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Tag: creative

  • Lintas C:EX Entertainment names Niranjana H as CD – brand solutions

    Lintas C:EX Entertainment names Niranjana H as CD – brand solutions

    Mumbai: Lintas C:EX Entertainment, the newly launched branded and original content division of MullenLowe Lintas Group has named Niranjana H as creative director – brand solutions.

    In this new role, Niranjana will be responsible for identifying and creating content opportunities for brands. The appointment is effective immediately, said the company.

    MullenLowe Lintas Group aims to strengthen its foothold in the original and branded content space through Lintas C:EX Entertainment. This new appointment is another step in the direction of furthering the divisions’ vision of telling impactful and entertaining stories.

    A broadcast media and entertainment professional, Niranjana comes with over nine years of production experience across films and television with expertise across the board in ideation, producing, writing, pre-and post-production. Her experience across different genres –both fiction and non-fiction – combined with a strong understanding of content development – both scripted and non-scripted – will help the division to curate a slate of original content Ips, according to the agency.

    In her previous professional journey, Niranjana has been a part of Discovery Communications, Zee Entertainment and most recently, Arré (U Digital Content). She has been responsible for story development, scripting, production and the final output for fiction programming during her aforementioned stints. At Zee Entertainment, Niranjana contributed to more than five primetime shows as well as weekend shows – “Qubool Hai,” “Neeli Chatri Wale,” and owned the programming, content curation and strategy for TLC, TLC HD World and Investigation Discovery at Discovery Communications. She also served as executive producer on Discovery and Discovery Plus originals apart from the curation.

  • GUEST COLUMN: The harm that good ads do

    GUEST COLUMN: The harm that good ads do

    Mumbai: If you want to greet somebody in the morning, two things are essential. First, you have to say ‘Good Morning,’ not ‘Good Night’ or ‘Good Afternoon.’ And second, you should say it pleasantly. If this combination goes haywire, you won’t get the other person to say ‘Good Morning’ to you, and with a smile.

    What to say is the ‘strategy’. How to say is the ‘creative’. Effective communication is a perfect blend of content and presentation.

    The job of strategy is to set the message right. And to do that, it has to get the objective right. It should be a precise and well-defined objective. The objective must be in terms of a shift in feeling with reference to the brand in question. And then, to achieve that, the specific message has to be precise like the tip of an arrow. Sharp.

    A creative’s job is to say ‘Good Morning’ but in a way that is interesting and engaging. Saying it with a blank face and with a serious voice won’t cut any ice. At the same time, a creative cannot say ‘Good Night’ in the morning howsoever enchanting the way it is said in. Your audience will like the smile and the charm but won’t get that you wanted to greet them with a ‘Good Morning.’

    When the strategy is right, it may be basic, it may be obvious, but if it is right, the job of the creative is to engage the audience in a powerful manner. And only an emotional approach can engage the audience in a powerful way. Emotions can be of any kind, including humour, which is one of the most powerful emotions used for communication.

    Things start behaving like life when we forget this basic principle. When we create ads that are very engaging but they don’t say ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Good Afternoon,’ they might confuse people but in a very engaging and charming way. The road to disaster is paved with charming ads.  God forgive them for they know not what they were supposed to convey.

    And while they don’t communicate what they were supposed to, they obviously don’t get the right result, which is primarily contributing to the brand image and secondarily, helping sell the product. When the batsman doesn’t score the runs in spite of hitting some beautiful shots, the selectors start believing that those shots must not be used again. While the real culprit is the strategic miscalculation while executing these shots.

    Clients start believing that since these charming ads aren’t working in the long run, charming ads don’t work. They don’t see the bigger picture and become wary of ads that are highly creative. And they go back to dull and boring ads which they believe work for the brand.

    We need to understand and distinguish between four kinds of ads:

    1.     Boring ads based on wrong strategies.

    2.     Boring ads based on the right strategies.

    3.     Highly engaging ads based on the right strategies.

    4.     Highly engaging ads based on wrong strategies, and

    No 1) Boring ads based on wrong strategies are certified and guaranteed disasters. Nothing can save them. Everything is wrong with them. Life looks quite pointless after watching them. Something immediately dies inside you.

    No 2) Boring ads based on the right strategies are mediocre and will bring average results for the image. Look around, the world is full of them. These are donkeys walking in the right direction. But they are donkeys.

    No 3) Highly engaging ads based on the right strategies are the darlings of the industry. Everybody wants them. Though, not everybody recognizes them. There is no debate on these. They build factories.

    No 4) These are highly engaging ads based on wrong strategies. These are the good-looking villains which do the real harm. They are like ‘Asurs’ in the guise of ‘Apsaras’.  Because of them, you don’t get the message right. They say “Good Evening” in a beautiful voice at 7 am, leaving the audience charmed, confused, and lost.

    These ads give a bad name to the really good, charming, engaging, and creative ads. Clients become wary of all creative and clutter-breaking ads. Once bitten, twice shy. The Cred Rahul Dravid ad is the epitome of this category. Highly engaging and disruptive, but leave the audience asking “Arre kehna kya chaahte ho bhai?”

    (Kapil Mishra is a brand and creative Consultant at Indiassetz, where he oversees the entire marketing, social media communication, and advertising. The views expressed in this column are personal, and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • Reliance General Insurance wishes to be every car owner’s ‘Friend in need’

    Reliance General Insurance wishes to be every car owner’s ‘Friend in need’

    Mumbai: Reliance General Insurance Company (RGICL) has launched its new digital campaign #CarKaYaar to reinforce its brand positioning as the ‘Friend in Need’ for car insurance customers.

    Created by ^ a t o m network, the campaign includes an animated series of six films that drives the message – ‘RGICL will always take care of you and your car, no matter what happens’. Using RGICL’s affable brand face BroBot in extraordinary situations, the campaign uses a humorous and quirky storytelling approach to communicate its message.

    Explaining the thought behind the campaign, Reliance General Insurance chief distribution officer Anand Singhi said, “Classically the insurance sector has been filled with serious narratives depicting care, security, and various other emotional spiels. With the #CarKaYaar campaign, we have tried to break free the monotony and communicate our message in a fresh way with a bit of humor and quirkiness.”

    Talking about the evolution of the insurance industry in the past few years, Singhi said, there has been a significant change in customers’ insurance requirements. “Add-ons are critical components in car insurance policies that offer additional protection. However, there is a lack of awareness. With this campaign, we have tried to raise awareness about car insurance add-ons and how they can offer financial protection against various types of car damages,” he added.

    ^ a t o m CCO Yash Kulshretsha and NCD Ananda Sen said, “The motor insurance journey is filled with doubts and skepticism of customers. The fear of not having something covered in an accident is more significant than the accident itself. We set out to highlight that with a series of films under ‘No matter what happens to your car, you can always rely on your #CarKaYaar.”

  • Dentsu Webchutney bags digital duties for Virender Sehwag’s new venture, Cricuru

    Dentsu Webchutney bags digital duties for Virender Sehwag’s new venture, Cricuru

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney, the digital-led creative agency from the house of dentsu India, has won the digital creative and media duties for Cricuru, the recently launched learning platform for Cricket.

    While Cricket remains the biggest and the most loved sport in India, what is rather surprising is the level of motivation needed to make it to the highest levels. While many dream of becoming cricketers, most don’t even get a chance. The biggest barriers here tend to be a lack of proper guidance, coaching, and/or the aspirant-to-coach ratio. To make cricketing a reality for millions and to leave them with skills of hard work and excellence, Cricuru has enlisted a star-studded line-up of 30+ masters of International and first-class cricket. These players will now come together to pass on their learnings to every nook and corner of the world, starting with India. Through this initiative, Cricuru aims to bring the ‘+’ advantage for every lover of this game.

    This cricket coaching program is a business venture by ex-Indian cricketer, Virender Sehwag along with Sanjay Bangar, a former assistant coach of the Indian men’s team. Cricuru was born out of their love and passion for the game and the philosophy that world-class cricket coaching should be accessible to everyone.

    Speaking about Cricuru and the upcoming partnership with Dentsu Webchutney, Virender Sehwag said, “With Cricuru, we are reaching talent in every part of the country, especially to the kids in smaller towns who don’t have access to high-class coaching. Our aim is to guide them with their skills and technique and help them get across those mental challenges that we have undergone as players in our careers. Backed with AI and dial-a-coach modules, this innovative and one-of-a-kind program needed the strategic and creative thinking of an agency like Dentsu Webchutney for our long-term success. Together, we hope to give every cricket aspirant an added ‘You+’ advantage.”

    Dentsu Webchutney EVP & National business head Prashant Gopalakrishnan said, “Dentsu Webchutney is thrilled to innovate for this exciting category, where ed-tech and cricket are coming together in a new way. This mandate brings with it a chance to work with the experience of legends across the globe. Their passion is contagious for our die-hard cricket fans at Webchutney. In fact, Viru’s philosophy of learning has played a huge role in helping craft our creative approach.”

    For the record, Perfect Relations – the PR arm of dentsu India, handles the Public Relations mandate for Cricuru. The mandate also included the launch of the brand, nationally.

    Cricuru, launched on 9 June, provides content from Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, AB de Villiers, and cricketing greats like Muttiah Muralitharan, Brian Lara, Jonty Rhodes. Check out: www.cricuru.com for more!

  • upGrad names Shreyas Shevade as Head of Creative & Content Marketing for India

    Mumbai: Higher ed-tech start-up upGrad on Thursday announced the appointment of Shreyas Shevade as the head of creative and content marketing. Shreyas’s role will be to integrate upGrad’s brand messaging across traditional and new media.

    An award-winning creative professional, Shevade brings with him over 11 years of experience in integrated advertising, digital marketing, PR, and relationship marketing. He has previously worked with leading and multi-national agencies such as MRM//McCann, Edelman, Contract Advertising, Rediffusion Y&R, and Grey Worldwide.

    Through the course of his career, Shevade has crafted clutter-breaking campaigns for brands like Volkswagen, Durex, Surf Excel, Dove, Bajaj Allianz, and IndiaFirst Life Insurance, which have won several national and international awards.

    On welcoming Shreyas to his new role, upGrad, CEO-India, Arjun Mohan said, “Smartly-crafted branded content and storytelling skills have the potential to connect with audiences at an emotional level. Shreyas’s rich marketing experience and cultural inclination will help us strengthen our brand presence across the country. We are thrilled to welcome Shreyas to the upGrad family.”

    Talking about his new role, Shevade, said, “Edtech is at an interesting juncture of revolutionising education, changing the norms of how, where, when, and who it is made accessible to, and upGrad is at the helm of this revolution. The fact that upGrad’s philosophy of Lifelong Learning matches my own, and that I get to work closely with entrepreneurs I’ve admired from afar, is what I’m pumped about the most.”

    Inclined to the tradition of imparting knowledge and education even outside of work, Shreyas gives guest lectures at Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. He also works with home-grown businesses within his networks, to guide and mentor them in their marketing initiatives, said the company in a statement.

  • Isobar India appoints Aalap Desai as national creative director

    MUMBAI: Isobar, the digital agency from the house of dentsu India, has roped in Aalap Desai as National creative director (NCD). In his new role, Aalap will lead the agency’s creative team and report to COO Gopa Kumar.

    Aalap was previously associated with dentsumcgarrybowen (dentsuMB) India where he held the position of NCD. In addition to this, he also co-headed the creative team at Mumbai-based Dentsu Webchutney and was behind some of the agency’s most notable works. Aalap’s professional stints also include Disney+ Hotstar, Leo Burnett, JWT, DDB Mudra, Ogilvy, and Publicis Ambience.  

    Speaking on the appointment, Isobar South Asia managing director Shamsuddin Jasani said, “At Isobar, our motto is to ‘Invent, Make, Change’. We are striving to deliver innovative creative experience-led solutions for our brands in India. Aalap looks at tech as not something dry and lifeless but as something that can change lives and makes it work harder for brands. That’s a perfect fit with our philosophy and is the apt approach we need to make Isobar future-proof as a leader in innovations in India.”

    Gopa Kumar said, “We live in an age of clutter coupled with shrunken attention spans. For brands to rip through the noise and stand out is of paramount importance. Creativity is the only thing that can make that possible. It is not garnishing anymore. It is the meat. It is the substance, and it is the only way brands can take a leap. Aalap’s brand of creativity is just what Isobar India needs. Enjoyable and meaningful. I couldn’t think of anyone else better than Aalap to partner us in our next phase of growth.”

    Desai has won over 150 International & National awards and has also written feature film scripts, web series, and TV shows.

    Commenting on his joining, Desai said, “Digital is a creative mine that is still hugely under-explored. Solving brand challenges with a proper insight that is supplemented by digital intuition is an explosive combination that very few people are aware of and something that even fewer choose to tap into. This combination has always been part of the Isobar DNA, and I will work towards hyper-charging it. Also, the past year has been tiring. Work pressure has eclipsed the joy we derived from work. One of my top agendas will be to reverse that because I genuinely believe that a tiny, seemingly insignificant thing as joy is actually the only key that opens up many locks. It unlocks creativity, leading to unlocking fame, awards, and a thriving creative culture because all of these follow. Isobar has phenomenal energy and a brilliant set of people. I’m looking forward to having tons of fun.”