NEW DELHI: Well known television producer-actor known of Chankya fame, Chandra Prakash and ad guru and renowned lyricist Prasoon Joshi are among the new trustees/members of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
Senior journalist Ram Bahadur Rai is the new president, according to the reconstituted board announced by Culture minister Mahesh Joshi.
The IGNCA was established in the memory of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and is envisioned as a centre for study of arts. The IGNCA was launched on 19 November 1985 by the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Renowned dancers Sonal Man Singh and Padma Subrahmananiam are among the twenty members (including the president, culture secretary, additional secretary and financial adviser in the Culture ministry, and the IGNCA member secretary). Others from the field of arts are Saryu Doshi and Vasudeo Kamath..
An official announcement said the trust of the IGNCA had been reconstituted ‘in public interest.’
MUMBAI: A couple of a months ago, ad guru Prasoon Joshi pleasantly surprised the advertising fraternity by announcing McCann Worldgroup India’s presence at the 11th edition of Goafest, after three consecutive years of no show from the agency at the Creative Abbys. The agency sent symbolic token entries to honour the festival in all the categories and their delegates participated and attended the fest in large numbers.
Naturally anticipation was high to see if the other heavy metals in the industry like Ogilvy and Mather, Lowe Lintas and Leo Burnett, who had long refrained from attending the Creative Abbys, would also follow suit and rejoin the biggest celebration of Indian advertising under Ad club president Raj Nayak’s leadership.
Though the other two agencies didn’t participate at the Creative Abbys this year either, Goafest 2016 lived up to the anticipation to a certain extent as the top honchos of Ogilvy and Mather and Lowe Lintas graced the conference individually.
The second day of Goafest 2016 leadership summit saw an auditorium full of creatives and media honchos at the edge of their seats listening to Mullen Lowe Lintas chairman R Balki having a tete a tete with film maker Karan Johar on the stage.
When the curious audience couldn’t help but ask him — “What will it take to get Lowe Lintas back to Goafest? — Balki’s quick response was “Better ask Arun Iyer this question” before he gave a knowing smile.
“It’s not about returning to Goafest. Just like Karan is happy just making Hindi cinema, as an advertising agency, we are happy making campaigns that touch people. We are currently positioned in a way that we can say we are not ‘judged’ to be creative. I don’t think we will be back only because it works for us. We are positioned in a way that we can call ourselves good without recognition, we are doing good work given the credentials that come from clients. So when something like this is handed to us by default, it will be foolish to sort of give it away.”
It didn’t stop at that. The trinity was finally complete later that day when the advertising fraternity came together to felicitate O&M India creative director and executive chairman Piyush Pandey on receiving the Padma Shri award.
“We haven’t changed our stand. But, this invitation that has been extended to me pertains to my felicitation by the organisers for getting the Padma Shri this year. I have accepted it and feel honoured to be part of an industry show such as Goafest,” Pandey informed when asked about his presence at Goafest 2016.
The industry witnessed something similar when Prasoon Joshi was felicitated last year at the Goafest 2015. Given the indications, the industry is hopeful that the next edition of the advertising festival will see a full participation from all the industry heavy weights.
MUMBAI: A couple of a months ago, ad guru Prasoon Joshi pleasantly surprised the advertising fraternity by announcing McCann Worldgroup India’s presence at the 11th edition of Goafest, after three consecutive years of no show from the agency at the Creative Abbys. The agency sent symbolic token entries to honour the festival in all the categories and their delegates participated and attended the fest in large numbers.
Naturally anticipation was high to see if the other heavy metals in the industry like Ogilvy and Mather, Lowe Lintas and Leo Burnett, who had long refrained from attending the Creative Abbys, would also follow suit and rejoin the biggest celebration of Indian advertising under Ad club president Raj Nayak’s leadership.
Though the other two agencies didn’t participate at the Creative Abbys this year either, Goafest 2016 lived up to the anticipation to a certain extent as the top honchos of Ogilvy and Mather and Lowe Lintas graced the conference individually.
The second day of Goafest 2016 leadership summit saw an auditorium full of creatives and media honchos at the edge of their seats listening to Mullen Lowe Lintas chairman R Balki having a tete a tete with film maker Karan Johar on the stage.
When the curious audience couldn’t help but ask him — “What will it take to get Lowe Lintas back to Goafest? — Balki’s quick response was “Better ask Arun Iyer this question” before he gave a knowing smile.
“It’s not about returning to Goafest. Just like Karan is happy just making Hindi cinema, as an advertising agency, we are happy making campaigns that touch people. We are currently positioned in a way that we can say we are not ‘judged’ to be creative. I don’t think we will be back only because it works for us. We are positioned in a way that we can call ourselves good without recognition, we are doing good work given the credentials that come from clients. So when something like this is handed to us by default, it will be foolish to sort of give it away.”
It didn’t stop at that. The trinity was finally complete later that day when the advertising fraternity came together to felicitate O&M India creative director and executive chairman Piyush Pandey on receiving the Padma Shri award.
“We haven’t changed our stand. But, this invitation that has been extended to me pertains to my felicitation by the organisers for getting the Padma Shri this year. I have accepted it and feel honoured to be part of an industry show such as Goafest,” Pandey informed when asked about his presence at Goafest 2016.
The industry witnessed something similar when Prasoon Joshi was felicitated last year at the Goafest 2015. Given the indications, the industry is hopeful that the next edition of the advertising festival will see a full participation from all the industry heavy weights.
MUMBAI: After a consecutive no-show for the last two years at the Abby Awards and Goafest, the Prasoon Joshi led McCann Worldgroup India has announced that the agency will take part in the 11th edition of the advertising festival.
The move comes close on the heels of the new Advertising Club president and Colors CEO Raj Nayak announcing his intention to make Goafest 2016 more inclusive.
Confirming the agency’s presence at the festival, McCann India Asia Pacific chairman and CEO Prasoon Joshi says, “We will send symbolic token entries to honour the festival in all the categories but our delegates will participate and attend the fest in large numbers. We believe that genuine efforts have been made by the organisers this year to overcome the shortcomings and we also want to partner them in this journey positively. In the future, we will see the festival touching newer heights.”
Last year, though the agency did not participate in the Creative Abby, Joshi did attend the ceremony where he was felicitated by the Ad Club.
On McCann’s participation this year, Joshi further adds, “We take immense pride in our creative product and the decision of participation in award shows is collectively taken by our global/local creative councils. We wish GoaFest the very best.”
Nayak’s intent to make the 11th edition of the advertising festival more inclusive was primarily in relation to reinstate the participation of major creative agencies in the country who had long refrained from attending the Creative Abbys. Word had it that ‘cheerful’ Raj, as the Colors CEO is often called courtesy his Twitter handle, had personally reached out to the respective executives and agency heads to hear and address issues that stood in the way of them and Goafest 2016. Therefore, the recent development with McCann definitely comes as a step forward in Nayak’s “inclusive” vision.
Now it remains to be seen whether other creative heavyweights like Ogilvy and Mather, Leo Burnett and Lowe Lintas will also follow suit and brighten up the spirit of the Abby and Goafest 2016 at large with their participation.
MUMBAI: After a consecutive no-show for the last two years at the Abby Awards and Goafest, the Prasoon Joshi led McCann Worldgroup India has announced that the agency will take part in the 11th edition of the advertising festival.
The move comes close on the heels of the new Advertising Club president and Colors CEO Raj Nayak announcing his intention to make Goafest 2016 more inclusive.
Confirming the agency’s presence at the festival, McCann India Asia Pacific chairman and CEO Prasoon Joshi says, “We will send symbolic token entries to honour the festival in all the categories but our delegates will participate and attend the fest in large numbers. We believe that genuine efforts have been made by the organisers this year to overcome the shortcomings and we also want to partner them in this journey positively. In the future, we will see the festival touching newer heights.”
Last year, though the agency did not participate in the Creative Abby, Joshi did attend the ceremony where he was felicitated by the Ad Club.
On McCann’s participation this year, Joshi further adds, “We take immense pride in our creative product and the decision of participation in award shows is collectively taken by our global/local creative councils. We wish GoaFest the very best.”
Nayak’s intent to make the 11th edition of the advertising festival more inclusive was primarily in relation to reinstate the participation of major creative agencies in the country who had long refrained from attending the Creative Abbys. Word had it that ‘cheerful’ Raj, as the Colors CEO is often called courtesy his Twitter handle, had personally reached out to the respective executives and agency heads to hear and address issues that stood in the way of them and Goafest 2016. Therefore, the recent development with McCann definitely comes as a step forward in Nayak’s “inclusive” vision.
Now it remains to be seen whether other creative heavyweights like Ogilvy and Mather, Leo Burnett and Lowe Lintas will also follow suit and brighten up the spirit of the Abby and Goafest 2016 at large with their participation.
MUMBAI: McCann Worldgroup India has made several key appointments starting with Jitender Dabas, who has been elevated as chief strategy officer.
Additionally, Suraja Kishore will now take on the new role of national planning head – Truth Central.
Punit Kapoor, who joined MRM McCann in May 2006 and was heading its Delhi operations has been elevated as vice president and general manager for all India operations of MRM McCann.
Commenting on the promotions, McCann Asia Pacific and McCann Worldgroup India CEO and McCann Asia Pacific chairman Prasoon Joshi said, “I am happy to announce these promotions. Over these year, Jitender brings forth an intricate understanding of brands coupled with leadership in building a stellar strategic planning team. I am confident he will bring tremendous value to the organisation at McCann Worldgroup level. Suraja who has been instrumental at great brand work will now also head the ‘Truth Central,’ which is McCann Worldgroup’s Global Thought leadership unit engaged in creating original research, unearthing unique truths to help shape and grow clients’ businesses. Punit, who has helped grow MRM’s Delhi business year on year beyond industry average is ready to take on the challenge for MRM at national level.”
MUMBAI: McCann Worldgroup India has made several key appointments starting with Jitender Dabas, who has been elevated as chief strategy officer.
Additionally, Suraja Kishore will now take on the new role of national planning head – Truth Central.
Punit Kapoor, who joined MRM McCann in May 2006 and was heading its Delhi operations has been elevated as vice president and general manager for all India operations of MRM McCann.
Commenting on the promotions, McCann Asia Pacific and McCann Worldgroup India CEO and McCann Asia Pacific chairman Prasoon Joshi said, “I am happy to announce these promotions. Over these year, Jitender brings forth an intricate understanding of brands coupled with leadership in building a stellar strategic planning team. I am confident he will bring tremendous value to the organisation at McCann Worldgroup level. Suraja who has been instrumental at great brand work will now also head the ‘Truth Central,’ which is McCann Worldgroup’s Global Thought leadership unit engaged in creating original research, unearthing unique truths to help shape and grow clients’ businesses. Punit, who has helped grow MRM’s Delhi business year on year beyond industry average is ready to take on the challenge for MRM at national level.”
MUMBAI: Network18 Media & Investments has appointed National Award winning Indian lyricist, screenwriter and ad-guru Prasoon Joshi as additional director.
Designated as an independent director, Joshi’s term is for a period of five years.
Network18’s Board of Directors at its meeting held on 15 January, 2016 confirmed the appointment.
Joshi is currently McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific chairman as well as the agency’s India CEO.
He is credited with marrying creativity with scale and giving McCann’s work in India a distinct cultural edge. Joshi has worked on mainstream brands like Coca Cola, Mastercard, J&J, Perfetti, Nestle, GM, Metlife, Pears, Star TV, Maggi re-launch as well as NDTV, Marico, Dabur and Britannia amongst others.
MUMBAI: It’s a proud moment for McCann Erickson, Mumbai as the agency’s Happy Dent Teeth Whitening Gum Happy Dent Palace ad has been shortlisted as one of the 20 best ads of the 21st century.
This list was compiled after The Gunn Report ran a popular poll asking readers to choose ten ads each from a pre-selected list of 30. McCann Erickson Mumbai is the only agency from India to have had its work shortlisted in the compilation.
“Very rarely do you see an advertisement reaching a level when it is considered as historical in the international stage. I am happy that my work has appeared as all time top 20 in 21st Century. I am honoured and deeply moved,” an elated McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific chairman Prasoon Joshi tells Indiantelevision.com.
The advertisement shows utopian India in its bygone eras (possibly the 20th Century) when bright shiny teeth are source of light for people after sunset, and people replace street lights and even chandeliers!
This quirky, outlandish and downright hilarious concept for an ad that speaks of a teeth whitening candy gum devised primarily for electronic medium immediately went viral after its television release.
Joshi points out that the ad doesn’t take itself seriously and that is exactly what has worked in favour of the TVC.
“It knows it is a gag for a product in the impulse purchase category. It’s for a chewing gum and it doesn’t take itself seriously, and that drew people in,” Joshi adds with a chuckle. Other nuances that helped it cut above the noise was it’s fun storytelling, beautiful and catchy music. “Somewhere it appeals to the fantastical and escapist side of the consumers. What if the world was like this? What if this could happen? The ad tends to urge us to imagine out of the box. On top of it is very focused about what it is trying to say about the product,” he adds.
Joshi also informs that being in a prestigious list or winning an award wasn’t on his mind at all when penning down the concept for the advertisement.
“Awards and rankings are not what we aim for when creating ads. When writing the script of this one, I was more immersed in it than anything. When awards follow it definitely inspires us to do better and encourages us, but that is never the end goal,” he says.
Recalling the time the ad was launched, Joshi further adds that it initially released as any other advertisement and then gradually gained popularity as well as critical appreciation by winning advertising awards at Cannes. “Then people started circulating it through mails, talking about it and it became viral on its own right,” Joshi says, with a look ahead to keep creating more ‘timeless ads.’
MUMBAI: If you are a loyal Maggi patron who has been pining for the product’s return to the market, it’s time for a fist pump. ‘The two minute noodles’ have been declared safe for consumption by the testing labs, announced Nestle India on Wednesday. The newly manufactured stocks have cleared all the three lab tests authorised by the Bombay High Court, and Maggi is expected to hit the shelves by this November.
This isn’t good news for just Maggi lovers, but for the company’s investors as well. Since the news was out, Nestle’s share prices saw a surge. As compared to its previous day’s close of Rs 6234.35, the company’s stock was up 12.80 per cent at end of day’s trade on 4 November to close at Rs 6247.15. The stock opened at Rs 6256.85 and touched an intra-day high of Rs 6479 and a low of Rs 6220.80.
The popular FMCG product came under scrutiny after more than permissible amount of lead was found in it, which eventually led to the product being taken off the shelf.
To read more on Maggi’s ban from the market, click here.
But Maggi’s fight to win back its lost reputation, and make up for its absence from the brand space doesn’t stop at government clearance.
The industry’s eyes are trained to see what the brand pulls off on its marketing and advertising front, given that Maggi’s return could be the biggest brand come back of the year.
A precursor to which we saw in a slew of short videos that Nestle recently launched on its official YouTube channel. These managed to evoke nostalgia for the brand, even when the product was off the shelf.
Responding to the many love letters from loyal fans on social media, Maggi released six videos each ending with a ‘Miss You’ message. Conceptualised by McCann Worldwide, which handles Nestle’s corporate campaigns, the campaign instantly grabbed eyeballs with #WeMissYouToo spreading across social media.
In a later interview to a leading business daily, McCann Worldwide India CEO Prasoon Joshi had said that the campaign was an instinctual response to what was being said on Twitter and Facebook.
While Publicis Worldwide remain the creative agency for Maggi, Joshi is heralding the re-launch campaign for the brand.
The campaign may have tugged at the heartstrings of a few, but according RK Swamy Hansa Group chairman and International Advertising Association (IAA) India chapter president Srinivasan Swamy the campaign hit the market “a little late in the day.” Swamy also feels that the campaign was mostly targeted towards opinion makers, and not at the core consumer base of the product, which is a larger number than Twitter and Facebook’s audience.
“I feel that for a FMCG product, social campaign through Facebook may not be adequate. They must employ mass media to engage with their consumers. The audience that they can reach through Twitter and Facebook, is small compared to its huge consumer base,” he says.
Digitally Maggi may have made an effort to remain alive in our memories, but the volume the product lost from the shelves is not going to be regained by a campaign. It is going to be a long drawn out process, where the brand will have to make use of the mass media more aggressively, keeping digital as one of the peripherals, feels Swamy.
And that is precisely what the brand has done with their recent full page ad in a national daily. Meanwhile, the company has been playing up Maggi’s safety.
“Your Maggi is safe, has always been.” – is what the ad reads before it goes on to explain that 3,500 tests conducted in India and abroad by food standards authorities in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore have pronounced the noodles as “safe for consumption.”
During the ban, Nestle India lost advertising inventory of about Rs 10 crore due to Maggi recall although they aired commercials of Nescafe or KitKat in all advertisement slots booked for the instant noodles brand. Nestle notified broadcasters and other media houses in India to stop publishing Maggi ads till the next directive is issued.
Nestle India is known for their conservative spends on marketing and advertising. Between 2010 and 2014, Nestlé India’s spending on advertising and sales promotions was between 4.2 per cent and 4.8 per cent of total income. With a powerful and impactful campaign in the queue, market analysts predicts a sea change in their spending in the sector, which may even go up to seven per cent.
While not revealing any figures, Nestlé India’s new managing director Suresh Narayanan, had earlier stated that the company would “spend more on advertising, marketing and promotions across categories to counter impact on sales caused by the Maggi ban.”
“They have to spend more on marketing and advertising if they even attempt to relaunch the product,” says BBH India CEO Subhash Kamath. “The brand has been off air for a while now. They need to come back with a bang and to be more credible and visible to their consumers,” he adds, saying that the company should spend a portion of their marketing spends in the initial phase of the re-launch campaign.
This isn’t the first time that a popular household product needed a comeback campaign after they went off shelf for a period of time. Remember Cadbury Dairy Milk’s come back campaign with Amitabh Bachchan, conceptualised by the maverick ad man Piyush Pandey?
Kamath recollects how Cadbury had re-packaged the product with an extra layer and brought it back to the market to convince its consumers, and how a similar approach may work for Maggi as well. “Credibility is something the brands need to earn, and campaigns can just assist it. Cadbury did a very good job at that time. Maggi will probably have to do the same thing.”
Having said that, going the celebrity way to earn this credibility may not work for Maggi.
“Bachchan Ji had a certain credibility in the eyes of the people at that time. It was possible for him to convince the consumers of the products lost credibility. Consumers today are more skeptical. They wouldn’t buy any product just because their favourite star is selling it. Chances are, Maggi wouldn’t go the celebrity way. They may prefer the testimonials of consumers and facts for their campaign,” opines Kamath.
Incidentally, Bachchan was also one of the endorses of Maggi some years back.
Going ‘bold and confident’ is the only way Maggi can pull this off, opines Grey South and southeast Asia chief strategy officer Dheeraj Sinha, who has also penned the book India Reloaded. “The biggest thing that the consumers will be looking out for in Maggi’s first relaunch campaign is the air of confidence. Their message to the consumers should be emphatic about the fact that they are back. And that should be sufficient,” he says, adding that evoking any more nostalgia and emotions may undo the campaign.
Commenting on the pressure on the products marketing team, Swamy adds, “It is an interesting challenge for the brand marketers and their creative agencies. They must obviously take multiple approaches to strategise this relaunch. I don’t believe that the marketers are sweating under the pressure. I believe they will be closely monitoring the first communique that the brand will put out in the public, and evaluate the same. This is an important re-launch for them and they have to get it right. Irrespective of what the campaigns may say, consumers take a while to respond to these changes.”
It is interesting to note that as per a survey conducted by Airloyal’s GeInsights, 73 per cent of the respondents said that can’t wait to get their hands on a packet of Maggi, while 27 per cent are still a little unsure of its safety.”
However, sample base for the responders form a small section of the product’s total consumer base, therefore whether this survey reflects the true guideline for the campaign is still something to wait and watch for.
