Category: Media and Advertising

  • Razorfish names Sundeep Keramalu as associate creative director

    Razorfish names Sundeep Keramalu as associate creative director

    MUMBAI: Strengthening its core capabilities in digital media and marketing, technology and creative, Razorfish has appointed Sundeep Keramalu as associate creative director – copy.

     

    Keramalu has over eight years of experience in the industry having worked with companies like Times Group and U-Advantage.

     

    Razorfish CEO Charulata Ravi Kumar said, “Sundeep brings with him the curiosity to search the new, and find a creative and innovative solution to problems. A perfect fit for the philosophy and culture we nurture at Razorfish.” 

     

    Razorfish COO Gaurav Pathak added, “Sundeep is a contemporary storyteller and is able to translate problems into transformational ideas that can keep one engrossed in the tale much after its over. He believes in the big ideas with a strong narrative. In his eight+ years of professional writing, he has gathered a diverse portfolio across several genres in digital, print, TV, radio, and non-fiction.”

     

    Speaking on his new role, Keramalu said, “What I like about Razorfish is the blockbuster energy that everyone carries, especially the top management. It brings me great honour to be part of such a high-spirited organisation. What I’d like to do is to enhance the brand philosophies through sensational messaging that’s going to make you think. And with the psyche of Razorfish, I am sure that I’d be able to make you think a lot more.”

  • Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    MUMBAI: With an aim to empower retailers, e-distributor Just Buy Live has launched a marketing campaign – Just Buy, Ek App, Ek Awaaz, which highlights the brand’s emotional connect with retailers and the challenges they face.

     

    The campaign began with teaser ads comprising four thematic TVCs centre staging challenges faced by small retailers. The week-long teaser campaign culminated with the reveal of Just Buy Live. The TVCs were launched simultaneously on YouTube.

     

    Just Buy Live’s ATL campaign was conceptualised and executed by Ferry Wharf Communications (FWC).

     

    Just Buy Live chairman and CEO Sahil Sani said, “As the world’s first e-distributor we had to resist the temptation of simply announcing: ‘here’s a revolutionary product’. Instead we took a step back and looked at why we came up with Just Buy.”

     

    “Just Buy was born out exasperation with traditional distribution systems that put the retailer, the Aam Dukandaar, at a disadvantage. Add to it the real threat to the Aam Dukandaar’s business because of the discount-scale model of online retailers, and we have a potent combination of status quo (of distribution) colliding with frustration and uncertainty experienced by the Aam Dukandaar,” Sani elaborated.

     

    Just Buy Live co-founder and managing director Bharat Balachandran added, “For me, Just Buy is not only the world’s first e-distributor. It is a movement, a revolution that will give back the Aam Dukandaar his confidence, financially and emotionally. The only difference between a retailer and us is that everyone only seems to care about us. Us as in you and me, the consumers.”

     

    FWC director Theron Carmine said, “In the process of getting a product from the manufacturer to the customer, the most important point is where the customer actually interacts with the product. That point is the retail store and surprisingly, it is the most neglected link in the chain. The average shopkeeper doesn’t understand the online retail model, valuations, funding etc. and is perplexed by the fact that online businesses are making losses and yet have big bucks to spend on advertising campaigns. He is unable to understand this loss-making business model and wonders why it is the darling of the media and those in power.”

     

    Network Media executive VP Nilesh Patil said, “The challenge was to target a segment that had no available media consumption data; we had to go beyond traditional thinking and market information. That’s where learning’s from past market visits came handy. We planned the media with a combination of data, gut feel and experience. The results are validating the approach, with a substantial number of downloads from the moment the reveal happened on TV.”

     

    “When the only thing you know to earn a living is under threat, you feel trapped. This feeling of entrapment triggers a bunch of emotions. Some look outside for help and hope for a messiah, some explore the possibility of violent protests, while others see a conspiracy against them. On the other hand, when the family earnings suffer, the family suffers too. These very emotions have been captured in the TV commercials in both the teaser and reveal phases,” added FWC creative head Deven Sansare.

     

    “The important emotional aspect that the TV campaign explores is the feeling among retailers that they are pitted against forces much larger than them. It is the classic David versus Goliath scenario that is playing out in the retailers’ minds and on the business front. Just Buy is the Aam Dukandaar’s voice, his awaaz. All we have done is given it a loudspeaker,” voiced Sani.

  • Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    MUMBAI: With an aim to empower retailers, e-distributor Just Buy Live has launched a marketing campaign – Just Buy, Ek App, Ek Awaaz, which highlights the brand’s emotional connect with retailers and the challenges they face.

     

    The campaign began with teaser ads comprising four thematic TVCs centre staging challenges faced by small retailers. The week-long teaser campaign culminated with the reveal of Just Buy Live. The TVCs were launched simultaneously on YouTube.

     

    Just Buy Live’s ATL campaign was conceptualised and executed by Ferry Wharf Communications (FWC).

     

    Just Buy Live chairman and CEO Sahil Sani said, “As the world’s first e-distributor we had to resist the temptation of simply announcing: ‘here’s a revolutionary product’. Instead we took a step back and looked at why we came up with Just Buy.”

     

    “Just Buy was born out exasperation with traditional distribution systems that put the retailer, the Aam Dukandaar, at a disadvantage. Add to it the real threat to the Aam Dukandaar’s business because of the discount-scale model of online retailers, and we have a potent combination of status quo (of distribution) colliding with frustration and uncertainty experienced by the Aam Dukandaar,” Sani elaborated.

     

    Just Buy Live co-founder and managing director Bharat Balachandran added, “For me, Just Buy is not only the world’s first e-distributor. It is a movement, a revolution that will give back the Aam Dukandaar his confidence, financially and emotionally. The only difference between a retailer and us is that everyone only seems to care about us. Us as in you and me, the consumers.”

     

    FWC director Theron Carmine said, “In the process of getting a product from the manufacturer to the customer, the most important point is where the customer actually interacts with the product. That point is the retail store and surprisingly, it is the most neglected link in the chain. The average shopkeeper doesn’t understand the online retail model, valuations, funding etc. and is perplexed by the fact that online businesses are making losses and yet have big bucks to spend on advertising campaigns. He is unable to understand this loss-making business model and wonders why it is the darling of the media and those in power.”

     

    Network Media executive VP Nilesh Patil said, “The challenge was to target a segment that had no available media consumption data; we had to go beyond traditional thinking and market information. That’s where learning’s from past market visits came handy. We planned the media with a combination of data, gut feel and experience. The results are validating the approach, with a substantial number of downloads from the moment the reveal happened on TV.”

     

    “When the only thing you know to earn a living is under threat, you feel trapped. This feeling of entrapment triggers a bunch of emotions. Some look outside for help and hope for a messiah, some explore the possibility of violent protests, while others see a conspiracy against them. On the other hand, when the family earnings suffer, the family suffers too. These very emotions have been captured in the TV commercials in both the teaser and reveal phases,” added FWC creative head Deven Sansare.

     

    “The important emotional aspect that the TV campaign explores is the feeling among retailers that they are pitted against forces much larger than them. It is the classic David versus Goliath scenario that is playing out in the retailers’ minds and on the business front. Just Buy is the Aam Dukandaar’s voice, his awaaz. All we have done is given it a loudspeaker,” voiced Sani.

  • Dentsu merges Fountainhead & psLIVE to form Fountainhead-MKTG

    Dentsu merges Fountainhead & psLIVE to form Fountainhead-MKTG

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has merged Fountainhead with its experiential marketing arm psLIVE India to form Fountainhead-MKTG.

     

    It may be recalled that last year, Dentsu Aegis Network formed its ninth global network brand – MKTG, the lifestyle marketing agency it acquired in August 2014. The agency also made the Fountainhead acquisition in India last year.

     

    With this merger, MKTG brings its vast resource of experience and knowledge into the Indian landscape. The agency currently operate in various mature lifestyle markets around the globe. This knowledge, combined with Fountainhead’s local expertise is poised to produce some unique and outstanding marketing innovations.

     

    “In India, the lifestyle marketing solutions market is growing at twice the rate of the ATL market. With Fountainhead, a leading player in India and MKTG, a leading global player, we now will have the best offering of global standards, through Fountainhead MKTG. This is another big step forward in helping us achieve our mission of being the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking, which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India,” said Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO – South Asia Ashish Bhasin.

     

    “With this influx of international expertise, safety standards, design & technology, Fountainhead MKTG will consistently raise the bar when it comes to producing events within the country. While officially we are a full-service marketing agency, in reality we are a creative group of people who come to work everyday to create unique, disruptive and innovative projects for our clients,” added Fountainhead-MKTG CEO Brain Tellis. 

  • Dentsu merges Fountainhead & psLIVE to form Fountainhead-MKTG

    Dentsu merges Fountainhead & psLIVE to form Fountainhead-MKTG

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has merged Fountainhead with its experiential marketing arm psLIVE India to form Fountainhead-MKTG.

     

    It may be recalled that last year, Dentsu Aegis Network formed its ninth global network brand – MKTG, the lifestyle marketing agency it acquired in August 2014. The agency also made the Fountainhead acquisition in India last year.

     

    With this merger, MKTG brings its vast resource of experience and knowledge into the Indian landscape. The agency currently operate in various mature lifestyle markets around the globe. This knowledge, combined with Fountainhead’s local expertise is poised to produce some unique and outstanding marketing innovations.

     

    “In India, the lifestyle marketing solutions market is growing at twice the rate of the ATL market. With Fountainhead, a leading player in India and MKTG, a leading global player, we now will have the best offering of global standards, through Fountainhead MKTG. This is another big step forward in helping us achieve our mission of being the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking, which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India,” said Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO – South Asia Ashish Bhasin.

     

    “With this influx of international expertise, safety standards, design & technology, Fountainhead MKTG will consistently raise the bar when it comes to producing events within the country. While officially we are a full-service marketing agency, in reality we are a creative group of people who come to work everyday to create unique, disruptive and innovative projects for our clients,” added Fountainhead-MKTG CEO Brain Tellis. 

  • FCB Ulka Advertising promotes Nitin Karkare as CEO

    FCB Ulka Advertising promotes Nitin Karkare as CEO

    MUMBAI: FCB Ulka Advertising COO – Mumbai & Bengaluru Nitin Karkare has been elevated as CEO.

     

    Speaking on his new role, Karkare said, “From starting out as a management trainee at Ulka Advertising to becoming the CEO of FCB Ulka Advertising, it has been an exhilarating journey. FCB Ulka has been built on the foundation of long term partnerships with its clients and its people. I would like to build on this legacy while infusing a new creative energy into the system.”

     

    Karkare has been with FCB Ulka since 1986, when he joined the agency as a management trainee.

     

    FCB Ulka Group chairman and CEO Rohit Ohri added, “My first priority in my new assignment is to ensure that we have the right people in the right leadership roles. Nitin’s passion for advertising, his love for the company, his deep bonds with our clients and, of course, his charming, and affable work style make him the right person for the position of CEO, FCB Ulka Advertising. He has an impressive track record of building some of India’s most loved brands. His commitment to our clients is true testimony to FCB’s spirit of partnership. I’m confident that Nitin will lead FCB Ulka Advertising to new heights and will be a great partner to me in realising our vision for the Group.”

     

    IPG Media Brands India CEO Shashi Sinha added, “I have worked with Nitin from 1986 and am thrilled that he will lead FCB Ulka Advertising – he knows the clients, the people and more importantly the culture. This is true testimony to growth from within.”

  • FCB Ulka Advertising promotes Nitin Karkare as CEO

    FCB Ulka Advertising promotes Nitin Karkare as CEO

    MUMBAI: FCB Ulka Advertising COO – Mumbai & Bengaluru Nitin Karkare has been elevated as CEO.

     

    Speaking on his new role, Karkare said, “From starting out as a management trainee at Ulka Advertising to becoming the CEO of FCB Ulka Advertising, it has been an exhilarating journey. FCB Ulka has been built on the foundation of long term partnerships with its clients and its people. I would like to build on this legacy while infusing a new creative energy into the system.”

     

    Karkare has been with FCB Ulka since 1986, when he joined the agency as a management trainee.

     

    FCB Ulka Group chairman and CEO Rohit Ohri added, “My first priority in my new assignment is to ensure that we have the right people in the right leadership roles. Nitin’s passion for advertising, his love for the company, his deep bonds with our clients and, of course, his charming, and affable work style make him the right person for the position of CEO, FCB Ulka Advertising. He has an impressive track record of building some of India’s most loved brands. His commitment to our clients is true testimony to FCB’s spirit of partnership. I’m confident that Nitin will lead FCB Ulka Advertising to new heights and will be a great partner to me in realising our vision for the Group.”

     

    IPG Media Brands India CEO Shashi Sinha added, “I have worked with Nitin from 1986 and am thrilled that he will lead FCB Ulka Advertising – he knows the clients, the people and more importantly the culture. This is true testimony to growth from within.”

  • Three ad campaigns to watch out for on Republic Day

    Three ad campaigns to watch out for on Republic Day

    MUMBAI: Marketers are forever in search of new engaging ways to connect with consumers, but consumers, at the end of the day, are people. In India, the word ‘people’ has a varied connotation with the country having a population of over a billion, nestling several languages, religions and cultures. Hence a message targeted at a few million might not connect with the rest. 

    While the Indian calendar is checkered with festivals that trigger traction from several millions, there are few things that connect the 1.8 billion as one like cricket, a national crisis or even our pride as Indians. 

    Creatives understand this well, and have time and again thrilled, moved, excited and even tickled us with these instances of Indian-ness. This Republic Day too, there are a handful of brands riding the patriotic wave and delivering some version of the many facets of what makes us Indian. Indiantelevision.com handpicks a few for our readers.

    9XM’s #OneDreamOneIndia

    A Republic Day video preaching religious harmony has been done to death and therefore is commonplace. But what about a video that reflects unity of several political ideologies? That is exactly what we see in this 90-second video where actors — who are clearly depicting stalwarts from major political parties in India — join hands to stand up against any threat to the nation. Going on air on 25 January, the ident ‘OneDreamOneIndia’ is sung by JSL Singh and Ranjit Bawa capturing the nation’s spirit of unity and freedom. The ident will be promoted across social media platforms and YouTube. After laughing at several newspaper cartoons that make fun of the rivalry between the national parties, and cracking up at their puppet parodies on television and digital medium, this new initiative from 9XM comes as a breath of fresh air.

    Gaali Free India

    Our constitution grants us free speech and by virtue of it we are free to use the language we choose, even if it is vulgar. But have we stretched our freedom too far to notice that ‘gaali’ has become part of our vocabulary? A question Water Communications’ founder and director Vandana Sethhi asks the nation through an innovative campaign.

    Inspired by Prime Minister’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ initiative, the campaign gives an interesting spin off and seeks cleanliness in speech. 

    Videocon: FlagOfChange

    The tricolour of Indian national flag evokes several emotions. It also carries the burden of several freedom fighters who gave their lives to gift us this day when we walk free with pride. It also carries the pride of the leaders of that time who gave their blood and sweat in building the Constitution. And yet we see many amongst us who take this for granted and bring down the decades worth of effort in a minute by giving into petty temptations. To some, it’s for extra cash, while for others, it might be to save themselves from bureaucratic hassles. This powerful short-film by Videocon created by Rediffusion Y&R reminds us of the burden of the Indian flag and urges everyone to start changing our mindset, at the same time inserting a message on anti-corruption.