Sydney, Australia – Australian footwear and clothing company R.M. Williams has appointed WiredCo. as its global digital media partner, where the agency will be working with the apparel and footwear brand across six regions globally.

WiredCo’s mandate covers paid search, shopping, display, broadcaster video on demand (BVOD), and off-page management of the brand’s Meta, Pinterest and YouTube channels.

R.M. Williams is undergoing a massive digital transformation and will use digital media channels to drive brand awareness, consideration and growth globally, focusing initially on their biggest and emerging markets; Australia, New Zealand and the UK, respectively.

As part of the mandate, WiredCo will work in close partnership with the brand’s offline agency partner, Audience Precision, tapping into their proprietary ‘Precise360’ platform, along with Special Group, the brand’s creative agency of record.

Chris Willingham, chief marketing officer at R.M. Williams said, “What really stands out about WiredCo. is how successfully they integrate strategy and creativity with digital performance. It’s something I haven’t seen done this well by a digital agency before.” 

He added, “Above all, the people at WiredCo. are the perfect fit for the people at R.M. Williams. We’re looking forward to a fruitful long-term partnership as we launch into a new era for the brand.”

Meanwhile, Angela Hampton, founder and managing director at WiredCo, commented, “We’re absolutely stoked to be appointed to the legend and icon that is R.M.Williams. Having grown up in the bush myself, I have a genuine connection with the brand so this is a dream come true for our agency. As the brand embarks upon a new journey to get closer to its Australian roots, we can’t wait to play a key role in realising this.”

India – Contract Advertising, a Wunderman Thompson group company, has won the mandate for Haldiram’s, an Indian multinational sweets, savouries and retail/restaurant company headquartered in Delhi.

The mandate will include brand strategy and creatives for the domestic market, the export market, as well as in retail/QSRs. The account will be handled out of Contract Mumbai’s office.

Haldiram’s has manufacturing plants in a wide variety of locations in such as UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Bihar, J&K, Guwahati in India.

Pankaj Agarwal, managing director at Haldiram’s, said, “Haldiram’s has always been trusted for their quality offerings. As a key player in the snack, sweets, and restaurant sector, we are known to generate excitement amongst the consumers. We, as a brand, are constantly innovating and trying to raise our high-quality standards.” 

He added, “To make consumers aware of our wide brand portfolio, we needed an advertising agency that understands our constant rise and the consumer’s changing mindsets. And that is why we are excited to partner with Contract Advertising to build effective marketing communications and reach new heights.”

Meanwhile, Divya Batra, marketing head at Haldiram’s, commented, “Over the years, Haldiram’s has expanded its range from traditional namkeens to western snacks, frozen snacks, ready to eat, ready to cook, chocolates, and many more food categories. To communicate the same to our consumers, we needed an agency passionate about reaching and engaging with consumers impactfully.”

Ayan Chakraborty, EVP and general manager at Contract Mumbai, said, “Haldiram’s is an iconic brand, and it is a household name in India. We are proud of being the agency that has been given the responsibility to craft the narrative for this brand in India and abroad. “

Lastly, Rahul Ghosh, SVP and executive creative director at Contract Mumbai, commented, “At Contract, we have a bit of history with Made In India powerhouses. Haldiram’s is one such global success story. Getting to work on the narrative of this iconic brand is the kind of challenge that is a part of our DNA.”

Mumbai, India – Global cosmetic retail giant Sephora has appointed Mumbai-based creative agency Yellow to be its creative agency partner in India.

As part of the remit, Yellow will be responsible for Sephora India’s online and offline communications, including social media, celebrity campaigns, and e-commerce. 

Moreover, the partnership will help Sephora bring the global experience to Indian consumers across all touchpoints. The chief prerequisite for the brand’s new agency will be to navigate the burgeoning Indian market while keeping intact its core values and global identity.

Sephora is a luxury beauty retailer that offers a well-curated selection of makeup, skincare, and fragrance brands. Its India business is helmed by Arvind Lifestyle Brands in India. 

Shrey Doshi, Yellow’s creative director and founder, shared that Sephora is the go-to source for all things beauty and skincare across the world and they are looking forward to working with such an illustrious brand and growing it across India. 

“Over the years, we’ve worked extensively with D2C beauty and skincare brands, and are excited about merging our local know-how with the global expertise that Sephora brings to the table,” said Doshi.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Froyo Story, an agency under digital holding ALVA, has been appointed as digital agency partner by Indonesian banking and financial services company OCBC NISP. The mandate will be for a 12-month period.

Amir Widjaya, OCBC NISP’s head of marketing and lifestyle business division, said, “The appointment was made to assist the bank in achieving its purpose to encourage Millennials and Generation Z to be more financially fit through fresher, more creative, and more relevant approach.”

The mandate will see OCBC NISP and Froyo Story creating a plan with a digital manoeuvre strategy that applies a creative, novel concept. This creative approach will be a key to achieving the bank’s grand mission. The digital campaign is about to involve Millennials and Generation Z through various social media channels by means of a number of creative and distinctive digital activities.

Zehrina Riskyankeiko, director of Froyo, commented, “We are pleased to welcome the second quarter of the year by signing a partnership agreement with one of the largest banks in Indonesia, OCBC NISP.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Dentsu Malaysia has won the digital transformation mandate for Malaysia’s retail food company QSR Brands, becoming the key partner on the company’s transformational journey for KFC and Pizza Hut. 

As part of the mandate, Dentsu Malaysia will be the partner of KFC and Pizza Hut in becoming a true data-first organisation, and future proof business verticals across marketing, operations, and supply chain. The brands have been in the phase of transformation and will go through a data-driven acceleration to improve business efficiencies.

Dheeraj Raina, CEO of Dentsu Media in Malaysia, shared that QSR has set a bold vision for their KFC and Pizza Hut businesses, and the agency shares this vision with them and believes that these brands have a big potential of becoming data companies. 

“For the next 18 months, we will be working with the marketing, data and business teams of KFC and Pizza hut in unlocking the real consumer value with the use of media tech, data and marketing technology. We are bringing the best minds across our service lines together to co-create this powerful and rewarding future with QSR,” said Raina.

Meanwhile, Nehchal Khanna, CEO of QSR Brands (KFC & Pizza Hut) for Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Brunei, noted that over the last two years, significant digital investments have been made to provide better digital customer experience and restaurant operations efficiencies and to pivot their business to digital sales because of the changing consumer landscape. 

“We are now ready to realise our bold vision of becoming the number one food technology business in ASEAN, and as part of that aspiration, we are embarking upon this journey with our partners at Dentsu who have gone through a rigorous process of evaluation and selection for this role,” said Khanna.

Mumbai, India – Digital music company Believe has appointed strategy consultancy Pitchfork Partners to be its communication counsel that will manage its brand strategies in India.

As part of the mandate, Pitchfork Partners will be working closely with Believe India to strengthen its brand awareness and engagement for its services across Artist Services, Label and Artist Solutions, and TuneCore, as well as Ishtar with relevant stakeholders across the country. It will also drive and support Believe’s mission to develop independent artists and labels with their unique offerings and solutions, at each stage of their career and development.

Vivek Raina, Believe’s managing director for India, commented that they are excited with their association with Pitchfork Partners, as the agency’s experience and understanding of the industry align with Believe’s objectives and will help them reach emerging independent artists and labels in the digital world. 

“We are focused on building a community in which independent artists and labels will get a platform and partnership to build their fanbase and enhance their revenues in the digital world,” said Raina.

Meanwhile, Jaideep Shergill, Pitchfork Partners’ co-founder, said, “We are delighted to work with Believe India, given its leadership position in this competitive industry. It’s a great opportunity for us to drive their messaging across audiences in the country. We look forward to reaching new heights with Believe.”

Bangalore, India — HiveMinds Innovative Market Solutions, the digital marketing specialist of Madison World, has won the digital marketing mandate for Kuvera, an India-based investment platform.

Founded in 2016, Kuvera offers online personal financial services and has pioneered goal-based, direct plan mutual fund investing for Indians. Kuvera uses technology to help users make smart decisions and navigate the nuances of personal finance. Trusted by more than a million investors with over Rs. 34,000 Crores in assets; the platform enables investments, loans and remittances.

Gaurav Rastogi, founder and CEO of Kuvera, said, “At Kuvera we are creating a safe space to invest for every Indian. We believe that HiveMinds’ category understanding and strategy can really drive the next phase of our growth.”

Jyothirmayee JT, founder and CEO of HiveMinds, commented, “Digital investment platforms are driving a sea change in the way Indians invest. Kuvera is riding this wave through product innovation, an agile platform and customer onboarding at scale. We’re happy to be associated with the team and look forward to creating new benchmarks in growth together.”

The digital mandate adds to the already colourful portfolio managed by HiveMinds such as Dominos, MaxLife Insurance, BigBasket, and eCommerce mandates of brands like Crompton, P&G, and Nivea, among others.

India– WATConsult, the digital marketing arm of hybrid digital agency Isobar, has won the creative and social media mandate for CarDekho, India’s digital automotive solutions provider. The account will be managed by the agency’s Delhi office.

As per the mandate, WATConsult will be responsible for CarDekho‘s social media management, digital creative designing, and content marketing, as well as ORM.

Charu Kishnani, CarDekho’s SVP of marketing and content, commented, “We’re thrilled to partner with WATConsult as our creative and social partners. This engagement will help us elevate our brand presence with the right Strategy, Ideation and Creative thinking. We are looking forward to creating some good and memorable work. Welcome aboard, WATConsult.”

Meanwhile, Heeru Dingra, CEO of Isobar India, said, “CarDekho is a one-stop destination for new as well as second-hand cars. The brand’s auto and non-auto business is expanding, and we are so excited to embark on this journey with them.”

Sahil Shah, WATConsult’s managing partner, shared that they are happy to have the opportunity to partner with CarDekho and they cannot wait to build a dynamic brand presence for them. 

“Our strategy is to enhance the top of the mind recall that the brand has created by applying creative, new age thinking and a strong storytelling narrative,” said Shah.

New York, USA – Amazon’s online audiobook and podcast service Audible has named Wavemaker as its global agency of record for paid media. Through the mandate, Wavemaker will handle Audible’s paid media across its 10 markets namely US, Canada, UK, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, India, Japan, and Australia.

Cynthia Chu, CFO and growth officer at Audible, said, “We know that Audible enhances the lives of our listeners, everywhere in the world. Wavemaker’s energised approach to media will help Audible reach many more potential customers around the world and their global background will bring a nuanced, individualised approach to each marketplace in which we offer our service.”

Meanwhile, Toby Jenner, global CEO at Wavemaker said, “We live in a world, now more than ever, where exceptional growth requires accelerated change. We developed bespoke principles to power Audible’s Next Level of Performance, which will be underpinned with our market leading data and technology capabilities.”

He added, “We couldn’t be more excited to work with Audible and their teams around the world. We are two businesses very much culturally aligned through our vision for the future.”

Singapore – Strategic communications consultancy RICE has announced new technology retainer wins with enterprise automation software company UiPath and voice AI start-up AI Rudder. 

With the UiPath mandate, RICE will be driving the company’s leadership position in the enterprise automation industry. It will also be providing strategic counsel on UiPath’s regional brand communications, driving media campaigns and relations, as well as managing thought leadership content development.

Toni Iafrate, UiPath’s vice president and chief communications officer, shared that as digital transformation continues to accelerate and deepen across enterprises and industries, they believe that APAC shows great promise to unlock automation-led innovation and growth opportunities.

“We are excited to partner with the RICE team in Singapore to amplify our story in the region and help more companies recognise the power of automation,” said Iafrate.

Meanwhile, for the AI Rudder mandate, RICE has been appointed as its new communications consultancy of record, laying the groundwork for its regional communications. The remit includes media relations, thought leadership development, and content development. RICE will also be boosting AI Rudder’s presence in SEA and Australia.

Henrik Petersen, AI Rudder’s vice president and head of global marketing, noted that as voice AI technology continues to evolve and mature, it is poised to make the leap from experimentation to widespread real-world adoption, with potential for use cases spanning industries.

“We look forward to working with RICE to help amplify AI Rudder’s vision of establishing a new foundation for business communication powered by advanced voice AI,” said Peterson.

The RICE teams servicing both accounts are based in Singapore but will provide regional support and oversight of various markets in the region.