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Tag: Dentsu Webchutney

  • Motilal Oswal elevates marketing maven Mundra to group media head

    Motilal Oswal elevates marketing maven Mundra to group media head

    MUMBAI: Financial services giant Motilal Oswal has promoted Varun Mundra to group head of media and innovations, capping the digital-first marketer’s swift rise through the company’s marketing ranks.

    Mundra, who joined the firm less than three years ago, steps up from his previous role as senior vice president of marketing for the wealth management division, where he spearheaded brand growth and product excellence initiatives for India’s seventh-largest broking house.

    “The journey has been nothing short of amazing—filled with learnings, challenges, and some big wins along the way,” Mundra said of his time at Motilal Oswal. He credited senior leadership, including Sandeep Walunj, for their “trust and support” in his ascent.

    The ET Brand Equity Shark 2024 “Rising Star” winner brings a distinctive pedigree to the role, having cut his teeth at several top-flight advertising agencies. Before joining Motilal Oswal in 2022, Mundra served as director of business and client relations at The Glitch, where he managed campaigns for CoinSwitch, Kuber, SleepyCat and Netflix India.

    His résumé includes stints at White Rivers Media, Isobar, Jack in the Box Worldwide and Dentsu Webchutney, where he honed his craft working with blue-chip clients like Hindustan Unilever, Visa India, CEAT Tyres and Godrej.

    Industry observers note that Mundra’s promotion coincides with Motilal Oswal’s aggressive push to modernise its marketing approach and capture India’s digitally-savvy retail investor community.

    The marketing executive’s previous initiatives at the firm included securing branding rights to Mumbai’s Malad Metro Station—establishing “Motilal Oswal Malad West”—and creating branded studio partnerships with financial news channels CNBCTV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar.

    Mundra’s entrepreneurial spirit emerged early when, as a 17-year-old college student, he founded a digital agency that landed him features on CNBCTV18’s Young Turks and in The Times of India. He holds degrees from the University of Westminster and Coventry University London.

  • Ashit Chakravarty joins Magiccircle as associate partner & COO

    Ashit Chakravarty joins Magiccircle as associate partner & COO

    MUMBAI: Ashit Chakravarty has been appointed associate partner & chief operating officer at Magiccircle. With a distinguished career spanning renowned global agencies, Chakravarty brings extensive experience in brand strategy, marketing, and business growth.

    Dentsu Creative appointed Chakravarty as managing partner & brand strategy & west, following key prominent roles at Dentsu Webchutney, where he advanced from vice president to executive vice president & growth & strategy. His expertise in forecasting, cross-functional management, & consumer behaviour has shaped campaigns for top brands.

    Leo Burnett, contract advertising, and Dentsu Aegis Network have also been part of Chakravarty’s professional journey, along with his role as head of brand marketing at Zopper.com. 

  • Dentsu Webchutney wins digital mandate for MakeMyTrip

    Dentsu Webchutney wins digital mandate for MakeMyTrip

    Mumbai: Dentsu Creative India’s digital creative agency Dentsu Webchutney on Thursday announced that it has won the digital mandate for online travel company MakeMyTrip. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced from the agency’s Mumbai office.

    As per the mandate, the agency will focus on further building MakeMyTrip’s already-vibrant digital presence by implementing an aggressive creative growth strategy.

    Speaking on the win, Dentsu Webchutney associate vice president Upasana Naithani said, “MakeMyTrip is a big win for us, not only because it shows faith by the best of the industry in our agency but also because their values align with ours beautifully. We are very excited to work on campaigns that move both the business and the brand in the right direction.”

    Dentsu Webchutney creative director Chaitanya Joshi added, “While we plan to bring the edge to larger travel occasions, modern creativity means that we are nimble enough to target the micro-occasions in an effective manner. I am glad that the good folks at MakeMyTrip share our zest, and we look forward to a lot of clutter-breaking stuff in the future that not only pushes creative boundaries but also impacts business positively.”

    MakeMyTrip chief operating officer Vipul Prakash commented, “Today, travellers seek more when consuming and engaging with brands across channels. Together with Dentsu Webchutney, we hope to introduce new, innovative ways and concepts that can help engage with Indian travellers better. Our goal remains to be authentic in what we say and innovative in how we connect with the new-age traveller.”

  • Dentsu Creative India names Sudhir Das as executive creative director

    Dentsu Creative India names Sudhir Das as executive creative director

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Creative India has announced the appointment of Sudhir Das as executive creative director (ECD). He will report into Dentsu Webchutney & dentsuMB chief creative officer (CCO) Arjuna Gaur.

    In his new role, Das will oversee and strengthen the creative capabilities of the agency’s Bengaluru office, further leveraging the power of ‘Modern Creativity’ across brands, according to the agency.

    Armed with two decades of experience, Das has won over 50 national and international awards. Prior to this, he was with Leo Burnett as an associate executive creative director (AECD). In his previous roles, he has worked with brands like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Apple and Airtel, to name a few. His notable campaigns include ‘Ras-Ras mein India’, ‘Me and Meri Maggi’, ‘Spicejet Democracy’ and ‘Cardekho Back-Off’ – covering the gamut from large, populist, TV-led campaigns to documentary-style film-making to super-technical experiments marrying cars and music.

    Speaking on the appointment, Arjuna Gaur said, “Sudhir Das is an experienced creative leader with some of the world’s biggest brands in his portfolio. He is as comfortable with mainline advertising as he is with new age forms and is an engineer to boot! A brilliant well-rounded creative, Sudhir will be an invaluable addition to the team.”

    Sudhir Das added, “The Cannes jury has confirmed what we knew all along – this is the best agency to be in. I am super excited to be joining this bunch of incredibly talented and hard-working people and aim to continue their awe-inspiring trajectory of success.”

    Dentsu Creative India was recently declared the ‘Agency of The Year’ at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022 – a first-ever for India. It was a hat-trick for the agency with Dentsu Creative India also lifting a Titanium for its ‘Unfiltered History Tour (UHT)’ Campaign in addition to bagging three Grand Prix – another first, two Gold Lions and three Silver Lions – making UHT the most awarded work not only from India but globally.

  • Cannes Lions 2022: Decoding Pixel Party’s award-winning campaign

    Cannes Lions 2022: Decoding Pixel Party’s award-winning campaign

    Mumbai: A wholly independent Indian content and experience company and one of the key partners behind the ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign Pixel Party has created history at the Cannes Lions: The International Festival of Creativity. This is the first time an India based firm has won the highest number of Lions, including a Titanium Lion, three Grand Prix, one Gold Lion, four Silver Lions and three Bronze Lions. This stellar campaign was created by Dentsu Webchutney and Pixel Party, thus creating an unparalleled interactive tour of the British Museum using augmented reality technology.

    Being the most awarded campaign at Cannes Lions 2022, ‘the Unfiltered History Tour’ captures the story of the British Museum’s stolen artefacts. For this award-winning campaign, Pixel Party developed the filters for the British museum tour by using the first of its kind technology – LiDAR (light detection ranging), which was employed to create a dynamic auto adapting Instagram filter that blends satellite data with augmented reality, to account for changing lighting conditions in the Museum.

    Using Instagram augmented reality filters, visitors can scan the museum’s disputed artefacts and see them being teleported back in time to their countries of origin. It also relays violent moments in history with the help of ten experts from those countries. The visuals were inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s black and white films and were designed to match the emotional stories told by the experts.

    Pixel Party founder and director Kalpit Dwivedi said, “This has been one of the most exciting and rewarding journeys for us. The entire process of creating an immersive experience was fascinating and challenging. It forced us to think out of the box and tackle unique situations, and we are very proud of the results. Working with a hardcore creative advertising technologist like Gurbaksh Singh (chief innovation officer of Dentsu Creative) was very thrilling and inspiring. Technology enables more powerful, impactful storytelling. So, we decided to try this using a social platform that can build a rich experience for every user – which is how Instagram’s augmented reality filters became part of this project.”

    Pixel Party director Sumit Grover said, “Executing this entire campaign took almost 18 months and the entire journey was exhilarating. It feels truly incredible to be recognized on the biggest international stage. From the entire team that poured their heart into crafting this campaign, this is our commitment to further discourse that will make room for underrepresented voices in the industry. Well, it’s been a long journey and now it’s getting the rewards that it truly deserves”

  • Cannes Lions Day 1: Dentsu Webchutney, VMLY&R shine with Grand Prix each

    Cannes Lions Day 1: Dentsu Webchutney, VMLY&R shine with Grand Prix each

    MUMBAI: The Indian contingent opened its innings grandly on day one of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022 with a seven-metal haul, which includes two Grand Prix, three Silvers and two Bronzes. It also clinched 20 shortlists across five more categories, taking the total shortlists to 37.

    The first Grand Prix was won in the Radio & Audio Lions by Dentsu Creative for the ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign for Vice Media. The campaign was the only shortlist from India and the category, and had got seven nominations. The Grand Prix came under the branded content and podcasts subcategory.

    The campaign also won a silver in the media & entertainment subcategory and two bronze lions in the audio-led creativity and cultural insight subcategories, respectively.

    The second Grand Prix was bagged by VMLY&R in the Health & Wellness Lions (OTC Products/Devices) for ‘The Killer Pack’ – an innovative 100 percent biodegradeble packaging for the mosquito repellent, which was lined with 5 percent active probiotic bacillus thuringiensis to kill mosquito larvae when disposed of in garbage dumps, dustbins and stagnant water – for Maxx Flash.

    The agency also won one Silver Health & Wellness Lion for ‘Adeli’, a unique campaign by Unipads that put menstruating women, colloquially known as adelis in certain parts of the country, into kitchens. The win came in the Brand-led Education & Awareness subcategory.

    Reacting to the win, VMLY&R global chief creative officer Debbi Vandeven said, “I am grateful that we get to work with brands impacting the world positively and clients who are passionate about building purpose-driven businesses. And I am very proud that work from around the world is getting the recognition it deserves.”

    Dentsu Creative CEO India Amit Wadhwa said, “This is a humongous win. A Grand Prix, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze on Day 1 itself indeed make for a perfect fairytale. The Unfiltered History Tour has won several laurels in the past but this one gets us positioned at the very top in terms of creativity. Kudos to each one from our army of artistic folks, both ex and current, who have invested their blood and sweat to build the masterpiece. This victory completely belongs to you and it deserves to be cherished for times to come.”

    Dentsu Creative group chief creative officer india Ajay Gahlaut added, “Winning four metals, including the coveted Grand Prix, on the first day at Cannes is a fantastic feeling. We have great hopes for this campaign and I’m sure it will win a few more metals by the end of Cannes Lions. Meanwhile we’re enjoying the feeling!”

  • Cannes Lions ’22: India scores 20 more shortlists, takes its tally to 37

    Cannes Lions ’22: India scores 20 more shortlists, takes its tally to 37

    MUMBAI: The Indian contingent added a dazzling 20 more shortlists to its tally on Day One of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022 being held from 20 June to 24 June 2022. This is in addition to the 17 shortlists the contingent garnered earlier, taking the country’s total score to 37 shortlists so far.

    Here is the breakdown of the latest shortlisted works:

    Dentsu Creative’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ for Vice Media bagged four more shortlists in the Digital Craft Lions.

    In Entertainment Lions, ‘Master Ji’ for BYJUS by BYJUS Bengaluru and Dora Digs Mumbai got one shortlist.  

    In Film Craft Lions, ‘The Missing Chapter’ for P&G’s Whisper by Off Road Films Mumbai & Leo Burnett received three shortlists, while Care Lives On #Touch0fCare for Vicks by Memesys Culture Lab Bambolim and ‘Master Ji’ for BYJUS by BYJUS Bengaluru and Dora Digs Mumbai got two shortlists each. Machine Gun Mouth for Battlegrounds Mobile India by Early Man Films picked one shortlist.

    In Industry Craft, ‘A Silent Frown’ created by DDB Mudra Mumbai for Charlie Chaplin Foundation scored one shortlist. 

    In Design Lions, Unaids’ ‘Unbox Me’ by FCB India and FCB Chicago, , ‘A Silent Frown’ created by DDB Mudra Mumbai for Charlie Chaplin Foundation got a shortlist each.

    ‘Polly the Polar Bear’ for Montessori Schools India, created by Landor & Fitch Mumbai & Paris, ‘The Missing Chapter’ for P&G’s Whisper by Leo Burnett got two shortlists each.

    However, it was a no-show for the contingent in the Entertainment Lions for Music and Entertainment Lions for Sports categories.

    In the earlier announcements made on Sunday, the Indian contingent picked up 12 shortlists in the categories Health and Wellness and Radio and Audio Lions. Dentsu Webchutney, DDB Mudra, Leo Burnett, and VMLY&R scored the shortlists, with the former’s The Unfiltered Historical past Tour for Vice Media harvesting upto seven shortlists. There were no Indian shortlists in the Pharma, Print and Publishing, and Out-of-home categories.

    In the Health and Wellness Lions, Killer Pack for Maxx Flash and The Adeli Motion for Unipads- both by VMLY&R, and DBB Mudra’s Machine Gun Mouth for BattleGrounds Cell India got a shortlist each, even as Leo Burnett’s The Lacking Chapter for P&G India’s Whisper picked up two Shortlists.

    In the Radio and Audio Lions category, Dentsu Webchutney’s The Unfiltered Historical past Tour for Vice Media picked up seven Shortlists.

    Before that, VMLY&R had gained two shortlists for the Killer Pack for Maxx Flash in the Innovation Lions and the Adeli for Unipads in the Glass: Lion for Change.

    BBDO India too scored a shortlist in the Glass Lions for the When we #SeeEqual, we #ShareTheLoad (Integrated) campaign it did for P&G India’s Ariel.

    The Titanium Lions garnered shortlists for Ogilvy India’s Shahrukh-My ad for Cadbury Celebrations and Dentsu Webchutney’s The Unfiltered History Tour for Vice Media.

  • dentsuMB Group CEO Sidharth Rao moves on

    dentsuMB Group CEO Sidharth Rao moves on

    MUMBAI: After a career spanning over 22 years, dentsuMB Group CEO Sidharth Rao has moved on from the agency. Rao will be leaving the business in December 2022 to return to his entrepreneurial roots,the agency announced in a statement on Wednesday.

    dentsuMB India will then come under the additional charge of Isobar India group CEO Heeru Dingra, supported by business leaders Ajit Devraj, Indrajeet Mookerjee and Harsh Shah. The new dentsuMB India leadership team will work with Rao through the transition, and in close partnership with Amit Wadhwa, CEO for the entirety of dentsu’s Creative Service Line for India.

    Rao was given the additional responsibility of CEO of the dentsuMB Group in June 2021 as part of dentsu’s restructuring of creative, digital and PR services.

    He took over the role of chairman at dentsu’s creative agency Happy mcgarrybowen (HMB) India and Dentsu Webchutney in January 2020. Prior to that, Rao was CEO of dentsu Webchutney, a company he founded along with Sudesh Samaria in 1999, before it was acquired by dentsu in 2013.

    Confirming the development, dentsu India Creative Service Line CEO Amit Wadhwa said, “Sid is not just a colleague – he is, and will remain, a dear friend. He has played an instrumental role in dentsu India’s growth and creative journey, as well as in mentoring our talent, which gives me every confidence and much excitement for the next generation of dentsuMB India’s leaders who are already proving formidable.”

    “We truly wish Sid every luck as he returns to his entrepreneurial ambition and passion, for which we are sure he will find great success again,” he added.

    On his moving on, Sidharth Rao said, “Being acquired by dentsu was by far the most important milestone in Webchutney’s journey. It has been a great, great ride. Dentsu India is making such exciting strides and I am especially happy to see Dentsu Webchutney the strongest it’s ever been. There are absolutely no regrets. I have enjoyed this decade long journey enormously, and great credit goes to the network’s leadership team who I would like to thank dearly for making dentsu feel like home since day one.”

    “For my journey ahead, I am exploring new ideas in the exciting online space, with details of my plan ready to be announced in the coming months,” Rao further added.

    An integral part of dentsu India’s executive leadership team, Rao has helped build dentsu’s digital and creative capabilities in the market, the agency said in a statement. Under his leadership, dentsu India has been awarded at multiple local as well as major international award shows including Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, The One Show and D&AD.

  • The One Show 2022: Dentsu Webchutney bags 18 pencils for its ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign.

    The One Show 2022: Dentsu Webchutney bags 18 pencils for its ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign.

    Mumbai: Dentsu Webchutney, the digital creative agency from dentsu creative group India has once again demonstrated creative excellence with its outstanding performance at ‘The One Show 2022’. The agency converted 21 shortlists into 18 pencils, three merits and a best of discipline across multiple categories for its one-of-a-kind campaign, ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’.

    Dentsu Webchutney was also named ‘The Most Awarded Agency across APAC’, with ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ bringing home seven gold, nine silver and two bronze for India. In March this year, Dentsu Webchutney emerged as the most awarded Indian agency at the Spikes Asia Awards with four grand prix, five gold, four silver & six bronze. In addition to this, the agency’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign has also clinched nine shortlists at D&AD 2022.

    FCB India was the sole other recipient of silver pencil from the country at The One Show 2022. The agency’s ‘The Mirror – See Me As I Am’ for UNAIDS won it the honour. Ogilvy India took home two bronze pencils for Mondelez India’s ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’. Byju’s (Masterji), DDB Mudra Group (EatQual – McDonald’s) and VMLY&R Commerce (Hackwashing – Lifebuoy) one a bronze each.

    On dentsu Webchutney’s big win, dentsu international global chief creative officer Fred Levron said, “This piece shows what we want dentsu to be known for. Building brands through the power of modern creative. Combining cultural insights, technology and experience. There is a new creative ambition at dentsu and India is leading the way.”

    Dentsu Creative group India chief executive officer Amit Wadhwa added, “These wins demonstrate to me, our clients and our industry that we are doing something very right and, most importantly, we are surrounded by the right people. Kudos to the entire team!”

    dentsu Creative group India group chief creative officer Ajay Gahlaut commented, “Winning 18 One Show Pencils for a single piece of work is unprecedented and just goes to show the breakthrough quality of the work we do at dentsu. Congratulations to the army of people involved in conceiving and delivering this campaign, particularly during a worldwide pandemic.”

    “What makes me proud is that this campaign is making a real impact in the world. These pencils are a testament to how new-age creativity of activating digital content at a physical location is blurring boundaries – be it platforms or geographical,” said Dentsu Webchutney and dentsuMB CCO Arjuna Gaur.

  • Priyanka Borah, Prashant Gopalakrishnan join Talented as founding partners

    Priyanka Borah, Prashant Gopalakrishnan join Talented as founding partners

    Mumbai: Talented, the independent agency founded by Gautam Reghunath & PG Aditiya.has brought onboard Dentsu Webchutney’s Priyanka Borah and Prashant Gopalakrishnan as founding partners to lead business strategy.

    In a statement, Prashant Gopalakrishnan said, “We bought into Gautam & PG’s vision of building an agency centred around talent the moment we heard about it. My experience and my gut tells me that’s what clients expect from their creative agencies too: access to the best talent in the market. Over the last few years, conversations in our industry have been circling around the looming irrelevance of agencies in the new marketing landscape.”

    He further added, “At the same time, no longer do people in advertising take pride in unnecessarily long work-days and not getting what they truly deserve either. All things considered, the agency experience itself is long overdue for a serious reimagination like Gautam often says. Talented is in many ways an experiment to bring back the love for the agency business, by trying to go about everything we do in a fresh way.”

    Gopalakrishnan joined Webchutney in 2015 after stints at Leo Burnett, Contract and Capital. He was named Dentsu Webchutney’s first ever managing partner in 2020 under then Webchutney CEO & now Talented co-founder Gautam Reghunath. “Together at Webchutney, we achieved a lot of things we never even dreamed of accomplishing. Personally, I’ve been wanting a new challenge. That, plus the chance to build something again with people we love makes this opportunity even more exciting,” Gopalakrishnan added.

    Priyanka Borah joined Dentsu Webchutney in 2017 and was last leading the agency’s business team as senior vice president. During her five years there, she helped drive work for clients including Google, Uber, Airtel, ITC, YouTube amongst others. About her new role, she said, “Working with Gautam & PG at Webchutney was a rewarding experience. And joining them now as founding partner is as great a privilege, as it is a challenge. Prashant and I are here to ensure that the business itself becomes as successful as it can be. That means structuring ourselves internally to consistently deliver great work for clients. Simultaneously, we’ve got very clear ideas & share the same dream about the kind of company that we want to build together: one that stands for creativity, transparency and respect for talent. Stay true to those principles and I know the clients will follow.”

    “In the agency business today, there are systemic barriers to a sustainable work experience for employees that need to be eradicated, so that’s an additional area of focus. We want to be an ambitious, world-class, creative company with a big heart. We want every member to be able to enjoy stimulating challenges rather than spend their times chasing deadlines and following up – the biggest bane of our younger colleagues joining advertising. There is no doubt this search for efficiency will have a positive rub-off on work and client relationships as well,” added Borah.