ITV

Category: People

  • IPL engagement on digital is higher than TV: Report

    IPL engagement on digital is higher than TV: Report

    Mumbai: Over the years, The Indian Premier League (IPL) has become one of the biggest and most sought-after platforms to drive brand building and engagement. This year, the cricket extravaganza sees a 20 per cent jump over 2021 with 41 per cent fans saying that they will watch each and every match, according to the findings of Pre-IPL Trends Report, released by Havas Media Group India’s Hi-Cricket. The study revealed that while IPL continues to be a TV-first property, viewers on digital have higher involvement compared to TV.

    The league continues to have avid viewers who are engaged with the game at all levels, says the study, with 41 per cent stating they will watch each and every match, 47 per cent following stats closely, and 55 per cent actively participating on social media with posts, comments, match analytics.

    Some of the other significant pre-findings of IPL 2022 released by the study include: Over the years female viewership of the game has only increased. 36 per cent stated they will watch each and every match, while 44 per cent stated they watch matches wherein their favourite player/team is playing.

    The study found that IPL is an emotion shared with family and friends, with 54 per cent stating they watch it with the entire family while 44 per cent watch it with friends and colleagues. ‘Powerplay’ and ‘Death Overs’ are the most popular segments. The study also reveals that Fantasy leagues are gaining popularity, with 31 per cent respondents having created their own team in 2021.  

    Havas Media Group India partnered with YouGov, a global research & analytics agency, for its annual syndicated Hi-Cricket study, that helps advertisers measure the impact of their ads during the cricket event. 

    The Hi-Cricket 2022 study is being conducted across key markets in India – Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Chandigarh. 2700+ respondents are being interviewed using a structured quantitative research questionnaire over three waves – before the event (Pre-IPL wave), during the event (first wave – 30d post start) and post the event. The sampling frame will constitute YouGov’s online panel of 200,000 active respondents encompassing top four metros and seven top tier-1 cities. The sample size is two lakhs, as per the statement.

    Hi-Cricket 2022 aims to help brands to further bolster their meaningful connect with consumers and also identify the most meaningful campaigns during IPL. Over the multiple waves that were covered, there has also been a significant jump in brand recall and familiarity across various categories like auto, e-commerce, food delivery etc. Over the course of IPL, making this study an indicator of brand health.

    Hi-Cricket is the flagship property of Havas Sports & Entertainment and going forward, this study will cover other sports leagues with the number of cities covered and respondent base being much larger, according to Havas Media Group India. The study is critical for the group to understand the sentiments and performance of IPL in influencing brand metrics as several of its key clients are part of the tournament through various associations.

    Every year, Havas Media Group India commissions the Hi-Cricket study to understand the overall sentiments regarding the tournament and each of its elements including delivery, driving engagement for consumers, and creating unique brand experiences. This study captures all that brands are doing including on-ground sponsorships, innovations, exclusive tie-ups and so on, to understand which element drives highest engagement/ROI for them. 

    “The recent study tracks the impact of IPL 2022 on brand metrics in the endemic world as people have finally come out of isolation,” said Havas Media Group India head of strategy Sanchita Roy. “IPL is all about community building and enjoying the sports league with family and friends, so sentiments surrounding it are undoubtedly high. Involvement with IPL goes far beyond the actual matches as there are peripheral properties including fantasy leagues and gaming that ensure high engagement of viewers thereby making it the best choice for brands to connect with the audience. This makes Hi-Cricket a real time solution that consistently and accurately measures and monitors brand trends based on key indicators. It helps us identify the most meaningful brands and drive meaningful conversations with our clients as we help them understand the overall impact of their association with the IPL.”

    This recent study comes at a time when the economy is expected to make the most robust recovery on the back of buoyant market sentiments as the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) IPL is all set to take the centre stage in the endemic world. The study helps establish the efficacy of IPL as a platform when it comes to influencing mind measures and also answers one of the most critical questions that advertisers have today: the role of premium buys on brand health.

    “The Hi-Cricket research that YouGov India conducts annually in partnership with Havas Media Group India has become one of the most pivotal research exercises for us,” stated YouGov India general manager Deepa Bhatia. “Hi-Cricket provides an in-depth, customised look into the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) as an advertising and sponsorship vehicle and is an invaluable tool for brands and marketers to understand how the tournament delivers on their marketing objectives. This is critical given the exponential growth in investment that’s pumped into this cricketing extravaganza by brands, which has in fact made the IPL the biggest platform to create long-term brand image and value. IPL 2022 is coming back with it’s first season in an endemic world. This study is designed to deliver valuable insights into a post-Covid world, within Havas’ Meaningful Brands framework.” 

  • Reshamandi appoints Ritesh Kumar as CFO

    Reshamandi appoints Ritesh Kumar as CFO

    Mumbai: ReshaMandi, a homegrown digital ecosystem for natural fibre supply chain has appointed Ritesh Kumar Talreja as chief financial officer. 

    In his new role, Ritesh will lead the company’s finance function where he will manage corporate development from a debt raising and M&A standpoint, said the statement.

    Ritesh has a rich experience of over 14 years in advising businesses on matters pertaining to fundraising, mergers and acquisition, structuring private equity investments and other corporate transactional matters in public and private space. 

    Previously, he was leading the IndusLaw’s Tax practice group as executive director. Before that, he spent 10 years at EY India, including advising clients in the areas of corporate governance, risk management and business performance improvement during this stint.

    “We are thrilled to have Ritesh on board. His extensive experience in corporate law and financial control will enable us to chart a solid growth path. I am confident that his expertise will help our company grow by huge leaps,” commented ReshaMandi founder and CEO Mayank Tiwari. “He complements our strong performance-oriented culture, and we believe his impressive track record of execution and achieving results qualifies him to lead our finance operations.”

    Being a chartered accountant, Ritesh is also a part of the Advocacy Committee with the Indian Association of Alternate Investment Funds. Over the years, he has also advised companies on international taxation matters, direct tax issues related to structuring cross-border transactions and identifying tax planning opportunities with an overall objective to achieve a tax-efficient structure in India. 

    He has robust experience in handling direct tax litigation matters across Indian appellate tribunals (including being an advisor to clients in devising tax litigation strategy) and tax policy representations before the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex direct tax administration body of India.

    Speaking about his appointment, Ritesh said, “Unlike a conventional CFO, a new-age finance leader has multiple roles, especially in a start-up ecosystem which is extremely dynamic. I will be working closely with the founders on significant areas like establishing an effective financial infrastructure, ensuring compliance, leading fundraising conversations, financial planning and analysis, and cash flow tracking.”

     

  • PDS onboards Saurabh Saxena as group CIO

    PDS onboards Saurabh Saxena as group CIO

    Mumbai: PDS, a design-led sourcing, manufacturing and supply chain platform has announced the onboarding of Saurabh Saxena as group chief information officer (CIO). The appointment further reinforces the company’s commitment to its ‘digital’ pillar and a future ready PDS platform, it said.

    Prior to joining PDS, Saxena was with IBM for over 10 years where he was the head of analytics, strategy, insights & operations for IBM Cloud (data & AI, automation and security) business in the Middle East and Africa.

    “As a design-led sourcing and manufacturing company, our business is a synchronised function across geographies and skill,” said PDS Ltd vice chairman Pallak Seth. “An agile and creative business such as ours places a strong emphasis on foresight, therefore the pace of technological advancements will be instrumental in charting out the company’s growth story. It is great to have Saurabh join PDS to navigate our digital transformation journey.”

    “PDS’ digital and IT transformation agenda is focused on integrated business processes that enable collaboration for our customers and suppliers alike. Data analytics and insights from our global operations will enable improved visibility, insightful product design & development, and better decisions leading to operational excellence,” added PDS Group CEO Sanjay Jain.

    A seasoned professional, Saxena has over 20 years of experience with management consulting and advisory, P&L ownership, operational leadership including various disciplines like data analytics & insights, project management, sales and business operations, enterprise solutions, and product management. Previously, he has consulted CXO’s and entrepreneurs on data and AI solutions. 

    He holds an MBA (IT systems, strategy and marketing) and a BE degree in computer science and engineering.

  • dentsu APAC appoints Christina Lee as CTO

    dentsu APAC appoints Christina Lee as CTO

    Mumbai: dentsu Asia Pacific on Wednesday announced the appointment of Christina Lee as chief technology officer (CTO), effective 4 April. 

    In her role, Lee will be responsible for providing overarching technology strategy, industry-leading capabilities and solutions to enable business growth and drive day to day operations through transformational business and technology initiatives, said the statement.

    Based in Hong Kong, she will report directly to global CTO Dominic Shine, and be part of both global and APAC senior management teams, it added.

    “Christina is a committed leader who is passionate about organisational design, understands the problems that will be faced during hyper-growth, and is energised by solving these problems,” commented Dominic Shine. “She brings with her strong experience and a successful track record in driving significant transformational change through technology across organisations, as well as in the delivery of data and digital products. I look forward to having her on the team.” 

    Bringing with her over two decades of senior leadership experience in information and digital technology, Lee has a strong track record of consulting and industry experience in strategy, business transformation, business partnership, vendor management and solution delivery, as well as aligning and advancing IT as a tool and driver for business of Fortune 500 multi-national brand companies.

    Prior to joining dentsu, she held senior leadership roles at Kering Group as APAC chief information officer and L’Oréal as South Asia Pacific Chief Information Officer, where she led IT for the most strategic and complex region and successfully established the tech organisation strategy for APAC.

    “I have ambition for technology to be a champion of change for brands and businesses to optimise their business practice, and also be a strategic partner to help business to get maximum benefits from the data and technologies,” said Christina Lee. “dentsu values technology and innovation at the heart of its culture and I could not be more excited to be working together with this incredible, high performing team of technology professionals.”

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  • Havas Worldwide names Jigisha Chawla as EVP for Gurgaon office

    Havas Worldwide names Jigisha Chawla as EVP for Gurgaon office

    Mumbai: Havas Worldwide, the creative arm of Havas Group India has appointed Jigisha Chawla as executive vice president for its Gurgaon office. She will report to Havas Worldwide (Creative) managing director Manas Lahiri and will work across key clients of the office.

    Havas Worldwide (Creative) Gurgaon is one of the biggest operations of the agency in India, with over 100 employees, according to the conglomerate. Apart from its biggest client Reckitt, the unit also manages some of India’s leading brands including Dabur, William Grant, Suzuki, Fortis Healthcare, and several others. 

    Over the last three years, the Gurgaon office has bagged several new clients including Stashfin, Renewbuy, Vivo, Jimmy’s Cocktails, Info Edge, and several others, said the statement.

    “With the exponential growth of the Gurgaon unit, we are focussed on beefing up our senior leadership and our product,” Manas Lahiri said. “Jigisha will play a pivotal role in enhancing and strengthening our client relationships and widening our product portfolio.”

    A seasoned advertising and communications professional with over 20 years of experience, Jigisha’s expertise is ingrained in traditional advertising with knowledge of its tenets in brand building with a good understanding of new-age media and the importance of technology to create brand stories. 

    “Over the last couple of years, Havas Group India and all its units have completely turned around and have built a new perception in India. The agency is going through fantastic momentum, and I am looking forward to making a meaningful impact in this growth story,” said Jigisha on her appointment.

    Jigisha has spent a major part of her career with Ogilvy and has managed several marqueebrands and led key client businesses across diverse categories, including MNCs, Government, Non-profit organisations, and Healthcare businesses of Ogilvy Delhi. She has led many integrated teams and brings substantial global project management experience on board.

  • Tech Mahindra brings in N Dilip Venkatraman as global head, M&E

    Tech Mahindra brings in N Dilip Venkatraman as global head, M&E

    Mumbai: Tech Mahindra has brought N Dilip Venkatraman on board as global head, media and entertainment.

    With over 20 years of corporate experience, Venkatraman has held key positions at India Today Group, Dish TV, Pugmarks, and Zee Network.

    Prior to joining Tech Mahindra, Venkatraman had launched a video technology startup VideoTap in 2016, which helps video content producers across genres to increase engagement within the video itself and achieve higher ROI.

    He was previously associated with iTV Network as group COO, strategy and business development, where he was responsible for planning strategic solutions and business development for the network. He also helped the media company revamp its digital strategy for the entire Network and relaunch newsx.com, inkhabhar.com, sundayguardianlive.com

    An alumnus of IIM-Bangalore, Venkatraman has also been the CEO of Network18-owned CNN-IBN & IBN7, where he was responsible for the strategic, financial, and operational management of the channels. 

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  • Isobar India taps Gurjot Shah Singh to drive media services

    Isobar India taps Gurjot Shah Singh to drive media services

    Mumbai: Isobar, the creative agency from the house of dentsu India has announced the appointment of Gurjot Shah Singh as executive vice president (EVP) – media. 

    In his new role, Gurjot will be responsible for strengthening the media services of the agency. He will also be driving the growth of media services for Isobar India group jointly with WATConsult AVP media and strategy Shanu Jain, said the statement.

    “Creative use of media is the key to success in advertising and Gurjot echoes the same in his work,” said Isobar India group CEO Heeru Dingra. “He comes with extensive experience in the industry and has invaluable knowledge in his domain. Moreover, he brings with him the talented team from Webchutney, those who have been instrumental in bagging multiple awards internationally. I am looking forward to having him build on the exciting and vast roster of brands that we manage at Isobar.”

    “The next leg of Isobar’s journey is all about providing differentiated experiences to the consumers. Media and creative will have to work hand in hand to provide such experience. Gurjot, with his experience, will be able to take Isobar to new heights in this regard. I look forward to working with Gurjot to not just provide a great solution to our clients, but also to grow the Isobar business in the coming days,” added Isobar India managing partner Rahul Vengalil.

    Over the last decade, Gurjot has worked on several award-winning campaigns and consulted over 250 brands including Ather Energy, Honda bikes, Uber, Max life insurance, IndusInd Bank, Whirlpool, Canon, Flipkart, Under Armour, British council, Air India, Sony Pictures, to name a few.

    “With the enhanced mandate, my team and I will further build on Isobar’s existing strengths and capabilities,” said Gurjot on his new role. “In this new avatar, we’re going to be very pragmatic about what the alchemy of creative, media and technology is going to bring. I am excited to partner with some of the best talents in dentsu to drive a wider change in the way brands connect with audiences.”

    It is pertinent to note here that dentsu Creative group India has centralised its digital media services across all its agencies and capabilities under the Isobar India group. The agencies under dentsu Creative group India include dentsu Webchutney, Taproot dentsu, WATConsult, Perfect Relations, Isobar, dentsu One, dentsuMB (earlier Dentsu India) and dentsu Impact.

  • Majid Yazdani appointed as VP of Byju’s Lab

    Majid Yazdani appointed as VP of Byju’s Lab

    Mumbai: Ed-tech major Byju’s has announced the appointment of Majid Yazdani as vice president of Byju’s Lab to propel and further shape the future of education at the company. Based in the UK, he will lead a team of researcher scientists to help him innovate powerful learning experiences for students.

    “Working on personalisation and other AI applications to the education sector, Yazdani will be responsible for incubating new ideas and delivering breakthrough solutions across Byju’s ecosystem of learning products at Byju’s Lab,” the company shared in a statement on Monday.

    “We are excited about having Majid on board and scaling up Byju’s Lab by harnessing the global pool of highly skilled technical talent,” Byju’s chief innovation and learning officer Dev Roy said on the appointment. “At Byju’s, we are entirely student-centric at our core. By assembling a robust team of high-caliber specialists, Byju’s aspires to make technology accessible and approachable. This will allow us to push limits, create value, and create more impactful learning programmes for students globally.”

    Yazdani has over 15 years of experience in technology and AI, having graduated from Sharif University of Technology in 2008 with a BSc in computer engineering. He previously worked as a staff scientist at Linkedin and at the Idiap Research Institute in Switzerland. He joined Facebook AI (Meta AI) in 2018. He also holds three patents and has 24 research papers in the fields of natural language processing and artificial intelligence.

    “Technology in education is not just about automation, but also about harnessing it in the best way possible to empower students into becoming lifelong learners,” remarked Majid Yazdani. “Education has the power to change the world, and I’m pleased to be joining the Byju’s family and embarking on an exciting new path to delivering tech-driven learning to make quality education accessible, equitable, and contextual for every student.”

    Byju’s Lab was launched in 2021 with the aim to be an incubator of new ideas, provide cutting-edge technologies and deliver breakthrough solutions across Byju’s ecosystem of learning products. As a global company, the company is attempting to tap further into the global talent pool by actively recruiting a wide range of applicants in the United Kingdom, the United States, and India, said the statement.

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  • Jet Airways onboards Ronit Baugh as GM & head of communications

    Jet Airways onboards Ronit Baugh as GM & head of communications

    Mumbai: Jet Airways has appointed Ronit Baugh as the general manager and head of communications, as per Baugh’s LinkedIn update.

    “Thrilled to be joining the iconic airline at this incredibly transformative moment in its journey, and to becoming a small – and hopefully, significant – part of the first-ever airline revival story in the history of Indian aviation,” Baugh wrote in a social media post on Monday. “I look forward to the opportunity of helping write the next chapter of the brand Jet Airways story, along with all colleagues and stakeholders.”

    An alumnus of Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication Pune, Baugh is a corporate and marketing communications specialist. He most recently worked with Oxford University Press as communications and public affairs lead for India. Previously, he served at Shiv Nadar University as brand and communications lead.

    His earlier professional stints also include companies like Vistara, Aircel, Star TV Network, and IndiGo.

  • Jose Leon elevated as MD of Indigo Consulting

    Jose Leon elevated as MD of Indigo Consulting

    Mumbai: Publicis Groupe on Monday announced the elevation of Jose Leon as managing director of Indigo Consulting – the digital business transformation (DBT) arm of the company in the country.

    Leon is a digital strategy and tech expert with over 25 years of corporate experience across global brands like Adobe and Xerox. He joined Publicis Groupe as DBT business president. 

    He was promoted as the COO of the company in 2020.

    Leon earlier worked closely with the Indigo Consulting CEO Rajesh Ghatge, who has recently been in transition to a wider role in Publicis Groupe. “There could be no better succession plan than Jose at the helm of Indigo Consulting,” said Ghatge on Leon’s appointment. “He has considerably accelerated investments by bringing in best-in-class talent across delivery & technology functions and plans to ramp-up these endeavours through 2022-23, for bespoke software engineering, core application modernisation and CX & EX re-imagination projects.”

    Moving forward, Leon will work closely with the newly appointed Publicis Groupe India digital technology business CEO Amaresh Godbole. “Indigo Consulting has deep domain knowledge across financial services and retail, which will be key growth drivers for Publicis Groupe’s digital technology business, especially D2C commerce,” stated Godbole. “I’m grateful to inherit a strong leader in Jose who runs the Indigo Consulting business with passion and ownership. I’m excited to partner with him as he leads the brand into its next phase of growth across software engineering, content platform build, e-commerce, and data offerings.”

    “My main focus has been to change and challenge the way Indigo Consulting works with its customers and create a world-class agile organisation. Our foundation is solid,” commented Jose Leon. “With massive acceleration in digital demand, our line-of-sight to demand is strong and my goal is to ensure that our endeavors will meet the velocity we see in the market for DBT business leading to exponential rather than incremental growth.