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Tag: Vinod Thadani

  • Dentsu India designs future-ready performance marketing powerhouse

    Dentsu India designs future-ready performance marketing powerhouse

    Mumbai: As part of its vision to deliver ‘What’s Next’ for its clients and people, dentsu India has decided to bring together the advanced capabilities curated from two of its leading brands, iProspect and Sokrati. iProspect is a globally awarded digital-first end-to-end media agency that drives business performance for clients; Sokrati is a tech-savvy, data-driven performance marketing company.

    The unified services will provide integrated performance media marketing and programmatic solutions from iProspect and Sokrati. Driven by the collective expertise of 600 performance marketing professionals, the service is designed to offer future-ready solutions, achieve global business growth, and boost profitability for clients through synergies and increased efficiency. Furthermore, by leveraging cutting-edge technologies, the solution will enable full-funnel tracking and management, customer analytics, and AI-powered predictive media management. It will also offer access to top industry talent, improve client management by integrating media capabilities, and foster a culture of collaboration and excellence across teams with specialised experience.

    Nilesh Gohil, formerly the chief business officer of Media (CBO) at Sokrati, has been promoted to take on dual roles as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Sokrati, and as President – Performance Practice. In his new role, Nilesh will focus on strengthening Sokrati’s commitment to ‘Scaling Up: Designing Tomorrow’s Experiences Today’. Working closely with the leaders, he will leverage his expertise in Performance Marketing, MarTech, and Analytics to offer tech-enabled, data-driven solutions, deliver added value to clients, and maintain the network’s reputation for excellence and innovation in the industry.

    iProspect India CEO media & CGO Vinod Thadani will continue to lead the growth responsibilities for all Media brands in India. He will focus on driving the growth trajectory of businesses by delivering on dentsu’s ‘Integrated by Design’ tailored solutions for clients.

    Reporting to dentsu CEO media- South Asia Anita Kotwani, Gohil and Thadani will collaborate closely with the wider dentsu India team. They will deliver innovative and transformative outcomes for the clients, expand the agency’s presence in the market, and align with the network’s global vision.

    Commenting on the announcement, Kotwani said, “Dentsu is ushering in a new era of transformative excellence. We have always been at the forefront of innovation – anticipating the future, to shape the unknown. Sokrati resonates with our vision of leading the space. We firmly believe in empowering the best of our talent to take up key leadership positions and Nilesh’s proficiencies make him an absolute fit to lead the practice.  His contributions have played a vital role in Sokrati’s success. I am extremely proud of his achievements, and I look forward to further partnering with him as we move ahead to attain many new milestones for Sokrati.”

    Nilesh Gohil and Vinod Thadani added, “We are extremely thrilled to embark on this new phase of growth. Dentsu has been a performance marketing powerhouse, with solutions defined by cutting-edge technology. The unified services offered through the Performance Practice are certainly a key to pursuing exceptional performance marketing solutions. This will indeed truly distinguish our services in the industry. As dentsu strides in digitization, we are certain that this unification will lead to rapid growth opportunities. Our focus will be on driving innovation through digital, modern creativity, technology, and AI to continue leading as India’s frontier Digital Media company for years to come.”

  • iProspect India wins Monster.com’s digital mandate

    iProspect India wins Monster.com’s digital mandate

    Mumbai: Dentsu India’s media agency iProspect has won the digital mandate for Monster.com. The account was won following a multiagency pitch and will be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office.

    iProspect India will handle the entire gamut of digital duties for Monster.com, with a focus on performance-based marketing. The agency will utilise its proprietary tools and solutions to help the brand achieve its digital marketing objectives via innovative digital campaigns. The agency will manage the brand throughout India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

    Commenting on the win, Monster.com, APAC & ME CMO Saurabh Srivastava said, “Monster is bracing itself for a new growth journey as it evolves into an end-to-end talent management platform in the months to come. A household name for job seekers across countries and a preferred talent discovery platform for recruiters, Monster continues to invest in innovative tech product offerings and services that are continuously improving the experience of its users across the web and mobile app. As we move ahead with our renewed aspiration of catering to the diverse requirements of an evolving job market, we are confident that partnering with the best of minds from the digital marketing space will help us create the much-needed brand resonance and equity with our existing and prospective users across emerging markets.”

    iProspect CEO and Dentsu Media chief digital growth officer Vinod Thadani commented, “Monster is a great brand that has been in the market for many years and has established itself as a great engagement platform for users who are looking for jobs and progressing in their careers. At iProspect, we look forward to deploying our innovative and data-driven digital marketing solutions to deliver the right engagement for the brand with its digital audience.”

    iProspect India managing partner Nitin Sabharwal added, “We, at iProspect India, believe that the new avatar of Monster that is in the making has the right appeal to the new-age audience. We are looking forward to the new innovations on the platform. The team will work closely with the brand stakeholders to deliver on digital distribution and customer engagement.”

  • Vinod Thadani joins Dentsu International as DGO, media – India & CEO, iProspect India

    Vinod Thadani joins Dentsu International as DGO, media – India & CEO, iProspect India

    Mumbai: Dentsu International on Friday announced the appointment of Vinod Thadani as chief digital growth officer (DGO) for India. Thadani will also be taking on the additional role of chief executive officer (CEO), iProspect India. He will report to Media South Asia, CEO, Divya Karani.

    Thadani comes with over two decades of experience in media and advertising. Prior to Dentsu, he was associated with Mindshare as chief digital officer for the South Asia region. Previously, Thadani was the CEO of Madhouse India, a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China, and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company.

    Speaking about the new development, Karani said, “Vinod is a strategic addition to our future-forward business design. His values and commitment to innovation resonate with all that dentsu stands for. I am fully confident his exceptional and in-depth mastery of digital will help our clients’ business scale new frontiers.”  

    Commenting on his new assignment, Vinod Thadani said, “I am excited to become an integral part of this network and look forward to the journey ahead. My contribution in dual capacities will be an opportunity to offer excellence and best-in-class services to all our clients specially in the space of digital performance, data-driven marketing, e-commerce, marketing effectiveness & creative. There is scale, specialisation & integration at the core of our offerings & through this journey, my goal is to pursue growth for our clients and the network.”

  • Mindshare South Asia CDO Vinod Thadani moves on

    Mindshare South Asia CDO Vinod Thadani moves on

    Mumbai: Mindshare South Asia’s chief digital officer (CDO), Vinod Thadani has stepped down from his position. Media reports suggest that Thadani is expected to join a leading rival agency soon.

    Thadani had joined Mindshare, the flagship media agency of GroupM, back in May 2014. In 2018, he was promoted as CDO-South Asia and he handled the agency’s full-service digital offerings for existing clients as well as brought in new business to the agency.

    Thadani comes with over two decades of experience in media and advertising. Prior to Mindshare, Thadani was the CEO of Madhouse India, a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China, and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company.

  • Ad agencies expect reallocation of budgets post TRAI tariff order implementation

    Ad agencies expect reallocation of budgets post TRAI tariff order implementation

    MUMBAI: Since the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced its new tariff order, making it mandatory for TV channels to keep a transparent display of the rates of its channels and bouquets and providing the viewers the liberty to pay only for those channels that they want to see, there has been quite a turmoil in the worlds of those associated with the industry.

    While channels, MSOs, and LCOs are busy ensuring a smooth transition to the new regime, the advertising world is looking at a cloudy sky that only offers a lot of uncertainty towards the impact of this order on their planning.

    Speaking about the same at a recent press meet, Mindshare chief operating officer, South Asia Amin Lakhani had said, “As an industry, we have seen a lot of volatility and uncertainty in the past 4-5 years. This is also an interesting one.” He added that the industry will have to follow a wait and watch approach to see the impact of the new order on the advertising world. But he was also certain that people will not change their habit of watching TV.

    Indiantelevision.com talked to some more industry insiders to understand what the new order will mean for TV, digital and the advertising world.

    Mindshare chief digital officer South Asia Vinod Thadani reflected same thoughts as Amin and said, “Any call on the way the TRAI order will impact TV viewership would be too early. The various scenarios are yet to play out and once there is clarity on the impact on TV distribution and viewership, we will be able to take any calls on its impact on digital.”

    Isobar group MD-South Asia Shamsuddin Jasani on the other hand was sure that this new order is going to help the advertisers as they will now have a better idea of which channels are popular and thus, where to invest.

    He said, “I don’t think it will impact the ad-spends on TV drastically but will lead to re-allocation of fund by the advertisers. Now, we have an even better data of premium channels and we can thus improve the way we spend.”

    Shamsuddin is of the view that OTT might gain because of the order, “With OTT, you can track the number of users from day one. So, if advertisers use the right science (to understand these numbers), it will definitely help OTT players.”

    Update Advertising MD Sharad Alwe affirmed that the new TRAI tariff order is definitely going to impact the viewership of pay channels. He said, “The TRAI ruling will perforce make the viewer carefully select his pay channels of choice (appointment viewing) and create or select his package so that his cable subscription does not go higher than what he was paying currently. On certain channels, where he watches programming based on specific events, be it sports or reality shows, he may buy these channels only during that specific period. FTA channels & MSO/LCO based cable channels with better and relatable content will attract higher viewership.”

    But he doesn’t see this affecting the ad spends made by the brands on any of these TV channels. “These changes will impact channel rates but we do not see any negative impact on ad spends,” he says adding, “OTT offerings of the various media networks like Hotstar, SonyLiv, ZEE5, Voot might see an uptake for their selective content.”

    Mobclixs Technologies founder and CEO Dushyant Jani was very positive about the new regime making the entire broadcast framework transparent and fair. He said, “I think 50 per cent of the viewers watch not more than 30 channels but they are sold a bundled pack of 300 channels, which cost roughly between Rs 250 and Rs 450 depending on whether it is a cable connection or DTH service. When consumers select their channels, the ones that don’t meet their expectations get dropped out in the process.”

    Talking about its impact on advertising, Dushyant contended, “The drop in channels will impact the advertising revenue. For advertisers, it is wise to bet on the popular channels and obviously, the lesser popular channels will lose big on advertising revenue. However, the impact on the advertisers due to this will still be much higher as they need to cater to and capitalise on the top-selling channels but may not have enough time to plan their advertising budget.”

    Bijoor Consults Inc founder and brand guru Harish Bijoor feels that the new tariff regime is definitely a ‘jolt’ point for TV as well as the advertising industry. According to him while there are differentiated views on what impact this whole scenario will have on TV ad spends, one thing is certain that OTT is surely going to benefit in the long run.

  • Mindshare teams trained to be media neutral: Vinod Thadani

    Mindshare teams trained to be media neutral: Vinod Thadani

    MUMBAI: Excited about handling the complete integrated media directive for Hindustan Unilever Ltd , after the big digital mandate win in August last year, Mindshare Fulcrum is all pumped up about serving the best possible media solutions to the brand.

    Highlighting the key strategies behind handling HUL’s digital media presence, Mindshare chief digital officer, South Asia Vinod Thadani said, “The overall approach to digital investments for HUL shall entirely be based on the need of the brand. With the consumer and the brand ambitions at the centre, specific media neutral investment strategies will give shape to the overall digital presence for HUL.”

    Mindshare Fulcrum hopes to do some pioneering work across platforms and lead the industry in the evolution of digital media.

    Earlier, Mindshare India president, client leadership Amin Lakhani had revealed that the whole team at Mindshare Fulcrum underwent an extensive training program to run a successful integrated media campaign as per the unique requirements of HUL. Talking about the role of digital in the whole mix, Thadani noted, “The larger team at Mindshare managing the HUL media investments has already proved its capability in managing the broadcast media (TV, print, radio, etc); but, digital media due to its addressable nature has a different manner of planning, buying, and evaluation. Hence, it’s this addressable media skillset that has been the focus for the recent training. The teams at Mindshare now are media neutral and hence work across all forms of media. During the recent training, the focus on digital training has been primary.”

    On another note, Thadani also shared his thoughts on the impact of new TRAI tariff order on TV viewership saying that reaching onto any conclusion regarding this will be too early. He added, “The various scenarios are yet to play out and once there is clarity on the impact on TV distribution and viewership will we be able to take any calls on its impact on digital.”

  • Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    MUMBAI: Mindshare, part of GroupM, has appointed Vinod Thadani as its chief digital officer – south Asia. In his new role, Thadani will be responsible for managing the agency’s full-service digital offerings for existing clients as well as bringing in new business to the agency.

     

    With over fifteen years of media experience, Thadani is responsible for setting up the largest mobile practice at GroupM in 2008 and winning media awards in the mobile category across all major award functions – IDMA, Emvies, DMA, IAMAI, Goa Fest, Campaign India, MMA, Yahoo Big Chair and Festival Of Media.

     

    Prior to moving to Mindshare south Asia, he was the chief executive officer of Madhouse India (a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China) and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company. He worked closely with over 100 clients like Intel, Idea, VW, Panasonic, Titan, Britannia, Google, LIC, Siemens, ITC, Flipkart, Nestle, Make My Trip, Hungama.com and media conglomerates such as GroupM, OMG, Percept & Ignitee.

     

    Welcoming him to the team, Mindshare south Asia leader Ravi Rao said, “Vinod has always managed to stay ahead of the curve with his in-depth knowledge and continuous innovation. We are extremely glad to have him on board and are confident he will take Mindshare to greater avenues.”

     

    Thadani said, “With the eminent growth of over 40 per cent in digital advertising, the future of marketing lies in seamless integration of core traditional media with digital and mobile media. Mindshare boasts of an impressive client roster with some of the biggest brands in the world, and I look forward to working with each of them and the team on their digital mandates.”

     

    Thadani is also an empanelled member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and plays a pivotal role in the MMA’s South Asian operations. He has been a regular speaker and conference chair at several domestic and international industry events, giving his point of view and expert opinions in the role of mobile in the marketing value chain.

  • Vuclip unveils ‘Slide2Engage’ ad unit

    MUMBAI: Independent mobile video and media company Vuclip has launched a new advertising unit called Vuclip Slide2Engage, at the digital marketing event ad:tech New Delhi 2013.

    Vuclip Slide2Engage is an immersive ad unit that provides a rich media experience for any consumer using the browser version of Vuclip on a smartphone. The feature is now available in the U.S., Indonesia and India.

    When a campaign is active, the Vuclip Slide2Engage unit appears immediately as users visit the Vuclip mobile browser homepage. The user is presented with a distinct call-to-action to “slide” the ad unit to reveal the real message. Sliding is as easy as tapping on the screen or swiping a finger across the screen to reveal the second slate, leveraging the native gesture controls popularised by the lean-back content consumption popular on devices today. The final brand message appears on the screen for up to ten seconds, allowing time for the message to be read before redirecting the user to the Vuclip home page.

    Vuclip Slide2Engage delivers confirmed brand message reach and an impactful method for advertisers to deliver targeted content including new product launches, ad campaigns, or surveys. By presenting the content before the Vuclip site even appears, advertisers are given the best canvas upon which to position their brand perfectly and effectively.

    Vuclip VP ad sales Meera Chopra said, “Vuclip Slide2Engage takes the mobile video experience to the next level by providing a seamless platform to further engage with consumers. With the rapid growth of mobile videos, the ability to immediately interact with brands will be a key differentiator for mobile consumers. Slide2Engage is intended to allow advertisers to create immersive advertising experience on high-end devices that allows consumers to instantly capture and retain key ad messages in the first view on a smart device, and then choose to quickly ‘flip‘ to a second slate to interact further with the brand. This technology reflects our priority to connect consumers with brands without friction, while also respecting their time.”

    Madhouse India COO Vinod Thadani said, “This new advertising solution from Vuclip facilitates increased customer interaction with advertisers, such as visiting a mobile website, engaging with social extensions and requesting more information. Anytime you are able to get an end user to engage with an ad unit, you increase both their brand recall and the clickthrough rate. Vuclip Slide2Engage opens a new horizon of opportunities for advertisers for informing users and building brand preferenceby cutting through the banner ads, interstitials, and other traditional ad units, and ensuring your content reaches every set of eyeballs coming to its site.”

  • Madhouse launches SmartMAD on it first anniversary

    MUMBAI: Mobile communications company Madhouse celebrated its first anniversary on 14 February. Madhouse is a full service mobile communications company that has brought together agencies, publishers and technology partners to deliver robust mobile marketing solutions to advertisers across categories.

    The agency has furthered its endeavour to take the mobile medium to greater heights with the launch of SmartMAD – an intelligent mobile advertising network in India that opens a plethora of opportunities for advertisers and publishers. SmartMAD provides targeted serving capabilities on premium and long tail publisher properties and enables interactive HTML 5 rich media ad formats, advanced features like frequency capping and near real time reporting.

    During its first year of operations, Madhouse has achieved milestones like becoming a true end-to-end mobile communications company with all services like technology, strategy, creative, media, analytics and execution carried out in-house. The company also achieved the feat of being the only company with over 25 mobile marketing certified professionals apart from being the exclusive partner to Mindshare Global in the Mobile Center of Excellence initiative. Apart from this, Madhouse secured exclusive content partnerships on mobile and rolled out content led apps, carried out third party serving and tracking enabled for advertisers and agencies and enabled partner agencies and client campaigns win over 40 awards both nationally and internationally. It also got representation on the board of Mobile Marketing Association India chapter in its launch year and is now set to launch a mobile DSP platform in this year.

    Ford VP marketing Anurag Mehrotra said, “Mobile is one of the key focus areas. In Madhouse we have a partner that understands our business & brings solutions that help meet our business objectives. In partnership with Madhouse, Ford has delivered many innovations – big & small – positioning us successfully to our audience via the medium.”

    Maxus managing partner Kartik Sharma said, “Madhouse has a scientific approach to mobile media planning which is fantastic. Madhouse truly has the expertise of an end-to-end mobile solutions company and not just another media agency. Madhouse is a real welcome change lead by a set of passionate people.”

    Madhouse India chief operating officer Vinod Thadani said, “Advertisers realize the potential of the medium but only need direction. 2013 is more the year of mobile maturity rather than the beginning of the era. Having said that there are clients at different stage of readiness & that‘s what makes the market interesting. Some have templatized mobile as a part of their marketing campaigns some are constantly experimenting with various technology innovations or ideas and others realize the medium potential & want to exploit. All they need is direction. Madhouse in 2013 is boisterously driven to discharge our expertise to charge advertisers growth and rise.”