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Tag: Prashant Gopalakrishnan

  • Truecaller India and Talented launches “scampaign”

    Truecaller India and Talented launches “scampaign”

    Mumbai: Scientist. Doctor. Engineer. CA. Sharma ji’s government job waale bacche. All considered among the smartest and brightest role models to never make a mistake.

    Today, scams are run by some of the smartest, most creative and relentless professional fraudsters. They hide in plain sight or come packaged in layered information to confuse you on a busy day. No matter who you are or how many degrees you hold, you are one wrong call away from an empty bank account.

    Ever since smartphones entered households in India, Truecaller has offered protection from both spam and scams with identifications and call screenings.

    With the introduction of Truecaller Fraud Insurance, they are doubling down on their safety promise. Truecaller’s Premium yearly plans now include Fraud Insurance cover of up to ₹10,000 if you succumb to a phone call or SMS scam.

    Truecaller VP, global brand – Ashwani Sinha said, “Introducing Fraud Insurance is a big part of our mission to keep our users protected against phone scams. Especially because scammers keep devising more creative ways to catch people off guard. Unfortunately, our nonchalance and misplaced overconfidence – ‘I will never fall for their lame tricks’ – makes their job easier. Our campaign aims to shake this overconfidence off and remind people that they’re a lot more likely to be scammed than they would imagine.”

    Conceptualised by Talented, a clean business card visual conveys that like your degrees, the fact that you got scammed is also how people start to identify you. The billboards, hosted in Delhi and Mumbai serve as a precautionary reminder that if the conventionally “smart” can be scammed, you are not any safer. Truecaller can help insure your loss and henceforth, ensure your vigilance.

    Founding partner Prashant Gopalakrishnan and Talented’s creative Yuvraj Bagchi, added, “Why does insurance against fraud make sense? As of Q1 2024, Indians have already lost a whopping ₹1,750 crores to reported cyber frauds. Two common things among victims we spoke to were: 1. They were educated, technologically sound, and problem-aware. 2. They said, “I can’t believe I fell for this. Me! I’m a [insert conventionally cerebral profession]!” We realised that scammers would go to any degree, literally, so we did too. In fact, our initial pitch landed on “You’re dumber than you think” but our irreverence was appropriately curbed. Also, having a ‘smart’ audience reassured us that our idea, even if it takes a second, will land and leave them with a reality check.”

    Today, not just in metros but in small towns too, not only the retired, tech-starved, and gullible adults but also the highly qualified, are victims to phone fraud. Truecaller & Talented’s campaign introducing Fraud Insurance reminds us that perhaps the smart thing to do is not be over-smart.

  • Farmley: When Dravid met Deewar, pop culture met nostalgia

    Farmley: When Dravid met Deewar, pop culture met nostalgia

    Mumbai: Cinema and cricket, the two lifebloods of our country, are often seen as separate realms when it comes to advertisements. Movie stars typically embody their film characters and styles, while cricketers exude their on-field charisma on-screen.

    The new Farmley ad films featuring Rahul Dravid have beautifully merged these two worlds – Cricket and Cinema. Famously known as ‘The Wall’ in the cricketing world, Dravid steps into the shoes of an iconic character from the movie ‘Deewar.’ The connection between ‘The Wall’ and ‘Deewar’ has been conveyed through humorous spoofs and Dravid’s charm in these two films, launched by Farmley and Talented.Agency, in collaboration with production house Momo Media.

    Although the films garnered attention and established a link with an iconic character, it’s Dravid’s appearance in boot-cut trousers, a deep blue shirt, and sleek black hair against a rustic backdrop that made these films all the more entertaining.

    The film even adds a humorous twist and pays homage to a popular dialogue we all remember: “Mere paas maa hai” from the movie Deewar.

    “We knew we had to achieve two things – create a quintessential Rahul Dravid ad and make it unbelievably hilarious.’The Wall’ had been on our minds for a while, but it was the craftsmanship, acting, and dialogues that made all the difference,” says Talented founding partner Prashant Gopalakrishnan. Farmley head of marketing Aman Gupta shares, “We didn’t want to use Rahul as a prop in the end slate like most celebrity-led films. We really wanted to bring his acting, his personality, and wit to the screens.”

    Over the years, we’ve seen ads attempting to stand out by infusing a personal touch into celebrity endorsements. However, by featuring Dravid, Farmley and Talented go beyond using just one celebrity and instead harness the power of a celebrity and an iconic character, bringing twice the amount of recall to the films.

    “We wanted to show that Rahul can embody a character that was exactly opposite to his own personality, and can still give a terrific performance,” said Gopalakrishnan.

    We have seen Dravid become ad land’s favourite from time to time, but we haven’t seen such contrast in his character and the role he has played in these newest films. As the cricket fever takes its pace with the Asia Cup and the World Cup, we will have an influx of ads that will be centric to cricket and popular culture, but breaking the clutter is easier said than done.

    But when you harp on the films that millennials grew up with featuring one of the most loved sports persons of their time, you’re sure to get a hit of nostalgia and humour in between the match breaks.

    ‘The Wall’ becoming ‘Deewar’ will be a treat to see when it hits the screen during this Asia Cup and World Cup.

  • Priyanka Borah, Prashant Gopalakrishnan join Talented as founding partners

    Priyanka Borah, Prashant Gopalakrishnan join Talented as founding partners

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Flipkart, Dentsu Webchutney strive for gender equality among children

    Flipkart, Dentsu Webchutney strive for gender equality among children

    MUMBAI: Curbing the age-old ideas of gender roles, Flipkart and Dentsu Webchutney have created an inspiring ad campaign promoting the new #GenerationEqual or “Gen-E”. The 2-minute long ad shows the new generation of kids striving for equality in all arenas—telling the parents how they would like to be raised.

    Speaking about the interesting campaign, Dentsu Webchutney senior vice-president – client services Prashant Gopalakrishnan says, “Look around you. Do you have a son, daughter, niece, nephew, or a friend’s child born a few years after the millennium? They are all part of #GenerationEqual. Real change will happen when we collectively decide to make the same rules that influence their lives. And as far as we can, let’s keep those rules the same for both boys and girls. That is the most real way to ensure our biases don’t pass on to them.”

     “As parents in 2018, we’d like to be progressive in letting our child choose for themselves in several aspects, so that they get to do what they love. Let the child experience the hobbies, passions, interests, and personality traits that come naturally to them… whether it’s a boy who wants to learn cooking, or a girl passionate about collecting superhero toys. And the other way around too,” says Flipkart director – brand marketing Apuarv Sethi.

    One of the biggest investments made by an Indian brand on the subject of gender equality among children, “Gen-E” is Flipkart’s third campaign to echo their new brand promise of ‘partnering with the progressive Indian’ via ‘Naye India ke saath’.

    In just a year of having started the new brand charter, Flipkart has campaigned on three distinctly different social subjects. With Penguin Dad, they celebrated fathers involved in child-raising; with Choose Your Age, they celebrated those defeating age with experiences; and now with Gen-E: they’re almost asking us to be what our children need us to, so that more and more of us can be celebrated.