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Tag: Rediffusion

  • Rediffusion Y&R president Rajappa quits

    MUMBAI: Rediffusion Y&R president D Rajappa has moved on from the agency. He had put in his papers a couple of months back and served his last day as president on 7 January. He will, however, continue to work with the communications network in the capacity of a consultant.

    Rajappa has been with the Rediffusion network since 1995 when he joined Rediffusion Y&R, Delhi Office as vice president. He then moved to Sri Lanka as CEO of the branch in 2003. His next destination was Everest Brand Solutions as president. In December 2010, he joined Rediffusion Y&R as president.

    His next destination is hitherto unknown, but sources close to Rajappa reveal that he will be on a sabbatical for some time before he returns to advertising.

  • Sam Ahmed moves to Mumbai as Rediffusion VC and CCO

    MUMBAI: WPP‘s communication agency Rediffusion has appointed Sam Ahmed as vice chairman and chief creative officer. He currently lives in Dubai but will now move to Mumbai from where he will operate in his new role at the agency.

    Ahmed has spent 14 years at Y & R, Dubai where he was credited with making Y&R the No. 1 agency in Dubai in creative rankings and the 3rd most creative agency in the world. He has worked on brands like Ford, Nestle, Pepsi, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive, Citibank, Harvey Nichols, Skoda, Land Rover, Jaguar, Sony Ericsson, Du Telecom, Zain Telecom, HTC, Apple and World Gold Council. He has also been a consultant for the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed‘s executive office on several Dubai projects including DIFC and Burj Khalifa.

    Rediffusion chairman and managing director Diwan Arun Nanda said, “It is good to have a person of Sam‘s credentials lead the Creative Team at Rediffusion. He is one of the world‘s most awarded creative people. We searched the globe for such a creative talent. Sam is empowered to lead our team to achieve great creative heights with work that helps strengthen our clients‘ brands even further.”

    Ahmed said, “One of the reasons I left advertising is that the focus had shifted, it had become more about making money and less about ideas. I have always believed that only great ideas make a lot of money for your clients and your agency and when the Chairman of a legendary agency offers you a challenge to make Rediffusion the Number 1 creative agency in India, you don‘t ask too many questions, except where do I sign? I have some of the most amazing brands at Rediffusion to work with and I am really excited.”

    Sam joined the advertising and communications industry at the age of 21. He was 24 when he won his first design award and by the time he turned 28, he was creative director of Y&R, Dubai. He was made partner and regional executive creative director of Y&R Brands for the region by age of 31. In 2009, Sam founded the Creative Club of Dubai.

  • Saatchi & Saatchi appoints Priti Kapur as ECD

    MUMBAI: Saatchi & Saatchi India has appointed Priti Kapur as the executive creative director of the agency. She will be based in Delhi.

    The news comes close on the heels of the announcement of Saatchi & Saatchi chief creative officer Ramanuj Shastry‘s exit from the company. Shastry will serve his notice period at the agency till February before he moves on to launch his own venture.

    Talking about her new role, Kapur said, “I am looking forward to embracing the Saatchi culture that has made it so iconic around the World, and to doing the kind of media-neutral ideas that are redefining advertising today”.

    Saatchi India CEO Matt Seddon said, “I would like to publicly acknowledge Ramanuj for all that he has done for us over the years, the great work he has led, his indomitable spirit, wise counsel but perhaps most importantly of all the fun and friendship he has brought to Saatchis.”

    Shastry said, “Saatchi will always be a Lovemark for me. I‘d like to thank my wonderful team for their support and the equally wonderful clients for their good faith. Going ahead I will still be doing what I love – advertising. The only difference being now I will be working for myself.”

    Shastry had joined Saatchi & Saatchi in June 2009. Prior to joining Saatchi & Saatchi, he had also worked with Rediffusion DY&R as joint chief creative officer, Publicis India as NCD, McCann Worldgroup as senior creative director (India)and Ogilvy & Mather as copy supervisor (Mumbai).

    Meanwhile, Kapur has spent the last four years as ECD at JWT Delhi. Prior to joining JWT she had worked at Leo Burnett and DDB in Singapore. 

  • Ayan Chakraborty leaves Percet/H to fly solo

    MUMBAI: Percept/H chief growth officer Ayan Chakraborty has put in his papers at the agency. He will be starting a venture on his own in the coming weeks.

    An industry insider confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com and added, “We should be hearing details about the new venture by the first week of December though it is definitely going to be something to do with communications, advertising and branding.”

    It is also learnt that the venture will have its headquarters in Mumbai, but will have multi city operations.

    Chakraborty has been at Percept/H for the past two years. Before that he was executive vice president at Saatchi and Saatchi from July 2008 to July 2010. He has also served at Grey Worldwide, Bates, Equus and Rediffusion Y&R during his career of 17 years.

  • Rediffusion-Y&R bags creative mandate for Emami’s Mentho Plus and Fast Relief

    MUMBAI: Rediffusion-Y&R has won the creative duties of Emami‘s Mentho Plus and Fast Relief.

    With these two account wins, Rediffusion-Y&R gets creative duties for the FMCG giant‘s complete pain management portfolio because it already handled Zandu Balm‘s account.

    Emami general manager – marketing Vilien Dengle said, “Rediffusion-Y&R has been working closely with Emami for over four years now.

    hroughout, they have continued to exhibit an intimate level of engagement with our brands, the category, and our markets, which, coupled with their strong creative capabilities, have made our brands salient in the minds of our consumers. Hence, we are happy to entrust them with the creative duties for our entire pain management solution.”
    Rediffusion-Y&R also manages the marketing communication for the BoroPlus brand.

    Rediffusion-Y&R president D. Rajappa added, “We are delighted to contribute to the development and growth of such iconic brands of the Emami family. We partner with our clients to make brands important in the lives of its consumers through strategically sound and innovative creative ideas.”

  • Franklin Templeton continues with M&C Saatchi as creative partner

    MUMBAI: Financial services company Franklin Templeton (India) has decided to continue with M&C Saatchi as its creative partner. The agency has been working with the brand since 2008.

    A senior official from the agency confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com and added, “There was never really any talk of a review. The brand has simply extended the contract they have with us.”

    Though there were rumours that Franklin Templeton has called for a review on the creative mandate, the agency source negated the hearsay.

    The brand now plans to focus on more tactical, activation and digital led brand communication.

    Before M&C Saatchi, Rediffusion-Y&R handled the brand‘s advertising for two-and-a-half years.

    The brand‘s media planning/buying mandate rests with GroupM‘s Maxus.

  • Grey to handle Pigeon’s creative mandate

    MUMBAI: Bengaluru-based home appliances manufacturer Stovekraft has awarded the creatives duties for its brand Pigeon Home Appliances.

    Grey‘s Bengaluru office will be in charge of the account which includes the brand‘s complete product portfolio.

    Sources peg the account size at Rs 300 million.

    Mindshare holds the media mandate for the brand.

    The pitch for the account was initiated nearly a month back and included five agencies apart from Grey – Contract, Rediffusion Y&R, Lowe, Percept and Euro RSCG. The final round of the pitch included Lowe, Percept and Grey.

    Confirming the news of the win to indiantelevision.com Grey South VP and branch head Hari Krishnan said, “As a category, the home appliances segment has very few brands that are present at a national level and Pigeon is one of them. The brand communication will be aimed at consolidating Pigeon‘s presence and visibility across India.”

    The agency plans to carry a 360 degree media campaign for Pigeon over time, though the immediate focus will be on traditional mediums like TV, print and outdoor. “In this case, retail will also be a very important touch point with activations and store promotions,” adds Krishnan. 

  • DB Realty appoints Percept/H as its creative AoR

    MUMBAI: Real estate developer Dynamix Balwas (DB) Realty has appointed Percept/H to handles its creative business.

    The account is said to be in the range of Rs 200 million to 220 million and will be out of the agency‘s Mumbai office.

    The incumbent agency on the account Rediffusion-Y&R that had won it in 2007 following a multi agency pitch.

    DB Realty (Dynamix Balwas Realty) is a large real estate developer based in Mumbai and is the flagship company of the DB Group. The group has interests in hospitality, realty and telecom.

  • Rediffusion – Y&R elevates Amitava Sinha to COO

    Mumbai: Rediffusion- Y&R has elevated its East and South region COO Amitava Sinha to COO.

    Based in Delhi, he will now take over the additional responsibility of Rediffusion-Y&R‘s Delhi office with immediate effect. Rediffusion-Y&R VP-Delhi Abhik Santara, will now report into Sinha.

    With the development, the agency aims to deliver better synergies to the brands that it works on through a larger talent pool and enhanced collaboration between offices, it said.

    Sinha added, “I am excited to now work in a market as large and challenging as Delhi. My focus will be on delivering cutting edge communication solutions on all the brands that we work on from the Delhi office, and pursuing growth aggressively given the opportunities the market offers”.

    Rediffusion – Y&R president D Rajappa said, “Amitava‘s appointment as the guardian of our Delhi office once again reinforces our talent philosophy of growing people from within the organisation. Delhi is a critical market for the agency and Amitava will be able to bring a better focus on developing national synergies on all our brands at Delhi through a larger talent pool and enhanced collaboration between offices. With his extensive experience of working across geographies and multitude of brands, I am confident that he will lead the Delhi office to greater heights in client satisfaction and creative excellence.”

    Sinha comes in with over 25 years of experience in marketing and advertising. He joined Rediffusion-Y & R in October 2003 as head of Kolkata operations. He has worked on clients like ITC, Eveready, Reckitt, Bata, Tata Steel, Berger Paints, Spencer‘s, Ananda Bazar Patrika and United Spirits.

  • Brand Curry hires Dhirendra Agrawal as creative head

    MUMBAI: Creative agency Brand Curry has appointed Dhirendra Agrawal as creative head. He will report to Brand Curry managing director Subrata Chakraborty.

    Agrawal’s previous stint was with Avon Beauty Products. Agrawal’s duties at Brand Curry include restructuring the organisation, bringing dynamism into the system and making the agency ready for the next level of growth.

    Agrawal has 14 years of experience and has worked with brands like TVS, Kwality Walls, Levi‘s, Dockers, ITC Food, Bagpiper, ING Vysya, Airtel, AMD, Himalaya, Times of India, Canon and Honda Bikes. He started his career as a visualiser with Cognito Advertising in 1998. Seven months later, he joined Pinnacle Advertising in the same position. In 1999, Agrawal moved to McCann Erickson as art director. In 2004, he joined Rediffusion-Y&R as creative group head. He then moved to Contract Advertising as associate creative director a couple of years later.

    Before joining Avon Beauty Products as creative head, Agrawal served at Denstu Marcom for four months.