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Tag: Sidharth Rao

  • Dentsu Webchutney elevates Harsh Shah to managing partner

    Dentsu Webchutney elevates Harsh Shah to managing partner

    Mumbai: Dentsu Webchutney, the digital creative agency from the house of dentsu India and a dentsuMB company has promoted its executive vice president Harsh Shah to the role of managing partner.

    In his new role, Shah will report to dentsuMB Group CEO Sidharth Rao, and focus on accelerating the agency’s expansion across key business lines, said the agency in a statement on Monday. “Shah will administer new business acquisitions, large-scale campaigns, and agency operations as part of this expanded mandate,” it added.

    Shah has been a key stakeholder in Dentsu Webchutney’s growth and culture. He started his journey with the agency in 2010 as an account manager. Since then, he has led several award-winning campaigns such as ‘Thappad – Most Reported Trailer,’ ‘Saffola Heart Age Calculator,’ ‘Uri – Surgical Strike on Torrents,’ and ‘Vice – 8-bit Journo.’ Under his leadership, the agency has also brought home multiple national and international awards including several Cannes and several Kyoorius Elephants, according to the agency.

    “Harsh has risen through the ranks over the decade that he has spent at Dentsu Webchutney. He is a testament to the agency’s unique history of consistent homegrown leadership,” commented Sidharth Rao. “I have no doubt that he is the right choice to unlock Webchutney’s exciting new phase of growth, as a key part of the wider Dentsu Creative brand. With his proven record of growing people, businesses, and culture at the agency, Harsh is poised to accelerate our creative and business ambitions.

    “After spending 14 years in this industry and a decade of that with Dentsu Webchutney, I can say that I have witnessed what this industry is truly capable of,” stated Harsh Shah.”I am now ready to pioneer the future for it in partnership with all the talented minds at Webchutney. The ever-evolving creative and digital landscape is a playground of possibilities and I am excited to transition into my new role and be at the forefront of it all. We are going to double down on our success, hereon.”

  • Sidharth Rao to take direct charge of dentsu Webchutney from Jan 2022

    Sidharth Rao to take direct charge of dentsu Webchutney from Jan 2022

    Mumbai: Dentsu Webchutney on Wednesday announced that CEO Gautam Reghunath and COO PG Aditiya will be leaving their positions early next year to set up their own venture. With this change, the agency will now be back under the direct charge of dentsuMB Group CEO Sidharth Rao. Rao, founder of dentsu Webchutney, will front the agency’s leadership team, even as Reghunath and PG Aditiya will continue to work with him through this period to ensure a smooth transition for the creative agency.

    “Gautam & PG have been the two most defining hires in our history. As a founder, you want your people to find their calling at the company you build, and the legacy the two of them leave behind is the best possible example of this,” said Sidharth Rao. “From joining at entry-level positions in 2010 and 2012 respectively, and rising to the very top through hard work, passion and just simply being the best in the business at their jobs. It’s a story that makes me believe that we’ve created an organisation where anyone can shine. And now, they have a chance to do it for themselves as creative entrepreneurs.”

    “There is a lot that we at dentsu Webchutney owe them but none more so than the culture they’ve created for us all to thrive in. They’ve also assembled an outstanding leadership group, an army of superstars across all levels, all of whom give me and the rest of dentsu’s management immense confidence in how we will march forward as a company,” Rao further said. 

    In a joint statement, Reghunath and PG Aditiya said, “There is no other agency or network in the country where we would have had the chance to build our careers as we have at dentsu and at Webchutney. We’ve spent nearly 90 per cent of our careers here, so moving on is not a decision we’re taking lightly. Our personal views of what success, failure, and everything else in-between look like have been shaped at Webchutney and the people that we’ve had the privilege of working with & leading here. We’re so proud and thankful for how it’s all panned out.” 

    “As for the future, we’re more excited than ever about this wonderful business and have a few ideas germinating in our heads—ones that we get to build out. But for now, we’ve got a few more months left in this dream job, and we’re just going to try and maximize every minute of it. There are so many exciting new pieces of work launching over the next few months, some of them possibly the best work we’ve ever had the chance to be a part of. The best years of Webchutney are ahead of it and we’ll be cheering from the very front,” they added.

  • dentsumcgarrybowen India elevates Indrajeet Mookherjee to managing partner

    dentsumcgarrybowen India elevates Indrajeet Mookherjee to managing partner

    MUMBAI: dentsumcgarrybowen (dentsuMB), the integrated agency from the house of dentsu India, has promoted Indrajeet Mookherjee to the role of managing partner. Mookherjee will now lead the agency nationally and will report into dentsuMB Group CEO Sidharth Rao, the agency said in a statement. 

    dentsumcgarrybowen is part of the larger, newly formed dentsuMB group, which houses a cluster of creative agencies from within the dentsu creative service line of business. 

    Prior to this, Mookherjee was dentsuMB president – South, where he led operations for offices in Bangalore, Chennai, and Kochi. Mookherjee joined dentsu India as executive vice president in 2016. Prior to dentsu, he was managing director at Soho Square, Indonesia – part of the Ogilvy Group. 

    Mookherjee is armed with more than two decades of experience in leadership roles across some of the leading communication networks in India and Indonesia including names such as Lowe Lintas, Ogilvy, and Leo Burnett. He has also worked on significant brands such as Unilever, Nestle, Mondelez, Apple, Himalaya Herbal, AB InBev, and Toyota.

    Speaking on the elevation, Sidharth Rao said, “As we continue to strengthen and reshape our creative offering in the Indian market, we needed a leader who is experienced, connected, and understands the nuances of the communication landscape. Indrajeet, with his experience in managing brands and categories across South and Southeast Asia, was the perfect choice to helm our operations. The dentsuMB group of agencies, which already boasts iconic Indian agencies like Taproot Dentsu and Dentsu Webchutney in our stable, are growing at a rapid pace, and I look forward to Indrajeet and his talented dentsumcgarrybowen team, strengthening our creative offering even further.”

    Speaking on his new role, Indrajeet Mookherjee added, “I am honoured to join the leadership team of dentsuMB India at a very exciting time where our business is seeing unprecedented change. However, the one constant is the power of ideas and how we deliver business outcomes for our client partners. And that’s where I am hugely inspired by the global legacy of dentsuMB as a creative powerhouse and develop work that wins in the world and leads to better business results for brands. I am looking forward to working with our talented team and group leaders to build and create a truly integrated agency.”

    For the record, the brands that are now part of the dentsu creative group in India include Dentsu Webchutney, Taproot Dentsu, WATConsult, Perfect Relations, Isobar, Dentsu One, dentsu MB (erstwhile Dentsu India), and Dentsu Impact. Under this fresh structure, the agencies that will report into Sidharth Rao, are Dentsu Webchutney, Taproot Dentsu, Dentsu One, dentsuMB, and Dentsu Impact.

  • After Cannes, Dentsu Webchutney sweeps Spikes Asia 2019

    After Cannes, Dentsu Webchutney sweeps Spikes Asia 2019

    MUMBAI : Dentsu Webchutney, the creatively-led digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has once again emerged as the most awarded Indian agency, this time at Spikes Asia 2019. The agency has bagged a total of 20 metals – seven Bronze, seven Silver, five Gold and yes, a Grand Prix!

    And it is only in June this year when Dentsu Webchutney decided to claw into its maiden yet lion’s share in India’s awards tally at Cannes Lions with 17 shortlists, 1 Silver and 5 Bronze Lions. It also emerged with the Black Elephant and the highest tally of Elephants overall at the Kyoorius 2019, the same month. Not to forget, with 40 metals in its kitty, the agency was named the ‘Digital, PR and Direct Specialist of the Year’ at the Goafest Abbys, 2019 edition.

    Ashish Bhasin, CEO APAC and Chairman India – Dentsu Aegis Network says, “Goafest, Cannes, Kyoorius and now Spikes! Dentsu Webchutney has surfaced as leaders across all. What an incredible performance this has been and thus, a culmination of our focus on creative. I feel absolutely fantastic. Dentsu Webchutney’s wins this year only stand to be a testimony to its outstanding brilliance. This is a new benchmark and also signals the beginning of the end of legacy creative agencies that are struggling to adapt to the changing environment.”

    Sidharth Rao, co-founder and CEO, Dentsu Webchutney said, “I am absolutely elated. Our bold bets have finally paid off and I feel fantastic. We have said this before, awards or not, digital will force traditional advertising to be transformed into a more capable service provider. We've been watching from the sidelines all this while and in a way, it's our time. I'm just glad that it happened to be Dentsu Webchutney showing the way. It's a milestone that one digital agency had to cross – it would've happened anyway, but I'm happy to see how Dentsu Webchutney has catalysed it. You'll see more and more of this going forward."

  • DAN Programmatic launches creative insights engine ‘DAN Vision for Creative’

    DAN Programmatic launches creative insights engine ‘DAN Vision for Creative’

    MUMBAI: DAN Programmatic, empowered by The Data Sciences Division of the Dentsu Aegis Network in India along with AMNET, the network’s programmatic arm has announced the launch of “DAN Vision for Creative”, a machine learning and neuroscience based engine that delivers path breaking insights into the predicted performance of a creative even before the creative has actually run.

    “DAN Vision for Creative”, through its sophisticated technology, endeavours to accurately present a visual heat map of effective elements of a creative and forecast the likelihood of its performance based on algorithms that have been trained over the performance of thousands of creatives and analysing millions of elements.

    Commenting on the launch, Dentsu Webchutney CEO and co-founder Sidharth Rao says, “One of the biggest game changers in modern marketing is the use of data to better the decision making capabilities of professionals to yield better outcomes. Creativity without data is a shot in the dark. Even when a creative professional claims to follow his gut, he or she is in reality analysing data generated through experiences for a particular outcome.  Having co-founded an agency that deploys new age solutions to solve common problems, ‘DAN Vision for Creative’ is just the right weapon to solve the age old creative problem of “Why are certain creatives performing better than the others?.” It is creating for us a unique differentiator by providing a justification or even starting points for our creative approach to deliver brand success.

    Using a battery of neuroscience research-based models that integrates psychometric and eye-tracking approaches with media effectiveness, ‘DAN Vision for Creative’ creates a platform for data and creativity to work together. 

    “Today, creative testing is about determining which creative is performing better for which audiences. This involves testing 100s of creatives. The by-product of this is, lots of budgets invested into creative production, time spent to create them, marketing budget spent towards testing them and the time involved to get a confident decision. All of this deters most marketers from doing comprehensive creative testing. To top it all, even after this, all we get is which creative is performing better, and no clue on which element is influencing it to perform better or worse. By combining advanced AI techniques such as RNNs (recurrent neural networks), Computer Vision and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), we are now able to provide predictive intelligence for the creative even before it goes live. This shortens the creative testing cycle and saves on time and money for our clients. Additionally, DAN Vision for Creative provides clues to the “Why” of the creative; making the future creative cycle even more sharper and focussed,” adds DAN Programmatic  CEO  &  Dentsu Aegis Network chief data officer (South Asia) Gautam Mehra.

    ‘DAN Vision for Creative’ will be merged with the Programmatic Predictive Technology, DAN Vision, launched earlier this year, and is available for global use.

  • Webchutney co-founder &CEO, Sidharth Rao reveals the incredible stories of India’s most successful digital entrepreneurs in his first book, ‘How I Almost Blew It’, published by Westland

    Webchutney co-founder &CEO, Sidharth Rao reveals the incredible stories of India’s most successful digital entrepreneurs in his first book, ‘How I Almost Blew It’, published by Westland

    MUMBAI: CEO and Co-Founder of India’s leading digital agency, DentsuWebchutney, Sidharth Rao today, announced the releaseof his first book ‘How I Almost Blew It’, an anthology of the myriad stories of India’s highly admired entrepreneurs. Encapsulated by this well-known digital honcho and published by Westland Publications (an Amazon company), the book narrates the heart-stopping stories of speckled industry tycoons and their critical life lessons. 

    The book is an account of how some of the most successful entrepreneurs of India built their businesses such as Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Info Edge and Naukri.com), Deep Kalra (MakeMyTrip), Deepinder Goyal (Zomato), Ashish Hemrajani (BookMyShow), Sahil Barua (Delhivery),Kunal Shah (FreeCharge), MurugavelJanakiraman (Bharat Matrimony), Ajit Balakrishnan (Rediff.com), Anupam Mittal (People Group), Brijesh Agarwal (India MART), Jitendra Gupta (Citrus Pay), Pradeep Kar (Microland), SatyanGajwani (Times Internet), Rajesh Jain (IndiaWorld), Alok Mittal (JobsAhead.com), R. Ramaraj (Sify) and Girish Mathrubootham (Freshworks)  —that will shock, reveal and inspire.

    Delighted to being a first time author, Sidharth Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of DentsuWebchutney, says, “I consider myself privileged to have had the opportunity to pick the brains of so many icons of India's internet story. Webchutney and I have both been on the other side of the table with some of these founders and their companies as marketing partners, and now I'm excited to tell their stories about their fortitude, courage, hard work and sometimes dumb luck that helped them succeed. I will forever remain grateful to them for freewheeling conversations with me that helped me write the book. I hope it will be liked by the readers and to those who have the potential to start their own businesses.”

    How I Almost Blew It is a light, non-fiction read and a guide containing lessons, wisdom and insight into the industry for your own start-up. Alluring to young and older readers of the business world, these spell-binding and intriguing stories of near-fiascos are industry wisdom, yes, but also critical life lessons.
     

  • Its time tonight to break the digital code with 13 industry stalwarts at the Advertising Club’s India Digital Review – “D-CODE” presented by MX Player

    Its time tonight to break the digital code with 13 industry stalwarts at the Advertising Club’s India Digital Review – “D-CODE” presented by MX Player

    7th August 2019: After the phenomenal success of the first edition addressing the drivers of the tectonically shifting brand ecosystem, The Advertising Club is all set for the 2nd edition of D-CODE presented by MX Player and powered by Tik Tok Ads to be held tonight in Mumbai.  

    The last edition saw the best minds in digital, media and marketing come together to share insights and learning from the evolving digital ecosystems. The upcoming edition to be held on 7th August, 2019, 6.30 pm onwards @ Taj Lands End, Mumbai will continue to drive idea exchange with 13 Industry game changers showcasing best in class digital campaigns by their own brands and celebrating other inspiring digital campaigns, all in just 10 -minutes each. Each speaker showcase will include:

    One best work of theirs
    One best work by another brand
    3 tips to crack the digital code

    The first round of stalwarts confirmed to speak at D-CODE include
    Bajaj Auto: Sumeet Narang, Vice-President, Marketing
    Bytedance (Tik Tok): Sachin Sharma, Director, Sales & Partnerships
    Corner Stone Sport and Entertainment: Jogesh Lulla, COO
    Dentsu Webchutney: Sidharth Rao, CEO & Co-Founder
    Facebook: Nirmal Pulickal, Head – Facebook Creative Shop
    Google: Vikas Agnihotri, Country Director
    JSW Sports Pvt Ltd: Mustafa Ghouse, Chief Operating Officer
    MX Player: Karan Bedi, CEO
    McCann Worldgroup: Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director
    Nestle: Rashi Goel, VP- Consumer Communication Media, CRM & NHW
    Spotify: Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director
    Swiggy: Srivats TS, VP Marketing
    Kenny Sabastian:  Standup Comedian, Musician & Filmmaker

    D-CODE, the Digital Review 2019 will reflect on the work presented by brands across digital platforms from April 2018-June 2019. The Review is slated to be tonight on 7th August, 2019, 6.30pm onwards @ Taj Lands’ End, Mumbai

  • Cannes Lions 2019: Dentsu Webchutney bags 3 Lions

    Cannes Lions 2019: Dentsu Webchutney bags 3 Lions

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney, the creatively-led digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network, has bagged 1 Silver and 2 Bronze Lions at Cannes Lions 2019.

    The agency won a silver for Swiggy’s ‘Voice of Hunger’ campaign in the Social and Influencer category. Meanwhile, it scored a bronze in the Direct Lions category and another bronze in the PR Lions category for its ‘Code Name: Uri' executed for the film URI: The Surgical Strike. 

    Commenting on the achievement, Dentsu Aegis Network CEO Greater South and chairman and CEO India Ashish Bhasin said, “Dentsu Aegis Network leading with 19 shortlists and now Dentsu Webchutney winning three metals today further endorses our view that 3-5 years from now, there won’t be anything like a digital agency. All agencies will have to be digital. Old world, legacy creative agencies will vanish. Am particularly happy with Dentsu Webchutney’s performance, across categories and a big congratulations to Sidharth and Team Dentsu Webchutney.”

    Dentsu Webchutney co-founder and CEO Sidharth Rao said, “It’s surreal to us at Dentsu Webchutney, but there’s much that’s gone on behind the scenes in terms of building the right set of teams across locations, striving hard to win the client roster that we have today. I believe all of that has come together now.  For now, we will continue to double down on what we’ve been doing, and look forward to even more killer solutions to bring to the table here next year. An area of incredible focus is telling our research and strategy story even better, we lead the business in terms of our thinking and our clients know this, but the ecosystem still looks at Dentsu Webchutney at a pure-play creative agency. We’re ready for brands with outlandish ambitions for what’s possible. Stay tuned.”

    With 19 shortlists across direct, outdoor, social and influencer, mobile, brand experience and activation, media and creative e-commerce, Dentsu Aegis Network has emerged on top of the India tally at Cannes Lions 2019.

  • Dentsu Webchutney launches B2B division, Samera Khan to lead

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney has announced its new business-to-business marketing division. It will be headed by Samera Khan, EVP – Strategy, Dentsu Webchutney.

    “The line between a customer and a consumer is fading day by day. Globally, B2B brands have the largest audience on LinkedIn; they have 36 times more followers on LinkedIn than on Instagram but 20 times more engagement on Instagram than on LinkedIn. The users’ browsing and search behaviour is the same through the day and that’s what we want to own with our B2B division. We want to remove the boring from B2B,” says Dentsu Webchutney CEO and co-founder Sidharth Rao.

    The new division is poised to help businesses targeting other businesses across categories and industries. Businesses that work with Dentsu Webchutney will have specialized services available to help them with Online and Offline Marketing, Market Research, Publicity, and most importantly, a focus on Content Marketing and Distribution Strategy.

    Khan adds, “Our strategy is to focus on B2B with experiential content marketing across the various touchpoints that the customer already exists on. We pride ourselves on understanding what moves the Indian consumer. Now it’s just about using that same understanding for a business decision maker. Even though our starting point is B2B, our goal is to think of it as H2H (Human to Human), to humanize this crucial relationship.”

  • Dentsu Webchutney appoints Anil Kumar as EVP

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney has roped in Anil Kumar as EVP and branch head. He will be based out of Delhi and will report to Dentsu Webchutney CEO and co-founder Sidharth Rao. Kumar will lead key accounts like Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Canon, Tetra Pack, Hike, Payback, DS Group and ITC amongst others.

    Rao said, “Digital is fast moving from a creative-communication arena to being a business-enabler. Anil, with years of mainline advertising experience coupled with extensive hands-on marketing experience, presents a combination that can help our teams appreciate the real-business issues more holistically and recommend solutions that can positively impact our client’s bottom lines. We look forward to Anil steering our largest branch to next levels of growth and recognition.”

    Kumar is a seasoned marketing professional with over 18 years of work experience with India’s leading advertising agencies – FCB, Grey, TBWA, Contract and Lintas. This long stint was followed by another five years as executive director, Millennium Spire, a Singapore based FDI fund that he helped grow from $20 million to a $1 billion operation. This success fuelled his passion for nurturing start-ups and led to co-founding of inQbis – a boutique business consulting firm focussed on providing strategic and marketing direction to early-growth ventures in infrastructure, agri-products, retail design and e-com sectors.

    He added, “I am seriously inspired by the impact of Digital, both as a medium and a technology, on our day to day lives. It is fast changing the human behaviour itself. For a marketing professional, Digital is the ultimate delight because of its tremendous ability to sharply identify and establish the shortest route possible to the target audience; and what better place than Dentsu Webchutney, the pioneers in digital, to immerse oneself into this arena and explore.”