Tag: Creative agency

Mumbai, India – Infectious Advertising, India-based integrated creative agency, has appointed Nitin Sharma, former marketing director at UAE Exchange in Dubai, to be its new vice president of business.

The new appointment will see Sharma leading important businesses for the creative agency. He will work closely with Nisha Singhania, the co-founder and director of Infectious Advertising, to consolidate existing businesses and develop organic growth.

Sharma brings with him two decades of work experience in advertising and marketing. He has previously worked with companies such as creative agencies Ambience and O&M, marketing communications company DDB Mudra, and advertising agency Leo Burnett. Sharma has also handled key clients like McDonald’s, Johnnie Walker, HDFC Life, and Philips, as well as Kamasutra, among others.

Commenting on his appointment, Sharma said, “I am delighted to be a part of the Infectious family. Our purpose here is not about creating fancy ads, but exploring the unique calibrations of communication, technology, and data to shape consumer behavior and move businesses.”

Meanwhile, Singhania together with the agency’s other Co-founder Ramanuj Shastry, jointly commented, “Nitin brings with him the experience of working on big brands across markets. We look forward to having him on board as we have a shared vision for the agency. We are sure Nitin will help in taking Infectious to the next level.”

Australia – Creative agency Special Group in Australia has appointed Max McKeon, former creative director of marketing and advertising company Colenso BBDO, to be its new creative director.

Prior to his new position, McKeon has previously worked with world-class brands, such as Toyota, Nestle, and Telstra. He also worked on renowned brands including DB Export, Monteith’s, Extra, and Pedigree, as well as Spark, and Eta, where he led campaigns like ‘I’m Drinking it for you’, ‘Take a Baby Step into Parenting’, and ‘That’s Why’. McKeon was also responsible for the famous ‘It’s a Tide Ad’ Superbowl spot and was awarded with over 100 individual recognitions. 

Commenting on his appointment, McKeon said “I am incredibly excited to be joining such an ambitious and talented group of people at Special Group. Their world-class and award-winning work is truly impressive and I can’t wait to be part of it.”

Meanwhile, Julian Schreiber, the chief creative officer and partner of Special Group Australia, said, “Max is a huge global talent. He’s had a real habit of making work in the past that’s always given us that gnawing envy feeling. Not only that, but he’s also grounded and a good human. So, there’s no doubt he’ll make a huge contribution to not just the work, but our entire agency’s culture.”

Special Group has also recently hired Matt Bladin, its new art director, and Phoebe Sloane, the new creative, to join the Melbourne-based creative team.

India – Facebook in India has launched the second film ‘Dhara’ as part of the platform’s ongoing ‘More Together’ campaign series, done in collaboration with dentsu international’s creative agency Taproot Dentsu India.

The ‘More Together’ campaign intends to celebrate the first anniversary of Facebook’s consumer marketing journey in the country. The campaign series showcases the platform’s power of connections and communities through inspirational stories.

The previously released film focuses on the life of ‘Richen’, a female football coach in Ladakh – a region in northern India, who shares her players’ videos on the social media platform. It highlights how the power of connections not only creates a fan-following for her team but also drives her and the team’s career forward.

The sequel, meanwhile, focuses on the life of Dhara, a book lover who rescues books from being consigned to the bin and that with the help of Facebook, finds homes for many of her rescued books.

The story continues to explain how people can do more together and that there are endless possibilities one can achieve through the power of Facebook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxVMXXtGZjA

According to Neeraj Kanitkar, senior creative director of Taproot Dentsu, the film is a sweet and simple demonstration of Facebook’s inherent power which is to supercharge the efforts of one person when the community gets behind it. 

“It is quite rare to be in the advertising business without having some love for the written word. So when Gauri Burma – the most passionate book lover amongst us – came up with the idea, we knew we simply had to make it happen. We hope that it inspires people to consider using Facebook to give a new lease of life to old, forgotten, and about-to-be-turned-into-pulp books,” said Kanitkar.

India – OPPO in India has launched a new television commercial (TVC) for its F19 Pro Series, showcasing the new ‘AI Highlight Portrait Video’ feature, done in collaboration with dentsu international’s creative agency Taproot Dentsu India.

The new F19 Pro Series aims to capitalize on the rising trend of creating video content among Generation Zs, which pushed OPPO to create a new feature for shooting quality videos in the dark, empowering content creators to film videos in challenging light conditions. 

Taproot Dentsu Agency was tasked to build on the popularity of OPPO’s F-series and highlight the key features of the F19 Pro series that would find a meaningful interpretation for ‘Flaunt’ which connects to video content creation.

The film focused on nightfall, reiterating bad lighting a common barrier for content creators. The spot demonstrates the OPPO F19 Pro series’ stellar solution to the said age-old problem. To build on the night-time atmosphere, the film made use of a remix track of an old cult classic Bollywood song. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZASsldLPqc

Damyant Singh Khanoria, the chief marketing officer of OPPO Mobiles India, said, “As a leading technology brand, we take pride in creating products which delight consumers. ‘Flaunt Your Night’ spotlights the joy of capturing magical moments on the OPPO F19 Pro series even in low light conditions. We loved Taproot Dentsu’s approach of weaving the story of friends creating unforgettable memories with the iconic ‘So gaya ye jahan’ track. The film is the perfect embodiment of the F-Series product series.”

Meanwhile, Abhinav Kaushik, the executive vice president and account management of Taproot Dentsu Gurgaon, also said, “OPPO’s F19 Pro Series is a game-changer in its segment of the mobile handset industry. With its innovative features that empower content creators to break the low-light obstacles in their path, the brand is poised to drive real, tangible value to millions of aspiring creators across the country. The creative interpretation of the brief helped to isolate and effectively communicate these features and demonstrate that OPPO’s F19 Pro Series is here to push the envelope further.” 

India – Tinder India’s latest ad campaign, #InOurOwnWay, depicts the current dating scene among young people in India who are creating new ways and means of dating, especially during the pandemic.

The video shows the different faces of dating today: be it making a mundane outdoor hopscotch date memorable, improvising the lack of a public swimming pool, making the effort for a virtual dance party, or exploring the city on cycles.

The short film is a stark reminder of optimism still being evident through making various possibilities, especially when physical distancing has become a norm nowadays.

“The pandemic has significantly diminished opportunities of chance encounters and interactions from our lives especially for our young members. But human connection endures, unconstrained from rules of physical distance and barriers (both social and physical) and we continue to be inspired by our community,” said Taru Kapoor, general manager for Tinder and Match group-India.

He also added, “Our members have creatively co-created and figured out new rules of meeting, hanging out and falling in love. None of this is surprising, Gen Z has always set their own pace, created their own rules and thrived despite constraints and COVID has only accelerated this ingenuity-this is the spirit we are championing and celebrating.”

The video was conceptualized and created by creative ad agency BBH India

“In creating a music video for Tinder, it is the Tinder community who came up with the ‘creatives’ – the many ways of dating. All we had to do was to reflect and celebrate them. ‘In our own way’ is a refrain that champions their spirit – from choosing who to be with to setting their own pace to meet-ups at places which may not have seen dates before,” Executive Creative Director for BBH Delhi Vasudha Misra said.

In addition to that, the video featured an original soundtrack composed by music director Mikey McCleary, with vocals by Indian-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer Raja Kumari.

Speaking about the lyric-writing process, Kumari commented, “Working on the lyrics and music has been a very rewarding experience and I’m grateful to be the voice of such an inclusive and progressive campaign. I hope it inspires people everywhere to be themselves and love and live in their own way.” 

Sydney, Australia – Global digital creative agency AnalogFolk has created a new campaign via its Sydney arm, to launch Hyundai’s new N-Line sports package for the i30Sedan in Australia.

The 90-second launch film ‘After Dark’ takes an edgy and dark theme. The video features dream-like sequences with deconstructed nursery rhymes and rap performed by Australian talent.

The agency calls its latest creative endeavor as “taking a non-traditional approach to a traditional car.” The spot stars real people who are pursuing side hustles and passions outside of their day jobs.

AnalogFolk Executive Creative Director Richard Morgan said the campaign aims to capture the attention of people who have a quiet, innate sense of competitiveness and love the thrill of driving.

“Early on, we resolved that if you’re the sort of person who likes to curl up with a light Adam Sandler comedy on Netflix and an early night, then this isn’t the car, nor the spot for you,” said Morgan.

The agency said the car’s all-new virtual cockpit helped inspire the idea to set the campaign at night, when the car, like the characters who drive it, “light up and come alive.”

“The need to step outside of our comfort zone and overcome barriers – real or imagined – is something that our audience intuitively understands,” Morgan said.

“Setting the spot at night, when the senses are heightened and our hero characters are hard at work while most people are safely tucked up in bed, allowed us to interweave surprising, nocturnal elements in playful, non-
linear ways, using the urban landscape as a backdrop,” he added.

The campaign of 90-, 30-, and 15-second cutdowns are currently running, supported by online and out-of-home.

Hong Kong – With the new football season in Europe underway, Pizza Hut Hong Kong has collaborated with global advertising agency Ogilvy to deliver a limited foosball pizza box to customers, that can be availed through a game in social media.

The new limited edition item is part of the brand’s dedicated football campaign “12th Player Club.” It is specially designed with a fully playable foosball table integrated into the lid of the box.

Pizza Hut has commissioned five special boxes to be up for grabs. The company has asked interested customers to follow a simple set of mechanics on its Facebook page, where one of the requirements is a membership to the brand’s football interactive platform “Best 12th Man Club.”

“Pizza Hut’s ‘12th Player Club’ campaign is ramping up to encourage football fans who are stuck isolated at home to get into the football spirit, while tucking into great tasting pizza,” said Ogilvy in a press release.

Marketing Director Wendy Leung shared that the special packaging is the brand’s way of reminding football fans that pizza goes best with football.

“We always want to go above and beyond when catering to our audience and given how fatigued the community has been this year, offering fun beyond just food, and bringing an experience like this to life right in your pizza box, is the perfect way to make people smile,” said Leung.

Meanwhile, John Koay, executive creative director for Ogilvy Hong Kong added, “A lot of football fans have been stuck at home during these past few months, so we wanted to bring the fun and flavor to them. The Foosball Pizza Box is a great packaging idea that brings together the football action and delicious pizza for a memorable meal experience that you can share with friends.”

The campaign runs from 6 October to 20 October.

Australia – Special Group Australia has debuted Uber Eats’ “Tonight I’ll be eating” (TIBE) campaign in the United States and Canada, starting with an ad featuring Hollywood superstars Mark Hamill and Patrick Stewart.

The TIBE campaign is the brain child of the agency, and after gaining traction in Australia, Taiwan, and Japan, Uber Eats has decided to add the two countries in the campaign’s audience reach.

In the 45-second spot, Hamill and Stewart who are both in full black suits with a bat in hand are seen approaching each other in a dark warehouse as if on a showdown. Hamill starts delivering a line of “Tonight I’ll be eating,” saying the food he wants to get delivered, then Stewart thereafter. Before they go on a brief verbal showdown, their fierce exteriors momentarily break off as each of their Uber Eats delivery arrives, to say a casual ‘Thank you” and ‘Bravo” to the deliverer. 

The reference is made on the perpetual cultural argument of which sci-fi franchise is better between “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” in which both actors have starred in.

The latest spot follows the same format of past TIBE campaigns. The TIBE ads date back to its early spots in 2017. The campaign has been featuring prominent stars both in Australia and abroad such as British singer Boy George, actress Naomi Watts, and professional rugby league footballer Beau Ryan. The most recent TIBE iteration has global superstar Kim Kardashian-West and renowned Australian character Sharon Strezlecki from the sitcom Kath & Kim gracing the ad, where they are shown having a sarcastic argument on the right pronunciation of the word “nice.”

Hamill and Stewart’s ad follows a series of two other 15-second spots where the two actors compete against each other for the better Uber Eats meal, while simultaneously trying to beat each other at Air Hockey and Connect Four.

Cade Heyde, founding partner of Special Group Australia said, “The ‘Tonight I’ll be eating’ brand platform has had immense success in this market as well as across Asia Pacific. Expanding the platform to the other side of the world is a real honor and an incredibly proud moment for our agency. We couldn’t be more thrilled to share this loved campaign with the US.”

Meanwhile, Head of Marketing at Uber Eats for US and Canada Georgie Jeffreys believes that the launch of the Australia-grown campaign to the US and Canada is a natural progression as TIBE has proven to be a highly effective advertising campaign for the brand.

“It has helped drive record levels of customer penetration and brand affinity in the five markets in which it’s now live, and we’re excited to continue to expand the franchise with this latest launch,” said Jeffreys. 

Joint CCO and partners at Special Group Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber share that for them, the extension of the campaign is no common feat.

“We’re very proud ‘Tonight I’ll be eating’ has become such a cultural phenomenon in Australia and is being taken to the US and Canada. Bringing together two iconic space legends who’s appeal crosses generations feels like the right way to introduce ‘Tonight I’ll be eating’ to the US. It is not often Australian creative work travels to the other side of the world, and we are extremely excited to watch this platform grow,” they said.

Uber Eats is an America-headquartered food delivery platform first launched in 2014. It is the extension of the ride-hailing app Uber. 

Australia – Australia-based independent creative agency Town Square has announced Wednesday that leading airline company Qatar Airways and its destination management subsidiary, Discover Qatar have procured its services to launch a global marketing campaign, specifically two of them.

The campaigns will target people traveling through Doha’s Hamad International Airport encouraging them to stopover on their journey and discover what Qatar has to offer, which is slated to be the host country for the world cup in 2022.

Town Square has recently achieved a distinction in travel marketing, having bagged the awards Advertising Agency of the Year at media outlet Mumbrella’s 2020 Travel Marketing Awards. It has also been awarded Ad Campaign of the Year for the campaign “Made of Balarat,” which implores locals to explore the city of Balarat in Victoria, Australia.

Town Square Founder and Director Danielle Moeller said, “We’re honored and delighted to be partnering with two world-leading organizations, Qatar Airways and Discover Qatar. Qatar is one of the most exciting and innovative countries right now, and with the 2022 World Cup on the horizon, the world is soon going to turn its attention to Qatar and discover what we already know, that it is a truly special place.”

“This is a major win for Town Square and reaffirms our strength in tourism and destination marketing. It provides us with amazing opportunities to showcase the depth of our creative and strategic capabilities as we drive to be recognized as one of Australia’s leading independent agencies,” added Moeller.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways’ Senior Vice President Steve Reynolds said, “I know first-hand the strength that the whole team at Town Square has at using robust consumer insights and category-defying creativity to help drive businesses success. We’re excited about our partnership and how it can drive growth in visitation to Qatar.”

Town Square shared that it has already started working on projects for the company which will be launched later this year. 

Qatar Airways is the ‘World’s Best Business Class’ in 2019. Currently, it operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft connecting travelers to more than 160 destinations around the world.

APAC – Following a competitive pitch, Dentsu Aegis Network, a multinational media and digital marketing communications company has announced the expansion of its regional scope in APAC with health technology company Philips’ consumer electronics business. 

Dentsu will also now be leading the commerce strategy and performance for Philips APAC. Globally, the network has been appointed as the company’s media planning and buying partner 

The engagement started in 2019 with the objective to build strategic and planning foundations across the region. Moving into 2020, the appointment will focus on developing an integrated performance and commerce hub which is based out of Singapore. It will drive strategy, planning, and data-driven commerce solutions across ASEAN, ANZ, and South Korea markets by bringing in key expertise across Dentsu-owned agencies Carat and iProspect to create the One Dentsu team.

Anne Jivananta, digital marketing & eCommerce lead of Philips said, “Dentsu Aegis Network has consistently shown a strong understanding of our brand and demonstrated their capability to find agile and innovative ways for us to succeed in this region. Dentsu has really elevated their performance since the hub was formed in 2019 and in 2020, they have worked closely with our teams across the region to drive superior business results specifically across eCommerce”

Jivanta added, “More importantly, their collaborative one-team approach across the region, accelerated thinking framework, and zest to continuously evolve to deliver better results strongly set them apart. They demonstrated a great synergy and chemistry between iProspect and Carat and having a one-stop-shop solution to commerce strategy, planning, activation, and optimization is what we’re looking for in an agency.”

Prerna Mehrotra, managing director of Dentsu Aegis Network Singapore Media Group said: “Philips creates best-in-class consumer and personal health products and we’re delighted to be joining them on transforming their go-to-market commerce strategy. This is a perfect time for Dentsu Aegis Network to partner with Philips on this journey as we specialize in providing commerce solutions addressing the entire consumer journey. I am excited about what we have achieved together and look forward to delivering on Philips’ ambition and driving strong business results.”