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Tag: HCL

  • Ruralshores takes the Singhal route to global growth with new Group CEO

    Ruralshores takes the Singhal route to global growth with new Group CEO

    MUMBAI: From villages to boardrooms, Ruralshores is ready to go big and it has found its navigator. The rural outsourcing pioneer has appointed Tarun Singhal as group CEO of Ruralshores Integrated Business, signalling a bold new phase of AI-led transformation and global expansion. The company, already the world’s largest rural digital operations firm, employs over 3,500 colleagues across 14 centres nationwide. With Singhal at the helm, the focus sharpens on scaling Ruralshores’ “Scalable Workforce-as-a-Service” model, a unique blend of tech, talent and social impact designed to deliver value for global clients while empowering rural youth.

    Singhal arrives with heavyweight credentials, having driven digital transformation and international client growth at HCL and Sopra Steria. A recognised voice in Gen-AI strategy and digital innovation, he brings both gravitas and energy to a company that has long championed the marriage of cutting-edge tech with grassroots opportunity.

    “This is not just a transition, it is a launchpad,” said Ruralshores co-founder and director Murali Vullaganti hailing the appointment as a turning point in Ruralshores’ journey.

    For his part, Singhal painted a vision of rural India powering global digital ambitions: “Teams are geared up to revolutionise rural operations with AI-enabled, ESG-supported, data-driven services, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat. We’re set to transform work in complex, underserved environments, harnessing rural India’s exceptional talent.”

    With its unique dual promise reducing costs for startups and enterprises while maximising social impact Ruralshores is betting that its rural workforce model can be scaled into a global movement. And with Singhal now in the driver’s seat, the road ahead looks set to be both inclusive and innovative.

  • Brand new day as Epic Brand Map goes global with India as launchpad

    Brand new day as Epic Brand Map goes global with India as launchpad

     MUMBAI: What’s in a brand? Quite a lot, if you ask the folks at the newly minted Epic Brand Institute. The Epic Brand Institute (EBI) has officially stepped onto the global stage with the public launch of its flagship framework the Epic Brand Map (EBM), a system designed to bring Evocativeness, Precision, Insight and Clarity (yes, that’s EPIC) to the chaotic world of brand-building.

    Already battle-tested by corporate heavyweights like the Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, Reliance, Mahindra, HCL, and international giants like Coca-cola, Medtronic, Sun Life Financial, Mars, Walmart and Nokia, the framework is finally being made available to the wider world of founders, marketers, consultants and creatives.

    Created by global brand strategist Saurabh Uboweja, also the founder of BOD Consulting, the EBM will now form the core of EBI’s in-person training cohorts. The first will be hosted in New Delhi from 9–11 June 2025 at the India Habitat Centre, and a second will follow in Dubai from 19–21 September 2025.

    “We’re launching not just a course, but a global movement,” said Uboweja. “After years of working behind the scenes with some of the biggest names in business, we’re now opening the EPIC Brand Map to a new generation of brand-led business builders.”

    The inaugural Delhi edition will be an intimate affair, limited to 30 handpicked founders and practitioners looking to sharpen their brand-building acumen. Dubai, meanwhile, is set to attract a mix of Middle East and South Asian brand professionals hoping to join the ranks of EPIC strategists.

    With storytelling getting louder, attention spans shrinking, and differentiation harder than ever, EBI’s pitch is simple stop winging it and start mapping it. The message is clear: if your brand strategy feels like a game of darts in the dark, it might be time to go EPIC.

  • Zeel gets Saurav Adhikari on board as additional director; shareholders reject Punit Goenka’s reappointment as director

    Zeel gets Saurav Adhikari on board as additional director; shareholders reject Punit Goenka’s reappointment as director

    MUMBAI: The board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) today approved the appointment of former HCL and Pepsico India executive Saurav Adhikari as an additional director in the category of non-executive director. It informed the BSE about his addition to the company through a regulatory filing  in the evening of 28 November 2024. He had earlier been appointed on 15 November in the same capacity, but his term was valid only till 28 November, the date of the AGM.  

    Adhikari is currently the founder & senior partner at Indus Tech Edge Fund I, a growth fund focused on globalising India’s vibrant technology ecosystem. He is the former chairman of NASDAQ listed Vahanna Tech Edge Acquisition I Corp (a special purpose acquisition company (Spac)) and has after a successful DeSpac/merger moved on to the board of NASDAQ listed Roadzen.  He  also serves as a board member of Goodricke Group Ltd, Accelya Solutions India Ltd, (both listed in India), and Bridgeweave Ltd UK, an AI based fintech firm. He works as a technology advisor and investor with interests across AI based fintech and healthcare firms, as well as analytics, IoT and logistics firms. He serves as a senior advisor in the Shiv Nadar Foundation and is a board member of the Shiv Nadar University.  

    Adhikari has impeccable credentials. Especially while with the HCL group. He worked on several multi-billion-dollar inorganic investments in technology and software, carve-outs of multiple enterprise software product suites, joint ventures with global majors, all to transform and reinvent HCL’s business. He was instrumental in strategising HCL’s  pivoting of its business model to a leading intellectual property-led solutions company. In his technology role, he had built deep inroads into global private equity and VC firms, while creating large, successful, value-based partnerships between HCL and private equity owned technology businesses, which are considered groundbreaking in the industry.

    At HCL, he held various executive positions, the last being president, global strategy, working directly with the founder & chairman with oversight across the group’s business, as well as the not-for-profit Shiv Nadar Foundation. During this time, he contributed to HCL’s immense growth from a sub $200mn revenue company in 2000 to a $14bn revenue and over $50bn market cap today, transforming it into one of the world’s leading, and India’s third largest IT/technology firms and India’s no. 1 software product company.  

    His prior experience also includes several senior global leadership and executive roles across Unilever, as vice President at PepsiCo and Group SEB  (Tefal India) and as CEO of the India business. 

    Meanwhile, Punit Goenka’s reappointment as a director on  the Zeel board failed to get the requisite majority of votes (50.4 percent against: 49.5 percent for) from shareholders during the company’s AGM held yesterday, the company said in an exchange filing.  He,  had earlier stepped down as managing director and continued as CEO of the company recently. Media reports have viewed this failure to get reappointed as a director a set back for Goenka.  (Updated on 29 November 2024, 8 am)
     

  • Vinit Kumar named as Madison Media Plus VP

    Vinit Kumar named as Madison Media Plus VP

    Mumbai: Madison Media on Monday announced the appointment of Vinit Kumar as vice president of Madison Media Plus. Based in Delhi, Kumar will report to Madison Media Plus COO Abhik Banerjee.

    Kumar has over 16 years of experience in facets of media ranging from integrated marketing communications, strategy, digital marketing and analytics. Prior to joining Madison, he worked with Zenith Media, Mindshare, Lintas Media Group and HCL. 

    This will be Kumar’s second stint with Madison. Previously, he served as general manager in the agency’s Delhi and Kolkata offices handling ITC, according to the statement.

    “We are glad to have Vinit back on board. Having worked for various FMCG segments, he brings a wealth of experience to Madison. I am confident that we will be able to take our Delhi office to the next level with new business and continue to delight the existing clients,” said Abhik Banerjee.

    “I am excited to be joining Madison Media back and look forward to contributing to the organisation in my new role and responsibilities,” said Kumar. “My hopes and expectations are high as I look forward to the challenges and opportunities Madison Media and its clients will provide me and unlock our clients’ growth by leveraging data, tech and talent.” 

    Apart from his bachelors and masters degrees, Kumar upskilled himself by acquiring a post graduate diploma in general management from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and digital marketing and communications from MICA.

  • BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    MUMBAI: BBDO India announced Ritu Sharda as the new senior executive creative director in Delhi. Sharda joins the leadership as part of the reputed team behind the globally acclaimed ideas such as Ariel ‘Share the Load’ and Whisper ‘Touch the Pickle’. In her new role at BBDO India, Sharda will be looking to lead a strong creative team and bring in her creative flavour to existing accounts such as 7 Up, Quaker Oats, Mirinda, Zandu, Wrigley’s, SC Johnson and Exxon Mobil. She will also be responsible for leading the creative standards for new businesses based out of Delhi.

    BBDO India chairman and CCO Josy Paul commented, “We are thrilled to have Ritu Sharda leading the creative culture and product of BBDO in Delhi. Ritu is a transformational artist, poet, writer, social observer, and an internationally recognized builder of big brands. Her sensitivity to the truth and power of advertising as a change agent in society is what makes her super special. Our highly talented Delhi team will benefit greatly from her creative energy and inspired leadership.”

    Sharda has worked with an impressive array of brands through her career so far. Prior to joining BBDO India, Sharda led the creative work on brands such as Sony Bravia and HCL in her role as executive creative director at ITSA Brand Innovations. She also marked her directorial debut with films for Sony Bravia. Her creative influence spans agencies such as McCann, Publicis India, DDB Mudra and Contract.  Her compelling work and ideas have contributed significantly to brands like Aviva, Coke, HP, Microsoft, MasterCard, Dabur, Samsung, Maggi, HBO, McDonald’s, Nestle to name a few. Her immensely popular campaigns for Maggi and Coke have earned her major acclaim and recognition in the industry. And her diversity of ideas have won major metals and honour at Cannes, GoaFest, Effies and One Show.

    On joining BBDO India, Sharda says, “I am super excited. I met Josy a couple of months back and it was an absolute delight and things have clicked beautifully from there on. I love the kind of work BBDO is doing. The time, the place, everything feels just right.”

  • BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    MUMBAI: BBDO India announced Ritu Sharda as the new senior executive creative director in Delhi. Sharda joins the leadership as part of the reputed team behind the globally acclaimed ideas such as Ariel ‘Share the Load’ and Whisper ‘Touch the Pickle’. In her new role at BBDO India, Sharda will be looking to lead a strong creative team and bring in her creative flavour to existing accounts such as 7 Up, Quaker Oats, Mirinda, Zandu, Wrigley’s, SC Johnson and Exxon Mobil. She will also be responsible for leading the creative standards for new businesses based out of Delhi.

    BBDO India chairman and CCO Josy Paul commented, “We are thrilled to have Ritu Sharda leading the creative culture and product of BBDO in Delhi. Ritu is a transformational artist, poet, writer, social observer, and an internationally recognized builder of big brands. Her sensitivity to the truth and power of advertising as a change agent in society is what makes her super special. Our highly talented Delhi team will benefit greatly from her creative energy and inspired leadership.”

    Sharda has worked with an impressive array of brands through her career so far. Prior to joining BBDO India, Sharda led the creative work on brands such as Sony Bravia and HCL in her role as executive creative director at ITSA Brand Innovations. She also marked her directorial debut with films for Sony Bravia. Her creative influence spans agencies such as McCann, Publicis India, DDB Mudra and Contract.  Her compelling work and ideas have contributed significantly to brands like Aviva, Coke, HP, Microsoft, MasterCard, Dabur, Samsung, Maggi, HBO, McDonald’s, Nestle to name a few. Her immensely popular campaigns for Maggi and Coke have earned her major acclaim and recognition in the industry. And her diversity of ideas have won major metals and honour at Cannes, GoaFest, Effies and One Show.

    On joining BBDO India, Sharda says, “I am super excited. I met Josy a couple of months back and it was an absolute delight and things have clicked beautifully from there on. I love the kind of work BBDO is doing. The time, the place, everything feels just right.”

  • NDTV Indian of the Year Awards

    NDTV Indian of the Year Awards

    MUMBAI: The NDTV Indian of the Year Awards are held annually to recognise Indians whose contribution to the country have strengthened the foundation of our society and helped build Brand India.

    NDTV today announced the winners of their seventh edition of ‘Indian of the Year Awards’ at a grand ceremony held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi.

    The seventh edition of the awards was marked by a set of interesting panel discussions over key issues: Public Service, Elections and Business.
    The panelist for the Public Service session included Aamir Khan, Aruna Roy (social activist) and S. Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India while the panelist for the Business session saw business czars Rahul Bajaj, Chairman of the Indian conglomerate Bajaj Group and a Member of Parliament, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, Shiv Nadar, Founder and Chairman of HCL and the Shiv Nadar Foundation and RoshniNadar, Executive Director and the CEO of HCL Corporation.

    The third and final session was the award for the Indian of The Year, presented by Prannoy Roy to the Election Commission of India;represented by 7 former Chief Election Commissioners of India. The discussion with SY Quraishi, MS Gill, BB Tandon, JM Lyngdoh, Naveen Chawla, TS Krisha Murthy and N Gopalaswami was moderated by BarkhaDutt.

    Also present at the ceremony were LathaRajnikanth; Soundarya R Ashwin; RanbirKapoor; DeepikaPadukone; Kangana Ranaut among other well known personalities from all walks of life.

    The eminent awardees were:

    1. Award for Public Service – PRS Legislative Research & Association for Democratic Reform

    2. Business Leader of the year – Rajeev Bajaj

    3. Young Philanthropist of the year – RoshniNadar

    4. LIC Unsung Hero – Laxmi

    5. Entertainer of the year – DeepikaPadukone

    6. Actor of the year – KanganaRanaut

    7. Bollywood youth Icon – RanbirKapoor

    8. Technical Innovation in Film – Soundarya R. Ashwin

    9. Sportspersons of the year – P V Sindhu

    10. Lifetime Achievement Award (Entertainment) – Amjad Ali Khan

    11. Lifetime Achievement Award (Arts): SatishGujral

    12. INDIAN OF THE YEAR – The Election Commission represented by 7 former Chief Election Commissioners of India.

    The evening ended with a special memento being presented by the Chairman of LIC, SK Roy to Aamir Khan.

  • Infectious adds HCL tablets to its client roster

    Infectious adds HCL tablets to its client roster

    MUMBAI: Advertising agency Infectious has been given the mandate of handling the creative communication of HCL’s ME tablet brand, for India as well as overseas.
    The brand will be serviced by the Mumbai branch of the agency.

     

    Commenting on this win, Infectious co-founder and director Ramanuj Shastry stated, “It’s a huge honour and responsibility to be given the creative duties of a legacy brand like HCL. We look forward to the task.”

     

    Infectious co-founder and director Nisha Singhania, added that the team is thrilled to be working on the HCL Tabs business and look forward to creating exciting work for the brand.

     

    On the association, HCL head marketing (mobility businesses) Gaurav Tikoo said, “Infectious has demonstrated very good understanding of our business and the consumer. We like its nimble, hands-on approach and look forward to the association.”

     

    Infectious was launched on April 1, 2013, by former Saatchi & Saatchi hands Ramanuj Shastry and Nisha Singhania.

  • HCL rolls ‘Change Begins with ME Tablet’ campaign

    MUMBAI: HCL has recently launched a new ad campaign for its product ME tablets, on the theme of the Brand’s philosophy of ‘change’.

    The new campaign titled ‘Change Begins with ME Tablet’ has been created by the Saatchi & Saatchi and directed by Rajay Singh.

    The ad portrays important moments in people’s lives and the changes brought by the HCL ME Tablets.

    In this commercial HCL ME Tablet is shown playing an important role in changing the way business is done by a carpet seller in Kashmir. Initially the carpet seller was solely dependent on people entering his shop. But ME Tablet now enables him to take his shop to the world and thus expand his business horizons.

    The commercial also shows how easy it becomes for the masses to find a job with a better access to job portals and enjoy latest music.

    Saatchi & Saatchi India CEO Matthew Seddon said, “Technology is changing every aspect of our consumers’ lives. In our very first work for HCL ME Tablets, we have demonstrated the positive effect ME Tablets can have in the lives of Indian consumer. I think our creative team and the Director have pulled together a stunning set of commercials, which will connect with our customers and continue to drive the phenomenal growth being enjoyed by ME Tablets.”

    HCL Infosystems Global Head – Mobility Marketing Gaurav Tikoo added, “We all live in an era of globalisation today. No distance seems far, no mission seems impossible. And all this is aided by the technological advances that have taken place around us. Our positioning for the entire range of ME Tablets is ‘Change Begins with ME’. We do believe that ME Tablet can be a catalyst that enables change for the Indian consumer on various social and individual levels. This particular thought has been beautifully captured by Saatchi & Saatchi in the latest ad campaign.”

  • HCL signs Unmukt Chand to endorse HCL ME Tab range

    MUMBAI: HCL Infosystems has appointed cricketer Unmukt Chand as the brand ambassador for its recently launched range of HCL ME Tabs.

    As a part of this engagement, Chand will endorse HCLI‘s Mobility products across various platforms and will also feature in upcoming multimedia ad campaigns.

    Chand was the captain of the India Under-19 cricket team that won the U-19 Cricket World Cup in 2012 in Australia.

    HCL Infosystems global head, mobility business unit Gautam Advani said, “We‘re very delighted to have Unmukt Chand as our brand ambassador for our ME Tablet brand. Unmukt‘s exuberance and passion to excel is an apt personification of our brand. Like Unmukt, the ME Tab brand is young, focussed and raring to go.”

    Chand said, “I am very happy to be associated with HCL Infosystems. It‘s truly a moment of pride for me to be a part of a brand that is committed to bringing a positive change in the life of the youth of today as well as being a huge enabler for their aspirations. HCL tablets are stylish, feature-rich, user friendly and will help the consumers get more from the gadget and their life. I look forward to a very fruitful relationship with the HCL ME Tab brand and the team.”

    “With the launch of the new range, the company is aiming at strengthening its portfolio in the Phablet category. “ME Tablets enables the youth of today to realize more out of life. The brand‘s core values of novelty, passion and excitement will further be amplified by Unmukt‘s association and will help us take the brand to the next level,” Advani added.