Tag: Carat India

India – Meesho, an online shopping platform in India, has teamed up with Carat India to unveil the ‘Meesho Mega Blockbuster Dhamaka’ campaign on Star Plus. Rooted in the insight that shopping fosters bonds among women—both online and offline—the campaign creatively brought this concept to life through beloved Star Plus daily soap characters.

Developed and executed by Carat, the campaign unites four iconic lead characters from different Star Plus shows, portraying them as friends planning an exciting shopping spree for Meesho’s Mega Blockbuster Sale. This narrative unfolded in the MAHA Sangam episode, which premiered on the sale’s opening day.

Meesho’s campaign leveraged the cultural appeal of beloved TV protagonists to drive commerce and consumer engagement, showcasing how affordable festive shopping can be through impactful long-form content.

Commenting on the campaign, Sanchayeeta Verma, CEO at Carat India, said, “The annual festive sale is the most critical event of the year for every marketplace. For us at Carat, this was the first MBS campaign that we executed for Meesho, and it served as a litmus test. I’m deeply grateful to Meesho for trusting us to be their partners in unleashing every critical media lever to win. Kudos to our brilliant Carat team for passionately delivering a record-breaking MBS campaign.”

Simantini Ghosh, national head of entertainment specialisation at dentsu India, added, “Just when branded content on television seemed to have reached its peak, we pulled a rabbit out of the hat for our first MBS campaign by reimagining beloved TV protagonists in unexpected, fresh avatars. With a sharp focus on business objectives, we crafted compelling communication with the Star Plus protagonists, delivering impactful results. My thanks to Meesho for believing in this idea and to Star for flawless execution.”

The campaign explored innovative collaboration formats within the GEC space, resulting in cohesive storytelling. The Maha Sangam episode, central to the campaign, recorded the highest ratings among episodes aired during the collaboration week. 

Meesho also reported significant success, boosting daily active users among Tier 2+ women and achieving its goal of DAU growth on the sale’s opening day. Day one saw 6.5 crore unique app visitors and 1.5 crore downloads ahead of the event.

Soumitra Choubey, director of brand marketing at Meesho, commented, “At Meesho, our goal is to create memorable and meaningful connections with our audience, especially during key events like the Mega Blockbuster Sale.” 

“The collaboration with Carat India and Star Plus was a testament to the power of innovative storytelling and deep cultural resonance. By bringing beloved TV characters together for this campaign, we not only enhanced the excitement around our sale but also strengthened our commitment to making festive shopping experiences more engaging and accessible for everyone. We’re grateful for the exceptional teamwork that made this possible,” Choubey added. 

India – Carat India, the media agency under Dentsu, has recently named Sanchayeeta Verma as the new chief executive officer. In her role, she will directly report to Anita Kotwani, the media CEO of South Asia, at Dentsu.

Sanchayeeta will be based in Bangalore and be in charge of providing strategic direction to improve the agency’s growth trajectory. Along with this, she will concentrate on coaching the agency’s large talent pool, motivating people to investigate disruptive solutions that provide practical business results that put the needs of clients first.

By ensuring operations, Sanchayeeta will lead the development of new business possibilities and strengthen current client relationships, establishing herself as a dependable partner for customers. Additionally, she will integrate her work with the network’s global brand offering, which will further increase revenue streams in India.

Sanchayeeta is a senior business executive with 27 years of experience in the marketing, media, and advertising sectors. She developed her skills in managing a variety of sectors, including media, content, data, and technology, during the course of her career. Sanchayeeta had senior management positions before joining Dentsu, making contributions across several areas at GroupM’s Mindshare and Wavemaker. Moreover, she has also held roles in businesses like Lintas Media Group, JWT, Kiwi TTK, and others.

Speaking on her new role, she said, “Dentsu and Carat continue to be the front-runner in addressing critical industry issues such as audience attention, brand EQ and sustainable media. They continuously pioneer and lead in digital and CXM. I am very excited to join the Carat-Dentsu family. I look forward to Carat being a fantastic partner to its clients, as well as an ideal place for our employees and the planet at large, by marrying the warmth of ‘creating for people’ with the dynamism of media, content, data, and technology.”

Meanwhile, Anita Kotwani, CEO Media, South Asia, Dentsu, commented, “The network’s focus on strengthening our media businesses aligns with our global ambition. Getting the best people on board is, therefore, very critical. Sanchayeeta’s ethos and the value systems that drive Carat are inextricably linked. Her varied expertise in consumer research, business planning, and client leadership has kept her abreast of the shifting media landscape.” 

Anita added, “She is also dedicated to lifelong learning and staying ahead of the curve, making her an ideal candidate for this position. Carat has increased its scope over the recent year with notable wins such as Tata Neu, Tata Croma, Hero Vida, Times Pro, and others. Sanchayeeta will accelerate expansion and propel the Carat brand to the forefront of the Indian market.”

India — Carat, the media agency from dentsu India, has bagged the media mandate for Croma, an Indian retail chain of consumer electronics and durables from the house of Infiniti Retail. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced from the agency’s Mumbai office.

As per the mandate, Carat India will oversee the brand’s media planning and buying rights – including traditional and digital. The agency will also partner with the larger teams at dentsu India to drive the full-funnel marketing needs of the client, further driving outcome-based solutions for the next phase of their exponential growth, keeping customers at the core of its planning and execution.

Commenting on the win, Anita Kotwani, CEO of Carat India, said, “We are backed by a consumer understanding proprietary framework, Designing for People, which is strong and always relevant. It is inspired by design thinking which enables us to help brands with an in-depth understanding of their consumers.”

She adds, “Our single-source consumer-connected system is the key differentiator in the Indian market. It has the ability to drive full-funnel client outcomes. Our ability to stay ahead of the curve in the tools and tech space by showcasing a unified holistic view of the consumers has been a key tenet that helped us clinch the business.”

Meanwhile, Shibashish Roy, chief business officer of ecommerce and marketing for Croma – Infiniti Retail, commented that they are expanding their presence in India by strengthening their omnichannel proposition with digital initiatives and aggressive store expansion plans. Roy adds that they’re looking forward to working with Carat India as their media planning partner to build on the Croma brand further.

India – Further strengthening its leadership team, Carat India, the media agency from the house of dentsu India, has appointed Vasim Rakhangi as associate vice president for strategy for North And East. With this appointment, Carat said it aims to continue to accelerate its transformation of the agency across India as it looks to bring new focus on its designing for people proposition.

In his new role, Rakhangi’s core focus will be to spearhead and deliver integrated media strategy to the agency’s existing clients across the regions. He will be reporting to Anita Kotwani, CEO of Carat India.

Rakhangi has over 11 years of experience in media and research. He has led multiple brands on integrated media strategies that focus on both traditional as well as digital media. Prior to this, Rakhangi has worked for conglomerates in the FMCG sector like Mondelez, GCPL, and Marico as well as broadcasting brands including Star Plus and Star Sports. 

Commenting on the appointment, Kotwani said that with his extensive experience and passion, Rakhangi will be helping clients stay ahead of the curve, especially as he helps them demystify the complex digital media landscape. 

“One of his focus areas will be to translate the disruption of video and the future of measurement to the consumers’ dynamically changing needs and, how the role of data, privacy, and technology impact their business. Vasim’s remit in our North market will encompass Phillips Domestic Appliances, Microsoft, Mastercard, Havells, and the DS Group amongst others, as he also works with our local teams to drive growth for both North and East markets,” Kotwani said. 

Rakhangi himself commented, “With the kind of transformation taking place within the media landscape in India, Carat’s framework seamlessly blends in with the rapidly changing environment. It has always focused on building deeper relationships between people and brands in order to design campaigns which truly resonate with people and drive impactful results for clients. It is indeed a privilege to work with Anita and lead regions with so many great opportunities to bring this to life in partnership with such powerful brands. I am really excited and look forward to contributing towards the growth of the clients.”

Rakhangi’s appointment is the fourth key strategic leadership hire for the agency in recent months, including Megha Jain as vice president of planning for South and Sayami Podder being appointed as associate VP for strategy at the agency. 

India — Carat India, the media agency from the house of dentsu India, has appointed Megha Jain as vice president of planning for South. She will report to Anita Kotwani, CEO of Carat India.

As per the mandate, Jain will focus on new business development and growth for Carat across the Southern market including Bengaluru and Kochi, while overseeing the agency’s existing clients.

In her previous roles, Jain has driven effective brand building through strong media strategies and communications for FMCG brands like Colgate Palmolive, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few. With over a decade and a half years of experience in the media industry, she has led integrated media planning and strategic thinking, focusing on digital transformation for clients and their businesses.

Commenting on the appointment, Kotwani said that the game plan for Carat India is to bring in leaders with an integrated skill set that can enhance client relationships. Kotwani continued by saying Jain’s focus will be to drive strategic stewardship with our key clients in Bengaluru and other Southern markets.

“She will also be instrumental in helping us drive growth for the Southern market. Enriched with experience to work with top brands, she will add huge value to our global and local clients. I am thrilled that Jain will be part of the talented team and I believe she will be an asset to the organisation,” Kotwani said.

Meanwhile, Jain said, “I am extremely excited to join the Carat family. It is a great opportunity to work with a diverse portfolio steaming from data, technology and healthcare across global and local markets. I look forward to collaborating with partner agencies across the dentsu network, driving growth under Kotwani’s leadership and working with some of the best minds in the country.”