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  • We are not very advertising oriented; we are influencer oriented: NOFILTR’s Hitarth Dadia

    We are not very advertising oriented; we are influencer oriented: NOFILTR’s Hitarth Dadia

    Mumbai: NOFILTR Group is an influencer marketing agency that was conceptualised and co-founded by Sumedh Chaphekar. The agency saw the first light of dawn on 21 September 2017 when the marketing dynamics in India were undergoing a tectonic shift and social media had gradually begun to occupy centre stage, grabbing the spotlight. At that exact moment, Chaphekar hit the hammer on the anvil by signing with the first influencer and laying the foundation for the NOFILTR.Group.

    By creating the enigmatic synthesis between influencers and brands, NOFILTR works towards intelligibly devising a network that enables the marriage of personal expression and thought-provoking content that has the ability to hook onlookers at every level of the marketing experience. In a nutshell, NOFILTR connects brands to influencers, who creatively connect with the brand’s target audience, by enticing onlookers with a plethora of services that include personal branding, content creation and curation, influencer marketing, brand collaboration, and campaign design, coupled with the total execution and analysis of the entire activity.

    Today, NOFILTR.Group graduates beyond the capacity of a typical influencer marketing and management company. Apart from providing content creators with facilities like brand collaboration and management, content ideation, growth mapping, and production team support, NOFILTR invests in the dreams of content creators, helping them to make them a reality.

    Presently, the company has exclusively signed up 39 content creators. Some of the names are Awez Darbar, Nagma Mirajkar, The Mermaid Scales (Krutika), Mr. MNV, and Aashna Hegde. NOFILTR.Group has also joined hands with celebrated YouTubers like Angry Prash and Funcho. The list grows as NOFILTR continues to mine for promising influencers who are on the verge of rising to their true potential.

    Indiantelevision.com caught up with NOFILTR.Group partner chief marketing officer Hitarth Dadia. His role involves optimising business collaborations and creating a profitable entrepreneurial blueprint for the influencers collaborating with NOFILTR.Group. While driving profits for the company remains a mainstay, Dadia works closely with the creative departments and plays an instrumental role in charting out the detailed insights in public relations and branding for the influencers. Armed with foresight and a market-savvy streak, he invests in a dint of hard work, giving NOFILTR.Group the edge it has today. He joined NOFILTR.Group as a sales intern and advanced onwards into the role of a business development head before taking over as the chief marketing officer.

    His accomplishments at NOFILTR.Group involve fruitful collaborations with international brands of repute. Some of these brands include Cadbury and Amazon Pay. While working with these brands, Dadia creatively coupled his insights in sales and marketing to garner the required traction for these brands on group media. He’s also worked extensively with reputed group media applications like Snapchat.

    Born and brought up in Mumbai, Dadia received her education from a prominent convent school. Being an introvert, he later slipped into his comfort zone during his years at Somaiya College. Soon after, he graduated in banking and insurance from Mithibai College in Mumbai, where he experienced a monumental personality shift for the positive.

    Dadia worked extensively towards overcoming all the blocks that would inhibit his growth. He worked at a multinational bank for a year to gain experience in the banking industry. Creativity took a back seat while working at the bank, but the experience helped him garner insight into the organisational hierarchy and structure.

    Being an avid reader has worked to his advantage. His passion for non-fiction has enabled him to borrow all the positive attributes from the role models who we look up to today.

    Excerpts:

    On the market gap that was seen when NOFILTR launched in 2017

    In 2017, there wasn’t much activity happening. There were a few people on a platform called AskFM. There were a few individuals who were gaining more than usual attention on social media. They were getting more and more relevant. What we understood is that brands do not understand getting people as influencers who are not traditional celebrities. Because of platforms like Instagram, we felt that these people would become more relevant. When we started, hardly any brands were interested in working with individuals who were not celebrities. But as time went on, awareness grew about the importance of influencers and things started building.

    On the USP of NOFILTR

    We are very focused. It is very easy to get distracted in this space. Technically, we are in the management and advertising businesses. Eventually, you land in the merchandising and brand-building business. Our focus is on incubating talented individuals who can be very effective influencers for brands. The focus is that if an individual is very talented, we will help that person. We are not very advertising-oriented. We are very influencer-oriented. We focus on what is best for talent. So let us say a brand is willing to pay a very high sum of money for an influencer, but it is not the right fit for the creator’s long-term goal and growth. We are not an ad company that does one campaign and moves on. We think long-term.

    On the key learnings so far

    There is no one formula. Influencer marketing is not about products. It is about human beings. There is no manufacturing blueprint. Every day will be different. Each influencer is different and highly opinionated. You have to make sure that an economy is built around them and not on them.

    On the impact of covid

    The first lockdown was a surprise in the grand scheme of things. We tried to figure out how to work through the new environment. Marketing was the first thing to take a hit. When you are trying to survive, you do not want to spend. But in the long term, when I retrospectively look at it, covid has sped up the industry. It was a very good thing for the industry. More people are focused on consuming their preferred content, and others are focused on creating their own content.

    On the company’s outlook before partnering with an influencer

    A bunch of things. First, we meet them to get an idea about how passionate they are. This is not conventional work. This is an extremely new space. You put your personality out there. We look at how willing they are to give it their all and how original they are not just in terms of content, but how true to themselves they are and how strong their identity is.

    On the rising number of NOFILTR’s exclusive influencers

    We started with four creators. Now we are at 40. We work with them exclusively. They create content in areas including entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, dance, comedy, etc.

    On the influencer marketing’s trends

    At least for the next 12 months, a lot of creators will become entrepreneurs. They will start on their own. Over a span of say five years, they have been interacting with brands. They have learned how to build their own brand and I think that over time you understand what you personally like, and prefer. They are themselves brands and I think that people are just to realise that. They are taking this space more and more seriously and are coming up with their own projects which are not just about ads or entertainment.

    On the business model

    We sign a creator who works exclusively with us. They create content. We help them with the business aspect of things like travel and business production. Doing this helps our creators put the best content out there.

    On the recent work

    For Diwali, we did a bunch of campaigns with companies like Gold and Coca-Cola. We have a NOFILTR Escapes division where tourism boards partner with our influencers. Influencers are taken to international destinations. This IP allowed creators to create content in different environments. The creators get to travel and create content. The tourism board gets more awareness. It is a successful IP that we have been working on for a while now. There are a bunch of projects in the works now. We will create IPs for our company and also creator IPs. We are working on three to four creator IPs and a bunch of IPs for the company. The creator IPs will leverage the skills of a particular creator.

    On the platform Creator 21

    Initially, we only worked with five creators. We just adopted them. This is not a conventional line of work. These are 18- to 23-year-old kids. We put in a lot of time, effort, and resources, and the creators succeeded. A lot of other creators wanted to sign with us. But giving so much attention to more and more people was not feasible. So we started another company to help creators with the business aspect of things. We help creators with their businesses and give them the tools to succeed. Brands want more and more influencers. If we also had more people on our roster, it would definitely help. The goal is to help more creators and access more brands.

    On the hand holding that NOFILTR does with influencers, given that social media platforms keep tweaking their algorithms

    Initially, two years ago, this was the case. The space was relatively new. Now it is a self-sustaining model where their circle can help them out.

    On the goals set for 2023 by NOFILTR

    There are a bunch of things. We want to make sure that we are helping as many people as possible in the content creation and self-expression space. We want to help the wackiest of creators. We have unconventional things in the works.

    On the various metrics that companies use to check the ROI of influencer marketing

    There are a bunch of things. There are KPIs and click-through rates. We do not work on deals like that. People will buy a product if it is good. We can give awareness of a product. We check the engagement level with a piece of content.

    On the whitespace in tier II, III towns and cities

    Vernacular content is growing in importance. This is usually the TG for a lot of FMCG and commercial brands. A lot of niches are forming in tier II and tier III audiences. Brands are diving deeper into assessing and targeting these grounds. People are becoming more aware of different sections of brands or different sections of the community.

    On whether companies have misconceptions when it comes to influencer marketing

    The situation today is much better in this respect. Earlier, people saw influencer marketing as being a product or a billboard. Today, that is not the case. If the influencer does not believe in your brand, they should have the freedom to choose. This aspect is also better. Brands do not usually focus on individuals who are extremely creative. They have to be creative, or else, you will not be relevant on social media. So brands should give influencers not just money but also creative freedom because they know their audience the best.

    On what one needs to keep in mind when using social media platforms like Instagram for influencer marketing

    You have to be very mindful when talking about things. You have to dive deep. You have to be aware. One creator has close to 25 million followers on Instagram, which is more than the city’s population. As an audience, you have to be mindful of who you follow. Watch enough 30-second videos and you will form an opinion. It is a good thing that Instagram is moving towards video. Video can tell better stories than pictures. It cannot be a one-sided conversation.

    On the growing importance of short-form video in influencer marketing

    This is a separate skill by itself. You have to be quick and very valuable when telling a story. Long-form allows you to tell a story and develop an intention, cause, and effect. We know that attention spans are going towards short forms. It is about getting a tiny gist or a teaser. It makes more sense for brands to put in more money and for platforms to put more resources into short-form content. It is still a little underdeveloped. Better storytelling can happen there. I am extremely excited to see where the short-form format goes in terms of storytelling. If you can tell a good story in 30 seconds, you are a legend.

    On whether LinkedIn is playing a role when it comes to influencer marketing in the B2B space

    It is an undervalued platform, if I am being very honest. For finding the right talent and the right team members, nothing has proven to be better than LinkedIn in the B2B space. If you have a project that requires multiple brands and agencies to be in the picture, the goal for us has been to use LinkedIn to find the right individual to talk to. LinkedIn has not been disappointing at all. It would be nice if more and more brands got involved. If brands were more accessible on LinkedIn, they would definitely find the right audience to promote their products. LinkedIn does have creators, but they are highly opinionated and entrepreneurial.

    On the challenge of using Twitter, which has a lot of noise

    Twitter and Reddit are examples of platforms that are highly opinionated. A lot of noise comes with that. People agree and disagree. You need to be more aware of navigating those platforms. Things can get real on Twitter, and things can get extremely useless as well. Creators have to be mindful of what is being put out. Twitter and Reddit, in the right hands, are beautiful tools. It can help you figure out the trends that will come here in the next three to four months. You have to follow the right kinds of conversations and that will tell you what will happen. These platforms can be indispensable. We offer suggestions based on these platforms. We know what they are going for.

    On Elon Musk’s owning of Twitter

    I am very excited about Elon Musk owning it. There are not a lot of billionaires who are relatable. Elon is extremely relatable. Platforms need a good shakeup every now and then for people to care about them. More people will take Twitter seriously.

    On the expansion plans abroad

    Our goal is not to be restricted to one domain in terms of platforms, countries, and culture. We want to bring in the best of every space and domain. We want to get better stuff to the crowd here. You cannot set stonewalls on the kind of content you consume or the things you read that are counterintuitive to cultural development. We want to get different perspectives here, and then people will form their niches and form their views on that.

    On the potential of the Metaverse

    We are working on projects in this area. We are in the initial stages of the Metaverse. It is going to lead to something else. People right now want to understand it out of FOMO. But if you dive deep, it is a beautiful place for identity and self-expression. You can be whoever you want to be there. In terms of self-expression, you will not be restricted to a particular domain.

  • BBH India onboards Himanshu Saxena as COO & MD

    BBH India onboards Himanshu Saxena as COO & MD

    Mumbai: BBH India, a Publicis Groupe agency, has announced the appointment of Himanshu Saxena as chief operating officer & managing director. Saxena will report to CEO, Leo Burnett-South Asia & chairman, BBH India Dheeraj Sinha.

    As BBH’s chief operating officer & managing director, Saxena will be responsible for developing talent, organisational tools, new services and steering these to acquire future-facing businesses.

    He brings over 29 years of experience across the communication spectrum, including advertising, marketing & sales, brand management, digital & social, PR, design, and market research.

    Saxena has helmed country and multi-office leadership for some of South Asia’s leading organisations, including Lowe, McCann, Trikaya Grey, JWT, Edelman, IMRB & Reliance Jio. Saxena’s passion for leading businesses to market excellence through powerful full-funnel solutions has led these agencies to win accolades at prestigious forums like APAC and India Effies, Cannes, Spikes, Adfest, Goafest, PRAXIS, and SABRE APAC. He has spearheaded creative solutions across iconic brands like Unilever, GSK, PepsiCo, Diageo, Asian Paints, Dubai Tourism, One Plus, Idea Cellular, Audible, and Starbucks, to name a few.

    Welcoming Saxena, Sinha said, “BBH India, with its legacy of modern, creative, and effective solutions that are well-entrenched in the modern Indian zeitgeist, has built a reputation as a creative firepower in the country. I am delighted to welcome Saxena onboard. A talented leader known for his deep client relationships, his commitment to business innovation, and his operational acumen, Saxena embodies the black sheep and zag philosophy that will further fuel this brilliant creative engine.”

    Speaking on his appointment, Saxena added, “I am both excited and honoured to join BBH. With its legacy of creating stunning work that has transformed not only brands but also categories, BBH India is truly built for the modern age of marketing. I am looking forward to scaling this further and bringing my experience and a fresh perspective to lead such talented individuals and ambitious clients.

    BBH India has grown into a creative powerhouse with offices in Mumbai and Delhi and a repertoire of highly effective, consistent, and modern marketing solutions spanning across advertising, design, digital, consulting, and experiential. The agency currently works with a diverse portfolio of brands like Marico, Red Bull, Nestle, Audi, Taco Bell, Mahindra Group, and L’Oreal, among many others. In 2022, BBH won mandates for Hitachi and Roposo and created campaigns like Disney+ Hotstar’s “Thoda Rukh Shah Rukh”; Mahindra Racing’s “Dance For Good” and Marico’s “Re-teach The Teachers.”

  • Adman Sumanto Chattopadhyay discusses his creative journey and rewinds ‘The Good Times’

    Adman Sumanto Chattopadhyay discusses his creative journey and rewinds ‘The Good Times’

    Mumbai: One can’t match his English skills and the research that he puts into defining every idiom, metaphor, and phrase with so much ease unless you are a walking-talking-living version of a Thesaurus yourself! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about the much-proclaimed ‘The English Nut’ aka long-haired Sumanto Chattopadhyay (also fondly known as Sumo by his advertising fellow mates).

    Very recently, Sumo (as I address him as well because I have known him since I started writing about the advertising and marketing segment in 2006), who had been holding the fort at 82.5 Communications as chairman and chief creative officer for the last five years, hung up his boots. He had been associated with the Ogilvy group for 30 years.

    At 5:30 p.m. on his last day at the agency, 30 September, Sumo was asked to unveil a book. To his surprise, it turned out to be a comic book called “Fearless Sumanto.” It was created by 82.5 Communications’ co-chief creative officer Mayur Varma with inputs from many colleagues at the agency. It brings to life a few incidents that reveal facets of Sumo’s personality and working style. Guess, Varma just thought that turning Sumo into a comic-book superhero would be a nice tribute to him.

    With an MBA from McGill University, Montreal (Canada), Sumo began his career in advertising at Response in Kolkata, in 1990. After a short stint of two years, his tryst with Ogilvy began. After joining the agency in Kolkata, he moved to the Mumbai office in a couple of years. He climbed up the various rungs to the creative director position – in those early days, becoming a creative director was a really big deal. A few people made it to that level. It took him a long time to get there. In those days, there wasn’t the so-called ‘designation inflation’ that we see now.

    Sumo was finally pronounced executive creative director of South Asia at Ogilvy where he spent 25 years before he donned the hat of chairman and chief creative officer at WPP’s Soho Square in 2017, which was later rebranded to 82.5 Communications in 2019.

    A man with a creative predisposition, he has dabbled in various forms of art from modelling to acting and also has an alter ego which he is famous for on social media – The English Nut. The English Nut is a celebrated video work of English idioms, metaphors, synonyms, phrases, etc., by Sumo wherein he decodes the English language in a simple manner, more in the form of educational content. He scripts, produces and enacts in these videos. The English Nut will take the form of a book soon!

    Sumo has been bestowed with national and international recognition at Cannes, the Clios, the One Show, the London Festival, the Abbies and Kyoorius, and has been privileged to work with some of the best and most influential brands in the country.

    Sumo in a conversation with Indiantelevision.com, discusses his experience of setting up 82.5 Communications (previously known as Soho Square), his three-decade-long journey with the Ogilvy group, his mentors at the agency, The English Nut and so much more.

    Edited excerpts:

    On his 30 years at Ogilvy

    One of the things that attracted me to advertising was the casual dress code, especially for creative people. But I took it a step further and started wearing shorts to work. It was not a done thing in those days. I remember one of my seniors asked me if I found the weather exceptionally hot. And once, I was stopped from entering the Hindustan Unilever (HUL) office. The security guard called my client and said a ‘chaddiwala’ had come to meet him. My client had to come down and get me in! It’s these kinds of incidents and memories that make it fun to look back at the past.

    On the brands and campaigns, he worked at Ogilvy which are dear to his heart

    I worked on a lot of HUL brands—Dove, Pond’s, Lakmé, Sunlight, Comfort, etc. In the early days, the Ogilvy office was at Churchgate and the HUL office was a short walk away. Because I worked on so many of their brands, their office became a second home. Years later both companies relocated to the suburbs and we were relatively close to each other again.

    I have also worked on brands like Maharashtra Tourism, Diu Tourism, Star Plus and The Economist—which have required me to wear completely different kinds of creative caps.

    On even though it is the same group, what is it that made him switch from Ogilvy to 82.5 Communications (the erstwhile Soho Square)

    It was the challenge of trying to make a success of a new entity that made me take up the 82.5 role. And the realisation that hit me was that while I was at Ogilvy a large part of the status that I enjoyed among clients was because of the Ogilvy aura surrounding me. Though 82.5 was an Ogilvy company, it had to prove itself on its merit. As its chief creative officer, the same principle applied to me. This lesson made me a little humbler and wiser.

    On the thoughts and goals of putting 82.5 Communications in place

    82.5 degrees east is the longitude of Indian Standard Time. We gave ourselves this name because we were going to work mostly with Indian brands. Also, as our slogan says, we are about ‘ingenious Indian ideas’.

    On the memorable brands and campaigns that he worked on at 82.5 Communications

    The most famous campaign by 82.5 is the one for Bisleri. I have been closely involved with the work on Himalaya, LAVA, Ghadi, Slice and Havells among others. I also enjoyed working on the branding of 82.5 itself.

    On his experience in the advertising industry and movie business

    I’ve lived and breathed advertising for all these years. It’s been an exciting profession to be a part of. I think there was more room for having fun back in the day. Or maybe I just feel that way because I’m older. Perhaps the youngsters of today are having as much or more fun. One should ask them!

    I love acting too and I have done a bit of theatre and acted in a few films over the years. But I can’t say I know much about the movie business. Though as a viewer I can see that OTT has transformed the kind of movies and serials being made; it has broadened tastes. There’s a lot more diversity in what’s hitting the screens today.

    On how he has seen the advertising industry take shape in the last three decades

    It was all about TV, print and radio when I started. Print is something that has experienced a great decline – not just in terms of the money spent on it but also in terms of the ideation going into it. Today you still see full-page ads – so it means that money is being spent on the medium in spurts – but the ads are usually tactical or offer-led and often don’t have a creative soul.

    Coming to digital, while some people may feel that it’s only about algorithms and data, I think that the future will show that it is only when these things are combined with a great idea that you will have breakthrough communication. You don’t even have to wait for the future. Cadbury’s Diwali communication with Shahrukh Khan (SRK) has demonstrated it beautifully. Ogilvy India chief creative officer Sukesh Nayak, who was a key player behind this campaign, used to be a key player in my team. I’m proud of his work.

    On his mentors at Ogilvy and 82.5 Communications

    Piyush Pandey is a mentor for the entire Ogilvy group. At 82.5 the other person who played a special role as a mentor to us is Madhukar Sabnavis—the man who initiated and developed the planning function in the Ogilvy system. There are others as well—Zenobia Pithawalla, Hephzibah Pathak, VR Rajesh, Prem Narayan, Sujoy Roy, Mayur Varma to name a few who have always been there for me.

    On the reason for his retirement from the Ogilvy group and what is that he seeks after this

    I’ve had three wonderful decades with Ogilvy. It’s time to explore the world beyond it. I am waiting to find out what new adventures are there around the corner.

    On the story behind ‘The English Nut’

    The English Nut started as a ‘side’ hustle in 2019. But it has become a special part of my life. It has received a lot of love from the people who follow it. I would like it to continue for as long as possible.

    About the book, somewhere along the way a publisher discovered ‘The English Nut’ and asked me to write a book along similar lines. I started writing the book a while back but could not finish it because of work commitments. I hope to complete the book in the next few months.

    On whether we will get to see more of him in the movies and his plans

    R Balki, Pradeep Sarkar, Shoojit Sircar, Amit Sharma, Anvita Dutt, Juhi Chaturvedi, Kopal Naithani and all the other directors who know me from advertising—I’m waiting for them to cast me!

    On his favourite memories of his stay at Ogilvy and 82.5 Communications

    The years have been punctuated by some wonderful events. I played David Ogilvy in one such event. In another event, I played the Love Guru. Getting to interact with colleagues informally on these occasions, revealing other aspects of our personality, helped strengthen the bonds. It’s the strength of these bonds that made me want to stay all these years.

    On the learnings that he carries further with him

    For me, it’s always about the people. And it’s about loyalty. I hope I have been loyal to those I value. Because there is nothing I value more.

  • Stage set for the second edition of Indian Digital Brand Fest 2022

    Stage set for the second edition of Indian Digital Brand Fest 2022

    Mumbai: In today’s digital world, the way that companies connect with their customers and cater to their preferences is key. The digitally empowered consumers of today have more choices than ever before, as the online medium becomes the new battleground for brands to up their marketing game and retain their connection with consumers. At the Indian Digital Brand Fest 2022, organised by Indiantelevision.com to be held on 12 October at Mumbai’s ITC Maratha Hotel, we take a deep dive into how businesses can leverage evolving technology to be their allies. The second edition of the Digital Brandfest brings together a host of industry experts, brands, advertisers, tech-platforms, top marketing professionals from across the spectrum and solution providers accelerating digital growth in India under one roof to analyse the digital transformation happening in the industry, propelled by new-age tech. The Digital Brand Fest 2022 will host 40 plus speakers and over 200 delegates from new-age D2C brands as well as the legacy consumer companies of India, in the largest gathering of digital brands. The one-day physical event boasts over ten sessions of panel discussions, fireside chats, and keynote knowledge sessions by the digital doyens on a host of industry relevant issues that discuss the trends shaping the future of marketing and advertising for brands. The summit is carefully curated around sessions to guide the market players with the right insights, strategies, and tech solutions and partners to build future-proof brands. The summit will also look at the latest trends driving the change in consumer behaviour and how it has impacted the industry’s growth. Google India’s director of business solutions & insights Priya Choudhary will address the keynote session at the summit, which will see participation from top industry speakers such as Warner Bros. Discovery director of marketing, South Asia Azmat Jagmag, dentsu India Media COO Bhaskar Jaiswal, Lokmat Media sr. EVP & head of digital business Hemant Jain, HDFC Bank VP & head of digital acquisition, content, & social media marketing Jahid Ahmed, Godrej Consumer Products vice-president & head of media services Subha Sreenivasan Iyer, Essence India VP of media activation Rahul Marwaha, GroupM India’s Niraj Ruparel, and many more. In a special address, Divya Karani, CEO, Media South Asia, dentsu will weigh in on “navigating advertising in a madtech world” in a special address. Indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO & editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari will engage mediasmart vice president, India and SEA Nikhil Kumar in a candid fireside conversation. Another special session will see JioAds CEO Gulshan Verma address the elite gathering on the topic ‘Unlocking opportunities-India beyond metros.’ The subjects and themes of discussion at the second edition of the IDBF summit will include content marketing for web 3.0, the metaverse marketing playbook, the martech stack roadmap for D2C brands, Among the topics covered are crossing the chasm: direct to programmatic, identity in a cookie-less world, and new-age internet users—challenges and opportunities. TV9 Network is the presenting partner for the event, which is co-powered by mediasmart. Adgebra and TellyChakkar are the associate partners, and Playflix & One Take Media Co. are the industry support partners. The event is executed by ITV 2.0 Productions.

  • Inuxu Digital Media Technologies appoints Rohan Joshi as head of partnership for Adgebra

    Inuxu Digital Media Technologies appoints Rohan Joshi as head of partnership for Adgebra

    Mumbai: Adding fuel to the rocketing speed of its expansion in India, Inuxu Digital Media Technologies has appointed Rohan Joshi to strengthen Adgebra’s strategic positioning in the adtech industry.

    Exclusive advertising strategies are being adopted by named and fabled digital brands in 2022–23. The advertising industry is currently exploding with competitive opportunities. Inuxu feels that it is the right time to introduce Joshi. In his new role as head of partnerships at Inuxu Digital Media Technologies, Joshi will strengthen advertisers, media agencies, and brands’ relationships and revenue streams for Adgebra.

    He has experience of more than 12 years. These 12 years are a growth story of when and where he developed media industry relationships within Mumbai and many non-metro markets in the West India region. Joshi previously led the Pune & ROM portfolios in the West region for Times Internet. He has outshined with intrapreneurial qualities that play an imperative role in building a team and the company’s position in the digital ecosystem.

    The digital spend in India is projected to be more than Rs 35K crores by 2023, and it is expected to boom in the next five years. Innovation, targeting, delivery, and ROI are the critical differentials with Adgebra, and that’s what most brands are looking for. Introducing a partnership lead will enable the organisation to better communicate its differentials with the brands, advertisers, and agencies and will bring lasting value to the table.

    On his appointment, Joshi quotes Adgebra’s position as, “Adgebra is a fantastic ad-tech platform that has distinct local attributes as compared to many other platforms competing in the market currently. It is a leading multilingual-multimedia ad platform. The young and vibrant leadership team, especially the boundless motivation provided by Rohit Bagad, Sumeet Dubey, and Shashikant Anpat, led to a perfect mix of innovation and audience targeting, which is reflected in the product. This makes me want to work my tooth and nail towards closing valuable partnerships for the platform. Inuxu, being a large organisation, has a great company culture with a distinguished work environment that allows me to independently contribute more than I have.”

    “Adgebra is known for its performance with high-impact ad units, and I am looking to promote these and also create invaluable partnerships. I will be working closely with the new-age marketers and onboarding them for the innovative features across metros and the emerging markets in India,” he adds.

    Welcoming Joshi into Adgebra’s leadership team, Inuxu Digital Media Technologies chief business officer Sumeet said, “Adgebra is strengthening its position as India’s largest multilingual native advertising platform. Joshi’s position presents brands, agencies, and advertisers with an opportunity to have a direct view of the best of Adgebra and its unique offerings. We investigate our potential to further scale the business and reach local brands by focusing on these relationships. With Joshi coming on board, we are sure to accelerate growth and build progressive partnerships. With his unique self-motivated, proactive, and action-oriented personality, he is certainly a stimulus to our partnership’s forefront. This appointment reinforces the company’s belief in the potential of Indian markets and is expected to propel regional demand.”

    Adgebra empowers businesses to connect, engage, and win the trust of billions of digital consumers. Adgebra caters to native, video, and rich media ad formats and presently reaches over 500 million monthly active users via its network of 2000+ partner publishers managing 30 billion+ monthly ad serving opportunities.

    Adgebra is the only digital ad tech platform that supports and serves ads in 10+ different Indian regional languages. Adgebra is monetizing millions of daily active users for top publications and news aggregators like DailyHunt, Sharechat, ABP, Lokmat Media, TV9 Network, Manoramanews, LiveHindustan, NavbharatTimes, Maharashtra Times, and more.

  • Zeel’s Ashish Sehgal’s positive ad outlook for Q1’23

    Zeel’s Ashish Sehgal’s positive ad outlook for Q1’23

    Mumbai: Ouch! Speak to any senior advertising or media agency official or even a broadcast sales executive, and they all seem to be yelping in pain, courtesy the evaporation of premium ad spends by innovative and new age digital startups. Forced by investors to tidy up their operations and balance-sheets, the latter have been focusing on consolidation, rather than going berserk spending big on giddying growth through advertising and marketing.

    However, this is not causing broadcast major Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) chief growth officer of ad sales Ashish Sehgal to have any sleepless nights. A sales veteran, he’s witnessed the ups and downs that the media industry goes through periodically – needless to say, he’s seen it all.

    Sehgal believes that the silver lining of the advertising drought is that the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) category has to an extent, come to the rescue and is cushioning some of the blows. He estimates that TV ad spends during the festive season, which is on currently, will show a growth of seven to eight per cent.

    Those used to the heady growth figures of 10-20 per cent may consider this too low, but one has to remember that this growth is coming in at a time of economic upheaval, crashing of global currencies, high fuel costs and rising inflation.

    “The way things have been while it was good, the festive season could have been better. The absence of new clients has made a difference. E-commerce has also reduced spending a bit. While inventory has been going jam-packed, the premium money has not come in the festive season. This has been made up for by the FMCGs to an extent, and TV will see an ad revenue growth during the festive season. This is a good sign as this category will continue to spend even beyond the festive season.”

    He also notes that the TV industry has gone in for a rate hike across the board, which was long overdue. TV viewership was affected in June and August. But post August, the number of eyeballs glued to TV has grown, which is why the FMCG category is spending a lot more.

    Sehgal highlights that general entertainment channels (GECs) are starting to get the reach that they were delivering earlier. Categories like beauty will count on the festive season heavily with the top five advertisers on TV coming in from FMCGs. He feels that the latter’s contribution to overall TV adex could rise by five per cent this festive season compared to the previous year.

    The scenario for 2023

    Sehgal believes that the situation can only improve going forward in Q1 ’23 with spends going up for television advertising and overall ad expenditure. “Every category may come back,” he reiterates.

    He says there are enough signals emanating from the market. Amongst them, the expected spurt in marketing spends by the automobile sector will fire more in the coming months.  “Demand was high during the festive season but supply was low due to the earlier supply issues. So they did not advertise much,” he declares. “They will spend some money in November and December to sell the remaining inventory. That may be a small burst. But now that production capacity has gone up, they will have new launches in Q1’23. That is when they will spend it.”

    “Also, for some new age categories, D2C companies like ed-tech could have digested their heady growth by then. Of course, the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) category – say companies like Policybazaar – will be strong in Q1’23, so some of the premium money that was missing in the festive season could come in then,” Sehgal asserts.

    Then, the funding tap for startups could once again open and start flowing by January 2023.

    “This year they have been trying to balance out their bottom line. How long will they continue to do that? They will have to look at growth as well. Hopefully, they will start triggering spends in Q1 ’23,” he says.

    According to him, with FMCG input costs going down, companies will be forced to pass on the benefits to customers through price cuts and promotions. “So they will have to advertise more to promote that,” he says. “A lot will hinge on FMCGs implementing price cuts and promotions. Right now, that has not happened, maybe due to a fear of raw material inflation returning.”

    But he says the FMCG companies would benefit immensely if they slash prices. “Consumer sentiment will bounce back. More consumption will happen. Things look good for Q1’23 as long as no adverse issues come from Europe and America.”

    Sehgal discloses that while travel and tourism ad spends have risen now, most of those are going into print and social media. “TV, too, will get some state tourism ad spend money whether it is on news media, GECs or on regional channels,” he says.

    He feels that while ad spend on OTT platforms is growing, it is seen as an add-on to TV – especially in entertainment. “Whenever there is a TV campaign, the same person likes to also advertise on OTT. OTT helps them add on to their TV reach. It is not an either-or situation,” he explains.

    For the industry’s sake and his too, here’s hoping Sehgal’s forecast does come true!

  • Disney+ announces Alisa Bowen as its new president

    Disney+ announces Alisa Bowen as its new president

    Mumbai: Alisa Bowen has been named Disney+ president, effective immediately. In this role, Bowen will build on the flagship streaming service’s reputation as a global destination for premium content. Bowen has led global business operations for Disney’s streaming platforms, including Disney+, since its launch in 2019. In that time, Disney+ has expanded rapidly, growing its reach to 154 markets worldwide with 152.1 million total subscriptions as of the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2022.

    Bowen will work closely with key leaders across Disney to drive continued focus on innovation, including the forthcoming launch of the ad-supported tier, as well as multi-channel promotional support for Disney+ and its robust content slate. Regional leaders for Disney+ in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific, and Latin America will report jointly to Bowen and regional leadership. Bowen will continue to report to Michael Paull, president of Disney Media Entertainment and Distribution Direct to Consumer.

    “Alisa has been an indispensable member of our leadership team since the inception of Disney+. She possesses a rare and valuable combination of deep institutional knowledge, forward-thinking innovation, and global vision rooted in a strong focus on our consumers that is perfectly suited for this critical role, and I am confident that she will have an immediate and positive impact on the business,” said Paull.

    “Disney+ is a phenomenal growth story and has delighted fans around the world on a tremendous scale. We have a best-in-class team behind this success, and I’m excited to partner with them in this new role as we drive the next phase of Disney+ growth. Our upcoming content is incredibly exciting, and we are committed to innovation to give our fans and subscribers the best possible experience, including more choice on how they can enjoy Disney+,” said Bowen.

    Bowen is a seasoned media executive with decades of experience in product, technical, and operational leadership roles in several global media organisations. She most recently served as Disney Streaming executive VP of global business operations. She oversaw global content and business operations for the company’s direct-to-consumer video streaming businesses, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Star+. This included cross-functional leadership of the global Disney+ rollout in 154 markets worldwide.

    She joined Disney in 2017 as SVP of digital media and CTO of the company’s international operations, where she led a transformation of Disney’s channel broadcast technology, content operations, and digital publishing across EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

    Prior to Disney, Bowen served as News Corp Australia’s CTO, where she was responsible for the digital transformation strategy, including the pivot to digital subscription business models and the launch of new digital advertising offerings. She has also held product, business operations, and general management leadership positions at major media organisations.

  • Guest Article: Is Fem-vertising really working to sell products

    Guest Article: Is Fem-vertising really working to sell products

    Mumbai: It’s an established fact that advertising has a larger role than simply selling products. Advertising mirrors society and also encourages people to embrace change. But this change is only visible in recent times. Observe how women were portrayed in advertising a few years ago. Mostly as housewives, doing chores at home, cooking for their families and finding happiness in being appreciated for the same. Or objectified as sex symbols to gain instant attention. It’s only in recent times that advertising has taken it upon itself to change the narrative and show women in a different light. Building an inclusive world is the responsibility of everyone, and advertising plays a clear role in encouraging society to look at the world through a better set of eyes.

    Femvertising is the kind of advertising strategy that employs women in a different light. Using an empowering tone of voice, these ads are breaking the norm and displaying a more progressive and gender-free world. In India specifically, these campaigns are breaking conventional ideas around gender equality, patriarchal mindsets, and other commonly held notions. A lot of these campaigns have won awards and been applauded on social media. “BreaktheBias” by Titan, “#ShareTheLoad” by Ariel, and “#MyChoice” by Vogue are just a few of the notable efforts made by advertisers. These advertisements are pitched like beacons. They fuel the conversation about how women should really be portrayed. The current wave of femvertising is riding on a woke generation’s mindset to call out societal fallacies. It is also built on the premise of wanting to promote a more authentic and real image of women and their lives.

    And while these campaigns definitely get their fair share of attention, I wonder if they have a larger impact than the buzz that they create. Is this simply a brand-building tactic that creates a positive aura around the brand, or is there a real intent to change society? How do these campaigns impact the primary objective of advertising? Do they really lead to short-term and long-term sales? Or is the message too far removed from the product?

    Research has shown that a lot of people who see these advertisements find them engaging and interesting. They appreciate the message being conveyed but do not necessarily support or purchase the product being advertised. Which takes one back to the basic theory of advertising. Advertising is meant to inspire and cultivate a certain kind of lifestyle. It is meant to reflect an ideal. One that everyone secretly wants. At a subconscious level, advertising generates desire. It fulfils a need or a pain that people have. In its bid to be hyper realistic, does femvertising lose out on the appeal and aspiration that advertising has traditionally been hinged on? Watching a curvaceous real body instead of an airbrushed and photoshopped one is surely endearing, but is it aspirational? Does it make me want to buy the brand to fulfil a deeper desire to become something other than myself?

    Also, what about sales? I was recently caught by surprise when I saw a steel brand advertising the concept of “Nari Shakti.” While the ad was interesting and engaging, I wonder if it had any relevance to the target audience of the category? The ad was successful in building credibility for the brand, but I doubt it led to any jump in sales at all.

    A lot of brands have jumped onto the bandwagon of femvertising without understanding the basics. It has become a fad that wins awards and gets viral on social media. Today it is femvertising, and tomorrow it may be another trend that advertisers will pick up on to create a buzz. However, this cannot be said for all brands. There are some noteworthy campaigns that have cleverly woven together the product and brand characteristics with the narrative of the ad. Vim’s “Nazariya Badlo, Dekho Bartano se Aage” has cleverly used the product in its storyline when a man tries to ‘help’ his prospective bride in the kitchen, while she offers to ‘help’ him back with cleaning the dishes. It’s a clear message of a balance of roles and responsibilities while also incorporating the product into the story.

    Views on femvertising are mixed. A lot of critics reprimand advertising agencies for promoting this kind of advertising to win awards and to increase visibility on special days like Women’s Day or Mother’s Day. While there are several brands that use femvertising in interesting ways. I wonder if femvertising is here to stay, or is it a passing wave? Is it truly having an impact on society and changing how women are perceived, or is it simply a shallow tactic to generate more likes, shares, and buzz in the media? I’m hoping that there are more brands that create relatable and inspiring content that reflects society and also encourages change in more authentic ways.

    The author of this article is Jigsaw Brand Consultants founder Rutu Mody Kamdar.

  • Guest Column: Think globally, advertise locally: The key to reaching local customers

    Guest Column: Think globally, advertise locally: The key to reaching local customers

    Mumbai: Although an American brand, Colgate is the only brand in India purchased by more than half of all households. Another interesting fact about the brand is that even though Colgate products target the mass population, the middle class is where most of its sales come from. Colgate’s understanding of the target market and developing region-specific marketing strategies are among the many driving forces behind its success. To give you a perspective, Colgate uses Bollywood celebrities for advertising in North & West India and Tollywood celebrities for South & East India. Not only that, when promoting online, the brand uses region-specific influencers to attract gen z. Why so? In this highly developed era, brands like Colgate, Coke and Hero Honda understand that the non-metros relatively rule the Indian economy. Hence, they build their promotion strategy in a way that suits the needs and requirements of tier two and three consumers.

    As a marketer, one needs to do more than what Colgate does. In order to get through, brands need to get even more vernacular. This is particularly true in India, which is home to over 120 officially recognised languages and more than 19,000 dialects. However, promotions in tier two and three cities have become the biggest challenge to marketers today, who have to skillfully communicate with a much larger but scattered audience characterised by language, culture, and lifestyle variations. Brands have to adopt the principle of multinational companies, i.e., think global, act local, and understand that people cannot be influenced by faces they don’t relate to. Therefore, brands must have a localised marketing/promotional strategy targeting regional audiences to reach local customers.

    Here is how it can be achieved ~

    Speak the language of your customers

    In India, reaching local customers is only possible by vernacular word-of-mouth marketing. The ingredients to a perfect regional marketing strategy are discovering your local market and understanding your customers and their community. This includes deploying region and language-specific social media campaigns featuring local ambassadors and connecting with their peers. Another suitable option is being updated with the traditions and values of mass consumers and planning the marketing strategies accordingly. Until you know who you are catering to, you will not be able to sell properly. Take the example of Bisleri, which carries the brand name in both English and local languages to ensure that the end consumer gets Bisleri and does not mistake any other brand for Bisleri.

    The unsaid power of word-of-mouth marketing

    A brand’s region-specific customer advocate is more likely to influence the people within their region than a ‘one face for all’ celebrity campaign. This is because people trust the opinions or recommendations of an “insider” over a popular face telling them what to do. Marketing strategies in tier two and three cities are most effective when personal selling is involved. As in the case of Hero Honda, they appointed regional sales representatives to go to the major areas and talk with the people and tell them the benefits and features of the bikes. Such a strategy not only builds relationships and trust but also organically enables word-of-mouth marketing.

    User-generated content

    Due to initiatives like Digital India, small towns in the country now have access to the internet and are consuming content via social media. It has also led consumers to become increasingly savvy about the tactics marketers use to reach them and they can quickly tell organic from paid. Brands can instead leverage the online presence of potential local consumers through targeted user-generated content and incentivise local advocates to create content that will gain the traction of local audiences and direct them toward the brand’s social media page.

    Celebrities vs local brand advocates

    Certain connotations get associated with a brand when a celebrity endorses it. For example, people perceive that since a rich celebrity promotes the brand, it must be expensive or not readily available in their small town. However, when a localite endorses the same brand, the result is the stark opposite. Since the customers and the promoter are of the same socioeconomic level, the phrase “If he/she can do it, so can I” works its magic. It pushes potential customers to try out the brand at least once, and after a good customer experience, they join the chain of word-of-mouth, bringing in more customers. Another example from the pages of Hero Honda’s marketing strategy is based on building relationships with people who have a strong influence in the area, such as teachers, doctors, etc., to advocate for them.

    In the mistrust society, word-of-mouth is an easy, effective, and quick way to gain the trust of local customers. They are naturally inclined toward listening to and making a purchasing decision based on the genuine feedback of local brand advocates. The flexibility and adaptability of word-of-mouth marketing can get your brand in front of a broader local audience. The age-old tradition of increasing business by word-of-mouth is the way to reach locals in India’s tier two and three cities. The simplicity and community-oriented approach of word-of-mouth make it the best practice to attract local customers.

    The author of this article is Brandie co-founders Pranav Kosuri & Douglas Andersson.

  • Carat India wins integrated media mandate for TimesPro

    Carat India wins integrated media mandate for TimesPro

    Mumbai: Dentsu India’s media agency Carat has won the media mandate for TimesPro. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced from the agency’s Mumbai office.

    As per the mandate, the agency will manage the omnichannel media services for TimesPro.

    Speaking on the win, Carat India CEO Anita Kotwani said, “We are pleased to win the media business for TimePro. Carat is committed to creating meaningful end-to-end media solutions through data-driven marketing and to further accelerating the brand’s growth journey. As a team, we are excited to get this opportunity to work with a brand that is aiding every professional’s career aspiration!”

    TimesPro head of brand marketing & communications Gaurav Barjatya commented, “We are delighted to be working with Carat India. It’s an agency that’s responsive and nimble to the business demands of today, which span a variety of traditional and new-age media. We look forward to collaborating with them as we grow and take our H.EdTech offering to millions of learners nationwide.”

    TimesPro is an award-winning higher education technology initiative of the Times of India Group.