Tag: India

Mumbai, India – Local-based digital marketing solutions company Social Beat has announced that it has entered a new partnership with global customer relationship management (CRM) platform Salesforce in a bid to drive marketing automation and digital transformation for brands in the country.

Through the mandate, both will help leading brands in India take up marketing automation solutions to align their marketing and sales. In addition, the solution will help not only generate the best leads but also keep the leads engaged and connect with them at the right time to close more leads. 

Accordingly, Social Beat has been chosen as the implementation and setup partner for Salesforce in the country, hence Social Beat will also help Salesforce’s customers accelerate their productivity and make insightful decisions to garner more leads.

“We are really excited to be partnering with Salesforce to drive marketing automation projects with brands in India. We are confident about this partnership leading to accelerated growth in the domain of digital transformation & marketing automation for both of us,” said Suneil Chawla, co-founder of Social Beat.

With Salesforce’s marketing automation tool, a company’s sales and marketing can work hand-in-hand to manage the existing customers and also identify prospective ones. This tool also helps companies track their leads from click to close. Salesforce, with the help of Social Beat, will make sure companies can stay connected to the consumers through email, mobile and social networks. 

In addition, Social Beat. in its partnership with Salesforce, also has the opportunity to join more than 150,000 like-minded companies and find a massive community of experts and evangelists committed to the company’s growth.

India – Online language learning platform instrucko in India has partnered with public relations agency Alphabet Media to be its new communications partner.

Instrucko specializes in teaching various languages including English, French, Spanish, and Hindi. It also offers public speaking and creative writing to children from the age of three to fifteen years. 

As part of the partnership, Team Alphabet will be responsible for handling the strategic communications and media relations for the platform.

Devvaki Aggarwal, the co-founder and CEO of instrucko, commented, “We are looking forward to working with Alphabet Media and are looking forward to a strong partnership. Our common love for storytelling is what makes this partnership exciting.”

Meanwhile, Alphabet Media’s Founder Tejal Daftary, commented that ed-tech is definitely an upcoming domain and to be the PR partner for Instrucko, which is a unique education platform, feels amazing. 

“Our main objective would remain to continue to help the brand grow as we communicate their story to the media and further strengthen their popularity as a go-to platform for kids and young adults,” said Daftary.

Just recently, Alphabet Media has also announced a partnership with global luxury vehicles company Maserati in India and was tasked to handle its strategic planning, media relations, and digital campaigns, as well as providing integrated communication solutions.

Mumbai, India – Mumbai-based digital-first advertising agency Chimp&z Inc showed utter solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community by launching the #PrideOfAdvertising campaign. Through the campaign, the agency did not just honor Pride Month but also raised the value of inclusivity in the advertising industry. 

The agency presented a candid yet meaningful ‘Q&A’ series on its social media pages, capturing the queer professionals’ coming-out emotions and reactions to homo/transphobic comments. These were then gathered and presented as inspirational stories on Chimp&z Inc’s FB and IG pages.

Onir, national award-winning filmmaker

Despite rapidly growing cultural acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is still evident. With this, the agency initiated a campaign that will inspire and empower the community. 

Archit Ambekar, the marketing manager at The Red Pen

The campaign featured professionals including Sumitro Sircar, the group account manager at Chimp&z Inc, Archit Ambekar, the marketing manager at The Red Pen, and freelancer Priyesha Nair, as well as film-maker Onir, who is known for being one of the earliest advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights in India, among many others.

Chimp&z Inc’s CEO and Co-Founder Angad Singh Manchanda commented that coming out is a challenge for the LGBTQIA+ community, not just personally but professionally and psychologically as well. 

Manchanda said that urban LGBTQIA+ activism has created space for individuals to defy societal norms and perceptions and choose to live as per their will. With this, the list of Pride-themed campaigns taking over the internet in June keeps getting longer and more meaningful. 

“We wanted to do more than just tell stories. We brought out the perspective of each individual and their experience in the industry after coming out professionally. This digital campaign sets out a virtual pride parade that honors LGBTQIA+ members of the advertising community. I trust it will evolve and adapt to the changing society in the coming years. On behalf of the team at Chimp&z Inc, I thank all the mavens of the #PrideOfAdvertising. We celebrate you with pride,” said Manchanda.

India – Digital marketing agency RepIndia has appointed Purnima Bali, former associate creative director at digital firm Interactive Avenues, to be its new creative director, strengthening the agency’s creative core.

In her previous work at Interactive Avenues, Bali led the creative team and marshaled the creative business for brands such as Honda Cars India, Sony India, and Hero Cycles, as well as DishTV, and Oppo Mobiles, among others. She has also worked as the creative group head at various digital agencies including Isobar and Digitas.

As part of her new role, Bali will be leading the creative endeavor at RepIndia, and further grow the creative business across Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Commenting on joining RepIndia, Bali said that she is excited to be a part of the team and is looking forward to breaking new creative barriers and creating new digital milestones.

She further shared that RepIndia’s body of work, clients, and their feet firmly on the ground are the attributes that have stood out in the awards circuit, and even amid brands that are eagerly and earnestly looking for effective creative solutions where brand-agency camaraderie is the only way work gets done.

“And it is this quality of RepIndia that breeds a convivial environment for creative autonomy that made my decision to join hands with Ayesha and Archit’s labor of love, so effortless,” noted Bali.

Meanwhile, Ayesha Chenoy, the founder of RepIndia, commented, “We have wanted to bring Purnima on board for years, her mad digital-first ideas and incredible drive are just what we wanted to add to RepIndia’s arsenal as we go on to have one of the best leadership teams across the country.”

New Delhi, India – The Trade Desk, a technology company focused on empowering advertising buyers, has announced that it will be expanding its market to India. With this, it has also named its general manager for the market band, Tejinder Gill.

He will lead the company’s business and growth strategy in India, helping Indian brands and publishers unleash the full potential of the open internet where Indian consumers are increasingly spending their time.

The Trade Desk aims to help India’s digital marketers capture these fast-growing opportunities. With The Trade Desk’s industry-leading data-driven capabilities, marketers can access a marketplace of premium advertising inventory across a wide range of websites, apps, podcasts and streaming OTT platforms. 

As an omnichannel platform, The Trade Desk enables marketers to reach relevant audiences across different devices such as computers, mobile devices, tablets and connected TV, and engage with them meaningfully along their entire digital journey.

For Gill, digital is the fastest-growing advertising segment in India and, as a result, marketers in India are seeking more trust and transparency as they shift more campaign budgets there.

“While Indian consumers are spending 70% of their time on the open internet, almost 80% of India’s digital ad revenue still goes to the big tech platforms, which sit outside the open internet. The Trade Desk is here to bring the much needed data-driven decisioning and transparency to India’s digital advertising ecosystem, offering marketers a credible choice where they can tap into the immense opportunities of the open internet,” he stated.

Rapid digitization of the media industry has provided a paradigm shift in the way Indians consume content online. In particular, content consumption on the open internet has exploded in the last 18 months. According to a study by Global Web Index, Indians, on average, are spending as many as eight hours a day online – 70% of which is spent on the open internet, which includes online content, over-the-top (OTT) and music streaming.

Furthermore, the open internet grew at a much faster pace than other online channels, even social media. Online content and OTT streaming grew 28% and 16% respectively, while social media grew by a mere 1%.

On a separate note, The Trade Desk has recently teamed up with marketing cloud InMobi to cater to this growing need among marketers by making their respective platforms available to clients accordingly.

Los Angeles – OTTera, global white label OTT service, has announced the appointment of its director of business development for India operations, seasoned media and communications Sumit Rastogi. 

The appointment comes at a time when on-demand and live stream videos are at their peak demand with audiences looking for digital channels of entertainment in the middle of lockdowns. 

Headquartered in Los Angeles, OTTera provides an all-in-one platform for content developers with solutions for cross-platform development, distribution, and monetization. It allows companies to launch highly customized OTT services at speed, one that would normally take several years and a massive investment to build. According to the company, it currently manages over 70 linear channels and more than 50 OTT services globally.

Stephen Hodge, co-CEO and chairman of OTTera, said that the appointment of Rastogi, who has built a broad leadership and network within the country, will help the company accelerate its growth and tap the many opportunities in the Indian sub-continent.

Rastogi boasts of over 18 years of experience in the area of media sales, content acquisition, and content syndication, and most importantly, in partnerships and affiliate business. Prior to joining OTTera, he was general manager at U2opia Mobile and has also worked for Times of India, Locovida Digital Solutions, and 9.9 Media & Dainik Jagran.

For his new role, Rastogi is charged to grow OTTera’s client base and operations in India. He will be exploring business opportunities from Indian content creators to showcase their content diaspora on leading connected TV and OTT channels and platforms globally.

Rastogi commented that the OTT viewership in India is at an all-time high now and has become the primary mode of entertainment for consumers across Tier II and III cities.

“Regional content, gaming sports, fitness, education will be key drivers in India’s OTT growth and I realize that I have a big opportunity to introduce OTTera services to all the OTT players [and] linear channels and content creators in India. I’m thrilled about working with the talented & experienced OTTera team,” he said. 

India – Real estate company Gulshan Group in India has appointed digital marketing agency iCubesWire to be its digital creative partner.

Gulshan Group is an established real estate organization with vast business networks in the country. It has a presence in the infrastructure development, construction, and housing segment, as well as other business operations. 

As per the mandate, iCubesWire will be handling the digital creative duties of Gulshan’s residential and commercial projects, including Gulshan Dynasty and Gulshan one29, among others. The marketing agency will also be heading the brand’s communication and strategy across digital and offline media channels. 

Gulshan Group’s Vice President of Marketing Suneet Singh shared that iCubesWire owes its win to their expertise in marketing, especially for the real estate market.

“We at Gulshan Group believe building a better world takes time and years of experience. And since iCubesWire shares the same ideology and brings the perfect mix of creativity and strategy, we are glad to have them on board as the brand’s creative agency,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, Sahil Chopra, the CEO and founder of iCubesWire, commented that they are honored to be chosen as the creative agency for the Gulshan Group. 

“We hope to scale new heights for the brand through our innovative solutions and expertise in marketing. We are looking forward to growing the brand’s business exponentially,” said Chopra.

iCubesWire is a digital marketing agency in the country that offers 360° concepts to various clients across e-commerce, automobile, technology, and finance, as well as travel, and hospitality, among others.

India – Global luxury vehicles company Maserati in India has awarded its public relations and digital mandate to communications agency Alphabet Media.

Maserati is an Italian manufacturer of luxury automobiles including a tradition of successful cars, namely the Quattroporte flagship, the Ghibli sports sedan, and the Levante.

As per the mandate, Alphabet Media will be responsible for Maserati’s strategic planning, media relations, digital campaigns, and providing integrated communication solutions in the country.

Bojan Jankulovski, the head of operations at Maserati India, shared that the brand is driven to challenge the status quo being innovative by nature, powered by passion, and unique by design.

“The partnership with Alphabet Media is the embodiment of all these values. We are pleased to onboard the agency as our communications partner in India and we look forward to a great working relationship with the team,” said Jankulovski.

Meanwhile, Alphabet Media’s Founder Tejal Daftary commented that they are delighted to get the opportunity to work for an iconic brand like Maserati in India. 

“We are committed to delivering Maserati customer experience through well-planned communications to further strengthen the brand’s presence in the country,” said Daftary.

Alphabet Media is a public relations and communications agency that provides strategic and integrated solutions. It also offers services across public relations, marketing communications, and digital communications.