pakistan team to turn the tables with their performance in the upcoming fixture against Zimbabwe on 1 March, 2015. 

    TO THE NEW Digital CEO Deepak Mittal said, “Social media sentiments are true reflection of how the audience reacts offline. Sentiment analysis on various social channels can help not only the national teams in Cricket World Cup to analyze the mood of their fans but the scope will also expand to events like IPL and EPL. This would definitely help clubs in these leagues to strategize their social positioning by identifying their true fan base, analyzing the kind of social media buzz that leads to positive and negative sentiments across their follower base.”

  • Allen Solly partners with Wimbledon to launch Solly Sport

    Allen Solly partners with Wimbledon to launch Solly Sport

    MUMBAI: Semi formal dressing brand Allen Solly has inked an exclusive partnership with the most prestigious tennis event in the world, The Championships, Wimbledon. 

     

    This partnership marks the launch of Allen Solly’s sub-brand Solly Sport in its third decade of operations in the Indian retail market.

     

    Solly Sport, with its Wimbledon collection, will offer Indian consumers a chance to experience the essence of the tennis championships through a line of apparel distributed in more than 200 stores while establishing itself as the only brand in the country to foster such a partnership.

     

    According to Allen Solly COO Sooraj Bhat, lifestyle inspirations in apparel are fast taking root in the Indian apparel scenario. “Solly Sport has partnered with Wimbledon to exclusively market a fashionable casual-wear line under a licensing arrangement with Wimbledon. Solly Sport is a tennis lifestyle brand and we believe that our association with Wimbledon will bring to our consumers an authentic tennis lifestyle line. We are really excited about such an association with one of the most iconic global sporting events,” he said. 

     

    Wimbledon commercial director Mick Desmond said that the partnership with Allen Solly will be key to help them achieve its aim of growing awareness of the Wimbledon brand in this important market. “We are delighted to be announcing our exciting new association with Allen Solly. Tennis and Wimbledon have a long and illustrious history in India and it is on that great foundation that we are looking to build an equally long and successful future,” Desmond added. 

     

    Solly Sport will market an exclusive line of men’s wear lifestyle apparel under a licensing agreement with Wimbledon. The line was designed in collaboration with the leading French design firm – Groupe Carlin International – to bring cutting-edge on and off court tennis fashion to the Indian consumer.  

     

    Similar to Allen Solly’s unique proposition of Friday dressing, which revolutionized men’s fashion in India, the Wimbledon line through its partnership will offer Indian consumers a chance to experience the essence of The Championships. Solly Sport as a sub-brand has already shown a lot of promise in the market and the company expects this sub-brand to grow to Rs 200 crores in the next three years.

  • IAA Debates: Are agencies rapidly reinventing?

    IAA Debates: Are agencies rapidly reinventing?

    MUMBAI: There is need for both advertising agencies and marketers to reinvent themselves. This was the basic message from the IAA Debates held in Mumbai earlier this month.

     

    The topic of the discussion of the second of the new season of IAA Debates was: ‘Agencies are not rapidly reinventing themselves to stay relevant to changing advertiser needs.’

     

    At the start of the debate, the overarching view of the audience was that agencies must reinvent to stay relevant. At the end of the debate, the view moved to that agencies are reinventing themselves and indeed more relevant than the initially held view.

     

    Speaking for the motion (‘Agencies are not reinventing themselves’) were Dentsu Aegis Network chairman & CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin and Marico chief marketing officer Sameer Satpathy.

     

    Speaking against the motion (‘Agencies are reinventing themselves’) were Madison World MD and chairman Sam Balsara and Godrej strategic marketing group COO Shireesh Joshi.

     

    IAA India Chapter president and IAA vice president-development, Asia Pacific Srinivasan K Swamy said, “The fact that some of the leading lights of the industry participated in the debate ensured that we had discussion of the topmost quality. By bringing in practising leaders of the industry, the IAA Debates has become a must-attend event from all section of the advertising, media and marketing fraternity.”

     

    D B Corp chief-marketing and corporate sales officer Pradeep Dwivedi added, “We are delighted to partner IAA Debates in bringing about discussions around current, thought provoking subjects which have a bearing on the industry and our marketing, media and advertising community. As marketers figure out ways to maximise value from their agency engagements and vice versa, as was the subject of the recently concluded second debate of the season, we at Dainik Bhaskar remain committed to contribute to the spirit of discovery and discussion to help bring about change and evolution.”

     

    The IAA Debates hosted so far have been in Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. The debates have featured senior advertising, media and marketing professionals such as Prasoon Joshi, Vikram Sakhuja, Lloyd Mathias, Josy Paul, Pratap Bose, Deepika Warrier, Anupriya Acharya, Arun Anant, Arunabh Das Sharma, Partha Sinha, Monica Tata, Vikram Chandra, Punitha Arumugam, Mahesh Murthy, Virginia Sharma, Ashok Lalla and Zerin Rahman, Sadashiv Nayak, Atul Phadnis, Ronita Mitra, and Amitabh Pande amongst others speaking for and against the motion.

  • Vizeum bags media duties of Saint-Gobain

    Vizeum bags media duties of Saint-Gobain

    MUMBAI: Vizeum India, the media communication specialist from the Dentsu Aegis Network, has been appointed as the media AoR for Saint-Gobain.

     

     Vizeum Indian subcontinent managing director S Yesudas said, “We are delighted with this appointment and thank the Saint-Gobain management for considering us worthy. We see immense possibilities for the brand to connect with its consumers and business associates meaningfully. We will ensure no stones are left unturned on our path to this destination. This business will be handled out of our Chennai office.”

     

  • Havas wins digital mandate of Ranbaxy’s consumer healthcare brands

    Havas wins digital mandate of Ranbaxy’s consumer healthcare brands

    MUMBAI: Havas Media Group India has started 2015 on a positive note. The agency has won the digital marketing mandate of Ranbaxy’s consumer healthcare brands post a multi-agency pitch, which included the incumbent as well as other digital agencies.

     

    Ranbaxy Consumer Healthcare vice president and head – global Subodh Marwah  said, “In Havas Media we saw a perfect partner- one who is equally innovative and passionate about building brands. Their ‘digital at core’ philosophy was impressive and that translated seamlessly in their strategic approach and category understanding.”

     

    Speaking on the win, Havas Media Group India and South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar added, “We are delighted at the win. It’s a great way to start the New Year. We believe in creating meaningful brands and Ranbaxy is an excellent example of such brands. Look forward to a great partnership.”

     

    “Digital is the future and Havas Media Group’s digital at core philosophy provides us the capability of driving this growth in the Indian market. We are proud of the win and look forward to working with Team Ranbaxy,” said Havas Media managing director Mohit Joshi.

     

    “Ranbaxy is a great brand to be associated with. Consumer healthcare is today one of the most meaningful categories. We look forward to a great ‘Digital’ year at Havas Media,” added Havas Media head of digital Ranjoy Dey.

     

    Havas Media Group had recently won the integrated media mandate of OCM India, Assetz Property Group, Borosil Glass Works, World Kabaddi League, Yepme.com, retained MTS India and also took on the digital mandate and won the digital duties of XOLO Mobile and Businessworld magazine.

     

  • Walt Disney Parks & Resorts names Bob Chapek as chairman

    Walt Disney Parks & Resorts names Bob Chapek as chairman

    MUMBAI: Bob Chapek has been named chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

     

    A 22-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company, Chapek has served since 2011 as president of Disney Consumer Products, driving a technology-led transformation of the company’s consumer products, retail and publishing operations. He assumes his new role effective immediately.

     

    “Under Bob’s leadership, Consumer Products has seen great success, focusing on brands and a franchise-driven strategy while launching new products and retail experiences that combine technological innovation and creativity. He is an experienced and versatile executive well-suited to lead Parks and Resorts into the future,” said The Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger.

     

    As chairman of Parks and Resorts, Chapek succeeds Thomas O. Staggs, who was named Disney’s chief operating officer earlier this month. Chapek will report to both Iger and Staggs.

     

    “Bob is stepping into this role at an incredibly dynamic and exciting time for our Parks and Resorts business. The ongoing construction of Shanghai Disney Resort as well as the new Avatar-themed land at Walt Disney World continues an era of unprecedented growth and historic expansion,” Staggs said.

     

    “I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had during my years at Disney, and am thrilled to join the incredible Disney Parks organization. I look forward to working with the remarkably talented team dedicated to creating magical memories for millions of guests around the world,” Chapek added.

     

    A successor to Chapek at Disney Consumer Products will be named at a later date.

     

    Prior to leading Disney Consumer Products, Chapek served as president of distribution for The Walt Disney Studios from 2009 to 2011, and was responsible for overseeing the Studios’ overall content distribution strategy across multiple platforms including theatrical exhibition, home entertainment, pay TV, digital entertainment and new media. He also served as president of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, where he spearheaded the successful “vault strategy” for the company’s iconic films and transformed the primary format of home entertainment from DVD to Blu-ray.

     

    Before joining Disney in 1993, Chapek worked in brand management at H.J. Heinz Company and in advertising at J. Walter Thompson.

  • O&M’s Steve Walls joins Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore

    O&M’s Steve Walls joins Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore

    MUMBAI: Steve Walls has moved from Ogilvy & Mather to join Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore as head of planning.

     

    Walls is the first senior hire by Shannon Cullum since he took the helm as CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore in late 2014.

     

    “Steve is here to do what he does best – make wonderful work. Inspired thinking begets inspiring creative, and I know Steve will quickly become essential to both our creatives and clients,” said Cullum.

     

    Walls’ career has seen him develop effective and impactful strategies for both brands and agency. He has worked at AMV BBDO North America, JWT, “WhatIf”, BBH London/Singapore and Publicis, where his clients included BMW, Castrol, CNBC-Asia, JetBlue, Johnnie Walker, Nestle, SingTel, Smirnoff and Unilever.

     

    “The Saatchi creative department is young, talented and hungry. I look forward to helping them create some awesome advertising on some equally awesome clients,” said Walls.