ITV

Tag: Saurabh Verma

  • Ajay Gahlaut joins Publicis Worldwide India as chief creative officer and managing director

    Ajay Gahlaut joins Publicis Worldwide India as chief creative officer and managing director

    MUMBAI: Ajay Gahlaut, who had recently stepped down from the position of chief creative officer of Ogilvy North and deputy chief creative officer of Ogilvy India, has joined Publicis Worldwide India as chief creative officer and managing director. Publicis confirmed the appointment in a press statement and shared that Ajay will be based out of agency’s Mumbai office.

    He will begin his stint at Publicis on 4 February 2019.

    On joining Publicis Worldwide India, Ajay said, “I’m looking forward to my journey with Publicis. The new age thinking here excites me. It’s a nimble set up based on the principles of collaboration and integration to deliver the ‘Power of One’. The quality of work is already solid and I look forward to working with the teams to raise the creative bar both in terms of variety and quality of work.”

    Prior to Ogilvy, Ajay has had stints with McCann, Saatchi & Saatchi, among others. With over 25 years of experience, he has worked on world-renowned brands such as Pernod Ricard, BMW, KFC, Taco Bell, Dabur, Perfetti Van Melle, Mother Dairy, Pizza Hut, Sprite, Best Foods, HT Mint, Philips, among others.

    On Ajay’s appointment, Publicis Communications, South Asia CEO Saurabh Verma said, “Anyone who knows Ajay or even follows him on Twitter, will know that he’s one of the finest storytellers in the country. His ability, experience, and talent in transforming brands by creating stellar communication across formats or platforms, is truly remarkable. With, Srija, Neeraj, and Ajay at the helm, Publicis Worldwide India is going to be a force to reckon with. I welcome Ajay to the Publicis Groupe, and wish him the best of luck.”

    Publicis Worldwide India managing director Srija Chatterjee said, “We’re in this phase of transformation at Publicis Worldwide India. Today, the industry is all about constantly listening to clients and anticipating their needs. It’s about delivering the best-in-class creative idea and doing it over and over again for each of your brands. Ajay is one of those creative mavericks who has been able to do that, consistently for over a long period of time. I’m truly excited to work with Ajay and I look forward to a great partnership.”

    Publicis Worldwide India CSO and managing partner Neeraj Bassi stated, “I am most delighted to welcome Ajay on board at Publicis. He has been a friend and guide to me since 2011. Together we delivered some stellar work on marquee brands and have won several well-fought pitches. Ajay’s ability to simplify problems is legendary and his dogged persistence to ‘crack’ the real problem that will lead to a tangible impact on business is a big asset for any brand. I look forward to partnering him again and working on ideas that become part of life.”

  • Challenge of crafting characters in Indian animation

    Challenge of crafting characters in Indian animation

    MUMBAI: For most animation producers and distributors, the art of creating content strategy and research is what’s keeping them up at night. But a few of them say that a formulaic approach should be rejected in this category.

    This topic was taken up at a panel discussion at the OTTv Kids and Animation summit – The challenge of crafting stories to groom, educate and entertain. On the stage were Ka Kha Gaa founder and animation screenwriter Vivek Shukla, children’s author, lyricist and screenwriter Pooja Lulla, Inox Leisure CMO and filmmaker Saurabh Verma, Sesame Workshop India head business development and marketing Mona Singh. The session was moderated by OTT and media platforms content and creative strategist Deepa Singh.

    A special keynote was given by Viacom18 SVP content head kids cluster Anu Sikka on the local IP creation journey of the Indian kids' entertainment category. She raised a point on the Indian animation segment lacking the quality of storytelling and animation when compared to what the world is producing. To this, Shukla said that we lack seriousness, not talent. “People don’t take our writers seriously. The other thing is what kids want and their psychology for characters to look like and be funny,” he said.

    Following the same, Verma explained that the business of content creation is so easy and hence it is difficult. “I pitch a lot of ideas and the person sitting on the other side has a fixed mind about a certain character that they want us to create for them. If we pitch stories like Doraemon and Shinchan, the over thinking of the studios and the platforms will never make the characters happen. So there has to be someone who should believe in our ideas. The other thing is, if the client doesn’t like any idea, we never get any feedback for the same as to why they didn’t like our idea,” he said.

    According to Verma, the other aspect of business in entertainment is film and TV. On the one hand, a film is a serious business to put in a lot of energy and on the other hand, TV is controlled by a lot of other people; every episode is controlled by TRPs.

    Talking about the basic requirements and the key factors to be taken into consideration, Lulla said that characters are crucial for the structure of the story. They take the story forward. Then what matters is the setting of the story. Also, the timing and location influence your character majorly. The message is also very important like Stan Lee conveyed the iconic message that with great power come great responsibility through Spiderman.

    Adding to this, Verma said that emphasis should be laid on purity of the character, not merchandising. “Christopher Nolan took up the flawed character of Batman and added vulnerabilities and emotion. We shouldn’t create characters based on researches. The whole system of research is flawed, to begin with. We should reject the formulaic approach,” he said.

    Furthermore, Mona Singh said that children learn best from the characters they relate to and the banters that they can understand. “So when you ask us, what are the key factors, then I would say we have Indian characters, but we are intentionally evolving our own characters because they are global citizens and have access to all kinds of content.”

    Lastly, the session was summed up saying that storytelling is not a problem, ROI and the mindset is a problem.  

  • Rajesh Ghatge is new Indigo CEO

    Rajesh Ghatge is new Indigo CEO

    MUMBAI: Rajesh Ghatge has joined as the chief executive officer of the digital agency Indigo Consulting of the Leo Burnett Group to lead the 300-plus employees across Indigo Consulting and Indigo iStrat. Based out of the Mumbai office, he will report to Leo Burnett south Asia CEO South Asia Saurabh Verma.

    Verma said: “We wanted a leader who can create a new curve; Rajesh brings with him the energy, the passion and the drive to create a new destiny for Indigo Consulting. My brief to him is to make us the most respected digital agency in the country, bar none.”

    Ghatge said, “Driving effective consumer engagement on omnipresent digital touch-points is a function of technology, content, analytics and the ability to execute flawlessly in an ‘always on’ mode. Using data and platforms to create impactful and relevant experiences has been my ongoing work. Indigo Consulting, built on a deep foundation of technology has emerged as a leading digital agency.”

    Having begun his career in marketing and sales in the FMCG and Pharma sectors in 1997, Ghatge co-promoted Bates CHI & Sercon (erstwhile Sercon). Under his leadership, the company leveraged technology and digital for activation marketing and demand generation and grew to become a top-ranked agency in India and Singapore. Bates CHI & Sercon also gathered prestigious laurels such as the ‘Best Brand Promotion Agency’ (ET), the B2B Marketing Award (London) and DMA (Asia and India).

    Ghatge has extensive knowledge and experience in brand activation, digital and retail marketing, web and app-enabled products and services and the training domain. He led award-winning campaigns for large brands like P&G, Colgate, Oracle, Nokia, Dell and Castrol. An alumnus of the Institute of Rural Management in Anand, he has an MBA degree.

  • Rajesh Ghatge is new Indigo CEO

    Rajesh Ghatge is new Indigo CEO

    MUMBAI: Rajesh Ghatge has joined as the chief executive officer of the digital agency Indigo Consulting of the Leo Burnett Group to lead the 300-plus employees across Indigo Consulting and Indigo iStrat. Based out of the Mumbai office, he will report to Leo Burnett south Asia CEO South Asia Saurabh Verma.

    Verma said: “We wanted a leader who can create a new curve; Rajesh brings with him the energy, the passion and the drive to create a new destiny for Indigo Consulting. My brief to him is to make us the most respected digital agency in the country, bar none.”

    Ghatge said, “Driving effective consumer engagement on omnipresent digital touch-points is a function of technology, content, analytics and the ability to execute flawlessly in an ‘always on’ mode. Using data and platforms to create impactful and relevant experiences has been my ongoing work. Indigo Consulting, built on a deep foundation of technology has emerged as a leading digital agency.”

    Having begun his career in marketing and sales in the FMCG and Pharma sectors in 1997, Ghatge co-promoted Bates CHI & Sercon (erstwhile Sercon). Under his leadership, the company leveraged technology and digital for activation marketing and demand generation and grew to become a top-ranked agency in India and Singapore. Bates CHI & Sercon also gathered prestigious laurels such as the ‘Best Brand Promotion Agency’ (ET), the B2B Marketing Award (London) and DMA (Asia and India).

    Ghatge has extensive knowledge and experience in brand activation, digital and retail marketing, web and app-enabled products and services and the training domain. He led award-winning campaigns for large brands like P&G, Colgate, Oracle, Nokia, Dell and Castrol. An alumnus of the Institute of Rural Management in Anand, he has an MBA degree.

  • Leo Burnett gets Vir Das to take on sexist ads

    Leo Burnett gets Vir Das to take on sexist ads

    MUMBAI: Vir Das is back and this time with a vengeance against sexist commercials. Starring in a television commercial for Emami’s flagship men’s deodorant brand He, Das puts on the shoes of every female model who has to go through awkward and uncomfortable film shoots to promote a product. In his signature satirical style, Das takes on several brands, which are instantly recognisable in the parody thanks to their trademark ‘sexist’ ads. Launched digitally on 13 May, the video has already garnered over a lakh views on Facebook, and the YouTube counter is going strong.

    The video starts off with Das sensuously caressing a mango in his hand (very clearly hinting at Slice’s ads featuring Katrina Kaif), while shooting for an ad film, and the scene quickly cuts to a sporty looking bike on which Das tries a sexy pose. He leads the audience to a very familiar ‘fallen angel’ setting of a deodorant advertisement, while subtly hinting at Axe and its flagship range of TV spots that are known to titillate men by objectifying women.

    All the while Das points out how silly it is to objectify women to sell products, just like ‘He Respect’, the deo brand he is promoting, cause ‘real men respect women.’ In fact, another spot released by the brand on May 13 starring the brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan clarifies the brand’s positioning with #AsliMenRespectWomen.

    Conceptualised by Orchard Advertising and directed by Surjo Deb under UBIK films, the one minute video is clever and inspiring — a much needed differentiated brand communication in the men’s grooming product segment.

    “The product had an interesting brand positioning to work with. Highlighting the need to ‘respect’ women, the brand spoke of a different breed of men who are cool because they respect women. It’s not the deo that gets them admiration from the opposite sex, it’s this identity as a man who respects women that does,” shared Leo Burnett chief creative officer Raj Deepak Das, adding that the product idea was also developed by the creative agency.

    When asked about calling out other brands for being sexist in the video, the creative clarified, “While the ad film does communicate the message that a product doesn’t need to objectify women to be sold, the video has done a funny take on it. It is more of a generalisation than targeting any brand and I hope viewers take it in the funny light that it’s been created.” Besides, “you can’t stop a comedian from making fun of things,” he added with a chuckle.

    This isn’t the first time that a brand has taken on advertising stereotypes to position itself differently. Emraan Hashmi starrer Meglow ad that came out last year, came under the critical radar within the industry after speaking strongly against fairness cream ads that claim to perform life altering wonders for men. Though it was debatable whether it managed to stay progressive till the end, the reception it got on social media was quite commendable.

    Treatment of women in advertisement has been a long running debate and a sensitive topic within the industry and thus requires a clever handling, lest it appears run of the mill. It may be recalled that recently a TV spot promoting Ola Micro had to be called off for its sexist intonations that sparked outrage over social media. Thus, a brand communication that speaks directly against it may work in Emami’s favour. Whether Vir Das’ funny take on it will add that much needed factor x, only time will tell.

  • Leo Burnett gets Vir Das to take on sexist ads

    Leo Burnett gets Vir Das to take on sexist ads

    MUMBAI: Vir Das is back and this time with a vengeance against sexist commercials. Starring in a television commercial for Emami’s flagship men’s deodorant brand He, Das puts on the shoes of every female model who has to go through awkward and uncomfortable film shoots to promote a product. In his signature satirical style, Das takes on several brands, which are instantly recognisable in the parody thanks to their trademark ‘sexist’ ads. Launched digitally on 13 May, the video has already garnered over a lakh views on Facebook, and the YouTube counter is going strong.

    The video starts off with Das sensuously caressing a mango in his hand (very clearly hinting at Slice’s ads featuring Katrina Kaif), while shooting for an ad film, and the scene quickly cuts to a sporty looking bike on which Das tries a sexy pose. He leads the audience to a very familiar ‘fallen angel’ setting of a deodorant advertisement, while subtly hinting at Axe and its flagship range of TV spots that are known to titillate men by objectifying women.

    All the while Das points out how silly it is to objectify women to sell products, just like ‘He Respect’, the deo brand he is promoting, cause ‘real men respect women.’ In fact, another spot released by the brand on May 13 starring the brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan clarifies the brand’s positioning with #AsliMenRespectWomen.

    Conceptualised by Orchard Advertising and directed by Surjo Deb under UBIK films, the one minute video is clever and inspiring — a much needed differentiated brand communication in the men’s grooming product segment.

    “The product had an interesting brand positioning to work with. Highlighting the need to ‘respect’ women, the brand spoke of a different breed of men who are cool because they respect women. It’s not the deo that gets them admiration from the opposite sex, it’s this identity as a man who respects women that does,” shared Leo Burnett chief creative officer Raj Deepak Das, adding that the product idea was also developed by the creative agency.

    When asked about calling out other brands for being sexist in the video, the creative clarified, “While the ad film does communicate the message that a product doesn’t need to objectify women to be sold, the video has done a funny take on it. It is more of a generalisation than targeting any brand and I hope viewers take it in the funny light that it’s been created.” Besides, “you can’t stop a comedian from making fun of things,” he added with a chuckle.

    This isn’t the first time that a brand has taken on advertising stereotypes to position itself differently. Emraan Hashmi starrer Meglow ad that came out last year, came under the critical radar within the industry after speaking strongly against fairness cream ads that claim to perform life altering wonders for men. Though it was debatable whether it managed to stay progressive till the end, the reception it got on social media was quite commendable.

    Treatment of women in advertisement has been a long running debate and a sensitive topic within the industry and thus requires a clever handling, lest it appears run of the mill. It may be recalled that recently a TV spot promoting Ola Micro had to be called off for its sexist intonations that sparked outrage over social media. Thus, a brand communication that speaks directly against it may work in Emami’s favour. Whether Vir Das’ funny take on it will add that much needed factor x, only time will tell.

  • Leo Burnett partners with Bajaj Auto to create ‘V’

    Leo Burnett partners with Bajaj Auto to create ‘V’

    MUMBAI: It was a leap of faith of sorts when Bajaj Auto took to Leo Burnett’s idea of carving a bike out INS Vikrant’s metal scraps, and from a mere prototype gave shape to Bajaj V, whose launch has  set social media ablaze .

    Amidst tweets, photos, Facebook status updates and insta-shares,  the latest commuter segment bike offering from Bajaj Auto  titled ‘V’ launched with much pomp and show in Delhi today.

    The bike was already making headlines since a video with a preview of it went viral online almost a week ago. Conceptualised by Leo Burnett India, the video shows documented footage of the aircraft carrier in all its glory and its subsequent dismantling in 2012 which is sure to set pangs across several patriots in the country who grew up with the name Vikrant.

    And the subsequent shot of the new bike born from the ashes of the war ship’s scrap sends across a sense of awe.

    While it is of common knowledge that Leo Burnett India are behind the creative campaign for the new bike, very few are aware that the original idea for the bike actually came from the agency as well.

    The idea for  Bajaj V, came from a prototype that Leo Burnett had conceptualised for their long term client.

    “We had to come up with a way to deliver on the idea if ‘Hamara Bajaj’. We didn’t want to go with the old song and dance formula and deliver something more participative. It was around the time Vikrant was going through its decommissioning and was being scrapped. Seeing the unanimous dismay over the scrapping, the team felt what if there was an iconic bike that carried the symbol of vikrant and every Indian could own it ? What better way to communicate hamara Bajaj?” asks Leo Burnett CEO Saurabh Verma.

    “Even in its nascent stage we only had a limited edition launch in mind and built the entire prototype on the back of that. It elaborated on how people will connect to it and engagement and campaign ideas for it.” Verma adds. Little did he know that automobile brand will take the idea to the next level. Bajaj Auto bought away the Vikrant metal; enough to process it to be a part of gas tanks of a lac of V motorcycles.

    This is not the first time the agency had lend their creative mettle in experimenting  with new ways to engage with brands they cater to. Their consumer engagement activity they built around OLX Mad ads was well loved and appreciated by the industry. What does it say about the  changing role of agencies and their significance to the clients?

    “Bajaj V is not just a campaign mandate for us, it’s much much more. Bajaj team and Leo Burnett team are partners increating this iconic bike, therefore there is more accountability involved. With this unique partners we handle campaigns for Bajaj, we handle activation and shopper marketing for them as well. Not to mention their internal communication and Pr as well,. From conceptualising an  from its very production to rolling it across every medium –  there is definitely a lot more involvement and ownership that leads to accountability for the brand,” responds Verma, adding that they have several other projects in the pipeline where they have experimented with brands on different levels.

    Expanding on the concept of building a bike’s gas tank from the scraps of a warship, the brains behind the idea Leo Burnett CCO Raj Deepak Das adds, “ Growing up, the biggest warship that comes to our mind is INS Vikrant. Therefore when they decided to scrap it, it didn’t sit well with many, me included. So when someone from the team suggested if we could use those scraps, we decided what better way than a bike through which we can own a bit of history?”

    It’s been over a decade since India’s popular locomotor brand Bajaj has churned out a motorbike. Their last, Bajaj Pulsar was a huge hit, and now is almost a household name.

    “The Bajaj V shall usher a new era in commuter motorcycling. We believe the Indian customer buying a commuter motorcycle deserves something that is substantial, solid, and which moves with a sense of purpose,”said Bajaj Auto president–motorcycle Business,Eric Vas

    Expected to be priced between Rs 60000  to Rs 70,000, the bike will hit the roads by this March.

    “We will start with a capacity of 20,000 units month and should demand exceed that, there is no problem in enhancing the capacity further,” adds a confident Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj while signing off.

  • Leo Burnett partners with Bajaj Auto to create ‘V’

    Leo Burnett partners with Bajaj Auto to create ‘V’

    MUMBAI: It was a leap of faith of sorts when Bajaj Auto took to Leo Burnett’s idea of carving a bike out INS Vikrant’s metal scraps, and from a mere prototype gave shape to Bajaj V, whose launch has  set social media ablaze .

    Amidst tweets, photos, Facebook status updates and insta-shares,  the latest commuter segment bike offering from Bajaj Auto  titled ‘V’ launched with much pomp and show in Delhi today.

    The bike was already making headlines since a video with a preview of it went viral online almost a week ago. Conceptualised by Leo Burnett India, the video shows documented footage of the aircraft carrier in all its glory and its subsequent dismantling in 2012 which is sure to set pangs across several patriots in the country who grew up with the name Vikrant.

    And the subsequent shot of the new bike born from the ashes of the war ship’s scrap sends across a sense of awe.

    While it is of common knowledge that Leo Burnett India are behind the creative campaign for the new bike, very few are aware that the original idea for the bike actually came from the agency as well.

    The idea for  Bajaj V, came from a prototype that Leo Burnett had conceptualised for their long term client.

    “We had to come up with a way to deliver on the idea if ‘Hamara Bajaj’. We didn’t want to go with the old song and dance formula and deliver something more participative. It was around the time Vikrant was going through its decommissioning and was being scrapped. Seeing the unanimous dismay over the scrapping, the team felt what if there was an iconic bike that carried the symbol of vikrant and every Indian could own it ? What better way to communicate hamara Bajaj?” asks Leo Burnett CEO Saurabh Verma.

    “Even in its nascent stage we only had a limited edition launch in mind and built the entire prototype on the back of that. It elaborated on how people will connect to it and engagement and campaign ideas for it.” Verma adds. Little did he know that automobile brand will take the idea to the next level. Bajaj Auto bought away the Vikrant metal; enough to process it to be a part of gas tanks of a lac of V motorcycles.

    This is not the first time the agency had lend their creative mettle in experimenting  with new ways to engage with brands they cater to. Their consumer engagement activity they built around OLX Mad ads was well loved and appreciated by the industry. What does it say about the  changing role of agencies and their significance to the clients?

    “Bajaj V is not just a campaign mandate for us, it’s much much more. Bajaj team and Leo Burnett team are partners increating this iconic bike, therefore there is more accountability involved. With this unique partners we handle campaigns for Bajaj, we handle activation and shopper marketing for them as well. Not to mention their internal communication and Pr as well,. From conceptualising an  from its very production to rolling it across every medium –  there is definitely a lot more involvement and ownership that leads to accountability for the brand,” responds Verma, adding that they have several other projects in the pipeline where they have experimented with brands on different levels.

    Expanding on the concept of building a bike’s gas tank from the scraps of a warship, the brains behind the idea Leo Burnett CCO Raj Deepak Das adds, “ Growing up, the biggest warship that comes to our mind is INS Vikrant. Therefore when they decided to scrap it, it didn’t sit well with many, me included. So when someone from the team suggested if we could use those scraps, we decided what better way than a bike through which we can own a bit of history?”

    It’s been over a decade since India’s popular locomotor brand Bajaj has churned out a motorbike. Their last, Bajaj Pulsar was a huge hit, and now is almost a household name.

    “The Bajaj V shall usher a new era in commuter motorcycling. We believe the Indian customer buying a commuter motorcycle deserves something that is substantial, solid, and which moves with a sense of purpose,”said Bajaj Auto president–motorcycle Business,Eric Vas

    Expected to be priced between Rs 60000  to Rs 70,000, the bike will hit the roads by this March.

    “We will start with a capacity of 20,000 units month and should demand exceed that, there is no problem in enhancing the capacity further,” adds a confident Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj while signing off.

  • Leo Burnett CEO Saurabh Verma’s Top 5 ads

    Leo Burnett CEO Saurabh Verma’s Top 5 ads

    There are some television commercials that leave you with a fuzzy feeling that lingers on much after the 30 seconder has gone off air, there are some that make a strong statement so simply that you’re bound to sit up and take notice and then there are some classics, which are forever etched in your mind.

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to Leo Burnett India CEO Saurabh Verma to get his list of Top 5 ads in India from June – October, 2015.

    Read on to know what he picked:

    1) Amazon’s ‘Aur Dikhao’ campaign was created by Orchard Advertising and captured everyone’s heart by their tagline ‘Aur dikhao.’

    “I really appreciate the ad because it gives variety to people. Its niche is very interesting as it gives cultural insights about Indians and their need for speaking more all the time, which has become part of popular culture. Furthermore, the role of the brand in the campaign is very integral.”

    2) Vatika’s ‘Brave & Beautiful’ is an ad created by Linen Lintas and produced by Film Farm Mumbai. It is a strong ad that gives a completely different insight into the idea of a woman’s beauty. The ad dismisses the common perception that the beauty of a woman lies in her lustrous hair.

    “It is a spectacular ad because the client has done something, which is least expected in this kind of ad category. It was very brave of the brand to do something like this. They have taken a position in the market place by their strong way of communication. It is a purposeful work and very humane.”

    3) HDFC Life’s ‘Apne Dum Pe, Sar Utha Ke’ ad is life created by Leo Burnett. The ad film depicts the importance of a man in empowering his family to live a respectful life. This three minute ad leaves a strong message by its core thought about ‘Sar utha ke jiyo.’

    “I like this ad as it has fantastic content, which deals on the whole brand proposition of ‘sar utha ke jiyo.’ The role of the brand is very integral to the communication. It is very uplifting, positive and optimistic piece of work in the insurance category. I don’t think any insurance company has worked like this for their ad.”

    4) Ambuja Cement’s ‘Great Khali’ ad created by Publicis South Asia. The ad came up with simple yet strong idea by roping in former WWE world champion ‘The Great Khali.’

    “This is the most fantastic piece of work in the entire year. I like this ad because it has taken a very simple yet strong concept. It communicates the message through a playful manner. The content is placed perfectly and is shareable. It has great vitality and has strong storytelling with fantastic characters.”

    5) Star Sports’ ‘Mauka Mauka’ (World Cup) ad produced by Bubblewrap Films has competitive content where India challenges Pakistan for a match. Pakistan had never won a WC game against India in last six attempts and again they lose their ‘mauka’ of winning.

    “It’s a series, it’s a campaign… an idea that extends beyond one’s imagination. According to me it was a spectacular campaign because it had strong content as well as the ability to live in the current period and get people to interact with the content depending on what was happening contextually with the matches.