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Tag: Ashish Bhasin

  • Dentsu Aegis buys Lankan Grant Group, closure this week

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network today announces that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Grant Group, the largest independent creative agency and the pioneer of advertising in Sri Lanka. The acquisition of the 59-year-old integrated agency is Dentsu Aegis Network’s first foray into the island nation and one of the largest agency groups to enter the market in nearly two decades.

    The deal is expected to close this week.

    Dentsu Aegis Network APAC CEO Nick Waters said, “With social and economic stability in the country, Sri Lanka is set to reap the peace dividend. Significant foreign investment is already flowing into the country, and with strong historical ties to Japan, there is a natural opportunity for Dentsu Aegis Network clients to grow. Grant represents a unique opportunity as a top quality advertising and communications group to get into a strong position in a fast-growing market.”

    Established in 1958 by Deshabandu Reggie Candappa – fondly known as the godfather of advertising in Sri Lanka, the Grant Group was the country’s first-ever international advertising agency. Today, the Grant Group is an award winning agency with 150 people spread across seven entities under two main groups: Grant Advertising – which comprises Grant Advertising and Grant Media, and Grant Agencies which is made up of Response Marketing a second internationally-renowned creative agency, RN Media, a pioneering OOH agency, Grant Public Relations, a leader in reputation management, Juice Productions, content creation studios and Magnetic, a growing digital business.

    Post-acquisition, Grant Advertising will be known as Dentsu Grant while Grant Media will join Dentsu Aegis’ global media network brand, Carat. Other global agency brands within the network will integrate with their strong local agency counterparts to grow the business further adding value to their clients and their staff.

    Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin said, “The acquisition of Grant Group is a key step in the Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia strategy and will launch our business in a market with significant potential. Through the Grant Group, we have a unique opportunity to enter the market with a bang and will be amongst the largest integrated groups in the country.”

    “Grant is a well-established family-owned business with solid heritage and legacy, and Neela is a highly recognized personality in the corporate sector for her deep insight in the marketing communications arena and also for her work across women’s empowerment, conservation and sustainability. The group’s long standing relationships with their key clients, some over 50 years, also show that they have successfully built an incredibly strong network and trust from the clients,” Ashish added.

    The group represents a prestigious list of over 60 local and international clients including some of Sri Lanka’s largest advertisers Ceylon Biscuits, Sampath Bank, Dialog Axiata, Fonterra and Sri Lanka Tea Board. The Grant Group has received various accolades at local and global industry events, from Agency of the Year awards, to Response Marketing as the most effective independent agency for telecommunications globally at the Effie awards.

    Steering the Sri Lankan leadership team is Neela Marikkar, Chairperson and Managing Director of the Dentsu Aegis Network Grant Group. She will report to Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia.

    Grant Group chairperson Neela Marikkar said: “Given our long heritage in this market continuously staying ahead of the game, Dentsu Aegis Network’s cultural fit and best-in-class operating model are the right facets of a multinational partner to take our group and most importantly our clients and staff into a very dynamic future. More importantly given the growth in the market and the push towards digital, we need a strongly aligned and committed multinational partner with digital at its heart as brands grapple with the challenges of a changing media landscape. We are very excited to be able to tap on the network’s resources and work with the 38,000 great people at Dentsu Aegis Network. We are beginning a new chapter in the wonderful story of the Grant Group.”

  • DAN, a friend in need

    MUMBAI: InDeed, Dentsu Aegis Network’s newly launched CSR Advisory, will facilitate corporate investments by companies in Corporate Social Responsibly, through insights & a brand-led approach.

    InDeed, will provide best-in-class expertise and capabilities in Creative, Media, Digital, OOH, Activation and PR communications services, which will help brands build a truly Integrated and a Brand-Led CSR journey in India.

    InDeed will work with clients to infuse brand purpose into their CSR strategies. The aim is to integrate branding and CSR in order to build a corporate culture around responsibility, leading to business sustainability and thereby reap reputational rewards. This will, in turn, make Corporate Social Responsibility into an opportunity that is accountable, measurable and scalable across several CSR areas of development. (eradicating hunger, poverty & malnutrition, education, gender equality, rural sports, rural development projects, measure for the benefit of armed forces, ensuring environmental sustainability, contribution to the prime minister’s national relief fund and contributions or funds provided by technology incubators).

    InDeed is building a repository of India’s most credible and reputed NGOs and will connect them to corporates on the basis of thematic and geographical priorities – to create the best possible match. It will also be involved in conducting employee engagement activities and volunteering programs that result in a meaningful engagement of the staff in innovative social initiatives that are grounded in business practices.

    Indeed has also invested in best brand led CSR case studies to link it to NGO / Brand / CSR activity. More than 2500 case studies are mapped by geography, cost, product, NGO and CSR activity to make sure the best brand-led CSR is delivered.

    Commenting on the launch, Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO – south Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “Today several of our clients are making a huge investment in CSR but in an adhoc manner. Many corporates want to give back to the society but often don’t know how to go about it in a consistent and meaningful manner. Indeed will act as a catalyst in this entire process and Haresh and his team have really done pioneering work in this area. Feels great to be able to give back to society via a socially relevant business.”

    Indeed mentor and MD Haresh Nayak will lead this initiative from Dentsu Aegis Network. He strongly believes that brand building should be seamlessly combined with CSR strategies. He said, “It is not enough for brands to just ‘Greenwash’ their actions to provide PR-able fodder. Mostly such acts of philanthropic projects are short lived and rarely build a brand connect. However, if implemented in the right manner and with the right approach, brand building and CSR can perfectly complement each other.”

    Being a part of Denstu Aegis Network, InDeed will not only work with their existing clients but will also look at fresh collaborations.

    Currently the InDeed team will be based out of Dentsu Aegis Network’s Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore offices. Dentsu Aegis Network’s presence in India comprises the global network brands Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope, Vizeum, MKTG, Amnet and mcgarrybowen along with the Dentsu branded agencies – Dentsu Impact, Dentsu One, Dentsu India, Dentsu Media, Taproot Dentsu and Dentsu Webchutney. Also, newly added to the group are the recently acquired local brands Milestone Brandcom, WATConsult, Fountainhead MKTG, the Perfect Relations Group, Happy mcgarrybowen and Fractal Design Studio.

  • Goafest: FCB Ulka designs ‘Gods Of Advertising’

    MUMBAI: The gates are open to the biggest festival in the religion of Advertising! The campaign marking the onset of the 12th edition of Goafest, has been unveiled, under the theme- “Gods of Advertising”. The campaign has been conceptualized and designed by FCB Ulka in line with grandeur of the festival, where the Gods come together, celebrating the Gods within us.

    Under the campaign, the Gods of Advertising have been depicted like the Greek Gods, to give the entire campaign a unique identity. The campaign is built on clever canvas paintings of Greek Gods with a subtle integration of the elements of their times. The art purely showcases ancient Church art style that can also be seen in the design and the font. Everything together shows the grandeur and antiquity of the festival, lending strength to the theme.

    Commenting on the occasion, Goafest 2017 chairman and AAAI vice president Ashish Bhasin said, “Goafest 2017 is going to be at a level it has never been before and the campaign announcing that, Gods of Advertising, designed by FCB Ulka, has captured the feel very well. Goafest is about the Industry coming together and celebrating Creativity, sharing bonhomie within the industry participants and learning from experts, not just from our industry but from other fields as well, at a global scale. This year we have introduced several new initiatives, which will add to a lot of excitement and I thank and congratulate FCB Ulka for kicking off South Asia’s largest festival of advertising with a beautifully crafted campaign”.

    Shedding light on the premise of the campaign, FCB Ulka NCD south Mahendra Bhagat said, “‘Gods of Advertising’ as a phrase is something we hear often in the advertising industry. Goafest is a fun event, that’s given. But we wanted to talk about it being an enriching event too. Which is why, we directed our communication to the youngsters, telling them that the who’s who of advertising will surely be there – imparting knowledge and sharing ideas and an event that you surely can’t afford to miss.”

    “What I particularly like about this campaign is the treatment that’s given by our young creative team. Instead of repeating the typical imagery that’s associated with Goa, they thought of recreating these old frescos you see in some of the churches. Very distinct and very relevant. So, even though, it’s western in its content, it’s a little Indian in its outlook and execution,” he added.

    FCB Ulka is creating promotional posters, mailers and Press communication for Goafest 2017. The first leg the campaign kicks off with a series of promotional content highlighting the God of various divisions of advertising. Each of the Gods have been given a name and their specific characteristics and inviting people to not miss it, because even the Gods won’t give it a miss.

  • Ad Club, AAAI to fight violence against women together

    Ad Club, AAAI to fight violence against women together

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Club (TAC) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) have combined forces to launch a campaign to pitch communication as a force for good and battle the scourge of violence against women.

    Explaining the thought behind the initiative, The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “From governments to Fortune 500 companies, everybody entrusts us to communicate their agenda to the larger public. It is time to take our combined learnings and experience to devise a campaign that is in the interests of this larger public. To this end, we will be running a national search for a multi-media campaign that will aim to mitigate violence against women. I am confident that, as one, our industry will rise to pool in the highly creative resources at our disposal, to come up with a highly creative and effective communication campaign. We will fund the production of the winning campaign and launch it at GoaFest in April 2017.”

    Elaborating further, AAAI president Nakul Chopra commented, “Violence against women is an issue that concerns each and every one of us. As an industry we have the finest creative minds and strongest media linkages that are at the core of a high voltage communication effort. We also have the heart to take up a cause like this at a national level. I believe it will make the younger people proud to be a part of an industry that cares about real problems and uses its resources to address them.”

    GoaFest chairman Ashish Bhasin observed the growing scope of the festival, saying, “GoaFest was all about saluting creativity and presenting the Abby awards. We then added a knowledge quotient with the day-long seminars. Now, with this meaningful effort being launched here, the festival will celebrate not just our achievements but lay down our agenda of giving back to the society that we influence through our creativity.”

    The Advertising Club and the Advertising Association of India will release the campaign to call for entries on 19 January, 2017. The entries would be judged by an elite jury and the winning entry would be produced as a multimedia campaign and released ceremoniously on 7 April at the Goafest.

  • Ad Club, AAAI to fight violence against women together

    Ad Club, AAAI to fight violence against women together

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Club (TAC) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) have combined forces to launch a campaign to pitch communication as a force for good and battle the scourge of violence against women.

    Explaining the thought behind the initiative, The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “From governments to Fortune 500 companies, everybody entrusts us to communicate their agenda to the larger public. It is time to take our combined learnings and experience to devise a campaign that is in the interests of this larger public. To this end, we will be running a national search for a multi-media campaign that will aim to mitigate violence against women. I am confident that, as one, our industry will rise to pool in the highly creative resources at our disposal, to come up with a highly creative and effective communication campaign. We will fund the production of the winning campaign and launch it at GoaFest in April 2017.”

    Elaborating further, AAAI president Nakul Chopra commented, “Violence against women is an issue that concerns each and every one of us. As an industry we have the finest creative minds and strongest media linkages that are at the core of a high voltage communication effort. We also have the heart to take up a cause like this at a national level. I believe it will make the younger people proud to be a part of an industry that cares about real problems and uses its resources to address them.”

    GoaFest chairman Ashish Bhasin observed the growing scope of the festival, saying, “GoaFest was all about saluting creativity and presenting the Abby awards. We then added a knowledge quotient with the day-long seminars. Now, with this meaningful effort being launched here, the festival will celebrate not just our achievements but lay down our agenda of giving back to the society that we influence through our creativity.”

    The Advertising Club and the Advertising Association of India will release the campaign to call for entries on 19 January, 2017. The entries would be judged by an elite jury and the winning entry would be produced as a multimedia campaign and released ceremoniously on 7 April at the Goafest.

  • First Indian agency to hire differently abled #WATturns10; launches #ThatsMyGirl

    First Indian agency to hire differently abled #WATturns10; launches #ThatsMyGirl

    MUMBAI: WATConsult has launched two initiatives — a CSR campaign #ThatsMyGirl to support the education of a girl child, and the agency will now hire differently abled people.

    WATConsult, one of India’s leading and most awarded digital and social media agencies, now part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, has completed a decade. WATConsult started in 2007 with three services and a team of four. Today, the agency offers 22 boutique services with a team strength of more than 280 people, across India.

    To celebrate its journey, the agency has launched a digital campaign – #WATturns10. The campaign featured a series of activities across social media platforms highlighting the key moments and people who have been instrumental in the success of the agency.

    On Facebook, the agency featured 10 of their best campaigns. Crazy and whacky memories of agency life were recalled on Snapchat – 10 days, 10 stories. Current and former employees shared their memorable moments and cherished memories at WATConsult on Twitter.

    WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “We look forward to creating ripples in the coming years not only in India but at the global stage.”

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO – South Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “It is good to see an agency complete 10 years in a highly competitive market.”

  • First Indian agency to hire differently abled #WATturns10; launches #ThatsMyGirl

    First Indian agency to hire differently abled #WATturns10; launches #ThatsMyGirl

    MUMBAI: WATConsult has launched two initiatives — a CSR campaign #ThatsMyGirl to support the education of a girl child, and the agency will now hire differently abled people.

    WATConsult, one of India’s leading and most awarded digital and social media agencies, now part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, has completed a decade. WATConsult started in 2007 with three services and a team of four. Today, the agency offers 22 boutique services with a team strength of more than 280 people, across India.

    To celebrate its journey, the agency has launched a digital campaign – #WATturns10. The campaign featured a series of activities across social media platforms highlighting the key moments and people who have been instrumental in the success of the agency.

    On Facebook, the agency featured 10 of their best campaigns. Crazy and whacky memories of agency life were recalled on Snapchat – 10 days, 10 stories. Current and former employees shared their memorable moments and cherished memories at WATConsult on Twitter.

    WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “We look forward to creating ripples in the coming years not only in India but at the global stage.”

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO – South Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “It is good to see an agency complete 10 years in a highly competitive market.”

  • Upbeat with ’16 billing, Dentsu Aegis aims to be No. 2 in ’17

    Upbeat with ’16 billing, Dentsu Aegis aims to be No. 2 in ’17

    MUMBAI: Large account wins and a number of acquisitions in creative, digital and PR segments, Dentsu Aegis Network is on a roll with an approximate 2016 billing of Rs 4,500 crore.

    Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia chairman and chief executive Ashish Bhasin is upbeat about his target of dislodging IPG from the number two spot by 2017. Industry experts however believed that while Dentsu could be on a growth path, overtaking IPG might be a distant dream.

    DAN has managed to beat British and American advertising conglomerates such as WPP and IPG in rapid acquisition. Now, its real challenge will be to ensure integration of acquired companies in its network.

    Dileep Cherian-owned Perfect Relations was acquired by DAN last September for an estimated Rs 200-250 crore, followed by creative marketing agency Happy Creative acquisition for an estimated Rs 300 crore followed by experiential design studio Fractal Ink purchase for Rs 250 crore. DAN earlier acquired Milestone Brandcom, WAT Consult, Fountainhead-MKTG, Webchutney and Taproot.

    Bhasin hoped that that 50 per cent growth would come from acquired businesses.

  • Upbeat with ’16 billing, Dentsu Aegis aims to be No. 2 in ’17

    Upbeat with ’16 billing, Dentsu Aegis aims to be No. 2 in ’17

    MUMBAI: Large account wins and a number of acquisitions in creative, digital and PR segments, Dentsu Aegis Network is on a roll with an approximate 2016 billing of Rs 4,500 crore.

    Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia chairman and chief executive Ashish Bhasin is upbeat about his target of dislodging IPG from the number two spot by 2017. Industry experts however believed that while Dentsu could be on a growth path, overtaking IPG might be a distant dream.

    DAN has managed to beat British and American advertising conglomerates such as WPP and IPG in rapid acquisition. Now, its real challenge will be to ensure integration of acquired companies in its network.

    Dileep Cherian-owned Perfect Relations was acquired by DAN last September for an estimated Rs 200-250 crore, followed by creative marketing agency Happy Creative acquisition for an estimated Rs 300 crore followed by experiential design studio Fractal Ink purchase for Rs 250 crore. DAN earlier acquired Milestone Brandcom, WAT Consult, Fountainhead-MKTG, Webchutney and Taproot.

    Bhasin hoped that that 50 per cent growth would come from acquired businesses.

  • AAAI & TAC to award ‘Best Clients’: Goafest 2017

    AAAI & TAC to award ‘Best Clients’: Goafest 2017

    MUMBAI: Conceived and curated by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club, the awards will recognise and honor Six Champions of Excellence at the Goafest 2017.

    “It is for the first time ever that the industry has an award dedicated to acknowledge and salute visionary advertisers who have taken the leap of faith and invested resources, ensuring that “Great ideas transform into Great advertising.”

    Speaking about instituting the new awards, The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “We believe that this initiative will plug a very important white space in the process of celebrating excellence in advertising. The advertiser’s product or service is the raison d’etre for advertising and their role in inspiring good advertising is imperative and must be celebrated.”

    AAAI Nakul president Chopra added that “these awards celebrate clients who motivate and encourage their agencies to push the creative envelope and create winning campaigns. They also acknowledge clients who invest in meaningful relationships with their agencies.”

    “The presentation of this award at GoaFest makes our festival more complete and comprehensive. Now we have all the people playing an instrumental role in bringing alive the magic we call advertising, assembled and recognized in one place,” said Goafest chairman Ashish Bhasin.

    Nominations for the awards are invited from Agencies for Champions of Excellence, and will be judged by senior members of the Awards Governing Council of the Abby awards. The entry should mention the name of a senior member of the advertiser team who could be considered for this high honor. It should include a note of not more than 500 words explaining why the individual was deserving of this award. The entry should be signed by the NCD or CEO of the Agency and sent to the AAAI (Please mention email id) before 31 January 2017.

    Multiple entries are permitted. There is no entry fee.