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Tag: DDB Mudra

  • Leo Burnett India appoints Aman Mannan as group ECD

    Leo Burnett India appoints Aman Mannan as group ECD

    MUMBAI: Leo Burnett India has appointed Aman Mannan as group executive creative director. Mannan will be based at Leo Burnett India’s head office in Mumbai and will work closely with Leo Burnett India chief creative officer RajDeepak Das towards creating work that strongly reflects the agency’s human kind philosophy.  

    Speaking on his appointment, Das said, “I am really excited about Aman joining us as this further strengthens our creative team that is not only young but also extremely talented. Aman brings with him a lot of positive energy and newer ways of storytelling that will help us find the right solutions to our clients’ problems.”

    Mannan added, “This really is an exciting time to be part of Leo Burnett India. I look forward to working with both RajDeepak and Saurabh to create a wave of new age integrated work.”  

    Mannan joins from DDB Mudra where he was executive creative director. Prior to DDB Mudra, he has had stints with McCann Erickson and Interface Communications. In a career that spans more than a decade, he has worked across categories on brands such as Union Bank of India, Future Group, Godrej No. 1, Lipton, HBO, ICICI Lombard, Saffola, Parachute, Onida, Nerolac, Radio Mirchi, Tata Indicom, NDTV, Mahindra and Mahindra (Scorpio, Bolero, Maxx), Nerolac and Blue Star to name a few.

    Mannan’s work has won him accolades in both international and national circuits including the prestigious Cannes, Emvies, London International Awards, Abbys and Mirchi Kaan Awards.

     

  • Keegan Pinto joins DDB Mudra West as group creative director

    Keegan Pinto joins DDB Mudra West as group creative director

    MUMBAI: Adding more zeal to the creative force of DDB Mudra West, the agency has got on board Keegan Pinto as group creative director.

    With more than a decade of experience, Pinto’s previous stints were with Lowe Lintas, Bates 141, Rediffusion Young & Rubicam, O&M Mumbai and Colenso BBDO Auckland, New Zealand. He has been associated with brands including Tata Tea ‘Jaago Re’, Lifebuoy Worldwide, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Tetley Tea, Videocon d2h, Onida air conditioners, TVS, Domex, Croma, Bajaj Bikes, DNA newspaper, Airtel, Economic Times, HLL – Dove, Lakme, Ponds, P&G – Vicks, Kingfisher Airlines, Zoom TV, Hindustan Pencils, World Gold Council and BBC World to name a few.

    His work has won him accolades in both the international and national circuits including the prestigious New York Festival, D&AD, One Show, Adfest, Cannes Lions, Abbys and Effies.

    The avid Bollywood enthusiast commented on his new role, “I’ve been a fan of Sonal’s work especially the ‘Indian Panga League’ campaign for Virgin Mobile and I really look forward to working with him. Rahul Mathew is a powerhouse too, and now with him leading the way at DDB Mudra West, I see a real reason to join the fight and help take DDB Mudra West to the next level. DDB Mudra Group has always had all it to takes to be a serious influencer in the Indian advertising scene, and I hope to be part of that little push with some fun, ‘junta’ work.”

    DDB Mudra West creative head Rahul Mathew said, “We believe that great work is created by like-minded people with diverse backgrounds and passions. Keegan is yet another step in that direction. He brings a rather unique skill-set to the table. And at the same time is completely aligned and excited by the vision we have for the agency. I am really looking forward to his diversity adding to our body of work.”

     

  • Max brings on board DDB Mudra as its new creative agency

    Max brings on board DDB Mudra as its new creative agency

    MUMBAI: Hindi movie channels Sony Max and Max2, have roped in DDB Mudra as their new creative agency.

     

    Commencing from 1 October, DDB Mudra will handle the creative duties for the brands Sony Max and Max2 which were previously handled by J Walter Thompson.

     

    Commenting on this change Sony Max and Max2 VP marketing and communications Vaishali Sharma said, “With the ever changing business environment, it is important to continuously reinvent and innovate as a market leader.  We are happy to have DDB Mudra as our new agency on board and look forward to working with them. We are confident that they will provide us with a fresh perspective for our campaigns and will enable us to scale new heights.”

     

    The decision was closed following a competitive pitch by a few selectively invited agencies, vying for the account.

     

    Talking about its new assignment, DDB Mudra Group executive director and president Rajiv Sabnis said, “If Bollywood and cricket are like religion in India, then Max is the temple at which Indian viewers pay obeisance. You can’t ask for better. The DDB Mudra mandate is to take this obsession with Bollywood and cricket to the next level.”

  • Lodestar UM retains number two position at EMVIES 2014

    Lodestar UM retains number two position at EMVIES 2014

    MUMBAI: It was a night of celebration and awards. And at the centre of it was Maxus, which won nine gold, six silver and three bronze trophies at the EMVIES 2014.

     

    Maintaining the second position was Loadstar UM which bagged one gold and 13 silver trophies. On the win, Loadstar UM CEO Nandini Dias said, “It would have been nice to have been the media agency of the year, but many would say that I should be satisfied since we are way ahead of a lot of others. The good part is that no agency has had award winning work across so many diverse clients and categories.”

     

    “We have Coca Cola, Microsoft , Mahindra , Amul , Tata Motors, Johnson and Johnson, Kansai Nerolac . In addition we have won in categories which are the toughest that is ‘strategy and research’ and ’analytics’. Unfortunately in digital space despite being digital agency of the year in IAMAI, in Emvies barring one none of the work got short listed,” she added.

     

    This year saw 650 entries, of which 132 were shortlisted by 32 marketing and research professionals.  Maxus got the highest number of shortlists with 27 entries, followed by Madison Media and Lodestar UM which got 23 shortlists each and Mindshare with 19 entries.  

     

    The ‘Best Media Client of the Year’ was bagged by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Tata Global Beverages with 100 points each. While Tata Global Beverages won four gold and two silver medals and HUL bagged three gold, five silver and one bronze medal.

     

    The fourth position for ‘Media Agency of the Year’ was jointly bagged by Madison Media Pinnacle and Madison Media Infinity with 70 points each, while PHD India stood at number five with 55 points.

     

    The evening also the felicitation of the ‘Young Emvie of the Year’ which was won by DDB Mudramax  chief youth marketer Samyak Chakrabarty for his Operation Black Dot, Clean and Clear, United Nations Young Changemakers Conclave and DDB Mudra Group Youth Report. As part of the prize, Chakrabarty has been given an all expense paid trip from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi as well as a free trip to Ferrari World.

  • DDB Mudra West appoints Ferzad Variyava as group CD

    DDB Mudra West appoints Ferzad Variyava as group CD

    MUMBAI: DDB Mudra has announced the appointment of Ferzad Variyava as group creative director, DDB Mudra West. Variyava will be based out of the agency’s office in Mumbai.

     

    DDB Mudra West creative head Rahul Mathew said, “Over the last few months, we’ve been rebuilding our creative force here at DDB Mudra West. And Ferzad is yet another stride in that direction. I have always admired his craft as a writer and am sure he’s going to raise the standard, on many counts, for all of us.”

     

    Variyava joins DDB Mudra West from L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, where he worked as executive creative director. With over 13 years of experience, Ferzad has worked on household blue chip brands in banking, media, FMCG, beauty, personal care, travel and telecommunications. With a history of partnering new business wins, he has been mentored by industry legends in senior client and agency relationship management.

     

    Variyava said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be working with Rahul Mathew and Sonal Dabral. I have always been a fan of work and culture of DDB Mudra and I feel privileged to be a part of this team.”

  • Sudhir Puthran to handle west India ad sales for Kasturi channels

    Sudhir Puthran to handle west India ad sales for Kasturi channels

    MUMBAI: Kannada channels Kasturi and Kasturi News have got a new ad sales head for west India in Sudhir Puthran.

     

    Based in Mumbai, Puthran who joined the company nearly a month ago will handle the ad sales for both, the general entertainment channel and the News channel. He will report to Kasturi Media sales and marketing head Navaneeth CM.

     

    Prior to this, Puthran was DDB Mudra group head, where he was part of the decision making team for marketing and brand building. He was also involved in deciding marketing budget, creating annual marketing campaigns, conceptualising brand campaigns and establishing annual goals for marketing.

     

    He has also worked with MPG, TME, Dentsu India, Madison Media and Radio City. His mandate at Kasturi will be to increase revenue from the west by 50 per cent while heading a team of two.

     

    Kasturi, the GEC was launched in 2007 and headed by its managing director Anitha Kumaraswamy. She is the wife of HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister of the state and son of former Prime Minister of India HD Deve Gowda. The News channel was launched in 2011.

     

    The GEC has shows such as Nagmani, Sai Baba, Nakara Bakara, Kamanabillu, Swara Madhurya, Divya Degula, Phata Phat, Reel Suddhi, Cini Club, Just Travel, Jeevan Mukhi, Bhanuvarada Baadoota, Nalapaka and Super Samsaara.

  • Integrated Marketing Communication is the future: John Zeigler

    Integrated Marketing Communication is the future: John Zeigler

    MUMBAI: The world is changing and it is the right time to understand the change and make a difference believes DDB Group Asia Pacific, India and Japan chairman and CEO John Zeigler.

     

    He along with Tribal Worldwide Asia president Jeff Cheong are in India to meet clients and converse about cross-pollination between Singapore, India and Sydney to help the region. The visit was planned to meet more talent from the region and get some collaborative work across the table informs Zeigler.

     

    It can be recalled that early this year DDB Mudra acquired 22Feet, a Bangalore based digital agency. The agency is aiming to get some great pieces of work out very soon. Cheong is of the opinion that, “India is a talent pool when it comes to technologists and the acquisition of 22Feet has helped us reach greater heights.”

     

    Zeigler who believes that ‘Integrated Marketing Communication is the future,’ also thinks adding human touch in advertising campaigns creates magic. “Creativity is our birth right, humanity is our inspiration and technology is our canvas,” says Zeigler proudly, while elaborating the mantra of the various innovative campaigns the group has done.  

     

    The ‘Sorry, I spent it on myself’ campaign done by adam&eveDDB for Harvey Nichols and Heineken Ignite, an experiential campaign launched at the Milan Design Week by Tribal DDB Amsterdam are just a few innovations done by the group to take the message beyond just advertising. “It needs to be about creating influence,” says Zeigler.

     

    In India, the ‘Push the pin’ campaign for Jaago Re before the 2014 general elections allowed users to voice relevant issues from their respective constituencies. Apart from that, the 52 week long campaign for Big Bazaar is a first of its kind marketing communication in the country wherein each week a new TVC is being launched focusing on various products offered.

     

    After its consistent good performance, the network in India is now taking the next step of collaboration and integration within the system.

     

    Given the new order of business and marketing challenges, increasing conversations and demands from a wide spectrum of collaborative and integrated solutions, the DDB Mudra Group, with its 10 agencies and operating units (DDB Mudra West, DDB Mudra South & East, DDB Mudra North, DDB MudraMax – OOH, DDB MudraMax – Experiential, DDB MudraMax – Media, TracyLocke, 22feet Tribal Worldwide, RAPP and DDB Remedy) have re-constituted its executive board.

     

    The new board will see the addition of five more members taking the total toll to eight. The members include: Madhukar Kamath, Sonal Dabral, Anurag Bansal, Sathyamurthy Namakkal, Aneil Deepak, Deepak Nair, Mandeep Malhotra and Rajiv Sabnis.

     

    “We are investing in people who will bring with them different kind of aspects and perspectives to the board,” says the group CEO and MD Madhukar Kamath on the backdrop of the various high management appointments.

     

    Apart from this, the group has also created a group creative council and a strategic planning council. The creative council will consist of Aneil Deepak, Brijesh Jacob, Rahul Mathew, Sambit Mohanty and Vipul Thakkar while the strategic planning council will have Aditya Kanthy, Amit Kekre, Pradeep Ramakrishnan and Ramraaj Raghunathan.

     

    The two councils will be headed by Dabral. “We have formulated the cross-section of talent and it will help us better our work,” he says while adding that soon the group will launch its own creative awards which are as of now tentatively named ‘Bernie’ on the group’s founder, the legendary Bill Bernbach.

     

    The executive council will meet once a month over video conferences and on quarterly basis in either of the offices or at an offsite.

     

    “It is the age of ‘influence’ and we believe in leading the change,” concludes Kamath.

  • HBO gets quirky with its new brand campaign

    HBO gets quirky with its new brand campaign

    MUMBAI: HBO South Asia has come up with a new campaign to promote HBO’s belief ‘Nothing should come in the way of entertainment.’ 

    Executed by DDB Mudra, the campaign highlights the core strength of the HBO premium channels: HBO Defined and HBO Hits, wherein audiences have an uninterrupted ad-free viewing experience. The objective of the communication is to get people to visit the channel’s website and subscribe to HBO Premium channels or directly through DTH operator or digital cable operators. 

    “Both the HBO premium channels maximise the entertainment experience by airing HBO original content and blockbuster movies 100 per cent break-free. We have initiated a multimedia campaign developed by DDB Mudra to promote the visibility and popularity of this unique proposition of HBO Defined and HBO Hits across platforms including print, cinema, TV, digital and social media. Our aim is to spoil our viewers with the very best non-stop, high quality programming, thus providing an unparalleled viewing experience,” said HBO India managing director-South Asia Monica Tata.

    HBO premium has taken a new route in its quirky TVCs with HBO Premium Accessories like HBO Agriculture, HBO Super Clone and HBO Ultimate Couch. While HBO Super Clone is a clone that manages everything in life so that one is not interrupted while watching TV, HBO Agriculture is a set of plants that grows foods like popcorn, burgers, etc., so that hunger doesn’t interrupt one from watching TV. The HBO Ultimate Couch is a couch that has just about the whole house built into it – dumbbell holders so that one doesn’t have to get up to workout, a wash basin so that one doesn’t need to get up to go to the restroom, an in-built kitchen and phone charging station and much more. 

    Click here to watch the video

    “Through this campaign, we want to establish the HBO premium channels as your most preferred destination for break free entertainment. And to promote this belief and product of ours, we’ve come up with the idea of HBO Premium Accessories – that makes sure that life doesn’t come in the way of your entertainment either. Our creative approach for this campaign drives home this point, in a fun way. Positioned at the young adult segment, the campaign empowers the viewers to reap the benefits of a completely enhanced ad-free viewing experience,” added Tata.

    Click here to watch the video

    “Content promotion on a channel has a very formulaic approach. The usual strategy is to build intrigue through teaser like edits by using existing footage of the content that needs to be promoted. We wanted to break away from this traditional approach and leverage the USP of uninterrupted original HD quality content in a way that goes beyond just claims and announcements of the product offering. Thus came about our creative proposition of ‘addictive viewing experience’ dramatised through two TV spots showing the consumers going through the experience. We believe it is imperative for a content brand to build the ideology of viewing experience in addition to the promise of fresh content for the consumers to feel compelled to subscribe,” concluded DDB Mudra senior vice president Anurag Tandon.

  • Sonal Dabral to mentor ‘See It Be It’ session at Cannes Lions

    Sonal Dabral to mentor ‘See It Be It’ session at Cannes Lions

    MUMBAI: DDB Mudra Group chairman & CCO Sonal Dabral has been chosen by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity as one of the 12 mentors of the ‘See It Be It’ initiative.

     

    The initiative, a first-of-its-kind, invites 12 women, who have been chosen from nominations sent in by agency leaders across the globe, to Cannes Lions for a unique programme and filmmaking project.

     

    Dabral said, “See It Be It is great initiative by the Cannes Lions Festival, which focuses on one of the fundamental problems our industry is facing the world over. I am honoured and excited to be invited as one of the mentors and I look forward to interacting and sharing my experiences with the future stars of our industry. I wish this truly commendable programme long life and great success.”

     

    The programme aims to further women’s careers in the creative industry, encouraging them to stay in the industry. Across three days, 12 women will be part of an inspirational and educational programme which will take place during Cannes Lions. The agenda will include guided access to the jury rooms, meet and greets with VIP speakers, dedicated sessions by industry leaders and by the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, and a mentorship event supported by SheSays.

     

    Commenting on the initiative, Lions Festival’s director of Brand Strategy Senta Slingerland said, “We know a more gender-balanced creative industry will result in better work. This programme identifies the next set of female creative heavyweights – they exist, but need an extra push into the spotlight. Mentorship is an important part of this programme. Sonal has always supported what we were trying to achieve which he’s one of only two male mentors this year! The others are very successful and inspirational women from around the world.”

     

    The programme will run from 15 to 17 June in Cannes, France, home to Cannes Lions.