ITV

Tag: Vineet Gupta

  • Wakefit.co Introduces the ‘BaaBaa’ of Sleep to Help Indians Rest Better

    Wakefit.co Introduces the ‘BaaBaa’ of Sleep to Help Indians Rest Better

    Bengaluru: If you know what BaaBaa knows you will sleep better! Have you ever counted sheep in a desperate attempt to fall asleep? Wakefit.co, India’s largest sleep solutions startup funded by Sequoia Capital, will tell you there are better ways to get that elusive beauty sleep. The three-year-old startup unveiled its new brand campaign, #KnowMoreSleepBetter, presenting the affable and all-knowing BaaBaa who will aim to bring the magical world of sleep into people’s consciousness.

    Want to get to know BaaBaa? Check these videos out!

    With India being deemed the second most sleep-deprived country by a global study and internal studies by Wakefit.co revealing that 1 in 5 Indians believe they have Insomnia, sleep-related disorders have become a pertinent lifestyle ailment. However, the focus on sleep health in India is still wanting. Wakefit, with its peppy new campaign, aims to add a dash of excitement and enthusiasm in the space by creating a dynamic world of sleep that helps people take actionable steps towards improving their sleep habits.

    Counting sheep to fall asleep has been a cultural reference for a long time. In its endeavor to get people to talk ‘sleep’, it was important for Wakefit to create a strong visual differentiator and depict it through a character that is quirky yet sophisticated and knowledgeable yet fun. ‘BaaBaa’, the sheep, was conceptualized to reflect Wakefit’s brand personality and is a personification of the brand’s values, expertise, and experience.

    The more you know, the better you sleep, goes the tagline of Wakefit.co’s three brand videos released today. Known for its innovative marketing campaigns – an earlier campaign called OneIndiaOneWakefit was nominated for the prestigious SABRE Awards – Wakefit.co’s brand videos aim to distill the complex science of sleep in short, digestible and witty content. In addition to unveiling BaaBaa, Wakefit has also incorporated subtle branding elements into its website design. For example, the color scheme on the website reflects the last color one sees when the lights are switched off at night, while the fonts resemble those in a fairytale storybook to bring back the nostalgia of peacefully going to bed as a child.

    Speaking on the launch of the new campaign, Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Director and Co-founder, Wakefit.co, said, “The sleep industry in India is pegged at INR10,000 crore (growing to INR14,000 crore by 2021), yet there is little innovation in this space. We have witnessed disruption in the nutrition and exercise segments of wellness but sleep has so far been ignored due to the lack of visually appealing representation in the space. The idea of the campaign was to create a world around sleep that is inhabited by cool and likable characters who are eager to unravel the mysteries of sleep and present it in a simple and digestible form The campaign strongly aligns with our brand ethos of making great quality sleep accessible to people across India.”

    Vineet Gupta, Founding Partner, Spring Marketing Capital, shared his thoughts on collaborating with Wakefit as its brand partners, for this and future campaigns. He said, “Sleep is one of the most important factors impacting a person’s health, productivity and success. However, in today’s world, sleep is often de-prioritized, taken for granted and riddled with misconceptions. Wakefit was founded as a sleep solutions company and aims to bring sleep back into the consciousness and conversation of Indian consumers. We are thrilled to partner Wakefit in their journey of building a brand that is meaningful, fun and differentiated.”

    “Wakefit is a truly innovative brand that is disrupting the space of sleep solutions with its unique technology, service delivery, and product offerings. This product segment will never be the same again, with consumers being the ultimate winners. We are truly excited to partner with the team at Wakefit and bring our media, data and measurement capabilities to help build the brand and drive business.” said Anand Chakravarthy, Managing Director, Essence, who are partnering with Wakefit, as their integrated media agency.

    From offering 100-nights free trial to doorstep delivery to over 19,000 pin codes in India, the Bengaluru-based startup is on a mission to provide a good night’s sleep to every Indian, every night.

  • DDB Mudra Group makes senior appointments

    DDB Mudra Group makes senior appointments

    MUMBAI: The DDB Mudra Group has appointed 22feet Tribal Worldwide MD Vineet Gupta as its chief digital officer and, its planning head Aditya Kanthy as chief strategy officer. Gupta and Kanthy will be reporting directly to Group CEO & MD Madhukar Kamath.

    Also joining DDB Mudra Group is an industry veteran and OOH specialist, Gour Gupta. He takes over DDB MudraMax’s portfolio of OOH, Events and Experiential as its CEO. Gupta will also be an Executive Director of the DDB Mudra Group.

    “In our endeavour to partner our clients towards profitable growth, we have observed that every aspect of the DDB Mudra Group’s work from brand building to promotions design, from developing media strategies to event management is being transformed. These appointments recognize the strategic importance of data and digital technologies to our business. Vineet and Aditya will now work with me alongside Sathyamurthy Namakkal, President, DDB MudraMax Media and my other senior colleagues to build the organization for a future where business results, data and digital are at the heart of creativity, strategy and execution.” said Kamath.

    Quoting on his new role, Aditya Kanthy said, “Digital technologies are transforming every aspect of our client’s business from brand building to buying. I’m looking forward to help build the DDB Mudra Group for the future, where Data and Digital are at the heart of creativity and strategy. We’re already seeing glimpses of this in the composition, structure and work of our teams that are partnering J&J, Royal Enfield, VW, Future group, SAP and USL among others. As a Group, we are constantly exploring new ways of working together and learning new skills. It’s a massive opportunity and we’re ready to take it.”

    Gupta, who will be taking up his new role as CDO, in addition to his existing position as 22feet Tribal Worldwide MD said, “Data & Digital offer tremendous growth opportunities for our own business and for our clients. I look forward to collaborating with teams across the DDB Mudra Group to help identify and strategically scale these opportunities. The DDB Mudra Group is well poised to offer a strong and differentiated point of view and I am excited.”

    Gour Gupta said, “DDB Mudra Group is truly a well-diversified Marketing Services Group. The growth plans for the OOH, Events & Experiential businesses are both interesting and challenging. In Sanjay Shukla, the President in DDB MudraMax, I have a very able ally. I look forward to leading a very strong and committed team that is already in place. This is one journey that I will cherish.”

    Madhukar Kamath added “Gour Gupta started his agency career with Mudra. I am thrilled to welcome him as the ED of the DDB Mudra Group and the CEO of our OOH, Events & Experiential businesses. He has been a wonderful partner in our Joint Venture. With the entrepreneurial zeal and experience of Gour in the OOH business and with the proven expertise of Sanjay Shukla in the Events and Experiential space, DDB MudraMax will be a formidable agency to reckon with. Welcome Gour.”

  • DDB Mudra Group makes senior appointments

    DDB Mudra Group makes senior appointments

    MUMBAI: The DDB Mudra Group has appointed 22feet Tribal Worldwide MD Vineet Gupta as its chief digital officer and, its planning head Aditya Kanthy as chief strategy officer. Gupta and Kanthy will be reporting directly to Group CEO & MD Madhukar Kamath.

    Also joining DDB Mudra Group is an industry veteran and OOH specialist, Gour Gupta. He takes over DDB MudraMax’s portfolio of OOH, Events and Experiential as its CEO. Gupta will also be an Executive Director of the DDB Mudra Group.

    “In our endeavour to partner our clients towards profitable growth, we have observed that every aspect of the DDB Mudra Group’s work from brand building to promotions design, from developing media strategies to event management is being transformed. These appointments recognize the strategic importance of data and digital technologies to our business. Vineet and Aditya will now work with me alongside Sathyamurthy Namakkal, President, DDB MudraMax Media and my other senior colleagues to build the organization for a future where business results, data and digital are at the heart of creativity, strategy and execution.” said Kamath.

    Quoting on his new role, Aditya Kanthy said, “Digital technologies are transforming every aspect of our client’s business from brand building to buying. I’m looking forward to help build the DDB Mudra Group for the future, where Data and Digital are at the heart of creativity and strategy. We’re already seeing glimpses of this in the composition, structure and work of our teams that are partnering J&J, Royal Enfield, VW, Future group, SAP and USL among others. As a Group, we are constantly exploring new ways of working together and learning new skills. It’s a massive opportunity and we’re ready to take it.”

    Gupta, who will be taking up his new role as CDO, in addition to his existing position as 22feet Tribal Worldwide MD said, “Data & Digital offer tremendous growth opportunities for our own business and for our clients. I look forward to collaborating with teams across the DDB Mudra Group to help identify and strategically scale these opportunities. The DDB Mudra Group is well poised to offer a strong and differentiated point of view and I am excited.”

    Gour Gupta said, “DDB Mudra Group is truly a well-diversified Marketing Services Group. The growth plans for the OOH, Events & Experiential businesses are both interesting and challenging. In Sanjay Shukla, the President in DDB MudraMax, I have a very able ally. I look forward to leading a very strong and committed team that is already in place. This is one journey that I will cherish.”

    Madhukar Kamath added “Gour Gupta started his agency career with Mudra. I am thrilled to welcome him as the ED of the DDB Mudra Group and the CEO of our OOH, Events & Experiential businesses. He has been a wonderful partner in our Joint Venture. With the entrepreneurial zeal and experience of Gour in the OOH business and with the proven expertise of Sanjay Shukla in the Events and Experiential space, DDB MudraMax will be a formidable agency to reckon with. Welcome Gour.”

  • DDB announces acquisition of 22feet in India

    DDB announces acquisition of 22feet in India

    In a move to lead the development of the digital marketing solutions space in India,DDB Group Asia Pacific and Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC),today announced it has acquired 22feet.

    One of the most dynamic and leading digital marketing firms in India, 22feet will merge with Tribal Worldwide India creating a new entity known as 22feet Tribal Worldwide, and part of theDDB Mudra Group.

    Effective immediately, 22feet Tribal Worldwide will be spearheaded by Vineet Gupta, Managing Director,Brijesh Jacob, Joint Managing Director, and Deepak Nair, Chief Operating Officer. All three, originally from 22feet, will report directly to MadhukarKamath, Group CEO & Managing Director, DDB Mudra Group. They will alsowork closely withPatrick Rona, President, Chief Digital Officer, DDB APAC & President, Tribal Worldwide APAC Tribal Worldwide,and the rest of the Tribal World Wide network across 42 countries to deliver relevant International learnings to the local market

    John Zeigler, Chairman & CEO, DDB Group Asia Pacific, India and Japan, said, “We see this as a strategic move to continue evolving our capabilities in the fast-moving Indian market. DDB Group has accelerated its capabilities to offer clients the best-in-class local digital expertise at 22feet, coupled with best-in-class global knowledge of the Tribal Worldwide network. I believe this is a game-changing event for DDB Mudra Group in India.”

    22feet has become India’s benchmark company working with iconic brands such as Café Coffee Day, Fastrack, Lenovo, Heineken, Kingfisher, Red Bull and Axe.

    22feet Tribal Worldwide will offer its clients end-to-end digital and mobile branding and marketing solutions including strategy and consulting, web designing, web development, media planning, search engine marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing solutions, mobile application development, mobile couponing and mobile UI.

    MadhukarKamath, Group CEO & Managing Director, DDB Mudra Group, said, “With digital at the heart of DDB Mudra Group’s agenda, we are extremely happy about joining forces with 22feet. I have tremendous respect for Vineet, Brijesh and Deepak, who are focused and determined in what they do. This energy flows into the organization’stalent pool and their work. Under their leadership, in just five years, 22feet has grown leaps and bounds. With this energy and Tribal Worldwide’s global reputation and reach, I’m excited to see what this magic of mergers can create.”

    Vineet Gupta, Managing Director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide said,“We are extremely excited to be a part of the DDB Group family. At 22feet, we share DDB’s passion for innovation and technology and look forward to delivering best in class digital solutions to our clients across markets, as 22feet Tribal Worldwide.”

    Brijesh Jacob, Joint Managing Director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide said, “The agencies I have often been in awe of are generally not part of the network(s) I admire. In this case both the agency and the network get double thumbs up from me. Tribal, purely as a name along with its body of work, over the years and across the globe, is truly inspirational. The mix of technology and creativity, which they practice is in line with the thinking we have at 22feet and therefore I think exciting times are in store in terms of the work, the learning and the exposure.”

    Deepak Nair, COO, 22feet Tribal Worldwide said, “22feet with its immense talent pool and client base is today at an inflection point and strategically very well positioned to leverage the shift towards digital. We are extremely happy with this opportunity to operate on a global canvas, and we look forward to very exciting times ahead, as 22feet Tribal Worldwide.”

     

  • Titan assigns its digital duties to 22feet

    Titan assigns its digital duties to 22feet

    MUMBAI: Titan has assigned its digital duties to 22feet, an independent digital solutions provider.

    The mandate was awarded following a multi-agency pitch. 
     
    22feet managing partner Vineet Gupta said that the agency will be setting up a dedicated hub that will work with Titan. This will be done to make sure that the brand has a strong web presence and the products get a smooth rollout across India and international markets.

    The hub will be led by 22feet business lead Ramraaj Raghunathan. This is aimed to give the brand flexibility and localise it to be relevant across all its international markets.

  • Riviera Resort Cannes readies for TV fiesta

    Riviera Resort Cannes readies for TV fiesta

    CANNES: Blue skies. Crystal clear sea. A full sun overhead. Warm sand. A cool breeze that wraps around you. Cafes and restaurants with tables lining the sidewalk and serving mouth watering yummy French food from Provence and Cote D’Azur. Not to forget the wines from Bordeaux.

    Welcome to Cannes on the famous French Riviera – home to the famed Film and Advertising Festivals and the lesser known TV festivals MipTV and MipCom.

    The Cannes Croisette is packed with people, one sees dogs of every shape and size, every breed and race, being led around by their masters and mistresses – also of every shape and size. The elderly walk slowly, stumblingly, the youngsters make big strides.

    The place is dotted with both young and old alike happy for a sunny escape to the warmer climes of this southern haven in France. A few kids are kicking a ball around on the sand, while others are hitting it around in a game of volleyball. A middle aged woman strips down, revealing a swim suit and plunges into the sea. Somewhere else an old couple sit on two chairs by the beach quietly holding hands, while another younger couple are kissing like they mean serious business.

    The rest of France seems to be upset with its government for trying to institute a practical labour law and has been protesting; Cannes seems to be oblivious to all of this. Thankfully so.

    30 March 2006 seems just perfect. The management at Reed Midem could not have asked for better weather. And even as it readies for its busiest MipDoc and MipTV ever, scores of trucks, vans, tents, containers, line up outside the Palais des Festivals and the Carlton Hotel. Close to 700 executives and workers are at work to bring out the 43rd MipTV. Twelve thousand TV broadcasting, and animation production, distribution and commissioning professionals and documentary producers are expected to descend on Cannes in the next two days for seven days of hectic back to back meetings, and deal making, followed by partying.

    Inside the Palais, carpets are being laid out, booths and kiosks being erected, direction markers being put up. Clearly, MipTV has arrived and made its mark globally as one of the biggest content markets in the world. The TV division is led by the young and good looking Paul Johnson who under the leadership of Paul Zilk has been working hard to globalise what was once a more Europe and America focused TV market. Asia has been the target for the past two years since the duo took over a couple of years ago. Two years ago, China was given the status of country of honour, last year it was Korea, this year it is Dubai. Two years from now it could well be India, if the TV, mobile and animation community so desire it!

    Wherever you look within and outside the Palais you can see the stamp of the west Asian kingdom of Dubai everywhere whether it is at the registration area where huge posters promoting the Dubai Media City or it is at the entrance to the Palais.

    The ESP Films gang of Vineet Gupta, Rajgopal, Harry and Rana

    This year gains significance from India’s viewpoint as more than 40 Indian producers and broadcasters have ventured out in order to increase their global competitiveness. First time attendees – actors and producers Anuj Saxena and JD Majethia – will add colour to the international TV star studded MipTV. Three – four years back there used to be barely 12-15 companies attending MipTV or MipCom. Other majors attending the market include Star TV (under Fortune Star, Hong Kong), Sahara One Media and Entertainment (to distribute their film library), Zee TV, the Ronnie Screwvala promoted UTV and Hungama TV, the Kishore and Sunil Lulla promoted Eros, Reliance Entertainment (senior executive Krishnan Durbhe is part of a speaking panel), WEG India (the private distributor of Hindi films), Endemol India (CEO Rajesh Kamath), Optimystix Entertainment, Maya Entertainment, Color Chips (the company has sponsored a table for its clients at the first International Interactive Television Emmy Awards being held at Cannes), Graphiti Multimedia, ESP Films (which won the documentary pitch last year at MipDoc), veteran documentary film maker Iqbal Malhotra of AIM Television, among many others.

    Sanjeev Sharma of optymistix (extreme right), along with Iqbal Malhotra of Aim Television and Ashutosh Barve of Maverick Productions.

    “What makes MipTV significant is the fact that the audiovisual content market is finding new outlets today. First there was just analog TV, now there’s digital and interactive TV and the mobile phone – and they are coming in a big way,” says Johnson. “You have majors such as Intel, Microsoft, AOL, Motorola – they are all coming to content markets such as MipTV and MipCom as buyers. They have learned that while they are leaders in technology there’s a lot they have to do from the creative content front in order to continue to retain their edge.”

    The changing paradigm of creative content has provided opportunity for the Indian community, which some players such as Indiagames have grabbed and have been producing games for Hollywood. Some animation studios too have been outsourcing for Hollywood, though a lot more needs to be done here. Large Indian players such as Reliance too are getting into content acquisition directly as is evidenced from its presence at MipCom. Hopefully others will also take advantage of the global opportunity in a business that is probably the world’s largest industry.