Category: Media and Advertising

  • Motivator ropes in Rajiv Khurana as national head – biz development & partnerships

    Motivator ropes in Rajiv Khurana as national head – biz development & partnerships

     

    MUMBAI: GroupM’s Motivator has appointed Rajiv Khurana as national head – business development and partnerships.

     

    Additionally, he has also been named as the general manager – North for Motivator.
     
    Khurana will be responsible for building business development programs and identify strategic business verticals and categories that Motivator local offices can take forward.
     
    In his role as national head, Khurana will report to Motivator MD Rabe Iyer, whereas in his capacity as general manager, he will report to Motivator chief growth officer V Narayanan.
     
    Iyer said, “Motivator leanings are towards delivering the business performance for our clients, Rajiv fits that line of thinking very well both, with his varied experience and his ability to lead change. We are looking forward to his addition on the team.”
     
    Narayanan added, “It’s great to have someone of Rajiv’s caliber on board. We value his sense of initiative, business thinking and his rich skills set, which will help transforming our product offering to our clients.”
     
    In his previous role as Maxus client leader, Khurana led a portfolio of brands such as Paytm, Unicharm, Max Bupa, TV Today group, Air France and Nikon.
     
    Speaking on his new role, Khurana said, ““Motivator is one of the fastest growing agencies within GroupM. They have a local offering full of potential, a strong client portfolio, a rich culture and great people. I am excited to be joining the team and closely collaborate to achieve greater heights for the company.” 
     
    Prior to joining Maxus, he has Dentsu MEA vice president. He has also had stints with Grey Worldwide (MC) as regional planning director, MENA and Mindshare as the business director.
  • OgilvyOne India names Vipul Salvi as executive creative director

    OgilvyOne India names Vipul Salvi as executive creative director

    MUMBAI: OgilvyOne Worldwide India has named Vipul Salvi as executive creative director with effect from 16 November, 2015.

    Salvi said, “In the communications domain, customisation is the next big leap and digital media is the vehicle that will allow us to deliver tailor made campaigns for individuals, not just groups or categories of consumers. OgilvyOne is India’s No. 1 Digital Agency that has been consistently delivering award winning campaigns in this space, so to be apart of OgilvyOne’s future is very exciting.”

     

    OgilvyOne Worldwide India president and country head Vikram Menon added, “We have very ambitious plans for OgilvyOne, and Vipul’s mix of skills across advertising, activation and digital, clubbed with his enthusiasm to try new things is just what we need to infuse a fresh lease of creative energy across our offices, and get them working closer together to deliver better programs for our clients Vipul joins OgilvyOne from Geometry Global, where he led the transition of Ogilvy Action to Geometry Global, and helped build a completely new and contemporary reputation for the division across its offerings of Shopper, Rural and Experiential Marketing.”

    At Ogilvy, Salve’s most recognised work was ‘The Lifebuoy Roti Reminder’ program, which won a Silver Clio, a bronze Lion and several other regional and international awards. Outside of advertising, he devoted a couple of years of his life to art starting with his first showing as an artist in 2007, and was nominated the year after under ’50 best artists of modern India’ at a Delhi art show.

  • O&M wins CLIO Network of the Year for 4th consecutive year

    O&M wins CLIO Network of the Year for 4th consecutive year

    MUMBAI: Ogilvy & Mather was named Network of the Year at the 56th Annual CLIO Awards held recently at the American Museum of Natural History. This is the fourth consecutive year the O&M network has topped the CLIOs.

     

    “Great creative should engage, challenge, celebrate and educate. Ogilvy & Mather continues to set the bar very high with work that encompasses these characteristics time and time again. Congratulations to the entire team on a fourth consecutive CLIO Network of the Year win,” said CLIO president Nicole Purcell.

     

    The Grand CLIO for Print went to the campaign “It Happens Here” on behalf of the anti-female genital mutilation organisation 28 Too Many, which also was named Advertiser of the Year, while the Grand CLIO for Direct was awarded for the Burger King “Proud Whopper” campaign.

     

    In addition to the two Grand CLIOs, the awards included 10 Gold, 27 Silver, 23 Bronze and 24 Shortlists across the categories of social media, audio and film technique, branded content, branded entertainment, direct, innovative, design, out of home, integrated, engagement, experiential, print and film. O&M was also awarded three Silver Healthcare CLIOs in the design, direct, and out of home categories.

     

    O&M worldwide chief creative officer Tham Khai Meng said, “I am delighted the work and results produced by Ogilvy & Mather agencies around the world on behalf of our clients have once again been recognized by our peers, the judges, and CLIOs. We couldn’t have done it without the verve of our talented people and the huge support of our courageous clients.” 

     

    Gerry Human, chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather London, which led the creation of “It Happens Here,” added, “Thank you CLIOs. I hope these awards inspire even more people to reach out and help 28 Too Many in their brave fight against this horrendous crime inflicted on young girls across the world. Please go to their site and donate.”

     

    Anselmo Ramos, chief creative officer and founder of David, a WPP company that is part of the Ogilvy & Mather network, said of the “Proud Whopper” campaign that his agency created, “Proud Whopper is young, smart and brave work. I thank our client for being fearless in helping to bring its message to life, our team for creating it and the CLIOs for celebrating it.”

     

    The CLIO Awards is one of the world’s most recognized international awards competitions for advertising, design, digital and communication.

  • Alchemist launches specialist agency Clay to cater to real estate sector

    Alchemist launches specialist agency Clay to cater to real estate sector

    MUMBAI: Marketing solutions company Alchemist has launched a specialist agency called Clay to solely cater to brands in the booming real estate sector.

     

    Clay will be helmed by Farhan Khan as business head and COO, who was previously with Xeco Marketing as COO.

     

    Along with Khan, Clay has also roped in communication specialists and associate managing consultants Anushree Murkute and Amy Mathew with their respective teams. Both Murkute and Mathew come from an advertising background.

     

    With offices in Mumbai and Gurgaon, Clay started out with five retainer and three project based clients. The retainer clients include Disha Direct and Nirvana Reality, Rajasthan based ARG Group, Delhi basd Novell and real estate technology start-up Realty Redefined. 

     

    The Clay division will report in to Alchemist CEO Anujita Jain. “Clay is providing genuine strategic advice and execution together, a never before complete solution from under one roof. It will be giving through the line services to the currently pressured Real Estate segment. These include brand and communication strategy, advertising, direct marketing, CRM, events and activations, lead generation and management, digital and social activation, velebrity endorsements and more.”

     

    Alchemist director and magicbricks.com founding member Rajkumar Remalli added, “Clay is about creating brands in the real estate world, which was hitherto ruled just by project launches, successes and failures. No more will investments made in one product be non-cumulative to others by the same corporate brand.”

     

    Clay also has its own creative, digital, CRM and events and activation support teams. The agency will draw on Alchemist’s strengths in outdoor advertising and celebrity management combined with new skills and ideas. 

     

    Khan said, “I have seen clients yearning for true strategic advice and the commitment of the same advisors to walk the talk and talk. Clay is meant to do exactly that. We have already done invaluable value addition and created IPs for our clients in this little time we have been operational. Establishment of World Broker’s Day is one such proud achievement.”

     

    The company has also initiated the celebration of World Broker’s Day on 9 June every year. This is an insight driven strategy for the real estate brokers, for recognising their thankless services they provide to the customers. The campaign climaxed with a packed audience convention on WBD in Mumbai. Apart from benchmark ideas, Clay is navigating clients through the current challenges and pressures and has several projects line up like Wollywood, City of Music, ARG One, Maple Leaf, Reso’villa, R Square, Agent Search, etc.

     

    Disha Direct MD Santosh Naik said, “In Alchemist and Clay we find partners who do what they say. They walk towards results and go beyond the brief. They provide business strategy and not just marketing. They execute for results, not applauses. I am glad we connected and are working together.”

     

    Alchemist MD Manish Porwal added, “Brand Clay is the first of many specialized communication solutions that you will now hear from Alchemist. The next quarter for Alchemist is full of preparations for future that will change a bit of the communication landscape. We are excited and so are our clients.”

  • KKR partners with CA Media; to invest $300 m in Asian M&E sector

    KKR partners with CA Media; to invest $300 m in Asian M&E sector

    MUMBAI:  Media and entertainment entrepreneurs in Asia can look forward to another potential investor in their initiatives, courtesy Emerald Media. Emerald is a new media investment vehicle which has been set up by global investment film KKR and the Chernin Group – promoted by former News Corp top boss Peter Chernin.  KKR has committed up to $300 million to the Emerald Media platform from its KKR Asian Fund II and The Chernin Group will join as a minority co-investor.

    KKR has also acquired a significant, minority stake in CA Media, the existing Asian media portfolio of The Chernin Group.

    Industry veterans Rajesh Kamat and Paul Aiello, who have so far been managing CA Media, will jointly head Emerald Media and will be joined by an experienced team of operating executives. Emerald Media will have offices in Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. CA Media, which has assets in India (Endemol Shine India, Graphic India, Fluence, and Only Much Louder) and in Indonesia in its portfolio, will continue to be headed by Kamat and Aiello.

     

    The duo together has more than 30 years of experience in the media and entertainment industries in Asia. They bring a unique blend of operational and investment acumen to their business approach. Mr. Aiello is the current Group CEO of CA Media, the former CEO of News Corp.’s Star TV Asia, and former Head of TMT investment banking at Morgan Stanley Asia. . Kamat is currently the Group COO of CA Media and was formerly COO of Viacom18 Group and CEO of Colors.

    Emerald Media will focus primarily on providing growth capital ranging from US$15 million-US$75 million for both control and significant minority positions to media, entertainment, and digital media businesses in Asia.

     

    Joseph Y. Bae, Member of KKR & Managing Partner of KKR Asia, said, “The growing middle class in the region is using its discretionary income on Internet connectivity, but the industry itself is fragmented. Investing behind proven leaders in industries with high growth potential and partnering with them to grow their business is a cornerstone of KKR’s Asia strategy. We look forward to working with experienced media leaders Rajesh and Paul in this dynamic sector.”

    Sanjay Nayar, Member of KKR & CEO of KKR India, added, “The media, entertainment and digital media segment across Asia especially in India enjoys attractive macro fundamentals, mirroring the trajectory of the region’s consumer sector. This is a fragmented industry, and we are excited to work with industry veterans to identify the next generation of media and entertainment companies we can partner with and support.”

     

    Peter Chernin, Chairman and CEO of The Chernin Group, noted: “This partnership provides TCG and its fellow investors in CA Media with a unique opportunity to continue to work with a best in class management team and leading global investors at KKR in Asia.”

    “The media and entertainment sector is on the cusp of a strong growth phase—driven by media convergence, an attractive investment environment, and rising discretionary spends. With the building blocks for growth in place, there is a significant opportunity to create a diversified portfolio of assets in this space, building on our accomplishments and ongoing work with CA Media and The Chernin Group,” said Rajesh Kamat.

     

    Paul Aiello further added, “With the Asia media industry experiencing rapid and transformational changes driven by digitization and growing internet and mobile penetration, Emerald Media will invest across mediums, demographics, and revenue models to continue driving such transformation.”

     

  • Reliance Jio’s Nikhil Rungta joins Housing.com as CMO

    Reliance Jio’s Nikhil Rungta joins Housing.com as CMO

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio senior vice president – marketing Nikhil Rungta as joined real estate giant Housing.com as chief marketing officer.

     

    Rungta replaces Pratik Seal, who resigned from his post in September this year.

     

    Prior to Reliance Jio, Rungta served as the CMO for Google in India for four years. He also played key business leadership roles at start-ups like Yebhi and Yatra.com.

     

    Housing.com chief business officer Jason Kothari said, “Nikhil is one of India’s leading marketers who has achieved remarkable success during his career. For the last two decades, he has worked in leadership roles across sales, marketing and e-commerce with both multinationals and start-ups. He has a deep understanding of the Indian consumer market and has used a mix of traditional marketing and digital media to grow world-class businesses and brands from the ground up. His rich experience will be a valuable addition to Housing.com’s growth plans and senior management team. We are very excited to have him on board with us.”

     

    Appreciating Housing.com’s disruptive approach to the market, Rungta said, “Housing, like Apple, has a great mix of technology and design thinking, their UI and UX is world class. They are making the home buying decision much easier for customers. The company has all the ingredients to become the next unicorn from India, and I am really excited to be a part of this journey with Housing. I would like to quote Travis Kalanick – CEO of Uber – ‘There are certain things in life where you have to go for it – just for the sheer adventure of it, and also for the potential.”