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Tag: Saurabh Chandra

  • Razorfish hires Manan Mehta to steer India biz

    Razorfish hires Manan Mehta to steer India biz

    MUMBAI: Razorfish, the technology-led digital company from Publicis Groupe, has appointed Manan Mehta as head of business and senior vice president – India.

    Mehta joins Razorfish from Taproot where he was managing partner and a founding member of the agency.

    Razorfish will be based out of Mumbai and will work with clients across the India region. Mehta’s mandate will be to introduce and establish Razorfish in India and put together an A-team to run client operations.

    Mehta said, “The opportunity to impact client’s business by combining cutting edge technology with creativity has compelled me to take up this assignment with Razorfish.” He further added that, “In India, businesses at large have started acknowledging the active role that digital and technology can play in building their brands, and are gearing up to embrace this new world order. In fact, there are organizations that have started institutionalizing social thinking across departments”. He concluded, “I have always admired Razorfish‘s work, and today I am really excited to be part of the team”.

    Razorfish managing director Kanika Mathur said, “Manan is an enterprising young professional with solid fundamentals about business and brands. His experience in the field of advertising and communication will be a huge asset for Razorfish in providing focus and driving growth for us in India”.

    Publicis had earlier announced the entry of the Razorfish brand in India with the acquisition of Neev Technologies which would now operate as Razorfish Neev.

    Razorfish Neev CEO Saurabh Chandra added, “Manan spearheading Razorfish’s India business focus is going to be a great asset for us. His understanding of what brands want and need to succeed in India is superlative. Together with Razorfish Neev’s technical strengths this is a winning combination”.

    Manan has earlier worked with Brand David (then RMG DAVID) in Delhi and Mumbai. He then moved to Leo Burnett, Mumbai. While at Leo Burnett apart from handling key brands as brand partner, he was also assigned additional responsibilities of Leo Entertainment as business head and Arc worldwide as retail director.

    From Leo Burnett he moved to set up Taproot India as a founding member in the capacity of managing partner. He has worked on numerous brands across various categories such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7UP from PepsiCo’s stable. Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Minute Maid and Maaza from Coca-Cola regional business, Airtel, SET WET, Hair & Care, Tata Capital, Myntra.com, Times Of India, Mumbai Mirror, GQ, Conde Nast, Reliance Mutual Fund, Reliance Capital, Sony Entertainment Television, Reliance Mobile, Cox & Kings and LG.

  • Publicis launches Razorfish in India with Neev acquisition

    MUMBAI: France-based media communications group Publicis Groupe has acquired Bengaluru-based technology services provider Neev as part of launching its digital entity Razorfish in India.

    The agency will operate as Razorfish Neev led by Neev CEO Saurabh Chandra. He will report into Razorfish and Digitas India managing director Kanika Mathur with a direct connection to Razorfish global CTO Ray Velez.

    Neev specialises in eCommerce, SaaS (Software as a Service) and cloud applications across web, social and mobile.

    Founded in 2005 and based in Bangalore, Neev employs a team of 250 specialists, of which over 220 are technologists, with experience and expertise in leveraging cloud and mobile technologies and promoting innovation that drives business success.

    Neev serves a growing list of prominent brands and technology companies mainly in India and the US. Neev has increased revenues on average 45 percent year-on-year since 2007.

    “Razorfish can now offer scaled expertise in India, complementing its already strong presence in Greater China and Australia,” Razorfish and Digitas networks APAC president Vincent Digonnet.

    “At the core of Razorfish lies innovation and technology, and we can only launch the brand in a market with a very deep tech development capability. Neev is providing us with the right engine, including an ability to deliver sophisticated state of the art web, ecommerce, mobile and social solutions. In addition, the acquisition will support the development capabilities of Razorfish technology teams in the US,” he adds.

    Neev CEO Saurabh Chandra said, “Neev has always delivered its work by leveraging leading edge technologies in cloud and mobility. With Razorfish we are looking at taking this to a larger portfolio of clients. Our focus remains delivering solutions to our clients that solve real business problems with the best combination of creativity and technology.”

    Publicis Groupe‘s goal is to create the world‘s leading concentration of digital skills and competencies and to that end is committed to doubling its size in India between 2010 and 2015.

    This year, the Groupe acquired the leading digital agency Convonix based in Mumbai and back in 2012 made significant acquisitions with iStrat (December 2012), Resultrix (August 2012) and Indigo Consulting (April 2012).

    VivaKi India country chair for Srikant Sastri, who is overseeing the acquisition of Neev added, “With the acquisition of Neev, we have added cutting-edge tech capabilities. We are now twice as large as any other global network in terms of digital team-strength and revenues, and unparalleled in breadth and depth of digital skills.”