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Tag: Kundan Joshee

  • Tina Mansukhani Garg joins Havas Creative as president

    Tina Mansukhani Garg joins Havas Creative as president

    MUMBAI: Havas Creative India, part of the wider Havas Creative Network, has made a cracking appointment, bringing Tina Mansukhani Garg on board as its new president. Formerly the chief executive officer and founder of Pink Lemonade Communications, a rather sweet-sounding agency, one might say – she arrives with a clear mandate: pump up the volume on growth and cement Havas Creative’s footprint in the ever-shifting South India market.

    Based out of the bustling tech hub of Bengaluru, Garg will report directly to Rana Barua, the group chief executive officer for Havas India, South East Asia & North Asia. She’ll be spearheading a team of over 70 dedicated souls at Havas Creative Bengaluru, wrangling key clients and, more importantly, plotting to expand the agency’s creative and strategic reach across the entire southern region. Think of it as a strategic southern offensive.

    Ms. Garg isn’t going it alone. She’ll be working by jowl with Kundan Joshee, managing director, Havas Creative India, and Anupama Ramaswamy, joint managing director and chief creative officer, Havas Creative India, all with the shared goal of igniting and accelerating the agency’s growth.

    With almost three decades of experience under her belt, spanning branding, content, design, and digital strategy, Garg brings a formidable arsenal of integrated marketing know-how to the table. During her time at Pink Lemonade, she reportedly tangoed with over 1,000 global and Indian brands, including heavy hitters like Swiggy, Dell, GE Healthcare, Hyundai, PwC, and Mercedes. Havas, it appears, has bagged itself a marketing maestro ready to paint the town red, or rather, the south green with new business.

  • Havas Creative Network India’s key leaders elevated

    Havas Creative Network India’s key leaders elevated

    Mumbai: Havas India, part of Paris-headquartered global communications network Havas, has announced a significant leadership transition across three key agencies under the Havas Creative Network India umbrella, including Havas Worldwide India (creative), Conran Design Mumbai (brand design), and Havas CX India (customer experience).

    1  Havas Worldwide India managing partner Kundan Joshee has been promoted as managing director of the India operations.

    2  Havas Worldwide India CCO Anupama Ramaswamy, will also mantle the additional responsibility of joint managing director along with the CCO profile.

    3  Conran Design Mumbai managing partner Geet Nazir, has been elevated to managing director of the agency.

    4  Havas CX India managing partner Prashant Tekwani has been elevated to managing director of both Havas CX India and Ekino (technology) India.

    Strengthening the creative network in India:

    Havas Creative Network India, which now consists of eight agencies, has been growing steadily, driven by global expertise, acquisitions, new business wins, a strong talent pool, and numerous award wins. Havas Worldwide India, Conran Design Mumbai and Havas CX India have played a critical role in positioning the overall Havas Creative Network India as one the most future-ready networks in the country.  

    In addition, the Creative Network includes Think Design (UI/UX) led by Deepali Saini, CEO, Shobiz (experiential) led by Sameer Tobaccowala, CEO, PR Pundit Havas Red (public relations) led by Archana Jain, CEO, Havas People (employer branding) led by Arindam Sengupta as Managing Director, and Prose on Pixels (production) led by Makarand Nirmal, Vice President – Operations.

    While Kundan, Geet and Prashant will be based out of Mumbai, Anupama will continue to be based out of Gurgaon. All four along with Sameer, Archana, Deepali and Arindam will continue to report to Havas India, South East Asia & North Asia (Japan & South Korea) Group CEO Rana Barua.

    Over the last one year, Havas Worldwide India witnessed a flux due to some leadership exits but even during this period of transition, both Anupama and Kundan played a pivotal role in further consolidating the agency and strengthening its relationships with key clients like Reckitt, Stellantis, MamaEarth, Suzuki, William Grant, UTI Mutual Fund and Harman, amongst others. Anupama has been instrumental in not just creating some of the most talked-about campaigns of the last two years for clients including Harpic, Veet, Mortein, Mamaearth, IQOO, Vivo, Karnataka Bank, UTI Mutual Funds, Vanish and many more but also in consolidating and building a strong creative team. Meanwhile, Kundan has helped in fortifying and stabilising client relationships, winning several new businesses like Karnataka Bank, Indie (IndusInd Bank), IQOO and RealMe, to name a few, and streamlining processes that have strengthened the overall business, attracted talent, and increased client satisfaction scores.

    Conran Design Mumbai was launched in 2021 under the leadership of Geet Nazir, who has led the agency to become one of the most prominent brand and design consultancies in India. Over the past three years, the agency has built a roster of marquee clients including Zydus Lifesciences, PayU, Coca-Cola India, Nestle, Usha Martin, to name a few. Within three years of its existence, Conran has won prestigious local and global awards including a Gold at Transform Asia, Silver in the South Asia Brand Design Agency of the Year category at Campaign’s Agency Of The Year Awards 2023 amongst many more. Recently, Havas launched Conran Design Group network, a new global offering dedicated to brand and design, based on the long-standing expertise and talent at Conran Design Group, and W, Havas’ leading creative branding agency in France. Geet’s elevation comes at this critical juncture and will play a central role in scaling up the agency further.

    Prashant has been instrumental in building and leading Havas CX in India since 2020. Over the years, he has steadily built and consolidated the agency through a strong CX team along with Ekino, and some of the biggest clients including Bandhan Life (erstwhile Aegon Life), Bosch Mobility Services, Tata Steel, STT Telecommunications, Air Asia, to name a few. Over the years, the X-Index proprietary study by Havas CX has also made the agency a strong voice in the industry. Going forward, with Prashant at the helm, Havas CX India is going to play a more critical role in the region and scale up its India operations by ramping up talent and expertise like CRM, technology, loyalty, etc.  

    The journey ahead:

    This transition marks an exciting phase for Havas India as it continues to innovate, lead, and deliver exceptional results for its clients.

    In discussing the recent elevations, Rana Barua emphasised the strategic trajectory of the organisation, stating, “Over the past few years, our focus has been on enhancing our expertise and solidifying our position as the most progressive communications network in India. While our Media Network, under the leadership of Mohit Joshi, Uday Mohan, R Venkat, and Shibu Shivanandan, has thrived, Havas Creative Network India has grown exponentially both organically and inorganically and has built the creative repertoire of Havas India.”

    “Kundan, Anupama, Geet, and Prashant have been instrumental in scaling up the operations of their respective agencies, demonstrating resilience and genuine leadership qualities,” Rana continued. “As we transition towards a new phase of growth, I am confident that these four leaders will play an even greater role in driving our growth, both within India and on a global scale. Their dedication and leadership is paving the way for our future success. I wish them all the best.”

  • Tarun Jha moves on from Havas Worldwide India

    Tarun Jha moves on from Havas Worldwide India

    Mumbai: Tarun Jha, who had joined as the chief executive officer, decided to move on to pursue other interests. Over the past one year, Tarun was instrumental in building the creative agency, putting strong processes in place, and hiring a strong team of leaders who have helped the agency witness impressive growth. Today, Havas Worldwide India boasts an enviable roster of clients and is well poised to continue its growth momentum.  

    Anupama Ramaswamy, chief creative officer, Anirban Mozumdar, chief strategy officer and Kundan Joshee, managing partner, will continue to lead Havas Worldwide India jointly and will report to Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas India, Southeast Asia, and North Asia (Japan & South Korea).

    Rana Barua said, “Tarun was an intrinsic part of the team, playing a key role in establishing a robust foundation for Havas Worldwide India. He actively contributed to important discussions and helped in putting together a strong and capable second line of leaders. I wish him all the best for the next chapter.”

    Tarun Jha, said, “My time at Havas India has been a short yet a transformative experience for me, almost a refresher course that has equipped me to become a more adept and all-round marketer. Witnessing the ‘One Havas’ philosophy and the effective collaboration between the 20 agencies and specialised divisions has almost been a revelation. I look forward to applying all my acquired skills and knowledge to the art of building enduring brands and businesses, something that I have always loved doing.”

  • Wunderman Thompson South Asia wins creative mandate for Asia India

    Wunderman Thompson South Asia wins creative mandate for Asia India

    MUMBAI: Following a hotly contested multi-agency pitch in 2019, Wunderman Thompson South Asia has won the creative mandate for AirAsia. The agency will be supporting brand strategy and shaping the communications narrative in India for the world’s best low-cost airline, taking care of above the line (ATL) and digital creative mandates.

    AirAsia India chief marketing officer Siddhartha Butalia says, “It’s a pleasure to have Wunderman Thompson on board at this pivotal juncture. As a distinctive brand with a differentiated proposition in a category fraught with commoditization, AirAsia is well poised to make the most of the phenomenal potential in the sector. Wunderman Thompson approached the opportunity with strong strategic insights and compelling creative ideas that bring the emotion and inspiration back to travel. We’re looking forward to partnering with them to drive consideration and relevance across the customer journey, take off to even greater heights and explore new territories.”

    Wunderman Thompson, Bengaluru  senior vice president and managing partner Kundan Joshee says, “AirAsia has a unique value proposition and a distinct challenger brand spirit that makes it such a powerful brand. With the airline and travel industry all set for rejig, there couldn’t be a better time to leverage the strengths of the brand. Our job is to partner with AirAsia and bring alive its philosophy of service, efficiency and innovation. In today’s times it’s essential for a brand to have multiple conversations with people across touchpoints and this gives us the opportunity to do new age work and drive interesting conversations around the brand.”

    Wunderman Thompson, Bengaluru national creative director Priya Shivakumar says, “The aviation industry is at the cusp of reinventing itself. Communication can play a big role in creating the first among equals advantage for a brand and we are eager to partner AirAsia in a take-off that builds on its impressive lineage. It is a huge opportunity to push the envelope on ideas in a category that is as exciting as it is challenging.”

    AirAsia India is a joint venture between Tata Sons Private Limited & AirAsia Investment Limited. AirAsia India commenced operations on 12 June 2014 with Bengaluru as its primary hub. Their agenda is to drive salience across markets with customised content and clutter-breaking communication that inspires diverse audiences with their brand promise and aspirational journey ahead. 

    Wunderman Thompson understood AirAsia India’s strategic and brand objectives and will be working on developing the brand’s strong and sustainable positioning that will cut across geographies, demographics and mindsets and deliver differentiated content with incisive insights.