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Tag: VMLY&R

  • VMLY&R India brings in Rajshekar Patil as executive creative director

    VMLY&R India brings in Rajshekar Patil as executive creative director

    Mumbai: Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R has brought Rajshekar Patil on board as executive creative director. He will report to VMLY&R India chief creative officer  Mukund Olety. 

    In this role, Patil will oversee the creative capabilities of the agency, assist in campaign conceptualisation, and support the agency’s creative vision. As part of the leadership team, he will also champion a culture of creativity, inclusiveness, and innovation, said the agency.

    Patil brings in 18 years of work experience with him as an award-winning integrated advertising professional working at the intersection of creativity and tech. His last assignment was with Publicis Worldwide India as ECD. At Publicis Mumbai, he was heading Skoda Motors, Citi, Zee5, and Times Group. 

    “I am delighted that Rajshekar is joining us. He is a passionate, razor-sharp, creative thinker with a portfolio that speaks to his desire for genuine impact through his work,” said VMLY&R India chief creative officer Mukund Olety. ” I welcome him wholeheartedly to the VMLY&R family and look forward to growing our creative reputation across the country.”

    Patil is the co-founder of a kid-tech startup, built at a tech incubator in London, and Snap Counsellors, an award-winning teen helpline on Snapchat. He also helped launch Apple in India, contributing several pieces to the Grand Prix-winning Shot on the iPhone campaign.

    A computer science graduate who landed accidentally in the creative department of Ogilvy and Mather and never left, Patil has been recognised with D&AD Impact, One Show, Cannes, Effies APAC, Spikes Tangrams, etc. His previous stints were at BBDO India, Media Arts Lab (Apple’s agency), BBH India, and Ogilvy & Mather.

    “VMLY&R brings together a blend of creativity, technology, data and culture to create truly unique solutions for clients. Creativity here seeps into every facet of the agency and I look forward to working closely with Anil and Mukund to create some fantastic work,” said Patil on his new role.

  • Symon Hammacott joins VMLY&R as chief experience officer, Asia

    Symon Hammacott joins VMLY&R as chief experience officer, Asia

    Mumbai: Global brand experience agency VMLY&R on Tuesday announced the appointment of Symon Hammacott as chief experience officer, Asia. Based at VMLY&R’s Asia principal office in Singapore, Hammacott will be responsible for driving the customer experience (CX) practice for the agency network in Asia, leading the region’s customer experience and technology leadership teams in the development and implementation of business strategy to support current and new business in line with regional and global targets.

    In this role, Hammacott will be tasked with identifying and investing in new technologies and partnerships to reinforce and develop VMLY&R’s CX portfolio. He will also actively participate in Team WPP pitches and proposals as well as global new business proposals, whilst championing CX; driving culture initiatives and talent development across VMLY&R’s principal offices around the world. In his new role, Hammacott will work closely and report to VMLY&R Asia co-CEO Tripti Lochan and global chief experience officer Jeff Geheb, said the agency in a statement.

    “Symon brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective to VMLY&R. He has a clear vision of how he wants to steer the practice in conjunction with our brand experience (BX) and commerce offerings, and his passions for sustainability and ethical design fit perfectly into our ethos of brands with purpose,” said Tripti Lochan.

    Hammacott’s role will help to support VMLY&R’s go-to-market strategy to provide its clients with the most relevant and contemporary agency offering in the market today, merging creativity, technology, and culture to create connected brands that impact the world, said the agency in a statement.

    Prior to joining VMLY&R, Hammacott was regional head of experience at Publicis Sapient, a role he held for six years. Before this, he was a consultant in experience strategy & experience design for global creative agency Isobar for more than 10 years.

    Originally from the United Kingdom, Hammacott has spent more than two decades leading experience and technology companies, teams and enterprise-level programs for clients in Asia and across the world. A strong believer in transforming businesses through design-led change, throughout his career Hammacott has been instrumental in building world-class teams and developing market-leading products and services for companies across most industry verticals – delivering world-class experiences, mixed with a deep understanding and appreciation of local market nuances.

    “Customer experience is not only the future, it’s also the ‘now’, and VMLY&R has already made extensive strides in bringing best-in-class customer experiences to their clients,” stated Hammacotton on his new assingment. “I am energised by the prospect of guiding our immensely talented teams across experience design, technology, product and data in helping clients to firstly gain market-leading positions with their CX and then stay ahead through better operationalising those experiences. In this way we can create meaningful, transformative products, services and capabilities that provide genuine value to both the consumer and our clients every day, and into the future.”

  • Mukund Olety appointed CCO of VMLY&R India

    New Delhi: Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R has appointed Mukund Olety as chief creative officer in India. He moves from BBDO China, where he was group creative director.

    Olety will report to VMLY&R India CEO, Anil Nair and chief creative officer, VMLY&R Asia, Valerie Madon. His mandate will include driving the agency’s creative vision and nurturing its creative talent, said the agency in a statement.

    “I couldn’t have thought of a better person to lead our creative team in these thought-provoking times. Mukund has extensive experience working on both local and global brands and working at both Indian and international levels. This grasp of both, coupled with his passion for creativity, makes him an outstanding addition to the VMLY&R family,” said Nair.

    With experience in India, China, and South-East Asia, Olety will be instrumental in developing and strengthening the creative capabilities in India in tandem with VMLY&R’s positioning of creating connected brands that add value for clients by harnessing creativity, technology, and culture, said the agency.

    “If there is one agency that is poised to become the agency of this decade, it is VMLY&R. It has this potent mix of creativity, technology, culture, and commerce. That is everything you need to create connected brands for the new age,” said Olety, post the announcement. “I am looking forward to creating connected, future-facing and awesome work for our key clients and brands.”

    Olety has also worked with Ogilvy, Leo Burnett-Malaysia, O&M India, JWT and DDB Mudra across India and southeast Asia in the past.

  • Parachute’s #DearWinter campaign inspires women to love winter again

    Parachute’s #DearWinter campaign inspires women to love winter again

    NEW DELHI: With their latest campaign #DearWinter, VMLY&R India and Marico’s hair-nourishment brand Parachute Advansed Hot Oil address the love-hate relationship that women have with winter thanks to dry winter hair, and help them enjoy the chilly season all over again.

    Winter is a season to look forward to for so many reasons – it’s the season of love and weddings, a time to revel in winter fashion, and of course, festive family reunions, among others. Unfortunately, winter hair is the spoiler. Women dread the dry hair and split ends that come hand-in-hand with the season. Unfortunately, the season when women want to be seen at their best is exactly when their hair is at its worst.

    Marico CMO Koshy George said, “With #DearWinter, we aimed to show this sometimes strenuous relationship between a woman and her hair especially during the time of winter and how Parachute Advansed Hot Oil is the ideal companion to achieve perfect hair even during the dry and cold months of winter.”

    Conceptualised and executed by VMLY&R, #DearWinter tells the story of a girl’s fraught relationship with winter, as a troubled ode to the season.

    “All it just takes is just one bad hair moment to ruin a day. And winter is one long bad hair day turned into an endless bad hair season. It’s ironic that during what is arguably the most beautiful season of the year, is when women’s hair troubles are at their peak. So, with this campaign, we captured this fraught relationship that girls have with the season, as a ‘lover’s quarrel with winter’. And bring alive the winter hair troubles in a way that every girl can relate to.”, said VMLY&R Asia CCO – SEA and India Venkatagiri Rao.

    The campaign was launched with a digital film and in partnership with nine influencers (Shivangi Joshi, Dhanashree Verma, Kanika Mann, Arishfa Kan, Sameeksha Sud, Ashna Zaveri, Yukti Thareja, Steffi Cyril, and Nisha Bano) and includes digital assets on social media.

  • Geometry joins VMLY&R to create leading global commerce business

    Geometry joins VMLY&R to create leading global commerce business

    New Delhi: WPP has launched VMLY&R Commerce, a new end-to-end “Creative Commerce Company” combining the talent and scale of two thriving global offerings. VMLY&R Commerce will operate as a distinct company within the VMLY&R global network.

    WPP agencies Geometry and VMLY&R will bring together their respective commerce capabilities to provide world-leading expertise and delivery for clients at a time of unprecedented global growth in e-commerce. VMLY&R Commerce will be led by global chief executive officer Beth Ann Kaminkow, currently global CEO of Geometry.

    VMLY&R Commerce will be central to the VMLY&R network’s total brand and customer experience offering. It will help connected brands grow by unifying client strategies around commerce to drive both brand equity and conversion.

    Kaminkow said: “Consumer experiences today are centered on commerce, making it increasingly important to our clients’ marketing and media decisions. As the pandemic accelerates new consumer behaviors and expectations, commerce is fast becoming the next channel for the most creative engagements and experiences. With the launch of VMLY&R Commerce, we can now offer our clients creative commerce at scale, harnessing data and technology to build brands and sell products across channels.”

    Geometry has proven a key partner in helping clients navigate the new commerce landscape. VMLY&R has also seen substantial momentum across its customer experience practice, expanding its e-commerce business with client partners. VMLY&R Commerce will align these global powerhouses to create a best-in-class, end-to-end offer for clients. It will leverage the combined assets of the Geometry and VMLY&R networks, which between them have more than 11,000 employees across 80 countries worldwide.

    VMLY&R Commerce will harness Geometry’s proprietary Living CommerceTM platform to guide strategic commerce consultation, development and activation across retail, design, experiential and innovation disciplines. Living Commerce facilitates the understanding of how, when and why people buy to deliver creative commerce solutions based on real human insights, driving commercial impact.

    “I’m thrilled to work with Beth Ann on the evolution of our collective commerce offering through VMLY&R Commerce,” VMLY&R Global CEO Jon Cook said. “We have been partnering closely across many clients and it is clear we share a vision and belief in the role commerce plays in a consumer’s journey and creating connected brands. Importantly, we both have a deep passion for leading our businesses with a focus on culture – both internally and with our client partners which is essential in creating a new company built for the future.”

    WPP CEO Mark Read said: “2020 has seen explosive growth in e-commerce as brands adapt to a new reality. This new company will offer outstanding creativity, industry-leading commerce expertise, and sophisticated data and technology skills to help brands grow in an omni-channel world. It also meets clients’ needs for simple, tightly integrated propositions from their marketing services partners.”

    VMLY&R Commerce will be fully operational from January 1, 2021, and the integration of the agencies’ teams and assets will continue through 2021.

  • The Glitch Joins VMLY&R’s global network

    The Glitch Joins VMLY&R’s global network

    MUMBAI – The Glitch has joined forces with global experience agency VMLY&R. The new entity taps on the strengths of both WPP agencies, creating a stronger expanded offering through the best of technology and creative expertise.

    The Glitch and VMLY&R India will continue to operate distinct brands and organisational structures while working together. This will allow clients to experience their combined proposition of marketing talent, capabilities, and experience, while maintaining the simplicity of their current communication cadence with each agency.

    The integration will see The Glitch become a part of the nearly $1 billion global VMLY&R network, which employs over 7,000 people across 75+ offices across the world. These include three offices in India, based in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

    The Glitch senior leaders, including CEO Pooja Jauhari, co-founder & chief creative officer, Rohit Raj, and co-founder & content chief, Varun Duggirala will now report into Tripti Lochan, Co-CEO of VMLY&R Asia.

    In addition, the Glitch leadership team along with VMLY&R India CEO Anil Nair, will form an India leadership council to manage strategic decisions for both companies. The council will be headed by Anil Nair.

    Founded in Mumbai in in 2010, The Glitch stands as one of the leading, digitally-led creative agencies in India, employing over 300 digital strategists, technologists, content creators and planners, delivering award-winning campaigns for a wide spectrum of clients including Netflix, Hindustan Unilever, LinkedIn, Lenovo, Diageo, and most recently Microsoft and Triller among many other global brands. With offices in Mumbai and Delhi, The Glitch services clients in India and many other regions of Asia.

    VMLY&R embodies a hybrid blend of brand creativity with a deep digital heritage, manifesting in a comprehensive understanding of the entire customer journey. The agency has accolades reflecting both its creative excellence and digital expertise.

    VMLY&R India’s business-first team is known for delivering digital excellence for blue chip brands like ICICI Bank, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, IDFC, Ford, Swaraj Tractors, IDBI Federal and Marico, delivering transformational solutions at the intersection of brand and customer experience, data, platforms and commerce.

    “WPP's aim is to provide clients with a simplified and integrated offer to help them grow their businesses holistically. The Glitch over the past ten years has grown to become a digital and content powerhouse, and when combined with VMLY&R’s capabilities in digital transformation and customer experience, can help clients make an impact in their transformation journeys," said CVL Srinivas country manager WPP India.  

    The Glitch CEO Pooja Jauhari said: “We have flourished alongside WPP in the past 3 years. The founders and I are delighted that we’ve now found a great permanent home for our brand, our company and most importantly, our people. The Glitch is a gender blind, inclusive and progressive high-performance workspace and with this marriage, we’ve found kindred spirits in VMLY&R when it comes to driving the same vision. We’re eager to explore our complementary capability sets for the benefit of our clients’ businesses. With this union, we believe we are in the best position to help our clients be more agile, sharper and ready for whatever the future may bring.”

    VMLY&R India CEO Anil Nair said: “This union spells great news for clients looking at building digital-first brands. In addition to cutting edge solutions such as customer experience (CX), commerce , technology, innovation, AI/ML, data, media innovations and good old culture impacting creativity, we will now be able to add new weaponry to our arsenal, including powerful capabilities in brand experience, new-age content, youth  marketing, connections thinking, brand publishing, and live creativity amongst others. This makes us the most relevant agency group in the market with best possible capabilities to help our clients future-proof their businesses and succeed in the new paradigm.”

  • VMLY&R India creates latest campaign for Luminous Power Technologies

    VMLY&R India creates latest campaign for Luminous Power Technologies

    MUMBAI: VMLY&R India has conceptualised and created the latest campaign for Luminous Power Technologies, featuring the former Indian national cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. This campaign marks the 9th year of association between Luminous and Sachin Tendulkar, as the brand ambassador.

    The new campaign called ‘Sachin – Dil Se’ is centered on an interview style film with Sachin Tendulkar. The ‘Dil Se’ campaign includes two video interviews. In the first interview with Luminous Power Technologies MD Vipul Sabharwal, Sachin shares his sense of pride in associating with Luminous. The second interview, in a casual and personal chat with cricket presenter and stand-up comedian Vikram Sathaye, Sachin reveals lesser known facts about his personal life. Be it the secret ingredient to make Sachin style baigan bharta or how he maintained his cool during high-pressure matches, he reveals it all.

    Through this campaign, Luminous brings the similarities between values of the cricket legend and the brand which has been one of the prime reasons behind the continuity of the association. Just like Sachin ensured he continuously evolved as a cricket to maintain his supremacy in the sports, Luminous has also has evolved over the last three decades. From being a brand which was hidden behind corridors, Luminous today has become one of the most popular home electrical brands.

    The campaign beautifully brings out the personal side of Sachin that builds a strong consumer connect and gives a sneak peek into Sachin’s life – be it his favorite song, dish or the skills he wants to acquire from others. Part of the campaign video also shares anecdotes from his personal life, which is in sync with brand’s campaign – ‘Khusyion ka Ghar’.

    Speaking on the launch of Dil Se campaign, Luminous Power Technologies MD Vipul Sabharwal said, “Sachin is a living example of the core values that Luminous stands for – reliability, consistency, longevity and highest standards of integrity. Our association with the cricket legend, entering into its 10th year, has helped us gain immense love from our consumers. We see a great value in him that builds a great brand connect with our end users.”

    Commenting on the new campaign, VMLY&R India business director Amandeep Singh said, “Sachin Tendulkar was signed as brand ambassador back in 2010 because there were a lot of synergies – being a leader, reliable, trustworthy and a complete inspiration. The brand wanted to shine a spotlight on this long-term relationship for its channel partners, employees and customers.”

    Singh further added, “The main objective of the campaign was to humanise the brand and strengthen the emotional connection Luminous’ customers.”

    Luminous Power Technologies is the leading electrical specialist in India having a vast portfolio comprising of Power back up solutions such as Home UPS, Inverter Batteries and Solar Applications to Home Electrical offerings such as Fans, LED lighting, Wires & Switches. Luminous has been in business for 30 years now. It has 7 manufacturing units, more than 28 sales offices in India and presence in over 36 countries. Our 6000 employees serve more than 60,000 channel partners and millions of customers. Our motto has always been Customer Delight through Innovation & Passion with focus on Execution & Team-work.

  • Anil Nair joins VMLY&R as India CEO

    Anil Nair joins VMLY&R as India CEO

    MUMBAI: Global marketing agency VMLY&R today announced the appointment of Anil Nair as CEO, VMLY&R India. Based out of the Mumbai office, he will report to VMLY&R Asia co-CEO Tripti Lochan, who is based in Singapore. He will oversee VMLY&R’s India operation, driving growth and building on VMLY&R’s fully integrated service offering spanning creative, technology and data services.

    An influential marketing industry leader, Nair brings with him more than 24 years of advertising and digital experience, most recently as CEO (digital) and managing partner for Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi India.

    Nair was a part of the founding team at Law and Kenneth (L&K) Communications in 2002. He is recognised for his role in helping build Law & Kenneth Communications from the ground up into India’s largest independent agency, prior to its merger with Saatchi & Saatchi in 2014. Since that time, Anil has been responsible for growing the Saatchi & Saatchi business and integrated practice in India, with a focus on strategic planning, brand stewardship, and digital transformation.

    Lochan said on his appointment, “We are committed to cultivating truly connected brands that generate real ROI for our clients and their clients. Anil comes to us with the right vision and experience to make this happen, marrying strategy with an understanding of the brand, digital, and commerce. He boasts an exemplary record for driving agency excellence and innovation while exhibiting a deep understanding of the Indian marketplace. This is an exciting time for VMLY&R as we continue to flourish in India, and I can think of no one better to lead the way.”

    Commenting on his appointment, Nair said, “At a time when consumer behaviour and demand continues to evolve in line with advancing technology, VMLY&R. with its “marketing-company meets creative-agency” rigour, represents a breath of fresh air for its clients via a service offering which is arguably the most relevant, necessary, and contemporary in the market today. It’s an honour to join the VMLY&R family at such an exciting time, and I look forward to playing my part in VMLY&R’s continued success story in India.”

    Nair joins the agency in the wake of a flurry of senior hires in recent months, following the appointment of Kevin Lobo as executive creative director, VMLY&R India, and Sujay Kar as commerce group lead, VMLY&R SEA & India.

  • WPP creates new brand experience agency VMLY&R

    WPP creates new brand experience agency VMLY&R

    MUMBAI: Advertising giant WPP has launched a new agency, VMLY&R, uniting two leading brands to deliver a contemporary, fully integrated digital and creative offering to clients on a global scale.
    VMLY&R’s proposition will combine brand experience and brand advertising, drawing on the complementary expertise of VML and Y&R to create connected brands that drive value for clients.
    The new agency will be led by global chief executive officer Jon Cook, who is currently global CEO of VML.
    Jon will report to Mark Read, chief executive officer of WPP.
    David Sable, former global CEO of Y&R, will continue to support Jon, VMLY&R and its clients as non-executive chairman as he transitions to a new role in WPP.

    Y&R is known for building many of the Fortune 500’s biggest brands. Its renowned strategic approach, married with innovation and creative talent, has led to some of the most famous and culturally transformative campaigns around the world. Y&R developed the world’s first and largest brand management tool, its proprietary BrandAsset Valuator, which fuels both strategic and creative decisions with data and insights.
    VML has established itself as one of the most forward-looking agencies in today’s marketplace – blending award-winning creativity with deep expertise in digital marketing.
    Mark Read said: “VMLY&R will be a powerful brand experience offering and a core agency brand for WPP. VML and Y&R have distinct and complementary strengths spanning creative, technology and data services that make them a perfect match. This is an important step as we build a new, simpler WPP that provides clients with a fully integrated offering and easy access to our wealth of talent and resources.”
    Jon Cook added, “I’m thrilled for the VMLY&R team as we start this journey together and harness the best of each agency to deliver culturally relevant world-class work. The landscape of our industry is changing rapidly, and we are committed to being an invaluable partner to CMOs around the world. I look forward to leading this unprecedented unification of two exceptional agencies.”
    VMLY&R will be an agency of more than 7,000 people, and one of WPP’s principal brands. It will be fully operational in early 2019.