MUMBAI: Vir Das is back and this time with a vengeance against sexist commercials. Starring in a television commercial for Emami’s flagship men’s deodorant brand He, Das puts on the shoes of every female model who has to go through awkward and uncomfortable film shoots to promote a product. In his signature satirical style, Das takes on several brands, which are instantly recognisable in the parody thanks to their trademark ‘sexist’ ads. Launched digitally on 13 May, the video has already garnered over a lakh views on Facebook, and the YouTube counter is going strong.
The video starts off with Das sensuously caressing a mango in his hand (very clearly hinting at Slice’s ads featuring Katrina Kaif), while shooting for an ad film, and the scene quickly cuts to a sporty looking bike on which Das tries a sexy pose. He leads the audience to a very familiar ‘fallen angel’ setting of a deodorant advertisement, while subtly hinting at Axe and its flagship range of TV spots that are known to titillate men by objectifying women.
All the while Das points out how silly it is to objectify women to sell products, just like ‘He Respect’, the deo brand he is promoting, cause ‘real men respect women.’ In fact, another spot released by the brand on May 13 starring the brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan clarifies the brand’s positioning with #AsliMenRespectWomen.
Conceptualised by Orchard Advertising and directed by Surjo Deb under UBIK films, the one minute video is clever and inspiring — a much needed differentiated brand communication in the men’s grooming product segment.
“The product had an interesting brand positioning to work with. Highlighting the need to ‘respect’ women, the brand spoke of a different breed of men who are cool because they respect women. It’s not the deo that gets them admiration from the opposite sex, it’s this identity as a man who respects women that does,” shared Leo Burnett chief creative officer Raj Deepak Das, adding that the product idea was also developed by the creative agency.
When asked about calling out other brands for being sexist in the video, the creative clarified, “While the ad film does communicate the message that a product doesn’t need to objectify women to be sold, the video has done a funny take on it. It is more of a generalisation than targeting any brand and I hope viewers take it in the funny light that it’s been created.” Besides, “you can’t stop a comedian from making fun of things,” he added with a chuckle.
This isn’t the first time that a brand has taken on advertising stereotypes to position itself differently. Emraan Hashmi starrer Meglow ad that came out last year, came under the critical radar within the industry after speaking strongly against fairness cream ads that claim to perform life altering wonders for men. Though it was debatable whether it managed to stay progressive till the end, the reception it got on social media was quite commendable.
Treatment of women in advertisement has been a long running debate and a sensitive topic within the industry and thus requires a clever handling, lest it appears run of the mill. It may be recalled that recently a TV spot promoting Ola Micro had to be called off for its sexist intonations that sparked outrage over social media. Thus, a brand communication that speaks directly against it may work in Emami’s favour. Whether Vir Das’ funny take on it will add that much needed factor x, only time will tell.
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett India has boosted its senior team and strategy offering by promoting Ajeeta Bharadwaj to the role of Planning Head in Mumbai.
Bharadwaj, who was previously Executive Planning Director, will report to, Leo Burnett Chief Strategy Officer – South Asia Dheeraj Sinha.
Confirming the development, Sinha said, “Bharadwaj has been one of the strongest pillars of strategy at Leo Burnett India. She has made an unparelled contribution in shaping the future of several brands that we work on. Bharadwaj is fully steeped into our HumanKind philosophy and is an astute practitioner of the HumanKind tools. She has also led and developed several knowledge and insight projects over the years. Not only is this promotion very well deserved, it also comes at an opportune time, when we are building a huge momentum around our strategy function. With Bharadwaj as the leader in Mumbai, we will continue to up the temperature on sharp insights, leading to great work for our clients.”
Bharadwaj added on her new role saying, “It has been an amazing journey at Leo Burnett. I have had the good fortune to work on some incredible brands and with some incredible partners, both among clients and within the agency. And I truly believe that the best is yet to come. We are doing some fantastic work and each piece is making us hungrier for more and better. In my new role, I’m looking forward to working closely with Dheeraj in producing new-age work that would help us in our constant endeavour to reach for the stars.”
Bharadwaj has 15 years of experience in brand planning and strategy. Brands she has worked on include HDFC Life, P&G, Tata Sampann, Emami, Star Plus, Heinz, Coke, Sony Entertainment Television, CavinKare, Anchor, AXN, Sony Pix, Godrej, Qi Spine Clinic and Fiat.
She and her team have also received 12 LeoIntel stars for innovative category and culture thinking across the Leo Burnett WW network.
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett India has boosted its senior team and strategy offering by promoting Ajeeta Bharadwaj to the role of Planning Head in Mumbai.
Bharadwaj, who was previously Executive Planning Director, will report to, Leo Burnett Chief Strategy Officer – South Asia Dheeraj Sinha.
Confirming the development, Sinha said, “Bharadwaj has been one of the strongest pillars of strategy at Leo Burnett India. She has made an unparelled contribution in shaping the future of several brands that we work on. Bharadwaj is fully steeped into our HumanKind philosophy and is an astute practitioner of the HumanKind tools. She has also led and developed several knowledge and insight projects over the years. Not only is this promotion very well deserved, it also comes at an opportune time, when we are building a huge momentum around our strategy function. With Bharadwaj as the leader in Mumbai, we will continue to up the temperature on sharp insights, leading to great work for our clients.”
Bharadwaj added on her new role saying, “It has been an amazing journey at Leo Burnett. I have had the good fortune to work on some incredible brands and with some incredible partners, both among clients and within the agency. And I truly believe that the best is yet to come. We are doing some fantastic work and each piece is making us hungrier for more and better. In my new role, I’m looking forward to working closely with Dheeraj in producing new-age work that would help us in our constant endeavour to reach for the stars.”
Bharadwaj has 15 years of experience in brand planning and strategy. Brands she has worked on include HDFC Life, P&G, Tata Sampann, Emami, Star Plus, Heinz, Coke, Sony Entertainment Television, CavinKare, Anchor, AXN, Sony Pix, Godrej, Qi Spine Clinic and Fiat.
She and her team have also received 12 LeoIntel stars for innovative category and culture thinking across the Leo Burnett WW network.
MUMBAI: In the current state of disruption in the media and entertainment industry, two things have come forth as absolute truths — firstly, the need for brands to adapt and explore non-traditional marketing; and secondly the power of pure undiluted content.
Be it GroupM’s This Year Next Year report or the KPMG – FICCI 2016 report, pick up any recognisable marketing study, and one can tell where the M and E industry is headed with double figure digital growth rates.
Going with that idea, several brands and marketers are toeing the lines of content marketing. But few have gone ahead and taken a leap of faith with content and storytelling being the main focus.
“We are used to seeing brands sponsoring television programs. ‘Buniyaad brought to you by Colgate’ is an example. But there is nothing ‘Colgate’ in Buniyaad. Whereas in the case of long format digital videos, the kind of content brands would go for is somewhere related to the concept of the brand. The format of digital allows you to experiment a lot more at a far lesser cost,” shared MullenLowe Lintas chairman and CCO R. Balki, on why it is viable for brands to produce their own content on digital.
When asked, Balki named Leo Burnett’s campaign for Bajaj V as his favourite in the last year. At the same time, he referred to ‘Sons of Vikrant’ as a campaign, not a documentary. “Anything which is released around the bike is all part of building the brand. And that is why I say it is one of the most beautiful works I have seen recently.”
When Bajaj released its new model for the commuter segment backed by the inspiring story of INS Vikrant, the power of weaving a story as the two wheeler’s brand identity was instantly revealed when record breaking units of the bike were sold on the very first day.
But it didn’t end at that. Soon the brand launched a 16 minute video titled ‘Sons Of Vikrant’, conceptualised by its creative agency Leo Burnett, documenting the lives of the war veterans who were once aboard the warship.
Bajaj Motorcycles marketing VP Sumeet Narang said, “As we delved deeper into Vikrant and started talking to people who worked on it, we realised that there are many untold stories and memories behind the naval battleship INS Vikrant and its heroes. Since we had brought back the essence of Vikrant in the form of V, we realised that the onus was also on us to bring these stories together and share them with the nation.”
The video was launched through a gala event where the who’s who of the media and entertainment industry were invited. Amidst the glitz and glory, the anecdotes of life on INS Vikrant and war stories successfully created awe and inspired attachment around the warship. Suddenly Bajaj V wasn’t a two wheeler anymore, it was a story everyone wanted to own.
“With Sons of Vikrant, our idea was to bring out the untold stories of INS Vikrant and the war veterans and share the feeling of pride with millions,” quipped Leo Burnett south Asia CEO Saurabh Varma when asked about the concept of releasing a documentary as part of the awareness building for a product.
“To create this documentary, we met many people who were part of the war to learn their stories. The footage ran into hours, which we had to bring down to 16 minutes,” Varma added.
Though the digital platform, without the time constraint, does lend itself for more creative exploration, it isn’t necessarily the long format that is working for the brands. As per Balki, digital audience is far more ADHD than a television viewer, with little patience for the content to take shape. “If the story is very well integrated with what the brand stands for, the content will bring benefits for the brand hugely, irrespective of the length of the video.
“Fundamentally if you have a terrific piece of communication, the brand will benefit from it irrespective of the length of the video. Unless the film is very riveting people lose patience quickly. Some creatives grab on to the digital media thinking and finally they don’t have to fight with the client for the extra five seconds. I don’t think so. I feel a lot of the long forms we see are boring and could have been done shorter. If one wants to go beyond 60 secs they better have something compelling,” Balki simply stated.
While Bajaj went the non-fiction way to bring out the real emotions people had for the warship and subsequently the bike, Hector Beverages’ flagship brand Paper Boat drinks, dabbled in non-fiction recently to achieve the same.
The three and half minute video called Rizwan: The Keeper of the Gates of Heaven instantly transports the viewer into an incredible fairy tale of superhero saving the day that evokes all senses.
“Paper Boat as a brand often speaks of different tastes and smells that can trigger memories, it is an important part of our brand communication. I realised that short films and features are a great way to tell such stories,” shared Paper Boat marketing head Parvesh Debuka.
Soon Paper Boat’s agency Humour Me came up with Rizwan, written by Dhruv Sachdeva, which strongly resonated with the brand’s identity and therefore the brand went ahead with it.
It has only been five days since the film has been put up on the brand’s YouTube channel and there are already 7,00,000 plus views, with positive comments like i forgot i was watching something else and this popped up” following the video.
When asked how effective this brand communication has been compared to the traditional marketing tools, Debuka said, “It is hard to compare as the metrics are different. A brand communication is supposed to deliver a certain thing. Our 20 second spot for the Chilli Guava flavour did extremely well as well. It served the purpose of spreading awareness that we have that flavour. On the contrary Rizwan has taken our storytelling a notch higher, in terms of screenplay, the cinematic experience, in terms of animation. It is no longer creating awareness but building a bond.”
Debuka is not opposed to the idea of brands producing their own content and exploring further visibility options with it. “For starters, a video such as this when released on the digital platform, garners way more eyeballs organically than what it would take to be visible on television. But as a piece of content it can be shown on television, and even cinema theatres for that matter, but then we will have calculate distribution cost, etc.”
Going by the cost as well, a brand might come out with more in their pockets when making a video for the digital audience as opposed to putting up an ad spot on television. This window for a more ROI centric marketing is driving brands to go the content way. “Obviously when you end up making a TV commercial, you spend a little more than you would spend to make a film like Rizwan,” Debuka shared.
Given the fanfare these brand produced contents have created, more brands are likely to explore the area more extensively and start producing their own content. One can’t help but ask if that will affect the way advertising industry works.
“Agencies have to reorient themselves for the digital era. We are going to see more and more digital thinking in the works. It is no longer about marketing in digital platform but it is digital in marcom thinking. That’s a fundamental shift, and those that make this quick shift quickly and swiftly will survive. I wouldn’t say that agencies and other stakeholders in the system need to feel completely threatened by this new trend of brands making their videos. But since the industry is at a cusp of disruption now, some casualties are expected,” pointed out Vizeum India MD Shripad Kulkarni.
While there is growing enthusiasm to see more work like Paper Boat’s Rizwan and Bajaj’s Sons Of Vikrant, industry veterans are also cautioning brands against jumping the content marketing bandwagon simply out of the herd mentality. “Often we see that people absorb good content for its own sake and completely forget the brand. Therefore the story needs to be well integrated with what the brand stands for, therein the content will benefit the brand hugely,” shared Balki.
Echoing similar sentiments, Debuka added, “The primary requirement is how strongly enmeshed is your brand in the story. Whether it is told on television or digital or radio or even on the print platform. One has to ask if the brand can own that story. The content that a brand produces should be a natural extension of the brand communication. If that is not to be, then none of the mediums will work for the brand.”
MUMBAI: In the current state of disruption in the media and entertainment industry, two things have come forth as absolute truths — firstly, the need for brands to adapt and explore non-traditional marketing; and secondly the power of pure undiluted content.
Be it GroupM’s This Year Next Year report or the KPMG – FICCI 2016 report, pick up any recognisable marketing study, and one can tell where the M and E industry is headed with double figure digital growth rates.
Going with that idea, several brands and marketers are toeing the lines of content marketing. But few have gone ahead and taken a leap of faith with content and storytelling being the main focus.
“We are used to seeing brands sponsoring television programs. ‘Buniyaad brought to you by Colgate’ is an example. But there is nothing ‘Colgate’ in Buniyaad. Whereas in the case of long format digital videos, the kind of content brands would go for is somewhere related to the concept of the brand. The format of digital allows you to experiment a lot more at a far lesser cost,” shared MullenLowe Lintas chairman and CCO R. Balki, on why it is viable for brands to produce their own content on digital.
When asked, Balki named Leo Burnett’s campaign for Bajaj V as his favourite in the last year. At the same time, he referred to ‘Sons of Vikrant’ as a campaign, not a documentary. “Anything which is released around the bike is all part of building the brand. And that is why I say it is one of the most beautiful works I have seen recently.”
When Bajaj released its new model for the commuter segment backed by the inspiring story of INS Vikrant, the power of weaving a story as the two wheeler’s brand identity was instantly revealed when record breaking units of the bike were sold on the very first day.
But it didn’t end at that. Soon the brand launched a 16 minute video titled ‘Sons Of Vikrant’, conceptualised by its creative agency Leo Burnett, documenting the lives of the war veterans who were once aboard the warship.
Bajaj Motorcycles marketing VP Sumeet Narang said, “As we delved deeper into Vikrant and started talking to people who worked on it, we realised that there are many untold stories and memories behind the naval battleship INS Vikrant and its heroes. Since we had brought back the essence of Vikrant in the form of V, we realised that the onus was also on us to bring these stories together and share them with the nation.”
The video was launched through a gala event where the who’s who of the media and entertainment industry were invited. Amidst the glitz and glory, the anecdotes of life on INS Vikrant and war stories successfully created awe and inspired attachment around the warship. Suddenly Bajaj V wasn’t a two wheeler anymore, it was a story everyone wanted to own.
“With Sons of Vikrant, our idea was to bring out the untold stories of INS Vikrant and the war veterans and share the feeling of pride with millions,” quipped Leo Burnett south Asia CEO Saurabh Varma when asked about the concept of releasing a documentary as part of the awareness building for a product.
“To create this documentary, we met many people who were part of the war to learn their stories. The footage ran into hours, which we had to bring down to 16 minutes,” Varma added.
Though the digital platform, without the time constraint, does lend itself for more creative exploration, it isn’t necessarily the long format that is working for the brands. As per Balki, digital audience is far more ADHD than a television viewer, with little patience for the content to take shape. “If the story is very well integrated with what the brand stands for, the content will bring benefits for the brand hugely, irrespective of the length of the video.
“Fundamentally if you have a terrific piece of communication, the brand will benefit from it irrespective of the length of the video. Unless the film is very riveting people lose patience quickly. Some creatives grab on to the digital media thinking and finally they don’t have to fight with the client for the extra five seconds. I don’t think so. I feel a lot of the long forms we see are boring and could have been done shorter. If one wants to go beyond 60 secs they better have something compelling,” Balki simply stated.
While Bajaj went the non-fiction way to bring out the real emotions people had for the warship and subsequently the bike, Hector Beverages’ flagship brand Paper Boat drinks, dabbled in non-fiction recently to achieve the same.
The three and half minute video called Rizwan: The Keeper of the Gates of Heaven instantly transports the viewer into an incredible fairy tale of superhero saving the day that evokes all senses.
“Paper Boat as a brand often speaks of different tastes and smells that can trigger memories, it is an important part of our brand communication. I realised that short films and features are a great way to tell such stories,” shared Paper Boat marketing head Parvesh Debuka.
Soon Paper Boat’s agency Humour Me came up with Rizwan, written by Dhruv Sachdeva, which strongly resonated with the brand’s identity and therefore the brand went ahead with it.
It has only been five days since the film has been put up on the brand’s YouTube channel and there are already 7,00,000 plus views, with positive comments like i forgot i was watching something else and this popped up” following the video.
When asked how effective this brand communication has been compared to the traditional marketing tools, Debuka said, “It is hard to compare as the metrics are different. A brand communication is supposed to deliver a certain thing. Our 20 second spot for the Chilli Guava flavour did extremely well as well. It served the purpose of spreading awareness that we have that flavour. On the contrary Rizwan has taken our storytelling a notch higher, in terms of screenplay, the cinematic experience, in terms of animation. It is no longer creating awareness but building a bond.”
Debuka is not opposed to the idea of brands producing their own content and exploring further visibility options with it. “For starters, a video such as this when released on the digital platform, garners way more eyeballs organically than what it would take to be visible on television. But as a piece of content it can be shown on television, and even cinema theatres for that matter, but then we will have calculate distribution cost, etc.”
Going by the cost as well, a brand might come out with more in their pockets when making a video for the digital audience as opposed to putting up an ad spot on television. This window for a more ROI centric marketing is driving brands to go the content way. “Obviously when you end up making a TV commercial, you spend a little more than you would spend to make a film like Rizwan,” Debuka shared.
Given the fanfare these brand produced contents have created, more brands are likely to explore the area more extensively and start producing their own content. One can’t help but ask if that will affect the way advertising industry works.
“Agencies have to reorient themselves for the digital era. We are going to see more and more digital thinking in the works. It is no longer about marketing in digital platform but it is digital in marcom thinking. That’s a fundamental shift, and those that make this quick shift quickly and swiftly will survive. I wouldn’t say that agencies and other stakeholders in the system need to feel completely threatened by this new trend of brands making their videos. But since the industry is at a cusp of disruption now, some casualties are expected,” pointed out Vizeum India MD Shripad Kulkarni.
While there is growing enthusiasm to see more work like Paper Boat’s Rizwan and Bajaj’s Sons Of Vikrant, industry veterans are also cautioning brands against jumping the content marketing bandwagon simply out of the herd mentality. “Often we see that people absorb good content for its own sake and completely forget the brand. Therefore the story needs to be well integrated with what the brand stands for, therein the content will benefit the brand hugely,” shared Balki.
Echoing similar sentiments, Debuka added, “The primary requirement is how strongly enmeshed is your brand in the story. Whether it is told on television or digital or radio or even on the print platform. One has to ask if the brand can own that story. The content that a brand produces should be a natural extension of the brand communication. If that is not to be, then none of the mediums will work for the brand.”
MUMBAI: Chinese technology player LeEco launched its ecosystem membership program along with its latest smartphone Le 1s Eco in India yesterday. The announcement was made in collaboration with Eros Now, YuppTV and Hungama at an event in Mumbai, along with youth heartthrobs Siddharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez.
The company has plans to produce its own content for India. According to LeEco Smart Electronics India COO Atul Jain, “I think we will roll it out in phases. As we go deeper in the content space, producing our own content is an option we are considering. But the easier option in the first few months as a ‘go to to a new market’ is tie-ups. That is why we are currently investing in developing strong partnerships in this market and soon we will get in the content business like we do in China. We are taking one step at a time. That will be phase two for us. By the end of the financial year we might have something coming out of our own production pipeline.”
That LeEco, like all the other mobile devices companies from across the world, is going all out to woo Indian customers to buy its products is very obvious. LeEco Content VP for APAC William Lee said, “Today we launched our innovative LeEco membership program with partnerships with Eros Now, Hungama and YuppTV. LeEco is the sole company that delivers a membership program which integrates terminals, clouds and applications in India. Indian Superfans can enjoy more than 2,000 movie titles through Le Vidi, over 100 TV channels via Le Live, and 2.5 million music tracks under LeEco membership.”
The Chinese company also launched a ‘Supertainment’ package which will be available for Rs 10,899, including Le 1s Eco for Rs 9,999 and a one-year membership fee of Rs 4,900, and a LeEco offer of Rs 4,000. For the first flash sale on Flipkart at 2pm on May 12th, LeEco will offer the Supertainment package at Rs 9,999.
Speaking about the Supertainment package, Jain said, “To cope with LeEco membership program, we introduce a special ‘Made for India’ superphone, Le 1s Eco, the first of its kind of integrating a content ecosystem. Le 1s Eco will redefine entertainment in the country. With this blockbuster superphone, we live up to our promise of offering the best value, breakthrough technology and great features at a disruptive price.”
Besides aiming to provide users with rich and high quality content, the company says that its membership program also integrates comprehensive eco-services like personal clouding services -LeEco Drive, LeMall and aftersales services. In 2015, LeEco global membership revenue reached to $417 million, top of its kind in the industry. The membership program provides users a seamless and extreme experience based on LeEco terminals, clouds, and applications, and will include more quality content and eco-services thanks to the company’s business growth in India.
Given the high decibel launch that LeEco had for its ‘Supertainment’ membership, one can’t help but wonder about its marketing strategy to take the buzz further. “We will continue our strategy of reaching out to consumers and users through print and digital for quite some time. Once we are more widely available we will look into going into TV,” revealed Jain.
After its Le 1s bagged the ‘online top-selling’ tag having sold over 200,000 items in just 30 days, LeEco is now eyeing to enter the retail market as well. It would have its own brick and mortar stores by June 2016, informed Jain, to showcase and hawk an array of existing and new products that will be launched in the coming months.
Currently Madison World handles the media account for LeEco while Leo Burnett’s Orchard Advertising Bengaluru does its creative work.
MUMBAI: Chinese technology player LeEco launched its ecosystem membership program along with its latest smartphone Le 1s Eco in India yesterday. The announcement was made in collaboration with Eros Now, YuppTV and Hungama at an event in Mumbai, along with youth heartthrobs Siddharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez.
The company has plans to produce its own content for India. According to LeEco Smart Electronics India COO Atul Jain, “I think we will roll it out in phases. As we go deeper in the content space, producing our own content is an option we are considering. But the easier option in the first few months as a ‘go to to a new market’ is tie-ups. That is why we are currently investing in developing strong partnerships in this market and soon we will get in the content business like we do in China. We are taking one step at a time. That will be phase two for us. By the end of the financial year we might have something coming out of our own production pipeline.”
That LeEco, like all the other mobile devices companies from across the world, is going all out to woo Indian customers to buy its products is very obvious. LeEco Content VP for APAC William Lee said, “Today we launched our innovative LeEco membership program with partnerships with Eros Now, Hungama and YuppTV. LeEco is the sole company that delivers a membership program which integrates terminals, clouds and applications in India. Indian Superfans can enjoy more than 2,000 movie titles through Le Vidi, over 100 TV channels via Le Live, and 2.5 million music tracks under LeEco membership.”
The Chinese company also launched a ‘Supertainment’ package which will be available for Rs 10,899, including Le 1s Eco for Rs 9,999 and a one-year membership fee of Rs 4,900, and a LeEco offer of Rs 4,000. For the first flash sale on Flipkart at 2pm on May 12th, LeEco will offer the Supertainment package at Rs 9,999.
Speaking about the Supertainment package, Jain said, “To cope with LeEco membership program, we introduce a special ‘Made for India’ superphone, Le 1s Eco, the first of its kind of integrating a content ecosystem. Le 1s Eco will redefine entertainment in the country. With this blockbuster superphone, we live up to our promise of offering the best value, breakthrough technology and great features at a disruptive price.”
Besides aiming to provide users with rich and high quality content, the company says that its membership program also integrates comprehensive eco-services like personal clouding services -LeEco Drive, LeMall and aftersales services. In 2015, LeEco global membership revenue reached to $417 million, top of its kind in the industry. The membership program provides users a seamless and extreme experience based on LeEco terminals, clouds, and applications, and will include more quality content and eco-services thanks to the company’s business growth in India.
Given the high decibel launch that LeEco had for its ‘Supertainment’ membership, one can’t help but wonder about its marketing strategy to take the buzz further. “We will continue our strategy of reaching out to consumers and users through print and digital for quite some time. Once we are more widely available we will look into going into TV,” revealed Jain.
After its Le 1s bagged the ‘online top-selling’ tag having sold over 200,000 items in just 30 days, LeEco is now eyeing to enter the retail market as well. It would have its own brick and mortar stores by June 2016, informed Jain, to showcase and hawk an array of existing and new products that will be launched in the coming months.
Currently Madison World handles the media account for LeEco while Leo Burnett’s Orchard Advertising Bengaluru does its creative work.
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett announced the appointment of Dheeraj Sinha as chief strategy officer. Sinha will be based out of the agency’s Mumbai office and will be responsible for planning across South Asia.
Confirming the development, South Asia chief executive officer Saurabh Varma said, “We are really excited that Dheeraj is joining us at this critical juncture in our evolution as an agency. We have incredible momentum as a team and both Raj and I were in the hunt for a partner. We wanted someone who can join us in our crusade to change the communication narrative in India. With Dheeraj, we hope to get radical convergence around our purpose and radical divergence around how to get there.”
On his joining, Sinha commented, “There’s great energy around Leo Burnett in India, and I am looking forward to be a part of it and adding to the momentum. In my conversations with Saurabh and Raj, what stands out is their commitment to the product and culture, leading to growth, rather than the other way round. There’s also a serious ambition to create work that’s in line with how the world has changed. They have evidence of having done such work in the recent past. I see this as an opportunity to collaborate and build something that we can all be proud of.”
In a career spanning 17 years, Dheeraj has worked with McCann Erickson, Euro RSCG, Bates and Grey. In his last role, he led the strategic planning function for Grey in India, South & South East Asia.
Sinha has worked on brands and businesses across markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. He has spent time across categories on brands like Sensodyne, Indian Army, Britannia, 3M, ITC Juices, Maybank, Telekom Malaysia, Grameenphone, Reliance Mobile, Colgate, MasterCard, LG, DBS Bank, Tata AIA, TVS, Virgin Mobile, Max Bupa, Fiat, Reckitt Benckiser, Emirates, Dabur, Marico and CavinKare.
Dheeraj is the author of two books on the Indian consumer market: “India Reloaded – Inside the Resurgent Indian Consumer Market” and “Consumer India – Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet”.
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett announced the appointment of Dheeraj Sinha as chief strategy officer. Sinha will be based out of the agency’s Mumbai office and will be responsible for planning across South Asia.
Confirming the development, South Asia chief executive officer Saurabh Varma said, “We are really excited that Dheeraj is joining us at this critical juncture in our evolution as an agency. We have incredible momentum as a team and both Raj and I were in the hunt for a partner. We wanted someone who can join us in our crusade to change the communication narrative in India. With Dheeraj, we hope to get radical convergence around our purpose and radical divergence around how to get there.”
On his joining, Sinha commented, “There’s great energy around Leo Burnett in India, and I am looking forward to be a part of it and adding to the momentum. In my conversations with Saurabh and Raj, what stands out is their commitment to the product and culture, leading to growth, rather than the other way round. There’s also a serious ambition to create work that’s in line with how the world has changed. They have evidence of having done such work in the recent past. I see this as an opportunity to collaborate and build something that we can all be proud of.”
In a career spanning 17 years, Dheeraj has worked with McCann Erickson, Euro RSCG, Bates and Grey. In his last role, he led the strategic planning function for Grey in India, South & South East Asia.
Sinha has worked on brands and businesses across markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. He has spent time across categories on brands like Sensodyne, Indian Army, Britannia, 3M, ITC Juices, Maybank, Telekom Malaysia, Grameenphone, Reliance Mobile, Colgate, MasterCard, LG, DBS Bank, Tata AIA, TVS, Virgin Mobile, Max Bupa, Fiat, Reckitt Benckiser, Emirates, Dabur, Marico and CavinKare.
Dheeraj is the author of two books on the Indian consumer market: “India Reloaded – Inside the Resurgent Indian Consumer Market” and “Consumer India – Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet”.
MUMBAI: After spending more than 23 years at the agency, Leo Burnett national planning director Rajeev Sharma has decided to move on to explore newer avenues.
Sharma joined Leo Burnett in 1994 as vice president based out of the agency’s Delhi office and after three years he moved to Mumbai to lead planning as national planning director.
Rajeev spearheaded strategy for many brands and partnered them in their success for years together. Some of the brands he has worked on include McDonald’s, Godrej Consumer Products, Bajaj Auto, Heinz, Complan, Glucon D, Thums Up, Maaza, Minute Maid, Limca, Reebok, Ariel, Ezee, Cinthol, Bajaj Electricals, HDFC Life, HDFC Bank, Anchor, Sony Entertainment Television, Tata Capital, Dabur, Pillsbury, Iodex, etc.
Rajeev has played a significant role in building Leo Burnett’s reputation as India’s most trusted integrated communications company that has a sharp focus on strategy. He is also instrumental in bringing Leo Burnett’s best global practices to India.
Commenting on this development Sharma said, “After 23 years, it is time for me to bid a fond farewell to a fabulous organisation, amazing colleagues and equally amazing clients. I am proud of what the agency stands for, for what it has achieved and what it is in the process of becoming. The momentum we have gained recently will give us the scale and the capability to play a big role in the transformation the industry is going through. As I prepare for the next chapter of my life, I shall watch with great satisfaction the success Leo Burnett is sure to notch up in the future.”
Leo Bunett CEO for South Asia Saurabh Varma added, “Rajeev set up Leo Burnett’s planning function from scratch and since then has led a robust team that has grown many brands in complex market scenarios, in the process winning many awards. Under his leadership, we produced some of the most iconic and culturally rooted campaigns by approaching consumers through a human lens. I thank Rajeev wholeheartedly and wish him the very best for his future endeavours.”
