Tag: South Asia

Mumbai, India – Intellimation.ai, the enterprise AI company in India that uses its proprietary natural language processing and machine learning methods in the BFSI sector, has appointed strategy consultancy Pitchfork Partners to drive its strategic communication duties.

Intellimation.ai focuses on the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector, and has large investment banks, asset management companies, and insurance brokers as its clients. Its flagship product, Vector, is an enterprise AI software and acts as an intelligent connective tissue to contextually interpret and transform non-uniform or non-standard information, and automate related downstream processes through a web of self-learning workflows to deliver end-to-end STP. 

As part of the partnership, Pitchfork Partners will be supporting Intellimation.ai’s business growth and will be boosting its brand narrative.

Har Pulak Bahadur, the CEO of Intellimation.ai, believes that AI products will fundamentally alter the way in which businesses are set up and conducted, and this trend will continue, especially due to the increasing adoption of AI as an operational backbone. 

“We are in the early stages of a fourth industrial revolution! At this stage, brand communication is critical, and I am positive that Pitchfork Partners’ expertise will play a key role in our success,” said Bahadur.

Jaideep Shergill, Pitchfork Partners’ co-founder, commented, “We are honored to assist Intellimation.ai in transforming the operations landscape of financial institutions. It’s a privilege to be part of its journey in India.”

In August this year, Pitchfork Partners was also appointed by Rupeek, the asset-backed digital lending platform in India, to be its new public relations and digital consultancy partner, and was tasked to drive the brand’s business growth.

Gurugram, India – India’s full-funnel creative and performance digital agency by media company Zoo Media Network, FoxyMoron, has appointed Umang Puri, former creative director at marketing firm Digitas India, to assume the role of creative director for its North clients. 

Prior to his role at Digitas India, Puri was the former creative manager at FoxyMoron in the Gurugram office.

Puri brings with him over seven years of experience in digital advertising. He has previously worked with brands like Nissan, Datsun, Motorola, Nestle, and Dabur, as well as various brands in B2B, beauty, and fashion.

The new role will see Puri leading the creative operations for FoxyMoron’s North clientele, working with agencies across the Zoo Media Network. He will be reporting directly to Dhruv Warrior, the national creative director.

“As I begin my second stint here, our focus is to navigate the agency into a bigger creative powerhouse by enabling and empowering young talent to become multi-faceted creators. I’m excited to be a part of this journey,” commented Puri, regarding his appointment.

Meanwhile, Warrior believes that Puri’s detailed approach to his work perfectly complements his in-depth knowledge of the digital world, and the combination is vital to elevating creative output for FoxyMoron, which is a key area of focus when delivering innovative digital solutions to our clients. 

“Umang will be a driving force behind our creative direction in the North and we are excited to have him on board,” said Warrior.

India – Health and fitness e-commerce platform HealthKart has announced the appointment of Dentsu Webchutney, the digital creative agency from the house of dentsu India, to lead the digital and social media duties for its brands, HK Vitals and bGreen.

HealthKart is an online marketplace for health products. Its brand HK Vitals deems to be one of the fastest-growing brands in the nutrition and supplements business, while bGreen is a plant-based nutrition brand with products in both the performance nutrition category and active wellness nutrition category.

The appointment of Dentsu Webchutney comes after its one-project deal with HealthKart.

Kaustuv Paliwal, HK Vitals/HealthKart’s assistant vice president for brands, commented, “We are absolutely thrilled to be joining forces with Dentsu Webchutney. Partnering with them to lead our charter on digital marks the beginning of a journey that is filled with intent and backed by action.”

Dentsu Webchutney’s CEO, Gautam Reghunath, believes that HealthKart is a pioneer in the Indian nutrition and wellness space and one that is vertically integrated into a fragmented category, and it is a brand that’s constantly innovated through product excellence and delivering on consumer needs. 

“There is so much evolution happening in the vitals and nutrition space and we are lucky to be partnering with HealthKart who is at the front of it all,” said Reghunath.

In August this year, Dentsu Webchutney was also appointed to handle the digital and social media mandate of digital insurance policy provider ACKO General Insurance in India.

India – Pacific Tagore Garden, the mall under the Pacific brand in New Delhi, India, has awarded its digital advertising and print mandate to digital marketing agency RepIndia. 

Pacific Tagore Garden deems to be one of the most luxurious shopping, dining, and entertainment hubs in the country. It offers its patrons more than 250 luxury brands in the mall with the latest fashion apparel.

Through the new partnership, Pacific Tagore Garden will be counting on RepIndia’s creative expertise to multiply its brand-building efforts, adding a dimension of flair to the brand’s social media, as well as offline media strategies, with its nuanced understanding and experience of the shopping and digital landscape. 

RepIndia said that the partnership is another opportunity for the agency to bolster its repertoire of retail and entertainment brands – a segment in which the agency has built a solid reputation over the years.

Abhishek Bansal, Pacific Malls’ executive director, commented that they are delighted to join forces with the dynamic and experienced team at RepIndia for the digital mandate. 

“Their innate understanding of retail and consumer behavior is impressive, and we cannot wait to see what they have in store for the Pacific brand. Digital, especially, is vital to our efforts towards enhancing customer relationships and driving the brand story forward.”

Meanwhile, RepIndia’s Vice President for Client Strategy, Ashish Manchanda, said that they are thrilled to have found a complete vision match with Pacific Tagore Garden, and are excited to begin the journey as their 360-degree brand-building partners. 

“Now, it’s up to us to ensure that the brand leverages this paradigm shift with clutter-breaking creative and strategic forces – something that we are very confident about,” said Manchanda.

Mumbai, India – Fogg, the cosmetics brand owned by beauty company Vini Cosmetics in India, has recently launched a new campaign film, which conveys the message of “it’s time to say goodbye to the uninvited guest.’

Fogg deems to be one of the most popular manufacturers of deodorants and fragrances for men and women in the country. The brand does not own any stores around India but has a widespread network for distributing its products easily found in the Indian market.

The campaign, which is done in collaboration with creative agency The Womb, aims to encourage the locals during the pandemic to stay patient and wait for the good times to be back. Titled, ‘Fogg Elephant’, the new ad features a group of locals trying to send away an uninvited elephant from their neighborhood. The brand used the elephant as the representation of the pandemic to impart the message of saying goodbye to an unexpected situation.

Darshanbhai Patel, the managing director and CEO of Vini Cosmetics, said that as market leaders and corporate citizens of the country, they felt like it is their duty to stand with the people of India in the fight against COVID-19. 

“As India opens up and starts feeling normal, caution is equally important. The first time we heard this idea, we knew the message resonated with our thinking,” said Patel.

Navin Talreja, The Womb’s founding partner, shared how sometimes the simplest of briefs turn out to be the trickiest ones. Talreja said the current brief for the project was to deliver the message of ‘hope’ and ‘optimism’ to the people of India. 

Prasoon Pandey, the director of the film, believes that in these current difficult times, the new campaign becomes a clever and uplifting film from Fogg. 

“It is a message to society at large to not get bogged down by these tough circumstances, just stay careful, positive and hang in there, better times are around the corner. It was super fun working on this project,” said Pandey.

The campaign was officially launched on ‘World Elephant Day’, 12 August.

Mumbai, India – Madison Media, the independent media agency in India, has announced today the elevation of Vandana Ramkrishna, former vice president and business lead for the West and East region, to now assume the role of chief operating officer for its business unit, Madison Media Ace.

Ramkrishna is a veteran in media and communication planning. She brings with her over 22 years of experience spanning across the Indian and overseas markets.

Through the elevation, Ramkrishna will be overseeing the Kolkata operations of Madison Media, along with her Mumbai set of businesses. She will continue to lead the businesses of fabric manufacturer Raymond, adhesives firm Pidilite, and healthcare company Cipla Health, among others in Mumbai. In addition, Ramkrishna will be managing the businesses of personal care provider Joy Personal Care, commercial bank Bandhan Bank, and cement manufacturer MP Birla Cement in Kolkata, as well as further strengthen Madison’s east region operations.

“I feel honored to be working for a company like Madison that believes in my capability to take on this role. I look forward to strengthening our client relationships by driving their business outcomes to create new milestones within Madison and the industry,” said Ramkrishna, regarding her promotion.

Meanwhile, Vikram Sakhuja, Madison Media & OOH’s partner and group CEO, commented that he is delighted to announce the promotion of Ramkrishna to COO Madison Media Ace in which she takes additional charge of the Kolkata office in addition to her Mumbai accounts. 

“Vandana brings rare passion, aggression, and integrated thinking into delivering great client value. This also recognizes her evolution from strong client leadership to business leadership,” said Sakhuja.

Just recently, Madison Media has announced the promotion of Abhik Banerjee as the new chief operating officer for Madison Media Plus, and will also lead the Delhi office.

Mumbai, India – The asset-backed digital lending platform in India, Rupeek, has appointed strategy consultancy Pitchfork Partners as its new public relations and digital consultancy partner, to drive the brand’s business growth.

Rupeek aims to democratize access to hassle-free, doorstep credit for all markets and audiences. Currently, Rupeek also operates in the gold loan space.

The partnership will see Pitchfork Partners providing strategic communication and digital counsel to bolster Rupeek’s brand image and enable storytelling that would help increase the preference for doorstep gold loans among consumers.

“At Rupeek, we aim to transform the business of gold loans and democratize access to credit for all. Pitchfork’s integrated strategic approach will assist us in our storytelling efforts to make Rupeek the largest digital lender in the years to come,” said Shalabh Atray, Rupeek’s senior vice president of marketing and digital.

Meanwhile, Jaideep Shergill, the co-founder at Pitchfork Partners, commented that they look forward to this partnership and are delighted to expand their expertise. 

“With Rupeek’s commitment to gold loans and its unique offerings, it not only has an edge with India’s consumers but can also disrupt the market. We are privileged to partner with such an inventive company,” said Shergill.

Mumbai, India – The B2B wholesale e-commerce platform in India, Apnaklub, has partnered with Social Beat, the independent digital marketing agency, to further drive the app with the help of a performance marketing approach.

Apnaklub provides local wholesalers and retailers with products from various brands better than local wholesale rates. It also empowers people to start their own wholesale business without any investment or stock risks. In addition, Apnaklub, through its partner program, guarantees that people will get the industry’s best margins on more than 200 brands.

As part of the mandate, Social Beat will be assisting Apnaklub in scaling its shopping app for wholesalers and retailers in the country through performance marketing campaigns that focus on new user acquisition and overall brand awareness.

“We are excited to partner with Social Beat to drive Apnaklub’s mission to improve outcomes for the smaller MSME retailers. With smart digital interventions, we aim to understand the local needs so that we can build a winning micro-business,” said Shruti, CEO of Apnaklub. 

Meanwhile, Vikas Chawla, Social Beat’s co-founder, commented that they are delighted to partner with Apnaklub to increase the visibility of their app. 

“With our experience in finding the product-market fit and merchant acquisition, we are excited to be part of the journey with this experienced and nimble team,” said Chawla.

Just recently, Social Beat has also announced that it has entered a new partnership with global CRM platform Salesforce, with the aim to drive marketing automation and digital transformation for brands in India.

Mumbai, India – The independent media agency in India, Madison Media, has just announced the promotion of its former vice president, Abhik Banerjee, to now assume the role of chief operating officer for its business unit, Madison Media Plus, and to lead the Delhi office.

Banerjee’s career spans over 17 years of experience. He joined Madison Media in 2012 and over the last 9 years, Banerjee has played a key role in the Mumbai office and has led accounts such as Asian Paints, Abbott, and Leibherr, among others.

Prior to joining Madison Media, Banerjee has also worked as the assistant vice president of media at HSBC, the associate director at Mindshare, and the marketing operations executive at Vodafone India.

“I am excited and look forward to adding value to the organization with my new role and additional responsibilities. I am thrilled to take on the challenges and opportunities it will bring,” commented Banerjee on his appointment.

Meanwhile, Vikram Sakhuja, Madison Media & OOH’s partner and group CEO, said that Banerjee personifies the Madison spirit of undying client orientation, innovation, passion, and executional brilliance. 

“It is very satisfying when we can promote our internal talent to handle new challenges. I have full confidence in Abhik taking our Delhi office to new heights,” said Sakhuja.

In April this year, Madison Media has also promoted Vishal Chinchankar, former chief digital officer, as its new chief executive officer for its digital agency Madison Digital and Madison Media Ultra.

India – Kraftshala, the India-based edtech organization that builds marketing training programs with veterans from the marketing industry to train emerging talent in the marketing realm, has just launched the ‘Marketing Launchpad’, a 20-week duration program that helps people without any prior experience get into high-potential marketing careers.

‘The Marketing Launchpad’ is a full-time digital marketing course that includes an 8-week internship. Through this program, Kraftshala selects, trains, and invests in high potential graduates to help them kickstart their marketing careers.

Interestingly, the program allows students to pay for the fee only after landing a high-potential marketing job, and if they do not get a job that pays at least 4.5 lakhs, students do not have to pay anything.

Varun Satia, Kraftshala’s founder & CEO, said that Kraftshala’s purpose is to empower professionals to become the best version of themselves, and the program stands true to its name and welcomes people from all walks of life. 

“This program will help anyone launch their marketing career in the truest sense of the word. Our ‘Marketing Launchpad’ is the future of education, created by the industry’s top practitioners, to drive success in the digital age and is totally performance-driven,” said Satia.

According to Kraftshala, its marketing and sales training programs have a strong advocacy score of 95%, as they are built on frameworks and examples from the best in the industry and are consistently updated with the latest, cutting-edge tools and learnings from the field.

Interested student applicants can look at the program by visiting their company website.