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Tag: Siddhartha Singh

  • Infectious Advertising appoints Smriti Tewari business head

    Infectious Advertising appoints Smriti Tewari business head

    MUMBAI: Infectious Advertising, one of India’s leading independent agencies, has named Smriti Tewari as business head, marking a strategic move to sharpen client focus and expand new business opportunities.

    With 13 years in advertising and marketing, Tewari has worked across categories including automobiles, FMCG, home paints, fashion, real estate and financial services, at agencies such as Ogilvy, FCB, The Minimalist and VML. She has partnered with brands like Honda Cars, BMW, KFC, Dulux Paints and Colgate Palmolive, managing integrated campaigns across ATL, BTL and social media.

    Managing partner & chief operating officer Siddhartha Singh said, “Smriti will play a pivotal role in strengthening client relationships and unlocking new opportunities. Her vast experience lays a strong foundation for driving work that is both effective and highly shareable.”

    On her appointment, Tewari said, “Stepping into this role is both an honour and a thrilling responsibility. Infectious has always believed in ideas that spark energy and drive meaningful change. I’m eager to elevate the agency through creativity, collaboration and client focus.”

    Infectious Advertising continues to focus on delivering bold, effective campaigns that connect with audiences across platforms.

  • BlackCab Agency Network launches ‘Badhai Ho, Mithai Lo’ campaign

    BlackCab Agency Network launches ‘Badhai Ho, Mithai Lo’ campaign

    Mumbai: Meetha, by Radisson the cherished name in traditional Indian sweets is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its newest stores in Borivali and Bandra. A unique and heartwarming campaign curated by BlackCab Agency Network called ‘Badhai Ho, Mithai Lo’ with a “Meetha Man” a curated character for the campaign is all set to spread joy to the busy citizens of Mumbai.

    BlackCab meticulously planned and executed a comprehensive campaign for the Meetha store launch that included striking hoardings, impactful moment marketing, and captivating digital content. Additionally, BlackCab has revamped Meetha’s packaging, giving it a fresh and vibrant look that aligns with the brand’s celebratory spirit. The engaging narrative sees Meetha Man surprising strangers with delicious treats, turning their initial confusion into moments of celebration. The campaign further highlights Meetha’s mission to bring people together by the universal love for sweets.

    “At BlackCab, we aim to create campaigns that resonate with people and evoke genuine emotions. With the introduction of Meetha Man and the ‘Badhai Ho, Mithai Lo’ campaign, we aim to spread joy and celebrate the essence of Indian sweets. We believe this campaign will not only enhance Meetha’s brand presence but also bring smiles to countless faces across the city.” said BlackCab Agency Network founder and director Siddhartha Singh.

     

  • “We are very bullish on the Indian market”: BlackCab founders

    “We are very bullish on the Indian market”: BlackCab founders

    Mumbai: Founded in 2017, BlackCab Agency Network is more than just a brand strategy, design, digital marketing, and production agency—it’s a dynamic network of creative agencies specializing in diverse facets of marketing and technology. Co-founded by Aayush Bansal and Siddhartha Singh, the agency embodies a multidisciplinary, eclectic, and 360° approach tailored to meet the unique needs of clients.

    Siddhartha Singh, drives the company forward with smart strategies and effective operations, drawing from his love for sports and deep understanding of athletics. Meanwhile, Aayush Bansal,who is also a TEDx speaker, brings a passion for diverse hiring and meaningful collaborations, advocating innovation and growth in business. Together, they drive BlackCab towards success, delivering value and innovation to both the diverse Indian consumer and fellow founders alike.

    Indiantelevision.com caught up with BlackCab Agency Network co-founder-director Aayush Bansal and founder-director Siddhartha Singh to gain insights on the agency incorporating technological innovations into its operations, the recent expansions inlcuidng content production and more…

    Edited Excerpts:

    On the company incorporating technological innovations into its operations, and the role these advancements play in shaping its trajectory

    We are often early adopters of new tech stacks that can aid our operations, including new social listening tools, workflow or collaboration tools such as Notion and Slack, as well as the most recent onset of generative AI. When the AI wave hit, Black Cab chose to adopt instead of avoid it. We brought in several experts to conduct workshops on the use of ChatGPT, Bard (now Gemini), Midjourney, and other such tools for our entire team. We truly believe that leveraging these technologies allows us to be more efficient and focus on what we’re truly good at. It also allows us to maintain a lean and sustainable organizational structure.

    On the most successful campaign that BlackCab has executed for a brand, its differentiating aspect, and its alignment with the brand’s objectives, contributing to its overall success

    We have executed several campaigns, but most recently, we executed a great campaign for the JW Marriott Hotel in Juhu, Mumbai. This was for the annual New Year’s Eve celebration. The campaign was called The Great Gatsby Affair and was a themed celebration with art-deco inspiration and a throwback to the great parties of the 1920s. The campaign saw us create a lot of visual storytelling content, including a CGI video asset to announce the party and several short format teasers and videos around key locations in the city (views: 42k, likes: 1028, total engagement: 1186). The campaign was a huge success as it helped position the party as one of the most sought-after ones in the city of Mumbai and saw great success in ticket sales.

    On the recent expansions of Binary Chai, Radar, and Secret Sauce Studios enhancing BlackCab’s ability to meet the diverse needs of clients in terms of web/app design, AR/VR, and content production, and its contribution to the company’s overall growth strategy

    We founded these network agencies keeping in mind the shifting trends in content, brand building, and marketing. In recent times, content consumption on the internet has skewed heavily towards short-form video content with formats such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok. Secret Sauce Studios has been designed with a mobile-first videography approach, promising specialized acumen in vertically optimised content. With a special focus on F&B, Alcobev, and hospitality, we have picked sectors that will continue to heavily rely on content for brand building. It has paid off, and we see it in the success of the agency, which is now working with the top luxury hospitality, homegrown alcohol, and F&B brands in the country. With the onset of mainstream AR and consumer products such as the Apple Vision Pro, we are confident that brands will begin to leverage this technology in meaningful ways over the next few years. Our network agency model will continue to rely on our innate understanding of market movements and trends and will help us stay at the cutting edge of brand consultancy, making us ideal partners for brands with diverse needs.

    On the specific types of content production that BlackCab specialises in through its expansions into Secret Sauce Studios

    As mentioned above, Secret Sauce Studios is a vertical content production agency with specialized acumen in food, beverage, and product content. Co-founded by Alok Verma, a five-time winner of FBAI’s Best Food Stylist Award, we have the capabilities to handhold brands in creating F&B content, including luxury five-star hotels, leading Alcove brands, D2C food, and consumer brands, amongst many others.

    On your aspirations for the future of Black Cab, both in terms of growth within the Indian market and potentially expanding internationally

    We are very bullish on the Indian market, both from an internal perspective and as a key country for Western markets to outsource to. Over the past two years, we have already started operations in the national capital of New Delhi and are looking at opening another regional office very soon. We truly believe that India has all the right ingredients to help famed national and international brands further their brand-building aspirations on digital platforms, and we will continue to explore markets nationally as well as in the Gulf countries, the UK, and the Americas.

  • Infectious Advertising appoints Neville Suraliwala as business head

    Infectious Advertising appoints Neville Suraliwala as business head

    Mumbai: Infectious Advertising, one of independent creative hot-shops has appointed Neville Suraliwala as business head.

    With over 15 years of experience and working across reputed agencies such as FCB Ulka, Lowe Lintas, Soho Square (Now 82.5), L&K Saatchi and Saatchi and Makani Creatives. Neville has worked with renowned brands like Indian Oil, Fair & Lovely, Clinic Plus, Head & Shoulders, Piaggio, Bisleri, Franklin Templeton, Yes Bank, Nilkamal, Lee Cooper, Tata Real Estate, and several other respected names.

    Speaking about joining Infectious Advertising, Neville Suraliwala said, ‘I am thrilled to bring my expertise and passion for effective communications to the vibrant and dynamic environment of the Infectious Advertising family. Here, creativity is the solution to every marketing challenge, and I am excited to contribute to this ethos of innovative thinking and collaboration. I genuinely look forward to this new chapter filled with creative opportunities and impactful collaborations that help us achieve bigger milestones and attain mutual success.’

    Infectious Advertising’ chief operating officer Siddhartha Singh commented, “Absolutely delighted to have Neville on board the Infectious family, the few meetings we had with him give us the confidence that his skills and expertise shall contribute significantly to our growing ambition of being an agency that produces work that is contemporary and effective – work that pushes the envelope of ‘virality’. Wish Neville the very best and look forward to working with him closely.”

    Over the last year, Infectious Advertising has made significant additions like Ashish Naik as ECD, Shabbir Motiwala as head of production, Ankit Gandhi as business head and Vinayak Kohli as creative director. Neville’s appointment is yet another move for the agency in strengthening the senior leadership team.

  • Livpure new campaign urges water conservation

    Livpure new campaign urges water conservation

    MUMBAI: Water purification brand Livpure has unveiled its latest campaign #CuttingPaani. Based on the concept of cutting chai, a unique culture in India, this novel campaign brings focus to the very fact that, if the quench is of half a glass then one should only take half a glass of water.

    The campaign urges consumers to adopt the habit of asking for half a glass of water instead of full, since you can always ask for more if needed. This is an idea that will resonate with the common man, since ‘cutting chai’ is a phrase used colloquially by Indians who want tea! Globally, a lot of international coffee chains offer cutting chai for tea lovers thereby acknowledging the Indian way of drinking tea.

    Conceptualised by Famous Innovations, the three films portray varied scenarios which are both indoor and outdoor, namely, an office setting, a café and inside a home. The production values are high and the setup is a natural one establishing the concept of #CuttingPaani and amplifying optimising usage of water by taking only what is required. The tagline of the campaign is – Agar pyaas cutting ki hui, toh full glass kyun? Bacha huya paani koi aur pee lega! The campaign intends to rope in relevant influencers to support the message of saving water.

    The campaign will be supplemented with digital content in the form of posts along with these three films through the brand’s social media platforms. This will also be supported with on-ground activations.

    According to Asian Development Bank’s forecast, by 2030, India will have a water deficit of 50 per cent. Research also shows that seven out of 10 people don’t finish their glass of water, which then goes to waste. Livpure director of marketing Sushil Matey says, “Livpure was keen to draw attention to this hard reality in a simple and effective manner. Although there have been very powerful campaigns to spread awareness about water conservation, very few gave practical and doable solutions. With #CuttingPaani campaign, we wanted to highlight the significance of drinking water judiciously. Digital, emerging as a favoured medium of communication, we intend to go all out and spread the message far and wide.”

    Famous Innovations CEO Siddhartha Singh adds, “For any movement to galvanise we need a meaningful, actionable symbol that people can adopt in their everyday lives. Asking for #CuttingPaani represents just that. It’s a small step when you’re eating at a restaurant or visiting someone’s office, but it stands for a thoughtful and progressive mindset. We hope that people will feel proud when they consciously ask someone to give them only half a glass of water.”

    This is an extension of the campaign #FinishYourGlass that was launched by Livpure in June 2017 and ran till August 2017. In #FinishYourGlass campaign, the company urged people to drink adequate amount of water to help them improve their health. Livpure has tremendous focus on digital brand communication and has done various campaigns in the year 2017-18 to be the most talked about brand in the category. It commands the highest social SOV for the past six months according to a recent Meltwater report.

  • Salt Brand Solutions promotes Siddhartha Singh as CEO, Arun Divakar as NCD

    Salt Brand Solutions promotes Siddhartha Singh as CEO, Arun Divakar as NCD

    MUMBAI: Salt Brand Solutions has rejigged its top management. The company has promoted Siddhartha Singh as CEO and Arun Divakar as national creative director (NCD).

     

    Singh is one of the founder members of Salt and till now was executive vice president (EVP). He has almost two decades of experience across agencies like Leo Burnett, Ambience Publicis and Rediffusion – Y&R.

     

    Singh said, “I plan to up the ante on product delivery, ensuring it is above industry standard and pushes the agenda of being best new-age business partners to our clients. This is something we have practiced for the last four years and today feel confident and capable of delivering. In addition, I want to instil brand thinking that cuts through the jargon, brings in simplicity and germinates from a client’s business problem rather than lofty brand ideologies.”

     

    On the other end of the spectrum is Divakar, who will now be responsible for the complete creative portfolio of Salt. “I want to create an environment where people contribute and come up with ideas fearlessly and frequently in a manner that is fun, for I believe that Happy People create Happy Work and that is something that we want to stand for,” he said.

     

    Divakar started his career as an account executive, but quickly realised he was a better art director than the ones he was listening to! He has worked with Flagship and Saatchi & Saatchi in Mumbai, and Classic Partnership, O&M, Y&R and TBWA in the U.A.E, before taking on the role of regional creative director, Pirana which he helped set up in the U.A.E. In 2014 he moved back to India and joined Salt Brand Solutions.

     

    Defining the road ahead, Salt Brand Solutions founder Mahesh Chauhan added, “Divakar has been the proverbial madman of Salt. His talent coupled with his joie de vivre has transformed our work and culture beautifully. Sid, on the other hand, has been a pillar over the past four years of Salt and has seamlessly transitioned into this role. He is widely respected and brings great gravitas to our offering as an organisation.”

     

    “With these elevations, I will now be spending my time driving ideas for our clients. This will involve working seamlessly with both the strategy and creative teams. The end objective being consistently superior work for all our partners as well as properties that we develop for ourselves,” he added.