ITV

Category: Media and Advertising

  • Tangerine Digital launches content solution for e-commerce brands

    Tangerine Digital launches content solution for e-commerce brands

    MUMBAI: Tangerine Digital, a digital content solutions provider and part of To The New group has launched a customised content solution for brands in the budding e-commerce sector.

     

    Tangerine Digital chief operating officer Seeraj Katoch said, “As digital increasingly drives every aspect of the consumer’s life, we have observed that the digital consumer today prefers purchasing online after evaluating the product. With this unique solution, we are confident we will create content that is engaging, trend based, informative, visually attractive and well packaged that will help drive engagement this festive season. This could be in form of top quality videos, classic photo-shoots, engaging descriptions and so on!”

     

    Cashing on the festive season in India, e-commerce players have increased their marketing budget to persuade consumers to buy everything online. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) 2014 report states that the corporates are planning to spend about 25-30 per cent on advertising in this festive season as compared to the last year in consumer durables, electronics and auto taking the lead, but this change is expected in the e-commerce space ranging from higher sales in mobile telephones, shoes, apparel, gifts and electronic gadgets. 

     

    The e-commerce content solution by Tangerine Digital will enable brands to provide their customers with customized content, aggregated content and crowd sourced content that can help brands to communicate with their audiences’ at all possible digital touch points. The content solution is supported by analytics that can help brands monitor the effectiveness of their content. The solution can help brands serve the right content at the right time.

  • McDonald’s India appoints Kedar Teny as marketing and digital director

    McDonald’s India appoints Kedar Teny as marketing and digital director

    MUMBAI: Hardcastle Restaurants Private Limited (HRPL), a master franchisee for west & south India operations of McDonald’s and a subsidiary of Westlife Development, has announced the appointment of Kedar Teny as director-marketing and digital.

     

    Teny’s primary responsibility will be to spearhead and shape the marketing agenda for the brand across consumer engagement platforms and he will directly report to McDonald’s India (west & south) MD Smita Jatia.

     

    Speaking on the new appointment, Jatia said, “We have strengthened our senior management team with the appointment of Kedar Teny as director –marketing and digital. As we make a coordinated and concerted push to augment our status as an innovator and disruptor in the QSR industry, Kedar’s immense creativity and strategic thinking will help strengthen the McDonald’s position in the market.”

     

    “Kedar is joining us at a hugely exciting time. With the expansion of new communications channels and developments across our growing product mix, he will be instrumental in leading and developing successful multi-channel marketing solutions in a fast paced and competitive digital environment,” she added.

     

    Teny began his career with iB&W in 1997 as a Management Trainee and has almost seventeen year of experience in the field of brand management, strategic planning, and advertising. After iB&W, he joined Lowe Worldwide, one of the leading advertising agencies as account executive in 1999. He has also worked on many iconic brands at Lowe Worldwide in India and South East Asia, and thereon made the shift to marketing at Airtel and then Unilever.

     

    A music aficionado and a cricket enthusiast, Teny holds a masters in business administration, with a specialisation in marketing, from the Institute of Management Studies, Indore.

  • Harish Manwani to retire as HUL’s chief operating officer

    Harish Manwani to retire as HUL’s chief operating officer

    MUMBAI: After 38 years of service, Harish Manwani, Unilevers’ chief operating officer has decided to hang his boots.

     

    Manwani will retire from Unilever on 31 December 31; however, he will continue in his capacity as the non-executive chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL).

     

    Manwani, who had joined HUL as a management trainee in 1976, grew the personal products business from a nascent business to one of the key growth engines of the company. Subsequently,  he enjoyed success in many roles, covering both categories and markets, and across many parts of the world. This included stints as SVP Global Hair Care & Oral Care and Home & Personal Care president first of Latin America and later of North America.

     

    Unilever CEO Paul Polman said, “Harish is an inspirational leader and leaves a remarkable legacy. He has been at my side in helping to drive the turnaround of Unilever, making this once again one of the most admired companies in the world. Over the last three years, especially as Chief Operating Officer, Harish has been instrumental in the transformation of the company. Under his leadership we have seen a step-change in our go-to-market organisation and there has been a relentless focus on flawless execution globally.  He has role-modelled the 4G sustainable growth model – Competitive, Consistent, Profitable and Responsible – which has become such a strong focal point for the Markets.”

     

    Paul added, “I would like to thank Harish once more for his enormous contribution.  He is both a friend and a much admired and respected business leader. In everything he has done, Harish has lived the values that make Unilever such a great company. Through his passion, commitment and endless energy, he leaves a lasting impact on the business he has served with such distinction. I will personally miss his friendship and wise counsel.”

     

    As COO, Manwani’s key achievement have been his leadership of the global markets where he established and aligned the market clusters across the world behind a clear agenda, creating a better and more integrated go-to-market organisation. It has also allowed the business to be managed more dynamically, resource allocation to be done more efficiently across markets and best practices to be transferred more seamlessly. This has allowed Unilever to become increasingly more competitive in a tougher business environment.

     

    Manwani  said, “I am deeply grateful to all those colleagues who have helped to make the last 38 years at HUL and Unilever so memorable and fulfilling. It has been a privilege to serve such a great company. Today, Unilever is in a strong position with a clear strategy and capabilities to drive long-term responsible growth. This makes it a good time for me to make this personal transition. I look forward to working with Paul and the leadership team over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition and to further build our growth agenda.”

     

  • Srinivasan Swamy re-elected president of IAA in India

    Srinivasan Swamy re-elected president of IAA in India

    MUMBAI: At the Annual General Body Meeting of the India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) held in Mumbai, RK Swamy Hansa Group chairman Srinivasan Swamy was unanimously elected its president for the third consecutive term.

     

    He already serves on the IAA Global Board as IAA Asia Pacific development vice president.

     

    Neeraj Roy of Hungama, Monica Tata of HBO and Jaideep Gandhi of Jaya Advertising were also re-elected vice president, honorary secretary and treasurer, respectively, for 2014-15.

     

    The other members elected into the managing committee were: Abhishek Karnani of The Free Press Journal, Vishakha Singh of Aurora Comms, Manish Advani of Mahindra SSG, Janak Sarda of Deshdoot, CVL Srinivas of Group M, Avinash Pandey of ABP News, MV Shreyams Kumar of Mathrubhumi, Partho Dasgupta of BARC, Bhaskar Das of Zee Media and Rajesh Kejriwal of Kyoorius.

     

    In addition, the following would serve in the committee as invited members for the year 2014-15: Pradeep Guha, Pheroza Bilimoria, Sam Balsara, Kaushik Roy, Raj Nayak, Ramesh Narayan, M G Parameswaran, Neville Taraporewalla, Gayatri Yadav, Anita Nayyar, Pradeep Dwivedi, Anand Sankeshwar, Sunil Lulla and Punitha Arumugam. “A few more have been invited and their names will be announced after they accept our invitation”, said Swamy.

     

    In his outgoing president’s address, Swamy said that the year that went by was an active one, where 32 events were organised by IAA India. Some of these included two IAA Debates, four IAA Conversations, five IAA Mentorship Webinars, six Knowledge Seminars, three IAA Young Turks Forum events and other marquee events like the IAA Olive Crown Awards and the IAA Leadership Awards. There were a few other special ones like the IAA Retrospect & Prospects events in Gurgaon and Mumbai and the IAA Mentorship Programme. The year was off to a terrific start on 30 September 2013 with the IAA Platinum Jubilee Global Marketing Summit where the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi delivering his valedictory address on his vision of Brand India.

     

    IAA India will be celebrating its Silver Jubilee year in 2014-15. “We have identified at least 20 different platforms to peg our events for the coming year. We have a very good committee and I wouldn’t be surprised if we have more than 52 events during the year”, said Swamy.

     

    IAA Asia Pacific area director Praddep Guha, “IAA India is already seen as the most active industry body in India as well as in the IAA world. With the plans that are made for 2014-15, I have no doubt that this will be the best year ever and would set a new benchmark”.

     

    Not wanting to elaborate as yet, Swamy said, “IAA will continue with some its past branded events and add a few special ones for the year that would make the IAA India Silver Jubilee a memorable one”.

     

     

  • Chax quits FCB Ulka

    Chax quits FCB Ulka

    MUMBAI: FCB Ulka’s national creative director K S Chakravarthy aka Chax has quit.

     

    As per industry sources, Chax is serving his notice period and will soon go on a short break. “Yes, he has quit but as of now he is not joining any other agency,” says the source.

     

    Chax had joined Ulka in 2008 and had been overseeing all the work for creative, digital and interactive divisions of the agency.  With career spanning close to 35 years, Chax has worked on a variety of brands including Tata Docomo, Tata Motors, ITC, Coke, Cadbury, Lever, P&G, Goodyear and Reebok.

     

    An Electrical and Electronics engineer by education, Chax started his career as a copy-trainee with Clarion (now Bates 141), he then moved to JWT and then, Enterprise. He later joined Chaitra (now Leo Burnett) after which he went on to set up his own production house – Persistence of Vision. During this time he was voted as one of India’s most respected ad film directors. He moved back to Rediffusion Y&R before joining FCB Ulka.

     

  • HUL announces key appointments

    HUL announces key appointments

    MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has announced a key change in the management committee. Manish Tiwary, currently sales and customer development executive director and VP, will now take charge of the Unilever Gulf business as the managing director.

     

    Customer Development Global RTM, TT and CDIT vice president Punit Misra will take place of Tiwary at HUL and will be part of the company’s management committee. The change will be effective November 2014.

     

    HUL CEO and managing director Sanjiv Mehta said, “I would like to express my deep appreciation for the significant contribution that Manish has made to the India business and congratulate him on his new role.”

     

    Tiwary has led the largest increase in sales coverage by adding 1 million plus perfect stores across India. He also executed structural changes to provide a sharper focus to the Foods business and laid the blueprint for ‘Winning In Many Indias’, the customer development model of HUL that was rolled out in September 2014.

     

    Misra joined HUL in 1996 and has worked across marketing and customer development roles both in HUL and Unilever.

     

    Misra’s successor will be announced in due course.

  • GroupM with Goggle to launch online Diwali Mela

    GroupM with Goggle to launch online Diwali Mela

    MUMBAI: WPP’s GroupM has announced its plans to launch an online platform called ‘Grand Diwali Mela’, which will be India’s largest festive season online destination.

     

    The initiative is supported by Google and will allow consumers to take the neighbourhood mela experience to their favourite screens – across mobile, tablets or desktops.  The ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ will go live on 1 October and last till the Diwali.

     

    Speaking about the unique initiative, GroupM south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said, “As more Indians go online, digital media is already an integral part of our everyday lives. We have conceptualised a virtual Diwali mela for users in the country to experience the festive season in a specially designed online platform, where brands will showcase their latest products, run promotions and sampling along with all the fun and entertainment elements that are part of the festive season. Leading brands are excited about the potential of this initiative, and this could possibly become the largest digital activation platform for this festive season.”

     

    The ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ will bring together two of the biggest activities Indians like to indulge during any festive season, shopping and entertainment, as users experience in offline Diwali mela. Shopping is an integral part of our Diwali celebrations when the whole family spends on an array of product categories. Diwali is also a time of celebration with family and friends where music and movies and games are part of every get together. All these offline experiences will be available to online users at the ‘Grand Diwali Mela’.

     

    Google India country head Rajan Anandan added, “We are delighted to be working with Group M on this innovative platform, that will be first of its kind initiative to kick off the festive season in India. Our teams are very excited about this and we are sponsoring the effort that will be accessible across all kinds of devices – including mobile phones.”

  • Edelman gets on board Kunal Arora and Deepak Agarwal

    Edelman gets on board Kunal Arora and Deepak Agarwal

    MUMBAI: To further bolster its digital business in India, Edelman has announced two strategic leadership appointments.

     

    It has got on-board Kunal Arora as the national director who will be responsible for the company’s digital business in India, overseeing business planning and development and will lead a team of digital experts across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

     

    He will be based in Gurgaon and report to Edelman Digital APACMEA president Gavin Coombes and Edelman India COO Rakesh Thukral.

     

    Arora comes with over 16 years of experience in the digital advertising business. Before joining Edelman, he was the business lead at Hungama Digital Services for six years.

     

    To further impetus to the company’s digital creative offerings in India, it has also appointed Deepak Agarwal as group creative director, digital. He will be based in Mumbai, heading an all-India digital creative team, reporting to Arora. In his role, he will lead the charge in elevating the digital creative for both content development and digital builds.

     

    Agarwal, in his last role, served as Executive Creative Director, Copy M&C SAATCHI-i – the direct marketing & digital division of M&C SAATCHI.

     

    “The addition of Kunal and Deepak is critical to our plans to broaden our Digital offering in India across creative, strategy and build,” said Thukral. “Kunal’s digital advertising experience and Deepak’s award-winning creative expertise will strengthen our capabilities to deliver truly integrated campaigns to our clients.”

     

    “Kunal and Deepak bring unique and extensive experience in a variety of fields, from advertising to direct marketing to digital to social media, and we look forward to making the most of all of their expertise together with their passion and commitment to excellence as we build the Edelman Digital brand and business across India,” said Coombes.

     

    He further adds: “These two skill leaders will work with the strong talent base we already have on the ground and our over 1,000 digital professionals throughout the world for the benefit of our clients.”