Tag: Haresh Nayak

  • Haresh Nayak moves on from dentsu International

    Haresh Nayak moves on from dentsu International

    Mumbai: Posterscope India MD and Posterscope president APAC Haresh Nayak has quit dentsu International. Along with Nayak, dentsu India SVP & Indeed CSR head Sahil Arora has also announced his departure from the agency. The news of the latest exits from dentsu was confirmed by the network. 

    It further issued clarity on the OOH businesses being aligned into Amplifi, dentsu’s supply-side management platform, under the leadership of Media India, CEO, Divya Karani, following Nayak’s departure.

    In a statement to IndianTelevision.com, the company said, “To stay ahead of the growth opportunities and potential we see for our clients and our teams we are accelerating into dentsu India 2.0. This is crucial to realising our global ambition of becoming the most integrated network in the world, simplifying and transforming our business to deliver greater agility, speed to market, and increased value to our clients.”

    Dentsu further added, “As part of this transformation, our OOH businesses will be aligned into Amplifi, our supply-side management platform, under the leadership of Divya Karani, CEO, Media India following the departure of Haresh Nayak. Out of Home advertising is an incredibly important part of the Media environment for dentsu and our clients, and we will continue to grow our market-leading expertise and results in outdoor advertising with a strong and continued focus on innovation, locally relevant solutions, and integration to deliver competitive advantage to our clients.”

    The two resignations are the latest in a slew of top-level exits at the network that have shocked the advertising fraternity. 

    Several senior-level executives have moved out of the network in the last few days, including Isobar COO Gopa Menon, iProspect CEO Rubeena Singh, DAN Performance Group CEO Vivek Bhargava, Isobar’s  South Asia Group MD Shams Jasani, DAN Programmatic chief data and product officer, APAC, and CEO Gautam Mehra, Taproot Dentsu CCO Agnello Dias, dentsu India CEO, formerly CFO Anand Bhadkamkar, and Taproot Dentsu co-founder and CCO Santosh Padhi.

    There have also been a couple of high-profile hires at the network simultaneously. Recently Mindshare’s Vinod Thadani joined as dentsu Media Group chief digital growth officer, and iProspect CEO. Ajay Gahlaut was also onboarded as dentsu Creative India group CCO last week.

    Nayak had recently completed thirteen years at the network, having joined Posterscope India in 2008 as managing director. He was elevated to the position of Posterscope’s APAC president last year. Prior to joining Posterscope, Nayak was business director and national buying head at Lintas India (IPG India) for six years.

  • Dentsu International launches sports marketing unit in India

    New Delhi: Dentsu International on Monday announced the launch of its sports marketing unit in India.

    Born out of the Dentsu Group, one of the world’s largest marketing communications companies, the new unit will function under DSAsia in India. It will operate with 200+ people across the globe in the US, UK, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. Headquartered from Japan, it will serve as the rights holders from the world of sports including federations, leagues, events, teams, publishers, and venues, said the agency in a statement.

    Former cricketer Anand Yalvigi was named as the director of this new vertical for India. In his new role, Yalvigi will report to Dentsu International, Media Brands, COO, Haresh Nayak.

    Armed with nearly two decades of experience in Sports marketing, Yalvigi is a former Ranji player, who also played for Mumbai and Karnataka. He has successfully launched and worked with multiple sports management companies including Ignite Sports, Havas Sports, Network Sports and Nimbus. He was also instrumental in setting up the Kochi IPL team and has been persistently involved in the designing of unique sports concepts for various brands with an affinity toward cricket – his core domain.

    Talking about his new role, Yalvigi said, “Our expertise shall lie in providing a unique sports marketing solution for a brand that breaks the clutter. I am sure it will be an exciting second innings for me to work with such a large group like dentsu. With the vast network of clients and our multifold services in-house at dentsu, the plan is to create unique sports concepts for various brands. Our vast range of services shall include Sports Consultancy, In-stadia Advertising, Brand Activations, Talent management, Leadership program, Corporate Sports Events, Sports Education, CSR and Team Sponsorships.”

    Commenting on Anand’s appointment, COO Dentsu International, Media Brands, Haresh Nayak said, “The launch of Dentsu India/Dentsu Sports Asia unit will harness the power of sports via its commercial and creative capabilities to bring meaningful marketing solutions and experiences for brands. I am thrilled that Anand has joined us; he has an impressive track record. I have the utmost confidence in his ability to steer our business to greater heights.”

    The launch is supported by Tokyo-based Dentsu Sports International (DSI), and Dentsu Sports Asia (DSAsia), Singapore. For the record, DSI and DSAsia are global agencies that harness the power of sports to impact human behaviour through meaningful marketing solutions and experiences. DSI leverages deep insights and its network of seasoned, team members to establish powerful connections between sports properties and brands.

  • Dentsu International merges The Story Lab with C’Lab in India

    Dentsu International merges The Story Lab with C’Lab in India

    NEW DELHI: Dentsu International has announced the merger of its celebrity, influencer, and sports marketing division C’Lab with its global branded content division The Story Lab (TSL) in India. Deepak Kumar, erstwhile director C’Lab, will now lead the business in India as country head TSL.

    The unification of these two agencies is aimed at simplifying clients’ needs in the content space and leverage TSL’s footprint and IPs across the globe. The merged entity will operate under the TSL brand and further strengthen its foundation in the country. 

    For the record, TSL is a global content specialist that inspires and delivers innovative content solutions. These solutions, in-turn, help in creating connect with audiences and thus, deliver value to clients and partners. Some of its popular IPs are Game of Clones, Ninja Warrior, No Sleep No FOMO, and a host of other exclusive IPs and branded content properties. C'Lab, meanwhile, specialises in creating tactical content in the space of sports and entertainment. In its last three years of operations in India, C’Lab has created some very effective campaigns with celebrities and influencers.

    With the merger of these two entities, TSL will work with brands to innovate the art of storytelling. It will also introduce global learnings into the local market, infused with local understanding. The merged capability will help enhance the current offering and provide access to global IPs with local flavor.

    Kumar said, “‘Content is king’ is an old adage but the relevance continues. Its significance, in fact, has increased manifold during the lockdown and further fueled with the advent of newer platforms. It’s an exciting and challenging time to be in this business wherein harnessing a brand’s interest and relevance to the consumer will be the key guiding force for us.”

    dentsu COO India – media brands Haresh Nayak added, “As we enter an era of simplification, this move will only help clients achieve single-window content solutions. TSL will redefine content across multi-platforms and multi-devices, offering brands immersive experiences. Our global and local experiences will only help brands to get the best of both worlds.”

  • Posterscope India announces key elevations and leadership changes

    Posterscope India announces key elevations and leadership changes

    NEW DELHI: Posterscope India, location-based marketing specialist from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has announced the elevation of Deepak Kumar to the role of director, while Fabian Cowan dons the new enhanced role of country head, effective immediately. They will continue to report to Haresh Nayak, president, Posterscope APAC & COO DAN Media Brands.

    Under the fresh mandate, Kumar will continue to lead Ambient, ROOH, C Lab. Additionally, he will also take charge of Brandscope, the hyperlocal out of home specialist under DAN. Kumar joined Posterscope Group as vice president in 2013. Prior to that, Kumar was with Times of India.

    In the new expanded role, Cowan will be responsible for scaling up Posterscope’s business, nationwide and drive growth for the budding entities – Eunoia and Indeed Smart City. He joined Posterscope India in 2011, and today boasts of an advertising career straddling over 26 years. 

    “The agency’s endeavour is to build on the organisation’s strength and continue to drive data-led technology and creatively fuelled solutions for clients. Over the years, Deepak and Fabian have significantly contributed towards this vision. They have played a pivotal role in introducing new services and even accelerating the growth. Their valuable experience across the space and the proven track record of success has earned them additional responsibility. I believe, in the new role, Deepak and Fabian will take our business to greater heights,” said Nayak.

    Kumar said, “I am truly honoured by the appointment and the confidence placed in me by the leadership team. In the new role, I will strive to strengthen our brands, build powerful client-agency relationships, and bring value to the industry. I have always believed that a leader’s true strength is revealed in challenging times. The Corona phase is the testing time and I have geared up to make a breakthrough.”

    Cowan said, “Follow your curiosity, wherever you can find it – This quote from Anna Holmes has kept me excited about the things I do every day. From out of home, and ambient in my earlier stint when I started at Posterscope to leading creative, smart city and government initiatives now the challenges have never ceased and the curiosity to explore has only kept manifesting itself. This is an opportunity I am looking forward to and I know that I have a team and a belief system that will make this a very exciting phase professionally”

  • #BillboardSpeaks’ objective was to tell people that we missed them: Posterscope’s Haresh Nayak

    #BillboardSpeaks’ objective was to tell people that we missed them: Posterscope’s Haresh Nayak

    MUMBAI: “Hey there, Good to see you, it was lonely out there, now that you are back we can talk.”

    Did you see this digital billboard while you were on your way to work? If yes, then it was meant to grab your attention. Posterscope never ceases to amaze people with its innovation. Recently, when the government eased the movement of people and business operations in Unlock 1.0, the agency launched an OOH campaign called #BillboardSpeaks. A national campaign rolled out in the green zones of the country was to motivate and welcome people to normalcy.

    “The objective of this campaign was to reach out to the people and tell them that we miss them. And being an industry leader, it is our moral responsibility to support the industry by welcoming back the people in the out of home space, obviously with a lot of caution and care and compliance which all the government bodies are putting into play,” shares Posterscope Asia Pacific president Haresh Nayak.

    “I think this was a great opportunity for us to also highlight the importance and relevance of out-of-home in everyone’s life. And it is one medium which is free for the eyes, you don’t pay any cable connection charges or internet fees. And also, you can’t ignore an OOH advertisement. The team’s strategy was to bring out the essence and the core of the medium,” Nayak further reveals.

    This OOH campaign, which is mainly only on hoardings, has been displayed in sites like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmadabad.

    There is no denying that all the businesses across the globe have been badly impacted due to Covid2019. So, what is Posterscope’s strategy to revive the business?

    Nayak says that there is a huge dent in everyone’s business and everyone, from clients to media partners has been impacted. “I was lucky I have a great team, and everyone understood their role. Everyone worked on getting our back-end right. Our HR team worked on all the training programs on the back end, content and then the business development team worked on segmenting clients. What are the new options when the lockdown opens up? What are the new innovative solutions we can do because innovating was critical? So, we had to work on innovative solutions for post-Covid2019 signages. We looked at cleaning our databases and sharpening our content. We did a lot of training during the lockdown to sharpen our skills and to uplift our skills,” he shares.

    He believes that these strategies have been efficient in helping them out of the situation where few factors are under control. It even ensured that there were no salary cuts or layoffs in the company, he says.

    Nayak also reveals that for Posterscope, the overall aim is to cover as much lost ground as possible. “We have lost so many months due to the crises; we want to reach at least where we were last year. We are hopeful,” he concludes.

  • Media Minds: Posterscope South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak talks about 11-year long journey on anniversary

    Media Minds: Posterscope South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak talks about 11-year long journey on anniversary

    MUMBAI: OOH advertising is probably the starting point of the advertising culture. From hand-drawn paintings to physical and digital installations, this mode of talking to the consumer has evolved in the past many decades. One of the top names functioning in this industry has been Posterscope, from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network, which for more than a decade has been innovating greatly to make OOH marketing more meaningful, relatable, and successful.

    On its 11th anniversary, ‘Media Minds’ interacted with Posterscope South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak to delve deeper into the great the company has been doing and also discuss the way ahead.

    Nayak shared that the industry has improved greatly in the past decade and the influx of technology has made the OOH players to constantly evolve and innovate. He highlighted that the future is going to be influenced by technology and the agencies will be bringing in some fine innovations in the physical spaces.

    He noted that in India there is a great scope for the OOH marketing to grow. He said, “Delhi and Mumbai collectively make up for 50-60 per cent of the OOH industry. But states like Bengaluru, Pune, and Tamil Nadu are going to catch up in the near future.”

    Listen to the complete interaction here:

  • Sandeep Sawant to lead Hyperspace & Smart City at Dentsu Aegis Network

    Sandeep Sawant to lead Hyperspace & Smart City at Dentsu Aegis Network

    MUMBAI: Hyperspace India, the shopper marketing agency under Dentsu Aegis Network has appointed former Madison Retail paradigm’s deputy general manager, Sandeep Sawant to lead the operations. In this role, he will report to Posterscope – South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak.

    Sawant joins Hyperspace with close to 20 years of extensive experience in Shoppers Marketing, Retail Strategy, and Solutions as well as Rural Activation. Prior to MRP, Sawant was the vice president at Costra Advertising. 

    With a legacy of 11 years, Hyperspace services over 200 clients and has successfully set up 2000 plus stores. Today with Sawant at the helm, Hyperspace plans to expand its offerings, improvise on the existing services and develop Smart City solutions.

    Commenting on his appointment Haresh Nayak said, "We are delighted to welcome Sandeep to Hyperspace. The strategy to triple our business by 2020 was laid one year back, while we have ticked off certain plans to reach our goal, we will now be pushing more aggressively by diversifying our operations in rural markets, combining shoppers experience and implementation capabilities in smart city solutions and future proof our services by bringing in data and technology. With Sandeep’s expertise and skillset, I believe he’s the right fit to take our business ahead”

    Sawant commented, “Hyperspace has always been experimental and industry-first in its approach and is driven by passionate individuals who are always working to create a new experience for brands and its consumers. Being digitally-charged and data-driven, the agency ensures best ROI for its clients and the most impactful conversations with consumers. I am excited to be a part of the DAN family and I can’t wait to take the agency to greater heights.”

  • Dentsu Aegis Network restructures rural marketing under Hyperspace

    Dentsu Aegis Network restructures rural marketing under Hyperspace

    Mumbai: Dentsu Aegis Network recently announced the restructuring of its Rural Marketing under its shopper marketing agency, Hyperspace. This development has been introduced in the light of opening avenues for brands to create a shopper experience in the emerging markets.

    Keshav Chandorkar, who was heading the Rural division under Fountainhead Entertainment will continue to lead this new operation along with his original team. Chandorkar has 24 years of experience in activation, rural marketing and strategy planning.

    “Retail is facing headwinds, particularly in rural areas because the consumers in these markets witness the premium retail experience through mobile connectivity today. Moreover, with the increase in the purchasing power of the consumers, the disparity between urban and rural India is reducing manifold. As leaders in the Industry, we are committed to review the market, pick out the gaps and do the needful. We are positive that this recent rejig will be beneficial to the fast-evolving consumers,” said Keshav Chandorkar, Vice President – Rural Division, Hyperspace.

    Speaking on the restructuring strategy, Haresh Nayak, Group MD – Posterscope – South Asia, said, “Hyperspace being in the industry for 10 years now, having an experience of working with more than 200 + clients, rural marketing was a natural extension. The agency has had a fair presence in the smaller markets but given the scope that still more than 90% retail takes place in the physical space, our rural marketing services will only help our clients to reach in deeper markets. As a brand we are chasing multiple priorities at the same time, so even as the company expands, we will stay agile and we will continue to discover the new preferences of our clients and consumers.”

    At Hyperspace, the rural marketing division specializes in delivering memorable and engaging consumer experiences driven through insight, data and innovation. The division positions itself as a 360-degree solution provider to brands, with an in-house capability of conceptualization as well seamless on ground activation across the length and breadth of the country.

  • Posterscope launches ROOH – Digital OOH Ad Exchange

    Posterscope launches ROOH – Digital OOH Ad Exchange

    MUMBAI: Posterscope India, the out-of-home specialist from Dentsu Aegis Network, has announced the launch of ROOH (Real Time Out Of Home), a unique planning-buying platform (including programmatic) for digital OOH inventories.

    Based on the extensive use of APIs (application programming interface), Posterscope’s ROOH uses a wide variety of data feeds to create customised and targeted advertising. The tool aims to help Posterscope to further strengthen and bolster its real-time capabilities in India as billings from digital OOH are estimated to grow at a rate of 60 per cent by the end of 2019.

    With the launch of ROOH, Posterscope India has collated and brought together more than 60,000 digital screens on a single platform. This tool not only uses analytics around the screen when consumers frequenting the location but also exploits Dentsu Aegis Network’s research, insights and planning tool – CCS (Consumer Connections Study Planner) along with Dan Explore (a tool that examines consumer passion points) to arrive at the right screen mix for the brand to help optimise the plan.

    Posterscope Group South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak said, "The ability to deliver dynamic content in real time, driven by highly relevant data and optimised to audience type and audience mindset, represents an enormous leap in the power of the OOH medium. I am certain that it will attract new advertisers to the medium, particularly those that need highly flexible and agile brand communication."

    ROOH senior vice president Deepak Kumar said, “Over the last two years, we have worked across 2500 towns, dealing with over 50 key media owners, to develop this tool. This has helped us in understanding and curating ROOH. The flexibility of ROOH will enable some interesting campaigns and will make OOH truly a dynamic medium. The Posterscope Group predicts that the year 2020 will be a defining year for real time out of home.”

    During the test phase, Posterscope India activated programmatic triggers, specific to time and location, with multiple creatives on a limited number of screens to observe market reaction. “In turn, the agency observed exponential increase in client queries to understand the medium so that it could help them execute their campaigns more effectively. Currently, BFSI, mobile, e commerce and automobile categories are at the forefront of usage of this tool,” a press statement shares.

    Only accessed by its planning team now, Posterscope will soon extend ROOH’s access to its clients and partners. ROOH will provide insights and data to them – right from the brief stage juxtaposed against consumer analytics that will help then detect and decipher the apt triggers for their campaign. Human intervention, then, will be limited and utilised only if necessary.