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Tag: Rajiv Dhingra

  • Saffola launches campaign to beat food cravings

    Saffola launches campaign to beat food cravings

    MUMBAI: WATConsult, the digital and social media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, and Marico’s Saffola, launched a new campaign for its newly introduced offering, Saffola Active Slimming Nutri-Shake, titled ‘Beat The Crave’.

    The campaign is a first-ever audio-driven digital initiative that aims to distract the audience from unhealthy food cravings.

    The campaign undertakes an array of social media activities along with a microsite that has been created for users to visit and distract themselves whenever their craving strikes, thus enabling them to maintain their diet plan. The microsite will have multiple audio skits; also available on WhatsApp to encourage people attain their fitness goals. While each audio skit is crafted to help people distract from their cravings, it also allows them to learn the psyche behind these cravings and provides solutions to avoid them.

    Marico chief operating officer Sanjay Mishra says, “In line with Marico’s commitment to support a healthy lifestyle, we have teamed up with WATConsult and created a digital buddy which helps distract people from unhealthy food cravings in a fun way. These cravings just add inches to the waist derailing the efforts toward slimming. So, the digital audio buddy will work by distracting the user from any food craving and support consumers to find the right alternative healthy options”.

    The campaign also features several personalities from different walks of life who have been roped in to join the ‘Beat the Crave’ way. Healthy alternative recipes are also on offer to beat those cravings.

    WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dingra adds, “Anyone trying to lose weight and get in a better lifestyle/better shape has to first and foremost deal with the very human problem of craving. But if you can distract your mind for around three minutes, you can survive a craving incident. With this insight and to avoid facing a conflict between the love for junk food vs the weight loss goals, we created a digital friend who helps you beat the craving.”

  • Tata Hexa celebrates with #OneWithTheRoad campaign

    Tata Hexa celebrates with #OneWithTheRoad campaign

    MUMBAI: WATConsult, the digital and social media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network India and Tata Motors launched a digital campaign, #OneWithTheRoad to mark the first anniversary celebration of its lifestyle SUV brand, Tata Hexa.

    #OneWithTheRoad highlighted the special bond that Hexa owners share with their cars. Hexa’s one-year anniversary was a special occasion and, hence, the brand sought to add a personal touch to its communication to induce user-generated content by creating traction on various social media platforms.

    With an aim to connect personally with Hexa owners and create a buzz online, an exciting contest was launched wherein participants were asked to post pictures or videos of their Hexa driving experiences, road trips and community activities on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram tagging Tata Motors and adding the hashtag #OneWithTheRoad.

    In addition to #OneWithTheRoad, the other hashtags that aided in amplification on Instagram were #TataHexa, #HexaAnniversary, #TataHexaOwners. Participants were also asked to fill up a form that asked them to describe their Hexa in one word. The word would be turned into a Hexa Ultimate co-created badge of honour.

    WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dingra says, “The idea was to get up and close with our customers which would help us tap the one year journey of Hexa. #OneWithTheRoad campaign rightly touched the emotional chords of Hexa’s valuable customers and highlighted a lot of memories that they have built with Tata’s Hexa in the year gone by.”

    Tata Motors head of marketing for PVBU Vivek Srivatsa adds, “We are delighted to see the kind of fan following Hexa has seen in a year’s time. It’s attracting new customer profiles who are living the brand and have bonded with it. To show this strong bond we wanted to roll out a campaign and we were delighted to partner with WATConsult team. The #OneWithTheRoad campaign was a good platform to bring these stories alive. It was fun, engaging and owners were also gratified with customised badges for their Hexa, a name they would like to give their car. A truly integrated brand campaign.”

    The campaign created a lot of the right kind of noise. Each level was well placed and perfectly paced. Every phase helped propel the next; the teaser helped create the hype for the launch video. The launch video laid the groundwork for the amplification and the amplification led to immense traction and participation.

    Interestingly, #OneWithTheRoad garnered a 68.3 per cent follower growth on Instagram and 11.23 per cent follower growth on Twitter. The platform that worked best when it came to increasing reach was Facebook; however, Instagram got the best engagement.

  • 2018 will be a year of video campaigns: WATConsult’s Rajiv Dhingra

    2018 will be a year of video campaigns: WATConsult’s Rajiv Dhingra

    MUMBAI: If you see an advertisement on a website or your app, you are a well defined consumer of digital advertising. Thet ads on the website you visit are primarily revenue source for internet companies.

    Digital advertising is no longer a joke. The emails were considered pointless and annoying and banner ads used to be laughed at but today, with smartphone penetration being higher than ever and decreasing low data costs, digital advertising needs to be done and done well as the market is highly saturated and consumer’s attention span is shorter than ever.

    Some twenty years ago, digital advertising was just a couple of banners placed cleverly on websites. They were considered super annoying, as if you happened to click on one of them intentionally or unintentionally, you would soon be bombarded with banners all over your website. Today, digital advertising has become extensive with different types of online ads being produced based on the website content and target audience. Online advertising is one of the fastest growing way to reach an audience which includes banner ads to social media networking, email marketing, site takeovers, online classified ads, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and even

    SPAM.

    With the accessibility of internet on smartphones and low data cost, companies are now spending millions of rupees trying to find a way to advertise on digital platforms without creating an unpleasant experience for the consumer.

    Digital advertising doesn’t come cheap but it is far more affordable for marketers than traditional advertising model. There are over hundreds of different digital advertising models available today and every ad we see on digital platforms today is paid by one of those models. The most popular method though are CPA (Cost Per Action), PPC (Pay Per Click) and CPM (Cost Per Mille).

    To get some insights on the changing face of digital industry in India, Indian Television Dot Com got talking to WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dhingra who has seen and been a part of the digital revolution in India and recently completed 11 years in digital advertising business.

    The company which started off as a social media specialist in 2007 has expanded its reach and portfolio to become the most sought after full service digital agency in the country. WATConsult today specialises in digital marketing, social media marketing, search marketing, mobile marketing, digital analytics and digital video production.

    How has the digital ecosystem in India evolved along with WATConsult?

    When I look back to the industry’s growth in context of the past 11 years, there has been a tremendous change in the digital industry. Digital industry has become so large today in terms of advertising yet it is only 15 per cent of the overall market advertising and there is so much more growth opportunity left. While digital has been around for around 20 years, the industry has just started to become significant in terms of advertising efficiently on the platform.

    Since the market is highly competitive today, how does associating oneself with a bigger network help since WATConsult was also acquired by Dentsu Aegis Network back in 2015?

    It is the comfort of being associated with a large network that helps in getting global processes in line. That is the core level where a global network helps. Beyond that, every agency is unique and every agency has to work hard to earn its bread. I don’t think you can credit any agency or network all the accolades they achieve and if that was the case, all agencies under a network would work equally efficiently which is not the case.

    How is the Indian digital ecosystem different from the rest of the world as it sure does have its own challenges and uniqueness?

    India is still a very small market for advertising and within the small market, it has an even smaller advertising pie for digital. But what is similar is that Indian marketers are now open to new ways of leveraging digital. Execution and creative wise digital is not a very backward market as we see some amazing work happening in digital which is globally comparable as well.

    and the challenges…?

    In India, we need to up our ante when it comes to our creative and overall work level. Only that will help in bringing more clients and get them to spend more money. Digital still needs to simplify in our country as to what it is that an agency or marketer is trying to tell and achieve. Today, there are too many people selling digital in 100 different ways. We need to focus on business and brand objectives rather than focusing on 100 different t metrics that digital brings.

    How much do you project the ad spends to increase by 2020?

    There are no doubts about it that ad spends will definitely increase on digital. Ad spends will increase by 32 per cent CAGR y-o-y  and by 2020 it is going to be 24 per cent of the market which is almost 1/4 of the advertising market.

    How soon will the shift happen where digital becomes a dominant medium over television?

    I believe for digital to become dominant over television medium will take another 5-6 years in my mind and it is not going to happen by 2020. Although it is definitely going to happen by 2022-23 and that is when it will come very close to the advertising share of television.

    We have been hearing a lot about AI, Big data and Machine Leaning and the buzzwords lately. Is the Indian media ready and understands the concepts or we still have a long way to go?

    I don’t see these as buzzwords or jargons. Social media 10 years ago was considered a jargon and a buzzword but today it is an accepted reality. 10 years from today, AI, big data and machine learning will become accepted reality. Although they may not be called what they are called today and will be referred to as something else entirely. For instance, when social media was launched, it was called, Web 2.0. Similarly, 10 years from now, these new technologies will have a huge impact not only on digital adverting but on businesses in general.

    But why are marketers still reluctant on investing in these newer technologies?

    That is imply because marketers were also reluctant about social media 10 years ago. Marketers are always reluctant because they don’t want to spend their money on or betting on future technology which may or may not happen. They want results of today and hence they will always stay reluctant. Technology moves faster than marketing moves and users move even faster as far as technology adoption is concerned. Globally marketers have got there and back in India, some mature marketers have started experimenting with the technologies. Some of the large FMCG companies in India are looking to create their own data repository data lake to make sure they have detailed data analytics. One of our own automobile client has insisted that we get a data scientist on board for their brand. These are early but significant times of how data, AI and machine learning are going to be big part of digital advertising as we go forward.

    Do you believe influencer marketing is here to stay was that just a passing phase in 2017?

    Influencer marketing is becoming more and more of a professional industry and it is going to only grow. Three to four years from now, marketers will end up spending so much more on this medium and as internet grows and the frequency grows, word of mouth is going to be even more important than paid media as it has its own challenges in terms of cost and credibility.

    Facebook recently announced that it will filter the newsfeed by removing marketing ads to ensure better user experience. Will this hamper businesses in any way?

    Facebook has always focussed on user experience. I am sure they will find other ways to make sure marketers who spend money do reach their audiences. But yes, marketers who would like to use Facebook as a free tool will be hit because clearly Facebook doesn’t think that free advertising should be allowed on Facebook itself.

    What would be the game-changer in digital adverting this year ? How does 2018 look to you?

    Video has been a huge growth factor in 2017 and it is going to continue at a break next speed in 2018. With data consumption going through the roof, you wont see a digital campaign that does not have a video. 2018 looks like a year which has a lot of opportunities and it could be the best year for digital industry ever with so many interesting things happening in the industry.

    ALSO READ:

    How iProspect’s Vivek Bhargava foresaw a digital future two decades ago

    2017 – The year of long-format ads

    Going from clicks to bricks

    Martin Sorrell on how WPP is combating ad world slowdown

    BFSI’s changing communication in the digital era  

  • WAT’s Your Big Idea wraps up second edition

    WAT’s Your Big Idea wraps up second edition

    MUMBAI: Digital and social media agency WATConsult wrapped up its second season of WAT’s Your Big Idea (#WYBI) yesterday in Mumbai.

    The winning trophy was awarded to WAT’s in the Name from MICA. The first runner-up was team BhaiBhaiBhai from MICA, while the second runner-up position was awarded to ThreeTwoOne from IIMC – Delhi.

    This year WAT’s Your Big Idea received over 240 entries from 390+ students who participated from leading institutions like MICA, SIMC, XIC, IIMB, IIM (Indore), SP Jain, Jamnalal Bajaj, NMIMS, MET and Jai Hind.

    Teams had to create campaigns on the basis of brand objective, target audience, target market and challenges faced. ITC Savlon’s brief was to increase usage of hand-wash in households and to increase usage, while HE Face Wash looked for an integrated marketing idea for its newly launched product, waterless face wash.

    Naturolax’s marketing objective was to establish a new brand positioning, thereby driving new trials and increase market share. Jack & Jones’ core objective was to establish itself in the men’s comfort zone brand and gain branding visibility along with garnering actual footfalls and sales. Madame Tussauds looked for ideas which helped in increasing repeated walk-ins and ideas on new possible opportunities to drive revenues while Swarovski wanted ideas which helped increase sales and create a brand visibility in its TG.

    The shortlisted teams got an opportunity to work with the team at WATConsult, to understand the nuances of digital campaigns and improvise their entries before presenting in front of the esteemed jury, which comprised Rajiv Dingra (founder and CEO, WATConsult), Jaikishan Chhaproo (head media and PR, ITC), Praveen Das (co-founder & managing director, Happy Mcgarrybowen), Vineet Gautam (CEO, Bestseller Group) Sukanya Dutta Roy (MD, consumer goods division, Swarovski),  Sabia Gulati (head, sales & marketing, Madam Tussauds) Rajesh Kamat (VP, strategy & operations, Piramal Enterprises) and Anoop Agarwal (DGM marketing, Emami Group).

    WATConsult founder and CEO  Rajiv Dingra says, “This year we have received a tremendous response, the entries were more than double from last year and the quality of work was also commendable. We hope to take this initiative to greater heights next year.”

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO of South Asia Ashish Bhasin adds, “WATConsult has been doing an excellent job with WAT’s Your Big Idea and I would like to congratulate them on the same. Also, would like to extend my wishes to the winning teams on the fabulous ideas they came up with.”

    WYBI provides a unique platform and opportunities to the next generation in the field of digital advertising and marketing. Launched last year, the first edition saw more than 150+ registrations, 120 entries, 250 students participating and 28 teams. This year besides the cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, an endorsed certificate and an assured job offer, the winning team will also get an opportunity to visit Cannes Lions in 2018.

  • WATConsult celebrates anniversary with chatbot – Dot

    WATConsult celebrates anniversary with chatbot – Dot

    MUMBAI: Continuing its slew of many firsts, WATConsult is now the first Indian digital agency to launch its own chatbot, Dot. This chatbot will act as a historian and insider of WATConsult and will guide the users through the agency’s journey in the last decade.

    Built on Facebook Messenger, Dot will showcase the story behind WATConsult, its achievements, anecdotes, facts about the agency, some funny, memorable moments, milestones and highlight the work done across brands since inception.

    WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dhingra said, “To commemorate the 10-year milestone, we are excited to announce the launch of our in-house chatbot, Dot. The chatbot encapsulates the spirit of our journey and evolution over the last decade. We are looking forward to assist brands to leverage this medium.”

    Through Dot, brands can now interact and engage with the agency directly. It also has an additional feature which allows prospective employees to view job opportunities and apply instantly.

    The chatbot was launched under WATConsult’s recently established innovation lab, InnoWAT.

  • WATConsult celebrates anniversary with chatbot – Dot

    WATConsult celebrates anniversary with chatbot – Dot

    MUMBAI: Continuing its slew of many firsts, WATConsult is now the first Indian digital agency to launch its own chatbot, Dot. This chatbot will act as a historian and insider of WATConsult and will guide the users through the agency’s journey in the last decade.

    Built on Facebook Messenger, Dot will showcase the story behind WATConsult, its achievements, anecdotes, facts about the agency, some funny, memorable moments, milestones and highlight the work done across brands since inception.

    WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dhingra said, “To commemorate the 10-year milestone, we are excited to announce the launch of our in-house chatbot, Dot. The chatbot encapsulates the spirit of our journey and evolution over the last decade. We are looking forward to assist brands to leverage this medium.”

    Through Dot, brands can now interact and engage with the agency directly. It also has an additional feature which allows prospective employees to view job opportunities and apply instantly.

    The chatbot was launched under WATConsult’s recently established innovation lab, InnoWAT.

  • Watconsult expects 20 percent revenue share from eCommencify by 2019

    Watconsult expects 20 percent revenue share from eCommencify by 2019

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Watconsult is betting big on its newly launched service eCommencify and expects a revenue share of 20 percent from it by 2019. “We hope that by 2017 it would contribute 10 percent of our total revenue and by 2019 it would be 20 percent of our revenue,” said Watconsult CEO Rajiv Dhingra.

    Spurred by the growing eCommerce market and the equally growing demand for brick and mortar businesses to adapt to the digital environment, especially in the goods sector, Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Watconsult has launched the go to market eCommerce solution eCommencify. The agency already has two clients in the kitty for this new service.

    “eCommencify is a solutions stack by Watconsult that addresses the pain points of brands looking for eCommerce strategy on a medium and long term basis,” Dhingra said.

    The need to expand services to cater to e-commerce businesses came from the industry projection that the market in India would quadruple to $60-70 billion over the next 5 years, driven by faster growth in goods than services.

    “We believe that by 2020 most brands would have an eCommerce exposure, be it an FMCG brand or a chocolates brand or even a cement brand. The challenge is to make that exposure, whether through owned or third party platforms, a successful and fast growing one with robust business results.”

    Explaining how the service works, Dhingra continued, “Watconsult’s solution in eCommencify looks to address this in a holistic way by being partners with brands that are looking to be committed to eCommerce growth over next 2-4 years. eCommencify looks at four verticals of solutions — around technology, digital marketing, UX and analytics. We also provide content cataloguing support from an execution perspective.”

    To make the service holistic, Dhingra and his team had been hiring talent across levels as well as training their current teams to put this solution stack together. It will be available both as a standalone and as a package based on how deals are done with clients.

    When asked what made him sense the need for the service, Dhingra revealed, “There is lack of clarity, confusion and a sense of uncertainty when it comes to eCommerce for brands. Some of them are totally against owned eCommerce strategies, while some feel that third party brands dilute their brand equity. Clearly with so much uncertainty comes an opportunity to invest in the right talent and technology to help our clients manoeuvre this challenging yet fast growing aspect of their business.”

    The beauty of the new service is that it targets non-digital business and makes them inclusive of the eCommerce world. “It’s targeted more at brick and mortar brands that are struggling with their eCommerce strategy and need a long term partner who can think through business and brand strategy in collaboration with the,” concluded Dhingra while adding that apart from this, the agency also had a few more services for their clients in the pipeline.

  • Watconsult expects 20 percent revenue share from eCommencify by 2019

    Watconsult expects 20 percent revenue share from eCommencify by 2019

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Watconsult is betting big on its newly launched service eCommencify and expects a revenue share of 20 percent from it by 2019. “We hope that by 2017 it would contribute 10 percent of our total revenue and by 2019 it would be 20 percent of our revenue,” said Watconsult CEO Rajiv Dhingra.

    Spurred by the growing eCommerce market and the equally growing demand for brick and mortar businesses to adapt to the digital environment, especially in the goods sector, Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Watconsult has launched the go to market eCommerce solution eCommencify. The agency already has two clients in the kitty for this new service.

    “eCommencify is a solutions stack by Watconsult that addresses the pain points of brands looking for eCommerce strategy on a medium and long term basis,” Dhingra said.

    The need to expand services to cater to e-commerce businesses came from the industry projection that the market in India would quadruple to $60-70 billion over the next 5 years, driven by faster growth in goods than services.

    “We believe that by 2020 most brands would have an eCommerce exposure, be it an FMCG brand or a chocolates brand or even a cement brand. The challenge is to make that exposure, whether through owned or third party platforms, a successful and fast growing one with robust business results.”

    Explaining how the service works, Dhingra continued, “Watconsult’s solution in eCommencify looks to address this in a holistic way by being partners with brands that are looking to be committed to eCommerce growth over next 2-4 years. eCommencify looks at four verticals of solutions — around technology, digital marketing, UX and analytics. We also provide content cataloguing support from an execution perspective.”

    To make the service holistic, Dhingra and his team had been hiring talent across levels as well as training their current teams to put this solution stack together. It will be available both as a standalone and as a package based on how deals are done with clients.

    When asked what made him sense the need for the service, Dhingra revealed, “There is lack of clarity, confusion and a sense of uncertainty when it comes to eCommerce for brands. Some of them are totally against owned eCommerce strategies, while some feel that third party brands dilute their brand equity. Clearly with so much uncertainty comes an opportunity to invest in the right talent and technology to help our clients manoeuvre this challenging yet fast growing aspect of their business.”

    The beauty of the new service is that it targets non-digital business and makes them inclusive of the eCommerce world. “It’s targeted more at brick and mortar brands that are struggling with their eCommerce strategy and need a long term partner who can think through business and brand strategy in collaboration with the,” concluded Dhingra while adding that apart from this, the agency also had a few more services for their clients in the pipeline.

  • Bajaj Allianz addresses road safety with WATConsult through Boo Boo campaign

    Bajaj Allianz addresses road safety with WATConsult through Boo Boo campaign

     A road safety campaign by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance features animated characters, Boo Boos, in a ‘Don’t be a Boo Boo’ song.

    Mumbai: Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. is creating awareness about road safety via a unique ‘Don’t be a Boo Boo’ campaign. This is a special campaign co-conceptualized, designed and executed by WATConsult, Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm.

    The campaign launched on November 14 with a video featuring colorful animated characters called Boo Boos, who are a family of five notorious cartoon characters infamous for  breaking traffic rules in a relatable yet funny way.

    These characters, along with the ‘Don’t be a Boo Boo’ song, are currently being promoted across all social and digital media platforms, educating users about Bajaj Allianz Motor insurance features. Engaging social media posts will be promoted, Dubsmash contest has been planned and a game has been created as a part of the campaign. Along with the digital promotions, the organisation aims to take it further through “Boo Boo” coasters, bookmarks, greeting cards, posters, etc. The ad spends for this campaign had been the highest in the history of Bajaj Allianz and has already generated enormous response from the audience. On the launch day itself, 1,10,000 impressions came only from Twitter and Facebook.

    Referring to the campaign, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance digital marketing and web sales, IT- head, Saurabh Chatterjee said, “The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness and start a conversation on the serious topic of road safety, in a light hearted and humorous way. We hope that our ‘Don’t be a Boo Boo’ campaign’ will be fun to watch and carry home the message on road safety along with the need to follow traffic rules.”

    While talking about the Don’t Be a Boo Boo campaign, WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dhingra stated, “When team Bajaj Allianz briefed us on the kind of campaign they wanted to execute for road safety, we decided to use comic tone rather than walking the conventional path. A team at WATConsult worked with complete dedication for the campaign right from sketching the Boo Boo characters to creating the song, to making the full animation video. We hope the campaign goes beyond digital and impacts society at large.”