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Tag: DDB Mudra

  • Wunderman Thompson Mumbai appoints Anurag Tandon as managing partner

    Wunderman Thompson Mumbai appoints Anurag Tandon as managing partner

    MUMBAI: Wunderman Thompson India has appointed Anurag Tandon as its managing partner to lead its Mumbai operations, effective 16 May.

    In his new role, Tandon will focus on growing the client base in Mumbai and closely work with teams on providing business solutions for brands by leveraging the agency’s capabilities of creative, technology, strategic consultancy, commerce and data-driven experience and design.

    Tandon joins Wunderman Thompson from DDB Mudra where he served as managing partner heading the Mumbai and Ahmedabad operations focused on driving top line growth and delivering profitability. He was also global brand director for Unilever’s Ice Cream business – responsible for developing integrated brand strategies and communication plans in markets across SEA, NAMET and LATAM.

    He has over 20 years of experience in building and nurturing brands across varied industries like automobiles, consumer goods, fashion, retail and financial services.

    “Mumbai is one of our strongest offices and with our focus on being the strategic partner for our clients across the brand and consumer experience ecosystem, we are delighted to onboard Anurag at this critical juncture to augment growth for our clients and teams,” said Wunderman Thompson South Asia CEO Shams Jasani. “With his strong track record of achieving business targets and vast experience across diverse categories and brands, we are convinced that he will be able to accelerate the momentum we have and achieve great success.”

    Commenting on his new role, Anurag Tandon said, “The constant evolution of consumer journeys poses a constant challenge for clients. There is a need for integration of services and providing experiences around the brand which Wunderman Thompson is uniquely poised to deliver. With WT’s traditional strength of long term client partnerships, I’m excited about the next leg of the agency journey, by embracing the need to look at brands much more holistically and building on the strong fundamentals that WT has always stood for.”

     

  • McDowell’s No. 1 launches #No1YaariCheers campaign to unite IPL fans

    McDowell’s No. 1 launches #No1YaariCheers campaign to unite IPL fans

    Mumbai: McDowell’s No. 1 has launched a cheerful campaign #No1YaariCheers that intends to unite IPL fans and create delightful Yaari moments. It will add a fun and energetic twist to the regular cricket viewing experience.

    The campaign conceptualized by DDB Mudra, features IPL players such as Virat Kohli from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Yuzvendra Chahal from Rajasthan Royals, Kieron Pollard from Mumbai Indians and many more, to bring alive the stadium action on the screen.

    Speaking about this association Diageo India’s executive vice president and portfolio head, marketing Ruchira Jaitly, said, “Cricket is a sporting extravaganza that brings the entire country together with inspiring sporting action that’s a feast for Indians across the length and breadth of the country. So naturally, we are delighted to be associated with these 6 iconic teams.”

    “Moreover, this cricket season is the perfect platform to bring alive the special moments when yaars connect and make magic happen, whether while playing or while watching this tournament. To further add to the fun and entertainment, we are excited to give fans a chance to cheer for their teams with inspiring and playful language like never before. McDowell’s No.1 Soda is proud to share the spirit of Yaari with these amazing teams and build a meaningful new partnership,” he added

    Commenting on the campaign, DDB Mudra’s executive creative director- west Neeraj Kanitkar said, “No.1 Yaari, six of the biggest IPL teams and 18 superstars deserve a grand platform. #No1YaariCheers is just that. A new language of Yaari that fuses what yaars do – from showing support to inspiring to teasing to provoking to badgering and everything in between – support, inspire, tease, provoke, badger – with the language of cricket. With the cricketers not having so much activity but simply expressing their Yaari for each other, they brought their style to the cheering/chanting. Making for entertaining shoots and an exuberant bunch of films.”

    DDB Mudra executive vice president and business partner Sujay Ghosh added, “Chants (Cheers) connect people and help form stronger bonds with their group of friends and fans. We took this insight and developed a campaign which can play a role in culture during this cricket season. McDowell’s No. 1 has always stood for bonds of friendship. And cheers have always brought fans together and made their fandoms epic, we mounted our idea based on these two inputs and created a new language for fans and friends to enhance the engagement and celebration for this cricket season across languages and regions.”

    The campaign is currently live across digital platforms such as Disney+Hotstar, YouTube, mCanvas, Facebook and Twitter.

  • Meesho assures ‘Budget Pe No Load’ in its latest campaign

    Meesho assures ‘Budget Pe No Load’ in its latest campaign

    Mumbai: Internet commerce platform Meesho in its latest campaign highlights a budget shopper’s eternal dilemma of ‘Loon Ya Na Loon.’ The campaign continues to underline the value proposition of the company’s ‘Sahi Sahi Lagaya Hai’ (the right price) appeal.

    Conceptualised by DDB Mudra, the brand campaign features three TVCs that target three different consumer segments – women, men and youths. It is based on the insight that consumers often debate before making any purchase.

    The films, directed by Prashant Madan and produced by Srikanth Kumar Kandala & Mayur Patel from The Magic Box production House, showcase the protagonist’s journey from contemplation to a no-compromise shopping experience on the e-comm platform.

    “When consumers want to purchase something they desire, the guilt or need to cut down on other expenses often crop up, making them prioritise one desire over another. The core objective of the campaign is centered around resolving the ‘Loon Ya Na Loon’ predicament,” said Meesho head of growth Megha Agarwal. “At Meesho, we are helping millions fulfill their desires by providing them a wide selection of quality products at the lowest prices.”

    The campaign will air on major TV networks such as Star Plus, Colors, Zee TV, Aaj Tak, Sony Max, Zee TV in addition to YouTube, and OTT platforms. Each film is shot in three zonal master languages – Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali and further amplified in other regional languages like Assamese, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi and Telugu.

    “To buy or not to buy – that is the question. Which bargain-hunting, value conscious Indian shopper has not hit the pause button and wondered about all the demands on her/his budget, before picking up something? It is this behavioral truth that we played on to land a simple message – Meesho offers prices so low, you’ll never have to choose between one thing or the other again. The result was a breezy yet insightful campaign which we believe will resonate with our target audiences around the country,” said DDB Mudra creative head – West Pallavi Chakravarti.

  • Peter England celebrates new beginnings in latest Pongal campaign

    Peter England celebrates new beginnings in latest Pongal campaign

    Mumbai: International menswear brand Peter England from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has launched an exclusive campaign for the upcoming Pongal festival.

    Encapsulating the essence of the festive season and the strong bond between father and son, the TVC is a relatable montage woven around the festive ambiance and shows parents’ need to adopt new ways to bond with their children and build a special relationship with them.

    Developed and executed in creative partnership with DDB Mudra South, the campaign celebrates the ‘Belief in A New Beginning’, and combines the objective of resetting family relationships, festivity, colour, and celebration with Peter England’s wide range of premium quality and stylish festive collections for today’s contemporary men.

    Peter England COO Manish Singhai said, “The campaign portrays a new relationship between a son and his father after the father takes a small step towards understanding his son’s aspirations. The storyline metaphorically directs us to find the perfect look to celebrate this Pongal festival. Our collection has been designed around the positivity and goodness that festivals bring to our lives. We are determined to curate and offer fashion that enables our consumers to not just immerse in the festivities but also to stand out.”

    DDB Mudra South creative director Saritha Rajagopal said, “Pongal celebrates optimistic new beginnings. So, to launch Peter England’s Pongal campaign, we captured a moment between a father and his son. While the pandemic took away some jobs, it also presented an opportunity to pursue one’s dreams. With this campaign, we captured an honest conversation between a father and son, who aspires to grow. We signed off with a message for every youngster who is waiting to start on the journey of life.”

    The festive campaign will be amplified through a mega-media mix across SUN TV Network, Hotstar Tamil Big Boss Association, World Television premiere of Annaatthe on Sun TV and other media channels, said the brand in a statement.

  • DDB Mudra elevates Iraj Fraz Batla to creative head-North

    DDB Mudra elevates Iraj Fraz Batla to creative head-North

    Mumbai: DDB Mudra has elevated Iraj Fraz Batla to the position of creative head – North, in order to strengthen its creative leadership structure. Prior to this, he served as executive creative director (ECD) – West for over three years in the company. 

    As ECD, Fraz successfully led the creative mandate for brands like Kwality Walls Kids, Meesho, Cars24, and Protinex. In his new role, he will drive the creative output from the North office under the leadership of DDB Mudra Group chief creative officer Rahul Mathew, said the statement.

    In a career spanning over 18 years, Fraz has worked with some of the biggest creative agencies in the world including Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, Y&R Dubai, JWT, Lowe Lintas, among others. He brings in a wealth of knowledge from his experience of working with 35+ Indian and international brands. His work has won several accolades at Spikes Asia, Adfest, Kyoorius, Effies and Goafest.

    “As we grow our creative ambition and reputation, it’s critical for us to have leaders who possess the same vision and standards across the group,” stated Rahul Mathew. “Having worked with us at our hugely celebrated West office for 3 years, Fraz is just the person to carry forward our torch for creative excellence. His blend of creativity and resilience will surely help us reach our creative potential in North and touch even greater heights as a Group.”

    Talking about his new mandate, Fraz said, “DDB Mudra’s North office is producing strong advertising and is headed in the direction to be the agency of the future. And I am lucky to be part of this exciting phase. From here on, may the best work win.”

  • McDonald’s India says ’25 years of lovin it’ on its 25th anniversary

    McDonald’s India says ’25 years of lovin it’ on its 25th anniversary

    Mumbai: From birthday parties to first salary treats, from getting together with family and friends over meals to all occasions big or small, McDonald’s has been a part of Indian customers’ lives for the last 25 years. To celebrate this important milestone, McDonald’s India – North & East has launched the #25YearsOfLovinIt campaign capturing fun, light-hearted, feel-good moments that McDonald’s is known for. To further spread the joy of completing 25 years, the fast-food brand has introduced its Rs 25 menu. 

    Featuring popular social media celebrities and real-life couple Awez Darbar and Nagma Mirajkar, #25YearsOfLovinIt is a contemporary rendition and continuation story of McDonald’s memorable ‘hum dono boyfriend-girlfriend hai kya’ campaign which struck a chord with its appeal.

    Conceptualised by DDB Mudra, the film opens up with a typical moment in this social media age, when Awez, the male protagonist, accidentally double taps on Nagma’s (the female protagonist) old profile photo, reconnecting them after many years. The new campaign, directed by Sudhir Shetty and produced by Yellawe Digital, brings out the moments of happiness when two friends reunite to relive their cherished memories over their favourite Happy Meal at McDonald’s.

    “I remember the excitement of the first-ever McDonald’s opening up in India, right next to the college I ended up going to. 25 years on, I feel the same childish thrill when I’m near a McDonald’s,” said DDB Mudra North executive creative director Iraj Fraz Batla. “And as we celebrate 25 years of McDonald’s in India, it’s the same thrill we capture using the characters who appeared in one of our most iconic films. While they reunite, we’re reminded how much they, McDonald’s, and by extension, all of us have grown over the years.” 

    EMBED Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxrgrp7lBs0

    Commenting on the campaign, McDonald’s India – North and East chief operating officer Rajeev Ranjan said, “We have had an amazing 25 years in the country. Bringing smiles to millions of our customers through our great-tasting delicious menu offerings and providing delightful memorable experiences to our guests has been extremely satisfying. Our new campaign beautifully captures the nostalgia, the excitement, fun and the sheer joy of happy times spent by two friends meeting after 25 years at their favourite McDonald’s restaurant enjoying their favourite meal. Through the film we reinforce our promise of providing delicious feel-good moments easy for our customers, we are optimistic that our customers would relate to and love the campaign.”

  • DDB Mudra Group advances gender equality with Phyllis India Project

    DDB Mudra Group advances gender equality with Phyllis India Project

    Mumbai: DDB Mudra Group has launched ‘The Phyllis India Project’- a year-long mentorship program to enable and encourage women to thrive in leadership roles and drive professional growth.

    The comprehensive training program includes a customised career plan for each participant based on their goals and development areas. The idea is to help participants navigate mental and societal challenges such as experiencing motherhood guilt-free, overcoming the imposter syndrome, courage, and self-belief, making your voice heard, and other such themes. Each participant’s career plan and development is tracked and reviewed monthly with the leadership team. 

    The program also includes one-on-one and group mentoring sessions conducted by several industry leaders including Titan Watches CEO Suparna Mitra, Sequoia Capital CMO – India & SEA Gayatri Yadav, Jio Saavn VP – brand solutions Virginia Sharma, Inmobi MD- APAC Vasuta Agarwal, Mirchi – national content director –digital Indira Rangarajan as well as DDB Worldwide global business director Varsha, DDB Germany CCO Diana Sukopp, DDB Chicago VP and strategy director Noelle Baer among others.

    “Gender gaps influence the society, culture, economy, and the way in which we shape our world for the next generation. Supporting the advancement of women and non-binary individuals by addressing the challenges they face is a global priority for the Group, and we in India have taken it very seriously. It’s inspiring to watch the participants of the Phyllis program grow personally and professionally, take on new roles, and steer the company towards a future with unbound potential,” said DDB Mudra Group CEO and MD Aditya Kanthy.

    The DDB Mudra Group first entered participants into the global Phyllis Project in 2017, and later introduced the Indian edition that addresses the cultural challenges that women leaders face in the country. The Phyllis India Project pilot kicked off in 2020. The program has since been training its pilot batch of women leaders. The program is named after Phyllis Robinson – DDB Worldwide’s first copywriter and the first female copy chief in US history, who was known for her rebellious creative spirit, for challenging the rules, and opening the doors for women in the industry. 

  • The new Poco C31 campaign pushes the smartphone to its limits

    The new Poco C31 campaign pushes the smartphone to its limits

    Mumbai: Homegrown online smartphone brand Poco launched a campaign called ‘Life Tested,’ showcasing the build and sturdiness of its recently launched budget entrant, Poco C31. The campaign, conceptualised by DDB Mudra, is a testimony to the smartphone’s robust quality through a series of relatable, slice-of-life tests.

    The campaign draws inspiration from the use of smartphones in real-life scenarios bringing out the durable features of Poco C31 with a tested approval from the real experts- the consumers. Featuring two short films, the campaign puts a refreshing cap on smartphones subjected to rigorous lab tests by scientists in controlled environments.

    “We have all seen ads of products being tested in labs, scientists asking you to buy them because they recommend it, etc. But here we had the POCO C31 that was – yes, tested in labs, but for life. And that to us, made for a very interesting story,” said DDB Mudra Group creative director Saritha Rajgopal, adding a creative perspective.

    “We imagined intellectual, serious scientists sitting in their labs, testing the phone in real-life conditions, and getting a little carried away while in the process. So, we created a lab, brought in scientists, and got them to not just lab-test the phones, but life-test them,” she added.

    The first video ‘Hi Garmi’ begins with a man preparing a meal in his kitchen and simultaneously enjoying a cricket match on Poco C31 under extreme heat and humidity, even as a bunch of scientists keep an eye on the performance of the smartphone from the other side of the wall.

    The second film titled ‘Anybody Can Dance’ features a work-from-home scenario wherein the woman, totally bored and uninterested in the conference call discussion around business targets of the year, starts grooving when a distant dance music starts. As she unfolds into loud cheers, she accidentally drops her handheld mobile, while the scientists look on.

    “While the Poco C31 comes with some great specs and delivers on performance, what we really wanted to bring the consumer’s attention to, was the fact that this phone has gone through several rounds of rigorous testing,” stated Poco marketing lead Raghav Chitra. “The team at DDB took a leap from here and brought to life a very important insight, that for a smartphone to survive ideal conditions, just lab-testing won’t do. It has to be life-tested. And that’s what speaks volumes about this campaign.”

    The Poco C31 is available exclusively on Flipkart. 

  • This Daughters’ Day, Stayfree urges families to break taboos around periods

    This Daughters’ Day, Stayfree urges families to break taboos around periods

    MUMBAI:  India still lags behind when it comes to holding conversations about menstrual periods. According to Unicef, nearly 71 per cent of adolescent girls have no idea about periods even today. In most homes, mothers usually are the primary source of information for young girls, while fathers somehow are never a part of this crucial conversation with their daughters.

    This Daughters’ Day sanitary napkin brand Stayfree set out to bridge this gap between fathers and daughters. The brand has launched a new campaign that urges fathers to be involved in period conversations with their daughters.

    The hygiene brand called several father-daughter duos for auditions for a Daughters’ Day ad. However, none of them knew that the ad was for Stayfree. When the script was handed out to them, they fumbled, stammered, and stuttered their way through the subject of periods. But with each take, the conversations got easier – until at some point they didn’t need the script at all. It stopped being an audition and became a conversation between the parent and child instead.

    “My mom spoke to me about my periods. That’s how it has been for generations. As part of Stayfree’s agenda to normalise periods, we realised that as long as just moms were speaking about the subject, we’d never achieve what we set out to do,” said DDB Mudra creative head – West, Pallavi Chakravarti. “But making dads have “the talk” with their daughters is easier said than done. So, we didn’t convince them. We just put them in a situation where they’d have to get over their apprehensions and get on with being a parent.”

    The campaign builds on Stayfree’s award-winning campaign from 2020 – ‘It’s just a Period’, and brings to light the discomfort fathers feel in having a conversation on menstrual periods with their daughters.

    Johnson & Johnson Consumer Division, India vice president Marketing, Manoj Gadgil said, “Stayfree has always stood up for enabling a healthy relationship between a girl and her periods – be it through our products or thought-provoking campaigns. Normalising period conversations is core to what Stayfree stands for and through our new Daughter’s Day Campaign we encourage parents and fathers, in particular, to let go of the awkwardness and have a conversation with their daughters on menstrual periods, one frank chat at a time.”

  • Anand Murty joins DDB Mudra as strategy head

    Anand Murty joins DDB Mudra as strategy head

    Mumbai: DDB Mudra on Wednesday appointed Anand Murty to steer the strategy function for its offices across Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Gurugram. Anand will report to DDB Mudra Group’s national strategy head, Amit Kekre.

    In a career spanning over 18 years, Murty has worked as a marketer with consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser before moving to advertising and leading the strategy product for Ogilvy & Taproot Dentsu. He has led brands such as Sprite, Smartwater, Voltas, Honda, Pernod Ricard, GSK, and Set Wet among others. His last stint was at Taproot Dentsu, where he led the strategy for the agency’s Gurugram division.

    Speaking about the new appointment, Amit Kekre said, “I am very excited to have Anand on board. With him on the team, a revamped strategy structure to suit the agency of the future, I am confident that we are in an even stronger position to fuel the Group’s ambitions and growth.”

    Talking further on his new role, Murty said, “I’m stoked to be a part of the DDB Mudra team. It is an absolute privilege to work with the incredible set of planners that DDB has nurtured over the years. I look forward to building and keeping up the momentum – and loving every moment of it.”