ITV

Tag: Sumanta Ganguly

  • PointNine Lintas announces new leadership team

    MUMBAI: PointNine Lintas, the newest independent agency from the MullenLowe Lintas Group, announced the first set of names in its leadership team. It’s a lineup of senior domain-experts that will work with the CEO, Vikas Mehta. All teams of PointNine Lintas will be co-located in offices in Mumbai, New Delhi (NCR) and Bangalore respectively.

    Ameer Ismail has been named Chief Growth Officer, Sumanta Ganguly takes on the role of National Director – Digital Marketing and Transformation and Sriharsh Grandhe would be National Director – Consumer Engagement. Along with Vikas; Ameer, Sumanta and Sriharsh will work with clients to build bespoke agency solutions geared to maximize return-on-marketing-investments.

    Speaking of the lineup, Vikas Mehta said: “The biggest challenge in getting an omni-channel model right is the ability to bring multi-disciplinary expertise together upfront. This leadership team is made up of seasoned practitioners. It allows us to bring multiple disciplines to the table right at the start and offer clients, a customised agency team that’s built around their brand opportunities. This is in sharp contrast to the administrative structure most agencies follow for their verticals. We are lucky to have experts like Ameer, Sumanta and Sriharsh within the organisation, to be my co-founders at PointNine Lintas.”

    As Chief Growth Officer, Ameer’s mandate would be to work with clients towards creating growth strategies and build full-service agency teams. Commenting on his vision and role for PointNine Lintas, Ameer Ismail commented: “I believe a truly omni-channel agency is imperative for today’s market. We will be amongst very few agencies that kick start with such a deep and diverse capability line-up. To exploit the full potential of our offering, my role as Chief Growth Officer will be to create a dynamic strategy that will ensure PointNine Lintas works with some of the best brands and develops into one of the most significant agencies in the country.”

    The consumer engagement practice for PointNine Lintas; including activation, experiential and shopper marketing; would be led by Sriharsh Grandhe. His mandate will be to author go-to-market programs built around physical and digital consumer-journeys. Sriharsh would also be involved in developing the agency’s product –stack of mar-tech offerings.

    Commenting on the role and responsibility at PointNine Lintas, Sriharsh Grandhe said: “Over the last two years at LinEngage, a considerable effort has been made on creating effectiveness for our clients and we have successfully demonstrated reach-to-conversion ratios as healthy as 35 per cent. We have worked closely with a few of our longstanding clients to experiment and continually improve on engagement KPI’s. At PointNine Lintas, the goal would be to take these models to even more touch-points to create greater business impact.”

    The digital practice for PointNine Lintas would be led by Sumanta Ganguly. His mandate would be to place platforms, technology, devices and ecosystems at the heart of marketing programs in the early stages of brand development. Speaking of his role, Sumanta Ganguly says, “Digital is no longer the purview of communication alone, today it’s leading the discussion of business transformations. We are at the crossroads of design, data and platforms, and will continue to focus on digital transformation stories for a larger set of clients at PointNine Lintas.”

    Ameer, Sriharsh and Sumanta will retain their divisional responsibilities for GolinOpinion, LinEngage and LinTeractive respectively. Explaining the rationale behind this choice, Vikas adds, “One of the big reasons why full-service is preached more often than practiced, is because every skill-set comes with its own administrative layers. For example, when you need a PR expert, you also inherit the administrative layer of a PR agency. In a day-to-day working scenario, this becomes a major barrier to collaboration. We’ve made a conscious choice to cast our best minds as both, ‘practitioners’ and ‘managers’ making it easier to collaborate seamlessly.”

    The agency is planning more additions to the leadership team, which would be announced in the coming days.

  • Lin’s ‘sabziwala’ reintroduces Rohan’s ‘price protection’

    MUMBAI: In the current Indian scenario, the combined effect of demonetisation, crackdown on un-taxed incomes, and a series of Bills passed by the government to make real estate more regulated, the consumer is anxiously holding their breath for real estate prices to fall in urban India. It’s made the real estate market sluggish, with people delaying buying decisions to avoid the risk of losing money, in case prices fell.

    Rohan Builders of Pune, were among the first real estate companies in India to introduce a ‘Price Protection Policy’ back in 2008. The policy ensures that if the market price of the property bought falls, Rohan refunds the difference to the consumer. They have re-introduced this policy, in the wake of current market conditions. While this policy is immensely relevant in the current market, it normally gets buried in the fine print of the legal documents and is left to the sales personnel to explain (or ignore).

    To put spotlight on Price-Protection, LinTeractive recently unveiled a digitally-led initiative, Price-Protected Sabziwala (vegetable vendor). At this shop, you get price-protection on vegetables, even on small fluctuations in the market.

    The campaign kicked-off with a series of prank videos set in Pune called “Aaj ka Bhav” (the rates today) by the popular comedy group STFU18. In the Series, vegetable vendors in and around Pune were asked if they would return money to consumers if vegetable prices fell. OOH and social media are being deployed to communicate Rohan’s price protection policy.

    To push the idea further, an online vegetable store, #PriceProtectedSabziwala has been launched, where people can buy vegetables with a price protection guarantee. Physical vegetable stores on the same lines have been setup in retail malls of Pune. The buyers of veggies from these stores are notified via SMS, every time prices fall and they can claim a refund of the difference online. The website goes on to introduce Rohan’s Price Protection Policy invite buyer interest. A stock exchange-like price ticker for the vegetable market has been created as a mobile utility.

    Rohan Builders director sales Abhishek Bhatewara said: “In the current state of the real estate market in India, the home buyer is anxious that house prices may fall, delaying their buying for a later date. At Rohan Builders, we understand the buyers’ hesitation in committing their hard-earned savings to buy a house right now. LinTeractive has come up with a very simple and effective way to make people relate to this policy – an everyday fluctuation we all live with – the prices of sabzi. We’re trying to trigger in the minds of the consumer that, buying a home with Rohan is something they should consider without fear as their investment is protected from any downturn in the market.”

    Within three days of going live, the campaign has generated enormous buzz in Pune. It’s reach has crossed 3.5 million (all organic) and its garnering attention from local media. In fact, RED FM RJs even visited the vegetable vendors and talked about them at length in weekend programming.

    MullenLowe Lintas Group CMO & president – marketing services Vikas Mehta said: “To put spotlight in a blind spot (price protection by a real estate company in this case) is always an interesting marketing challenge. These are hard times for the real estate business and I commend Rohan for thinking digital-first. Sumanta and the team at LinTeractive have done a great job of executing the idea seamlessly in an omni-channel manner. To see measurable impact on the clients’ business in such a short period since the campaign went live with an improved CPL, is truly heart-warming.”

    Over a hundred potential customers have already come forward with interest in buying properties from Rohan Developers. More leads continue to pour-in as the campaign progresses.

    LinTeractive executive VP Sumanta Ganguly said: “Inherent to our approach has always been the effective understanding of consumer journey’s to use the effective touchpoints to enable specific action. The omni-channel campaign has been created using touch-points including physical and digital experiences (on ground, web and mobile), conversations on social media, video content and OOH.”

  • Lowe Lintas and LinTeractive unveil inaugural digital campaign for HouseFull

    Lowe Lintas and LinTeractive unveil inaugural digital campaign for HouseFull

    NEW DELHI: Upcoming furniture and furnishing destination Housefull.com has launched its first brand campaign exclusively on digital platforms, highlighting the durable furniture, by encouraging people to be ‘un-careful’ with their furniture.

    The creative expression, ‘No Rok Tok’ emphasizes durability, while touching upon HouseFull’s wide range of unique colours, design combinations and utility-driven shapes that fit both traditional and modern homes.

    The campaign has been conceptualized and executed by the Delhi offices of Lowe Lintas and LinTeractive, the creative and digital agencies (respectively) of MullenLowe Lintas Group. It comprises a series of short videos and a host of interactive content in the form of quizzes and animated gifs that lead to the core proposition of ‘No Rok Tok’. The content can be accessed at www.facebook.com/housefullo nline/?fref=ts

    Housefull.com CEO Akshay Chaturvedi said: “Lowe Lintas & LinTeractive have done a great job in conceptualizing this campaign, which clearly conveys our strength to the consumers. It’s a different and unique take on the whole idea of furniture. It just doesn’t talk about design but also focusses on one of the most important factors that the Indian consumer considers while buying furniture – durability. This is our very first digital campaign and we are excited about it.”

    The campaign video explores the emotional bond between a mother and her son in a rather unusual way. The child is shown jumping on the bed out of sheer excitement which brings a certain joy to his face. Using furniture as the premise, the film captures the love that lies beneath a mother’s tough external garb as she encourages the child to carry on expressing himself freely without worrying about the outcome. This is also the ethos that HouseFull seeks to employ so that their customers enjoy a ‘No Rok Tok’ experience when it comes to celebrating special moments.

    “There is always somebody in the house who stops us from being completely free and comfortable. Whether it is not to put our feet on the table or not to jump on the bed in joy…there are always self-imposed restrictions, even at home. It is this very behaviour we wanted to change through our communication, riding on the fact that the quality of wood used in HouseFull furniture is very durable and solid. That’s where the germ of the idea of ‘No Rok Tok’ came from. The communication across digital platforms takes a stand against putting restrictions and self-imposed rules, and instead encourages people to be free and feel free to express themselves,” added Lowe Lintas Delhi Oresident Naveen Gaur.

    LinTeractive Executive Vice President Sumanta Ganguly said: “While digital (and more so e-commerce) has become a business of discount-led acquisitions; we believe that bringing the conversation back to product quality is an important and bold move that will help build the right kind of conversations around the brand. It’s no longer about producing the content to deliver reach but rather ensuring one uses it to generate relevant conversations around the brand.”

    Housefull.com is an online furniture and furnishings market place. It provides the best-in-class furniture solutions with quick delivery and after- sales service. Equipped with an in-house R&D team, the products are exclusively designed to best match the preferences and expectations of different buyers.

  • Lowe Lintas and LinTeractive unveil inaugural digital campaign for HouseFull

    Lowe Lintas and LinTeractive unveil inaugural digital campaign for HouseFull

    NEW DELHI: Upcoming furniture and furnishing destination Housefull.com has launched its first brand campaign exclusively on digital platforms, highlighting the durable furniture, by encouraging people to be ‘un-careful’ with their furniture.

    The creative expression, ‘No Rok Tok’ emphasizes durability, while touching upon HouseFull’s wide range of unique colours, design combinations and utility-driven shapes that fit both traditional and modern homes.

    The campaign has been conceptualized and executed by the Delhi offices of Lowe Lintas and LinTeractive, the creative and digital agencies (respectively) of MullenLowe Lintas Group. It comprises a series of short videos and a host of interactive content in the form of quizzes and animated gifs that lead to the core proposition of ‘No Rok Tok’. The content can be accessed at www.facebook.com/housefullo nline/?fref=ts

    Housefull.com CEO Akshay Chaturvedi said: “Lowe Lintas & LinTeractive have done a great job in conceptualizing this campaign, which clearly conveys our strength to the consumers. It’s a different and unique take on the whole idea of furniture. It just doesn’t talk about design but also focusses on one of the most important factors that the Indian consumer considers while buying furniture – durability. This is our very first digital campaign and we are excited about it.”

    The campaign video explores the emotional bond between a mother and her son in a rather unusual way. The child is shown jumping on the bed out of sheer excitement which brings a certain joy to his face. Using furniture as the premise, the film captures the love that lies beneath a mother’s tough external garb as she encourages the child to carry on expressing himself freely without worrying about the outcome. This is also the ethos that HouseFull seeks to employ so that their customers enjoy a ‘No Rok Tok’ experience when it comes to celebrating special moments.

    “There is always somebody in the house who stops us from being completely free and comfortable. Whether it is not to put our feet on the table or not to jump on the bed in joy…there are always self-imposed restrictions, even at home. It is this very behaviour we wanted to change through our communication, riding on the fact that the quality of wood used in HouseFull furniture is very durable and solid. That’s where the germ of the idea of ‘No Rok Tok’ came from. The communication across digital platforms takes a stand against putting restrictions and self-imposed rules, and instead encourages people to be free and feel free to express themselves,” added Lowe Lintas Delhi Oresident Naveen Gaur.

    LinTeractive Executive Vice President Sumanta Ganguly said: “While digital (and more so e-commerce) has become a business of discount-led acquisitions; we believe that bringing the conversation back to product quality is an important and bold move that will help build the right kind of conversations around the brand. It’s no longer about producing the content to deliver reach but rather ensuring one uses it to generate relevant conversations around the brand.”

    Housefull.com is an online furniture and furnishings market place. It provides the best-in-class furniture solutions with quick delivery and after- sales service. Equipped with an in-house R&D team, the products are exclusively designed to best match the preferences and expectations of different buyers.

  • LinTeractive launches Deep Digitisation

    LinTeractive launches Deep Digitisation

    MUMBAI: LinTeractive, the digital arm of MullenLowe Lintas Group, unveiled a proprietary framework named Deep Digitisation at a major regional industry event today, in Singapore.

    Digital Transformation is a subject gaining currency, both as an opportunity and a cause-of-concern, across the industry over the past year. LinTeractive’s framework, Deep Digitisation, looks at re-imagining organizations for a digitized environment, leading to transformation as the outcome.

    Eight months ago, the agency set up a task-force of technologists, designers, analysts and strategists, to develop approaches that could help large organisations evolve for a digitised environment. The team, led by LinTeractive EVP Sumanta Ganguly came up with several hypotheses and some prototypes that eventually led to the Deep Digitisation framework. The agency claims to have tested alpha versions of it with some of its existing clients to establish applicability and robustness.

    MullenLowe Lintas Group — marketing services Group CMO and President Vikas Mehta said, “We’ve been in several conversations with clients about Digital Transformation over the past months. A pattern seems to be emerging, where a discussion with CMOs quickly evolves to include the CTOs and the CEOs as crucial players who need to come together to drive digitisation. While there are several offerings in the market that promise digital transformation, they come from either consulting or technology firms. Each has its own strengths, but almost all of them fall short of building an ecosystem around every company’s most important asset, its customers. This observation led us to start working on a model that could put users (including consumers), at the heart of an organisation’s digital ecosystem.”

    Speaking of the launch, Ganguly said, “Most of today’s successful companies were born in an era of competition. They are organised around competencies and structured to create competitive advantage. Their digital pursuits are reflective of this reality where every department is driving multiple digital efforts simultaneously. But when you add them all up, it ends up with common gaps, as well as duplicated efforts. In an era of collaboration, the whole company needs to come together as one, and create a seamless experience for every user group. We’ve attempted to achieve that through Deep Digitisation. The framework helps companies reorganize around their existing structures and yet, have a unified approach to digital transformation.”

    As per the Deep Digitisation framework – digital transformation is the outcome of an ecosystem of platform play that sets the stage for consistent innovation.

    Applied to organisations, the approach is semi-structured and leads to a customised solution in each instance. As Ganguly puts it, “What we’ve seen with most use-cases so far, it’s about two-thirds constant where the modules are plug-and-play, and one-third bespoke. The customization varies depending on the scale, complexity and ambition of the company.”

  • LinTeractive launches Deep Digitisation

    LinTeractive launches Deep Digitisation

    MUMBAI: LinTeractive, the digital arm of MullenLowe Lintas Group, unveiled a proprietary framework named Deep Digitisation at a major regional industry event today, in Singapore.

    Digital Transformation is a subject gaining currency, both as an opportunity and a cause-of-concern, across the industry over the past year. LinTeractive’s framework, Deep Digitisation, looks at re-imagining organizations for a digitized environment, leading to transformation as the outcome.

    Eight months ago, the agency set up a task-force of technologists, designers, analysts and strategists, to develop approaches that could help large organisations evolve for a digitised environment. The team, led by LinTeractive EVP Sumanta Ganguly came up with several hypotheses and some prototypes that eventually led to the Deep Digitisation framework. The agency claims to have tested alpha versions of it with some of its existing clients to establish applicability and robustness.

    MullenLowe Lintas Group — marketing services Group CMO and President Vikas Mehta said, “We’ve been in several conversations with clients about Digital Transformation over the past months. A pattern seems to be emerging, where a discussion with CMOs quickly evolves to include the CTOs and the CEOs as crucial players who need to come together to drive digitisation. While there are several offerings in the market that promise digital transformation, they come from either consulting or technology firms. Each has its own strengths, but almost all of them fall short of building an ecosystem around every company’s most important asset, its customers. This observation led us to start working on a model that could put users (including consumers), at the heart of an organisation’s digital ecosystem.”

    Speaking of the launch, Ganguly said, “Most of today’s successful companies were born in an era of competition. They are organised around competencies and structured to create competitive advantage. Their digital pursuits are reflective of this reality where every department is driving multiple digital efforts simultaneously. But when you add them all up, it ends up with common gaps, as well as duplicated efforts. In an era of collaboration, the whole company needs to come together as one, and create a seamless experience for every user group. We’ve attempted to achieve that through Deep Digitisation. The framework helps companies reorganize around their existing structures and yet, have a unified approach to digital transformation.”

    As per the Deep Digitisation framework – digital transformation is the outcome of an ecosystem of platform play that sets the stage for consistent innovation.

    Applied to organisations, the approach is semi-structured and leads to a customised solution in each instance. As Ganguly puts it, “What we’ve seen with most use-cases so far, it’s about two-thirds constant where the modules are plug-and-play, and one-third bespoke. The customization varies depending on the scale, complexity and ambition of the company.”