Mumbai: Dentsu India has once again ranked amongst the top three, continuing its record-breaking growth velocity, in the latest RECMA Media Agency Ranking Report.
Dentsu International is a network designed for what’s next, helping clients predict and plan for disruptive future opportunities and create new paths to growth in the sustainable economy. This is delivered through the five global leadership brands: Carat, Dentsu Creative, Dentsu X, iProspect and Merkle, each with deep specialisms.
The recently published RECMA report calls out the stellar performance of each agency:
Dentsu X, as India’s fastest-growing media agency leading the chart with a 153 per cent growth rate for the past three years. It is India’s #2 agency since 2020, narrowing the gap with Mindshare in 2021. Driving experiences beyond exposures, Dentsu X engineers brand outcomes and growth.
iProspect, accelerating brands through a performance mindset, has clocked an impressive 83 per cent growth in 2021! Growing our brands at the intersection of culture, content, data, and tech is paying a dividend to our clients and our business.
And Carat, designing for people, has recorded a smart 60 per cent growth over the last year, delivering an unparallel capability to unlock real human understanding to connect people and brands by designing powerful and engaging experiences.
Dentsu Media South Asia CEO Divya Karani said, “Yes, of course, our clients and people value our vision, our continuous reinvention and rigour, but scaling at this unprecedented trajectory for the past three years is a huge validation! Even more gratifying is that all our media agencies, each with their unique proposition, are performing at full throttle. Transforming by design, Densu is planning the next steps even as we continue to scale. With our deep specialisation in media, creative and CXM, we are constantly focused on stitching up integrated business transformative solutions for our clients.”
Dentsu’s recently released global ad spend report forecasts India’s growth at 16 per cent, reaching $11 billion in 2022, well past the 2019 pre-pandemic level. Digital is expected to clock double the momentum, contributing 33 per cent of overall India’s spending. Dentsu is bullish on India and predicts India as the fastest growing market globally.
RECMA is the leading independent research company that reports and tracks the performance of media agencies around the globe. The report showcases the market share and growth of the media agencies based on their overall activity. The overall activity volume report, evaluating over 900 media agencies across 70 countries, is the reference quantitative ranking based on the activity volume, a metric including both traditional buying billings and non-traditional activities, which covers online paid media as well as fee-based activities in digital, data & analytics, content, marketing, and sponsorship.
Mumbai: India concluded its Cannes Lions campaign on a historic high with its best ever haul of 47 metals, which includes five Grand Prix and two Titanium Lions, in another first for the country. Dentsu Creative walked away with ‘Agency Of the Year’ trophy with an unprecedented three Grand Prix wins in a stunning performance by the agency at this year’s International Festival of Creativity.
It is also the first time that India has bagged five Grand Prix in one year at the annual Fest. The award-winning campaigns are ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ by Dentsu Creative which clinched three, and ‘The Killer Pack’ by VMLY&R, and ‘The Missing Chapter’ by Leo Burnett, which won one each.
India’s first-ever Titanium Lion wins came for Dentsu Creative’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ and Ogilvy’s ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaigns.
A total of sixteen campaigns won at the prestigious fest this year. The top three award-winning campaigns were Dentsu Creative’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ with a total of 12 metals, FCB’s ‘Chatpat’ with eight metals, and Ogilvy’s ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ with five metals.
India’s previous best at Cannes Lions was in 2017, when it took home 40 metals.
Here’s the lowdown on the country’s overall performance at Cannes Level Festival of Creativity 2022:
The maximum metals were grabbed by FCB including three gold, five silver, and 6 bronze. It was followed by Dentsu Creative with three Grand Prix-haul along with one Gold, four Silver, three Bronze, and one Titanium Lions. On the third spot was VMLY&R + VMLY&R Commerce with seven metals including one Grand Prix, one Gold, four Silver, and one Bronze metal.
The most number of Lions came under the Radio & Audio (6), Media (5), and Brand Experience & Activation, Direct, and Radio & Audio (4 each) categories.
There were 121 shortlists this year from a total of 921 entries sent.
Reacting to the agency’s historic performance, Dentsu Creative CEO India Amit Wadhwa said, “Honestly, I am speechless right now, so it is a challenge to find words and new adjectives to express how I feel. To say this is historic almost seems like an understatement. When you start the week with a Grand Prix, then add two more along the week besides a Gold, four Silvers and three Bronze, you feel it’s a dream run. Then you end with a Titanium and it is that ‘top of the world’ feeling. But guess what this is not where it ends, we are ‘The Agency of the Year!!’
He further added, “While we have won what we have, it is also amazing to see all the other agencies from India win big. What a lovely feeling!! We are undeniably proud to be associated with a campaign that takes top honours on a global platform. This indeed fuels the fire of passion and commitment in the team that has relentlessly worked on it. The entire credit goes to each one of them who has been involved, to all our present and ex-colleagues who have worked so hard on the campaign. They are the real winners.”
Dentsu Creative group chief creative officer India Ajay Gahlaut added, “Winning the “Agency of the Year” is an emotion I cannot even begin to describe. When I used to watch other agencies win the title I often wondered if I ever would get that same honour. What they say is true. Dreams DO come true! I’m over the moon with the Titanium win along with the hat trick of Grand Prix and a whole lot of other metals. Not just me I think no one in the entire Indian ad industry has been part of such a huge haul of Lions ever before. And I do believe we are the first full-service Indian agency to win the title of “Agency of the Year”. I doff my hat to the entire team responsible for the Unfiltered History Tours. Those who are with us now and those who have moved on. Congratulations all. For now, it’s party time!”
Ogilvy India, which got India one of the elusive Titanium Lions for its ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign created for Mondelez India also shared its elation.
Ogilvy chairman global creative & executive chairman India Piyush Pandey said: “I am delighted that the people’s choice is also the jury’s choice. I am very proud of the team that worked on it.”
Ogilvy India chief creative officers Sukesh Nayak, Harshad Rajadhyaksha & Kainaz Karmakar said: “This is a piece of work that has found love with the masses in India and we are grateful that the idea has also found love with the hugely accomplished Titanium Jury at Cannes. This is a salute to our brave Ogilvy Team, Mondelez India Team, Tech partner – Rephrase, Content partner – Pack Films and Media partner – Wavemaker.”
The work also won the agency a Gold Lion in the Creative Data category, and another Gold Lion and a Bronze Lion in the Direct category as well.
Furthermore, the same campaign also won a Silver Lion in the Tech-led Brand Experiences category.
MUMBAI: India continued its winning spree at the ongoing Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, earning 19 more Lions that took its total tally to 39- including four Grand Prix- in one of the country’s best performances at the fest yet. The Lions were won across Creative Data, Direct, Media, PR, Social & Influencer categories.
Dentsu Creative scripted history, bagging its third Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions, for its star campaign ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ under the ‘Social and Influencer’ category. It also bagged a silver lion and a bronze lion for the same campaign.
Reacting to the agency’s momentous performance, Dentsu Creative CEO India Amit Wadhwa exulted, “And it’s a Hat-Trick. Three Grand Prix in four days!! I still have to come to terms with this.”
“Not a single day here can be equated to another. Each day has been unique. And thriving. Today, we add yet another Grand Prix, one Silver and one Bronze to our wins. And yet again, kudos to each and every one of our present and ex-teammates for the dedication, brilliance, and excellence that they have put in and into this journey to get us here. This belongs to them. All of them. We have one more day to go and we are getting a bit greedy now!” he added.
Dentsu Creative group chief creative officer India Ajay Gahlaut added, “Here we are almost towards the end of this Grand Festival, and we win a third Grand Prix today along with a Silver and Bronze. We are definitely writing history here. I am extremely proud of how we have fared so far. And there’s still a day to go. We’re not done yet!”
FCB India also scored 11 metals on the fourth day of the Cannes Lions. The award-winning campaigns included its popular campaign ‘Chatpat’ in partnership with Kinnect + FCB Chicago, ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ campaign and the Unaids’ ‘Unbox Me’ campaigns.
The Indian contingent also added 14 more shortlists: 8 in Film Lions and 6 in Sustainable Development Goals Lions to round up its final shortlists tally at 121.
Here’s the breakdown of the day four’s wins under various categories:
Creative Data Winners
Ogilvy India won a Gold Lion for Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan My Ad’ campaign under Data-enhanced Creativity subcategory.
Direct Winners
Ogilvy bagged one more Gold and one Bronze Lion for Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan My Ad’ campaign in Data-driven Targeting and Use of Digital Platforms subcategories, respectively.
A Gold Lion came for FCB India + FCB Chicago for ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ under Cultural Insight subcategory.
The agency, in partnership with Kinnect, won one more Bronze Lion for SOS Childern’s Villages India’s young brand mascot Chatpat in Breakthrough On A Budget subcategory.
Media Winners
‘Chatpat’ got Kinnect + FCB India + FCB Chicago, one Gold Lion (Not-for-Profit/Charity/Government) and one Silver Lion (Use of Stunts), as well.
FCB India + FCB Chicago picked another Silver Lion for ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ in the Cultural Insight Section.
Additionally, Ogilvy and BBDO won one Silver and one Bronze metal, respectively.
Ogilvy won the Silver for ‘Cadbury Perk Disclaimers’ (Food & Drink) – a campaign that asked people who tend to take offence quickly, to ‘take it light’.
BBDO won it for its much popular ‘Ariel See Equal #ShareTheLoad (Integrated) campaign in Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility subcategory.
PR Winners
FCB India + FCB Chicago won two Bronze Lions in Social Engagement and Cultural Insight subcategories for ‘Unbox Me’ – a campaign for Unaids that advocates for the rights of transgender children via a heartwarming film.
Conceptualised by Denstu Creative, Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ won one Bronze Lion in content creation & production.
The campaign via an interactive Instagram filter tells the story of some of the most disputed artefacts in the British Museum through the perspective of communities that they have been stolen from.
Social & Influencer Winners
Denstu Creative picked up its third Grand Prix for ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ under the Media/Entertainment subcategory. The campaign also picked a Silver Lion under the Social Purpose category.
Kinnect + FCB India + FCB Chicago’s work ‘Chatpat’ won one Gold, one Silver, and Bronze Lion in Not-for-Profit/Charity/Government, Innovative Use of Influencers, and Social Film Series subcategories.
FCB India + FCB Chicago picked a Bronze Lion for Unaids’ ‘Unbox Me’ campaign in the Cultural Insight section.
Shortlists
The final set of shortlists for the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022 was announced on day 04 and India got 14 shortlists.
‘Chatpat’ by Kinnect + FCB India + FCB Chicago that got three shortlists : two in Fim Lions (Online & Viral Fim, Breakthrough on a Budget and one in SDG Lions (Poverty).
Another campaign to get three shortlists was ‘Machine Gun Mouth’, created by DDB Mudra for Battlegrounds Mobile India. The campaign was shortlisted in Media/Entertainment, Viral Fim, and Social Behaviour subcategories in Film Lions.
‘The Missing Chapter’ by Leo Burnett for P&G Whisper got two shortlists in SDG Lions under Good Health & Well-Being and Quality Education Subcategories.
Enormous Brands got one shortlist in Film Lions (Consumer Goods) for its very popular ‘Jaquar Bath & Lights – Office’ campaign.
‘Pure As Love’, a beautiful campaign by Animal for Bhima Jewellery got one shortlist in Film Lions under Consumer Goods.
BYJU’s ‘Master Ji’, which has already won a Silver Entertainment Lion, got one shortlist in Film Lions in Consumer Service/Business to Business section.
Global Esports’ campaign ‘The Protest Match – The Final That Could Have Happened’ got Isobar one shortlist in SDG Lions under Gender Equality.
Unipads’ ‘Adeli’ got VMLY&R a shortlist in SDG Lions, while VMLY&R Commerce got another shortlist for Unilever’s ‘Smart Fill’ in SDG Lions (Responsible Consumption & Production).
Mumbai: India scored 14 more shortlists- 8 in ‘film category’ and 6 under ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ category on day four of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022, rounding off its total shortlists tally to a stunning 121.
In film lions, Battlegrounds Mobile India ‘Machine Gun Mouth’ crafted by DDB Mudra secured three shortlists. ‘Jaquar Bath & Lights – Office’ created by Enormous Brands and Bhima Jewellery’s ‘Pure as Love’ by Animal scored one shortlist each in the category.
SOS Children’s Villages India’s young brand ambassador ‘Chatpat’ created by Kinnect + FCB India + FCB Chicago also earned two shortlists. The campaign earned one shortlist in Sustainable Development Goals Lions as well.
The other shortlists under the Sustainable Development Goals Lions category include P&G Whisper’s ‘The Missing Chapter’ conceptualised by Leo Burnett Mumbai which earned two shortlists.
VMLY&R Commerce’s ‘Smart Fill’ campaign for Unilever gained one shortlist, while another shortlist was scored by the Adeli campaign for Unipads’ crafted by VMLY&R Mumbai.
Isobar’s ‘The Protest Match – The Finals That Could Have Happened’ for Global ESports’ also picked up a single shortlist.
Mumbai: The Indian contingent continued its dominant run on day three of Cannes Lions, doubling its tally of 10 metals across 6 categories in one of its best performances at the event.
The latest 10-metal tally includes one Grand Prix, two Gold Lions, five Silver Lions, and two Bronze Lions across Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce, Innovation, Mobile, and Creative Effectiveness Lions.
Meanwhile, Dentsu Creative created history by winning its second Grand Prix this year in the Brand Experience and Activations category for Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign.
Additionally, India scored 50 more shortlists, taking its total shortlists tally to a stunning 107.
Here’s the breakdown of the day three’s wins under various categories:
Brand Experience & Activation
The leading campaign of the year from India, ‘The Unfiltered Selfie’ won a Grand Prix (use of mobile devices) and one Silver Lion (new realities & voice activation). The campaign created by Dentsu Creative for Vice Media now has two Grand Prix, one Gold, two Silver, and two Bronze Lions in its kitty and around 24 shortlists thus far.
Dentsu Creative group chief creative officer India Ajay Gahlaut exulted at the agency’s performance, “Today, we have made history with another tremendous victory. A Grand Prix and Silver!! Kudos to the entire team for the massive win. I am enthralled with the mark ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign and everyone behind it has left. My heartiest congratulations to all of them. It’s time to celebrate while we wait to increase the number of our wins.”
Dentsu Creative CEO India Amit Wadhwa said, “It is our third day at Cannes and we are on top of the world to win yet another Grand Prix and Silver Lion. It is indeed blissful to take back two Grand Prix in addition to the many metals. It has been a mind-blowing experience so far. While we party harder for this one, I am in awe of the level of global creativity and innovation displayed at the festival. We are totally looking forward to witnessing more innovation ahead and expecting many more wins, fingers crossed!”
‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ campaign created by FCB for Political Shakti – a non-partisan women’s collective passionate about female leaders in politics, that appeared in The Times of India won a Silver in the category under Use of Mobile & Devices Section.
The second Silver in the category was won by the ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign created by Ogilvy for Cadbury Celebrations under Tech-led Brand Experience subcategory.
Creative Business Transformation
The ‘Smart Fill’ initiative of Unilever, conceptualised by VMLY&R Commerce won a Silver Lion under the Brand Purpose & Impact subcategory.
Creative Commerce Winners
‘Smart Fill’ also won a Gold Metal in Creative Commerce Lions under the Sustainable Commerce subcategory.
Reacting to the wins, VMLY&R Commerce executive creative director Arpan Jain said, “There are ideas and there are awards, but there are only a few pieces of work that have a purpose at the heart of consumer experience and actually have the power to change the world. I’m happy to see Smart Fill being recognized as one such piece of amazing work.”
A Gold came for McCann for its ‘Shagun Ka Lifafa’ campaign created for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank under the subcategory of Social Behaviour and Cultural Insight.
Innovation
VMLY&R Mumbai’s winning campaign ‘The Killer Pack’ secured a Silver Lion in Innovation (product innovation) category.
Mobile
The only win in the category came for Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ created by Dentsu Creative, scoring a Silver Lion under the Mobile-led Creativity subcategory.
Creative Effectiveness
‘Project Free Period’ an initiative by P&G’s Stayfree sanitary pads, conceptualised and executed by DDB Mudra picked a Bronze Lion under the Creative Effectiveness for Good subcategory.
Shortlists
13 shortlists were garnered by ‘Chatpat’, a ten-year-old brand ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages of India NGO and its campaign ‘No Child Alone’. The campaign got three shortlists in Direct (not-for-profit/charity/government, use of social platforms, breakthrough on a budget), three in Media (not-for-profit/charity/government, use of stunts, use of social platforms), three in PR (content creation & production, innovative use of influencers, breakthrough on a budget), and four in Social & Influencer (not-for-profit/charity/government, innovative use of influencers, social film series, breakthrough on a budget).
‘Unbox Me’ campaign for Unaids by FCB India and FCB Chicago got six shortlists, including three in PR (innovative use of influencers, cultural insight, social engagement) and three in Social & Influencers (not-for-profit/charity/government, social purpose, cultural insight).
The Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign created by Ogilvy, Political Shakti + The Times of India’s ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ by FCB, and Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History’ also scored six shortlists each.
Further, the ‘Adeli’ campaign created by VMLY&R for Unipads got three shortlists. The campaign got shortlisted in PR Lions (corporate purpose & social responsibility, use of events & stunts, social behaviour).
BBDO India’s ‘See Equal #ShareTheLoad (Integrated)’ campaign for P&G’s Ariel also got three shortlists – one in Media (corporate purpose & social responsibility) and two in PR (single market campaign, consumer goods).
The agency got another shortlist in Media Lions (use of ambient media: small scale) for the same brand’s ‘Name Change Pack #ShareTheLoad’ campaign.” These special packs were customised with some of the most common Indian male names instead of the brand name.
Ogilvy got two shortlists for the ‘Perk Disclaimers’ campaign that asked people who tend to take offence quickly, to ‘take it light’. The shortlists came in Media Lions (food & drink, use of social platforms).
Another shortlist for Ogivy came for Cadbury 5 Stars ‘NothingCoin’ in PR Lions (use of technology).
McCann’s ‘Shagun Ka Lifafa’ campaign created for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank got another shortlist in Direct Lions (social behaviour).
Mindshare’s ‘Bringing Back Colours In the Lives of Weavers’ created for Sunlight Detergent secured one shortlist in Media (local brands) Lions.
Mumbai: Continuing its good run at the Cannes Lions 2022 festival, India on day three saw a record 50 shortlists across six categories – Direct, Creative Data, Media, PR, Social & Influencer and Creative B2B. This takes the country’s total tally to 107 shortlists currently.
Social and Influencer
Under this category, the Indian contingent earned 14 shortlists. Dentsu Creative India’s star campaign ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign done for Vice Media clinched five shortlists.
Ogilvy gained one shortlist for the ‘Shahrukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign.
FCB India and Kinnect’s ‘Chatpat’ campaign got four shortlists. The agency’s ‘Unbox Me’ campaign, created for Unaids, got another three shortlists. It also received another shortlist for the ‘Nominate Me Selfie’ campaign.
PR Lions
There are 13 shortlists for India in the PR category.
FCB India leads this category as well with 6 shortlists. The agency’s campaign in association with Kinnect India titled ‘Chatpat’ secured three shortlists. The other three shortlists are for FCB India’s ‘Unbox Me’ campaign done for Unaids.
VMLY&R clinched three shortlists in the PR category- all three were for the agency’s campaign ‘Adeli’ done for Unipads.
BBDO India’s ‘See Equal Share The Load (Integrated)’ campaign done for Ariel secured two shortlists.
Dentsu Creative’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ received a single shortlist. Ogilvy India’s ‘NothingCoin’ created for Cadbury 5 Star gained a shortlist in the PR category.
Media
In the Media category, Indian agencies secured 12 shortlists, of which six were garnered by FCB India along with FCB Chicago. The agency got three shortlists for the ‘Nominate me Selfie’ campaign done for the Times of India and three for SOS Children’s Village India’s campaign ‘Chatpat’. The latter campaign was co-created by the agency along with Kinnect.
The category also saw Ogilvy India getting three shortlists – Two for Cadbury Perk’s ‘Perk Disclaimer’ campaign and the third one for Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shahrukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign.
BBDO India scored two shortlists for P&G’s ‘Name Change Pack ‘#ShareTheLoad’ and ‘See Equal #ShareTheLoad’ campaigns.
Mindshare’s ‘Bring Colors Back in the Lives of the Weavers’ campaign created for Sunlight Detergent fetched it one shortlist.
Direct
In the Direct category, Indian agencies scored nine shortlists.
FCB India gained six shortlists- three for its ‘Chatpat’ campaign done for SOS Children’s Villages India and jointly executed by FCB India and Kinnect India. FCB India’s ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ done for Public Pressure Group earned two shortlists. ‘Unbox me’ for Unaids done by the agency secured one shortlist in the Direct category.
Ogilvy India secured two shortlists while McCann Worldgroup India has one shortlist in the Direct Lions.
‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign done by Ogilvy India has been shortlisted under two subcategories in Direct Lions.
McCann’s ‘Shagun Ka Lifafa’ done for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank got shortlisted in Direct Lions.
Creative Data
‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign done by Ogilvy India has secured two shortlists in Creative Data Lions category.
Mumbai: dentsu international global CEO Wendy Clark and global CCO Fred Levron have announced the launch of global creative network Dentsu Creative at Cannes Lions. Ajay Gahlaut has been named group chief creative officer and will be in charge of media and CXM besides Dentsu Creative in India.
Dentsu Creative will serve as the sole creative network for dentsu international working with clients around the globe. It will bring together the best of creative, media and CXM. dentsu international has united its creative agencies including DentsuMB, 360i and Isobar, and expanded its entertainment, earned attention and experience capabilities.
“The launch is part of a broader strategy aimed at simplifying client engagement and injecting creativity in everything dentsu international does, all backed by a depth and breadth of creative capabilities that are unparalleled in the market,” said the statement.
Led by Fred Levron, who joined dentsu international as chief creative officer in November 2021 and has demonstrated the transformative power of creativity throughout his acclaimed career; Dentsu Creative will be comprised of 9,000 creative experts in 46 markets connected to 37,000 media and CXM experts across dentsu international and collaborate closely with dentsu’s creative team in Japan. In the near future, further leadership announcements will be made as Dentsu Creative brings in the next generation of strategic, production, business and creative leaders.
“If you had the chance to build a brand new global creative network designed for the modern world, what would it look like? That is what we are answering with the launch of Dentsu Creative,” said dentsu international chief creative officer Fred Levron. “Clients, talent and the industry at large are craving for a change: in the way we build brands, in the way we collaborate and, in the role, we give to creativity. If the current players have set the rules of the previous century, we have the ambition to set the rules for the decades to come.”
“At dentsu, we’re building a modern agency network fuelled by horizontal creativity – a creativity designed to unify our people, their capabilities and our delivery for clients,” said dentsu international global CEO Wendy Clark. “We’re fortunate to draw from our Japanese heritage steeped in a relentless focus on craft, innovation and creativity. This legacy inspired our vision for modern creativity that was born in Japan and raised in a connected world. Dentsu Creative offers a simplified, modern creative proposition that answers clients’ needs for us to break down agency silos and inefficiencies and seamlessly connect our talent around the right client opportunities at the right time.”
“Dentsu has over the years, time and again demonstrated innovation through creativity. With Dentsu Creative, we will unite our creative talent under one brand; this will further simplify client engagements and strengthen our creative prowess,” said Dentsu Creative CEO India Amit Wadhwa. “Moving with times is important and now is the time to transform brands and businesses through the lens of Modern Creativity. Dentsu Creative ensures the best output for our clients and the best opportunities for our people, which is the most exciting part for me.”
“With Dentsu Creative, we will transform the creative face of dentsu as a network. As we add modern creativity to all the disciplines within the network and combine them, we will create a new-age powerhouse,” said Ajay Gahlaut. “Our aim is to bring profit and purpose together for our clients and our people. This is what the industry has been waiting for, and we are the forerunners of this breakthrough. Exciting times ahead!”
Mumbai: Dentsu India has announced the appointment of creative veteran Ajay Gahlaut as group chief creative officer (GCCO), spearheading creative excellence across dentsu India’s award-winning creative agencies.
Gahlaut will report to dentsu Creative India, chief executive officer, Amit Wadhwa and will be responsible for accelerating dentsu India’s creative businesses under one optimised service line, said the agency in a statement.
Dentsu India initiated the formation of a new structure for its creative service line in June this year. The redesign – part of the network’s global plan to transform into the most integrated group in the world by 2024, brings together some of India’s best agencies under one umbrella and catapults Dentsu India into its fresh journey to 2.0. The agency brands that come together under this new creative design are Dentsu Webchutney, Taproot Dentsu, WATConsult, Perfect Relations, Isobar, Dentsu One, Dentsu India, and Dentsu Impact, said the statement.
A creative genius with over 27 years of experience in advertising, Gahlaut wrote the line ‘Do Boond Zindagi Ki’ that anchored the famous Pulse Polio Immunisation campaign with the superstar Amitabh Bachchan. He also created more than a dozen commercials for the campaign and played a significant part in eradicating polio from India. He was also behind the line ‘Make It Large’ for the whiskey brand Royal Stag that transformed its fortunes and made it the highest-selling whiskey in its price range. He created the character ‘Mr Murthy’ for Voltas air conditioners and catapulted Voltas to the number one position in the category.
Gahlaut has also created work for the whiskey brand Imperial Blue with the famous ‘men will be men’ sign off. He has won multiple Cannes Lions, One Show and D&AD awards in his more than a quarter-century journey in this business. He also led Ogilvy Delhi to win eight Lions at Cannes in 2013. Some of the most significant brands that Gahlaut has worked on are Pernod Ricard, BMW, HT Mint and KFC at some of the world’s best-known creative shops.
“Dentsu India is in the midst of an exciting transformation journey towards dentsu India 2.0 and Ajay’s joining is a critical part of the plan,” said Amit Wadhwa. “Ajay is a well-respected creative leader with years of experience across categories and the right mindset that matches with dentsu India 2.0. With the brilliant creative minds in our business, we will be a force to be reckoned with, delivering growth for our clients while continuing our creative evolution at pace and scale.”
“Dentsu’s creativity defines generations. When the opportunity came to join Amit and his team, I could not refuse. Creativity is in the spotlight, with brands looking to differentiate themselves in a disrupted marketplace – it has never been a more exciting time to work in this field rich with opportunity. I am excited to join dentsu, Amit and the creative teams, delighting clients and creating era-defining work together,” said Gahlaut.
MUMBAI: Dentsu India Group has appointed Shantanu Mukherji to the post of executive creative director at Dentsu Creative Impact.
Mukherji moves from JWT Delhi where he was vice president and senior creative director and led art for JWT’s client Airtel. He has spent 19 years with JWT having joined as art director and made it to the post of creative head responsible for a key portfolio in JWT.
Mukherji will partner the leadership team at Dentsu Creative Impact on brands like Maruti, Tetrapak and Max India. He will work with Dentsu India Group NCD partner Soumitra Karnik on select projects.
Dentsu India Group executive chairman Rohit Ohri said, “Shantanu is a hugely talented creative person with a super work ethic. We are a young agency with very big ambitions. We need all hands on the deck, and a single-minded focus on the quality of our work. These qualities define Shantanu and that’s why I’m delighted to have him as a part of my leadership team”.
Mukherji said, “My decision to move to Dentsu after a long tenure in JWT has been dictated by my desire to once again be part of a ‘big‘ growth story. When I joined JWT, it was on a spin, with almost each morning bringing with it the prospect of working on exciting brands and path-breaking briefs. I can see Dentsu embarking on such an exciting path already and I couldn‘t have missed being a part of that action. I am really looking forward to it.”
Mukherji began his career in advertising at Tara Sinha – McCann Erickson as a junior visualiser working on brands such as Nestle, Reckitt, Taj Hotels and Gillette. Moving to HTA (JWT) as art director in 1993, he led his own group and the Chandigarh office, going on to win business such as Motorola Pagers, Pizza Hut, Sony, Airtel, Congress, CWG, KFC and Apollo Tyres.
He has experience in working with diverse categories like FMCG, hospitality, consumer durables, lifestyle, media, real estate, telecom, automotive, financial services and IT to include brands such as ESPN Star Sports, ITC Hotels, Timex, GE Money, Spice Telecom and Monte Carlo.
