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Tag: Prashanth Challapalli

  • Havas India reels in Prashanth Challapalli to spark digital & innovation fire

    Havas India reels in Prashanth Challapalli to spark digital & innovation fire

    MUMBAI: Havas India has hired Prashanth Challapalli, a digital dynamo, to ignite its creative network as chief digital & innovation officer. Based in Mumbai, he’ll be reporting to  Havas India, SEA, and north Asia group CEO  Rana Barua. Challapalli, a veteran of the digital trenches with over 25 years under his belt, is tasked with fusing cutting-edge tech with creative wizardry, conjuring up digital-first solutions that’ll make brands pop.

    Said Barua: “Innovation is no longer an option; it is imperative. The creative industry is undergoing a seismic shift driven by technology, data, and consumer behaviour. Prashant will work closely with network leaders to drive the convergence of creative, media, and health, powered by data-driven innovation and technology, while seamlessly integrating storytelling to enhance impact.”

    Challapalli, formerly boss of Gravity Integrated, where he sprinkled his stardust on the likes of Amazon Pay, Google, and Tata Motors, reckons he’s ready for the challenge. “We’re in the ‘Attention Economy’, where AI’s rewriting the rulebook. Creativity’s still king, but innovation’s gone beyond a fancy advert. 

    Havas’s integrated model, with its AI-powered Converged OS, is like a digital Swiss Army knife. I’m chuffed to be joining a team that’s pushing the envelope, setting new creative benchmarks, and crafting a fresh narrative for Havas, its brands, and its people.”

    This appointment is a clear shot across the bow, a digital thunderbolt aimed at shaking up the advertising landscape. Havas is betting big on Challapalli’s ability to weave digital magic, and deliver solutions that are not just innovative, but downright electrifying.

  • Ola ropes in Leo Burnett Orchard, Indigo Consulting to lead marketing

    Ola ropes in Leo Burnett Orchard, Indigo Consulting to lead marketing

    MUMBAI: Ride-hailing company Ola has roped in Leo Burnett Orchard and Indigo Consulting to lead the mobility brand’s marketing mandate in the country. The mandate includes brand strategy, new launches, content strategy, and digital communications, and was awarded post a competitive multi-agency pitch. The account will be managed by the agency’s Bengaluru office.

    Leo Burnett managing director – India and chief strategy officer – Asia Dheeraj Sinha said, “Ola is one of the few brands born in India that are defining the fundamentals of how we live. The brand is changing the rules of mobility for India, while enabling respectable livelihoods for over a million driver-partners. As an agency, we are really chuffed about this mandate, as this is an opportunity to take the story of a revolutionary Indian brand into their next stage. We are thrilled to partner with Ola and leverage the strengths of Leo Burnett Orchard and Indigo Consulting teams to build a unified brand platform.”

    Leo Burnett Orchard chief operating officer Prashanth Challapalli added, “Ola is a home-grown brand that has now become a global force in mobility. Very few brands can take pride in the deep impact they create, like Ola would, on its entire ecosystem of consumers, partners, and cities at large. We look forward to building a strategically sound platform for the brand that will help cement its leadership position. This is also a testament to the incredibly powerful ‘Power of One’ philosophy that we follow.”

    Ola senior director, marketing communications Anand Subramanian commented on the occasion, “We look forward to this partnership with Leo Burnett Orchard in our mission to build mobility for a billion people. Over the past eight years, the Ola brand has evolved to become one of the world’s largest mobility platforms, impacting the lives of millions of customers and partners alike. We are confident that this new partnership will help resonate the brand’s voice amongst Ola’s 150 million+ users and beyond.”

  • Menaka Menon joins Leo Burnett Orchard as EVP & branch head for Bengaluru

    Menaka Menon joins Leo Burnett Orchard as EVP & branch head for Bengaluru

    Actor Akshay Kumar, who has become the first male Bollywood Actor (Male) to score 20 million followers on Instagram, received an Instagram memento for the milestone.

    The “Airlift” actor on Monday shared a photo of himself with the memento given to him by Instagram.

    “Here’s another gold from the good people at Instagram. Glad to share, the first Bollywood Actor (Male) to cross the 20 million followers milestone is yours truly. Thank you all once again for the love, sending lots of love and prayers your way.”

    Earlier this month, the actor was seen celebrating this milestone with streamers and a boomerang video. 

    On the work front, Akshay’s recently released movie “Gold” is riding high at the box office and have a couple of movies like “Kesari”, “Housefull 4” and “Good News” on board.MUMBAI: Leo Burnett Orchard, The Leo Group’s full service integrated agency, has strengthened its senior management. 

    The agency has hired Menaka Menon as EVP and branch head for Bengaluru. In her new role, she will report to Leo Burnett Orchard’s COO Prashanth Challapalli. Her last stint was with FCB Ulka Bengaluru where she was the vice president.

    Speaking about bringing Menaka on board, Prashanth Challapalli says, “Our ambition for Leo Burnett Orchard is to firmly drive integration via the Power of One philosophy. This has a direct bearing on the kind of people we want to bring on board – people with multiple skill sets and a hunger to drive this agenda. Menaka is the perfect fit for us. She has worn different hats in her career and brings to the table the kind of ambition, drive and skill sets we were looking for at a leadership level. On behalf of everyone at Leo Burnett Orchard, I am very happy to welcome her on board and wish her great success.”

    Menaka is an alumnus of MICA, and has almost 18 years of experience across advertising and media, with FCB Ulka, J Walter Thompson, UTV and BIG 92.7FM. Menaka began her advertising journey with account management, before moving on to strategic planning and moving to a Branch Head role.

    Speaking about her new role, Menaka says, “Leo Burnett Orchard is an agency poised for the future, where integration is a way of life. I am excited to be part of a team that lives and breathes this philosophy. There is a real opportunity here to expand horizons and to serve the client’s and brand’s best interests as one united team, and I look forward to being part of this vision.”

    Menaka replaces Sharmine Panthaky, VP and branch head Bengaluru, who has moved on from the agency.

  • Prashanth Challapalli elevated to COO at Leo Burnett Orchard

    Prashanth Challapalli elevated to COO at Leo Burnett Orchard

    MUMBAI: The Leo Group has elevated Prashanth Challapalli as the chief operating officer for Leo Burnett Orchard. 

    In his new role, he will report to Leo Burnett managing director – India and chief strategy officer – South Asia Dheeraj Sinha and Leo Burnett managing director – India and chief creative officer South Asia Rajdeepak Das.

    Challapalli replaces Mahuya Chaturvedi, who is moving on from the organisation. He will be based out of Leo Burnett Orchard’s Mumbai office.

    Welcoming him to his new mandate, Sinha said, “One of Prashanth’s greatest assets is his knowledge and experience in driving Power of One solutions, tapping into all the Publicis Groupe companies to bring the power of creative, digital, data, content, shopper marketing, media, PR, production and entertainment to solve business problems. As we build brands and businesses that talk to consumers who live in a digitally-enabled world, Prashanth’s significant experience in this domain will be highly valuable. I have known Prashanth to get into the details of the business and lead from the front. I am convinced that he will add value to our client’s businesses and take Leo Burnett Orchard to new heights.”

    Excited about the road ahead, Challapalli said, “Leo Burnett Orchard has a great set of brands and people. It is the perfect canvas for me to build the Power of One story further. The last 18 months of my role in the group as the chief integration officer have given me a really good understanding of the skill sets we have built across different specialisations. I am really looking forward to bringing these together for our clients at Leo Burnett Orchard.”

    He has been an integral part of the group since the last 18 months as the chief integration officer for Leo Burnett South Asia, driving the integration agenda for key clients such as Google, P&G, McDonald’s and TVS Motorcycles. 

    Out of his 20 years’ experience, he spent the first 11 years in agencies such as Ogilvy, Lowe, Y&R, Dentsu & Publicis Ambience handling brands like Lakme, Fair & Lovely, Pepsodent, FedEx, Marico, Tetley and Exide. In 2009, he started Jack in the Box Worldwide, one of the most awarded digital agencies in India with campaigns like Kolaveri, Pepsi IPL and 7Up to its credit. He then ran iContract for four years winning big brands like Google, YouTube, Amazon, Kindle, Dettol, Durex, Vaseline, Hotstar and Kissan, amongst others.

  • Prashanth Challapalli joins Leo Burnett

    Prashanth Challapalli joins Leo Burnett

    MUMBAI: Leo Burnett announced Prashanth Challapalli as the chief integration officer for South Asia.

    In his new mandate, Challapalli will work with leaders across Publicis Communications to drive integration, and will report to Publicis Communications India CEO Saurabh Varma. His last stint was with iContract, where he was the executive vice president and digital head.

    At Leo Burnett, his key mandate predominantly includes operationalizing and scaling up Leo Burnett’s unique methodology, PLAY, which puts context at the heart of creating content. Prashanth will also be a key bridge between Publicis Communications and Publicis.Sapient, responsible for bringing the best of Publicis.Sapient to all clients.

    Varma said, “Prashanth will be key as we put digital at the core of our offering and increasingly create cutting edge ideas and stories which emanate from the product itself.”

    Added Prashanth, “I have always been a big believer in one brand, one consumer and one communication approach and most of the leaders at Publicis Communications are either ex-colleagues or friends for a long time.”

    With over 19 years of experience, Prashanth has worked with agencies like Ogilvy, Lowe, Dentsu, Publicis Ambience and Rediffusion Y&R, and has also successfully built and lead Jack in the Box Worldwide and iContract in the digital space. He has won multiple national and international awards like EFFIES, Spikes, and AME, among others, for his work across brands and campaigns like Puma, Pepsi, Slice, Louis Philippe, Durex and Kolaveri Di.

  • Prashanth Challapalli joins Leo Burnett

    Prashanth Challapalli joins Leo Burnett

    MUMBAI: Leo Burnett announced Prashanth Challapalli as the chief integration officer for South Asia.

    In his new mandate, Challapalli will work with leaders across Publicis Communications to drive integration, and will report to Publicis Communications India CEO Saurabh Varma. His last stint was with iContract, where he was the executive vice president and digital head.

    At Leo Burnett, his key mandate predominantly includes operationalizing and scaling up Leo Burnett’s unique methodology, PLAY, which puts context at the heart of creating content. Prashanth will also be a key bridge between Publicis Communications and Publicis.Sapient, responsible for bringing the best of Publicis.Sapient to all clients.

    Varma said, “Prashanth will be key as we put digital at the core of our offering and increasingly create cutting edge ideas and stories which emanate from the product itself.”

    Added Prashanth, “I have always been a big believer in one brand, one consumer and one communication approach and most of the leaders at Publicis Communications are either ex-colleagues or friends for a long time.”

    With over 19 years of experience, Prashanth has worked with agencies like Ogilvy, Lowe, Dentsu, Publicis Ambience and Rediffusion Y&R, and has also successfully built and lead Jack in the Box Worldwide and iContract in the digital space. He has won multiple national and international awards like EFFIES, Spikes, and AME, among others, for his work across brands and campaigns like Puma, Pepsi, Slice, Louis Philippe, Durex and Kolaveri Di.

  • Sony Music Entertainment brings on board iContract

    Sony Music Entertainment brings on board iContract

    MUMBAI: iContract, the digital agency offering from Contract Advertising, has been awarded the digital duties by Sony Music Entertainment India. The agency won the business following a multi-agency pitch. Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a current roster that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars.

     

    Sony Music Entertainment India marketing director Sanujeet Bhujabal said, “Sony Music has been extremely aggressive in the digital space as it forms an integral part of our media mix across all repertoires. iContract brings with them a rich experience and we look forward to working with them. ” 

     

    A wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Inc., Sony Music Entertainment India, boasts of an extensive catalogue and is home to renowned and celebrated artists and several iconic Bollywood Film soundtracks.

     

    iContract senior VP and digital head Prashanth Challapalli said,  “Sony Music is a pioneer in the global music arena and is one of the leading entertainment brands in India. There are some exciting new plans and innovations on the anvil and we are hugely thrilled to partner their evolution in the digital space.”

     

    Contract India CEO Rana Barua said, “Sony Music Entertainment India is a tremendous win for us. We look forward to them in their digital evolution in India, given the fact that digital is going to be the future of the music business”.

     

    iContract also handles the digital mandate for several leading brands such as Shoppers Stop, UTI Mutual Funds, Acer, PepsiCo Slice, Wills Lifestyle as well as the BTL duties of Tata DoCoMo amongst other brands.