Tag: South Asia

Mumbai, India – To avoid the misinformation about menstrual periods being ‘dirty and impure’, feminine-care brand Whisper under Procter & Gamble has released a campaign to shed light on the biology of periods and explain that it’s a natural process that happens in every woman.

Conceptualised with advertising agency Leo Burnett, the fourth edition of the #KeepGirlsInSchool campaign showcases ‘The Missing Chapter’ film. This aims to teach the biology of periods and enlighten both mothers and daughters on menstrual hygiene and using sanitary pads during monthly cycles. 

The campaign also comes after a study revealing that 1 out of 5 girls in India drop out of school every year due to lack of period education, whilst 7 out of 10 mothers are not aware of the biology of periods, seeing it as ‘dirty or impure’.

Girish Kalyanaraman, vice president and category leader of Feminine Care at Procter & Gamble India, said that the brand is dedicated towards period education to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene and giving sanitary pads to girls across the country. Therefore, they aim to educate mothers about the biology of periods and right sanitary products.

 “Our aim is to empower young girls to achieve their dreams by completing their school education without any gaps and to stop them from dropping out of school because of a biological process as natural as periods. Our consumers can make a huge difference in helping us bridge this gap,” Kalyanaraman added.

Whisper started to launch its #KeepGirlsInSchool campaign in 2020 to address all girls in India and enlighten them about the true science behind the said cycle. Moreover, Whisper has been conducting school and community programs to teach period education and give free pads to girls and mothers.

Mumbai, India – Denim brand Lee Jeans, in collaboration with integrated marketing solution provider CupShup and advertising agency Leo Burnett India, launches ‘#TheRealDenim’ campaign to announce the inauguration of its flagship store in Bengaluru.

The campaign started with week-long activation across multiple locations, including the #BrothersInBoxers initiative where four young boys wore boxers inside the stadium whilst holding placards saying that they ‘won’t be wearing any jeans until the real denim arrives’.

Moreover, the campaign also created a ‘friendly brand war’ to counter Lee’s competitive brand store. 30 ‘boxer brothers’ went around Brigade Road whilst holding placards. During the launch, they gathered in front of the competitor’s store.

In the post-launch phase, influencers and regular walk-ins participated in the campaign. They were asked to discard their old denim on Brigade Road and walked into Lee Jeans’ store dressed solely in boxers. In exchange, received ‘the real denim’ from Lee for free.

Moreover, the launching was graced by the presence of India’s famous content creator Jordindian who participated in unveiling the store.

Lokesh Kataria, CMO at Lee and Wrangler India, said that they executed the campaign and launch with a fun, disruptive idea, which successfully brought ‘party’ to the city whilst witnessing the crowds rally and cheer for the cause. 

Sourav Kumar, co-founder at CupShup, added, “Lee has always been a fun & friendly brand. We leveraged their tonality and translated it into a fun disruptive campaign that was in line with it. This gave the customers something to smile about and arouse their curiosity about the brand.”

India – Wunderman Thompson India expands its client roster after winning the brand building mandate of Tata Astrum Super, a brand of hot rolled sheets from Tata Steel – a company which is associated with the agency for more than 90 years. 

Within the long-term partnership, Wunderman Thompson India has been working on brand-building projects for Tata Steel Corporate, and other retail brands like Tata Tiscon, Tata Shaktee, Tata Kosh, Tata Pravesh, and Tata Wiron.

In the new mandate, Wunderman Thompson India will help Tata Astrum Super brand in building a competitive edge so it can command a premium over branded & unorganized players, forge bonds with channel partners, and connect with end users. The agency will also help in maintaining the brand’s promise to resonate with both fabricators and end users.

Vijay Jacob Parakkal, senior vice president & managing partner at Wunderman Thompson Kolkata, said that they are pleased to have Tata Astrum Super into the Wunderman Thompson brand family, and they are confident in giving justice to the new mandate that they will handle.

Earlier this year, Wunderman Thompson India also bagged the strategy and creative remit of Czech automobile brand ŠKODA.

India – Advertising company DDB Mudra has announced the appointment of Saad Khan as its president and managing partner for growth and strategy to lead the business whilst building on strategic capabilities for its operations in the West region.

Khan brings with him an experience in building strategies for brands. He previously worked as chief strategy officer at agency FCB Ulka, where he oversaw strategies in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

He has also worked with food and beverage brands such as Coca-Cola, ITC foods and Amul; consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser; automotive manufacturers Tata Motors, Honda and Volvo Cars; and industrial paint company Nerolac.

Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer at DDB Mudra Group, said that the company believes that its core to be great in creativity is built on strong thinking, and Khan will help in strengthening this belief.

This year, DDB Mudra has also appointed Menaka Menon as national strategy head and Nitin Pradhan as creative head for South.

India — Dentsu India has recently elevated Anita Kotwani to the CEO position for the Media Division of the South Asia team. Previously, it was solely agency Carat India that was under Kotwani’s leadership, and with the expanded role, she will now move to the helm of all other media outfits under the division. 

The role will be seeing Kotwani leading agencies iProspect, dentsu X, Posterscope, and media investment arm Amplifi, aside from Carat which she oversaw for almost three years since 2020. 

Rob Gilby, the CEO of dentsu for APAC and Interim CEO of India until newly appointed CEO, Harsha Razdan, starts vouches for Kotwani as “a well-loved leader who firmly looks to the future,” bringing her people with her on the journey and someone who is fearless in approach to driving new solutions for clients. 

“The Media opportunity in India is growing exponentially. Anita’s background, coupled with Harsha’s complimentary experience is building a powerful force in our business to drive growth for our clients in this exciting market,” commented Gilby. 

Kotwani is a passionate media expert with over two decades of experience in the industry. She brings with her extensive background in media management for companies in the industries of consumer durables, financial services, FMCG, as well as MNC brands. 

As a seasoned marketer, Kotwani is a regular on the award circuit, chairing juries for various bodies including EMVIEs, Goafest, and Kyoorius. 

Dentsu shared that outgoing South Asia CEO Divya Karani, after building a successful media reputation for dentsu India over the last decade, will be transitioning off the media business to pursue personal interests 

Gilby added, “Over the past 10 years Divya has successfully scaled our business on a market-beating trajectory, evidenced by dentsu becoming the #1 agency in RECMA 2021. We thank her for her years of dedication and wish her the very best for the future. I am looking forward to the next wave of leadership accelerating the solid foundation Divya has built.” 

Meanwhile, Karani expressed her thoughts on the transition, and says she’s proud of what she has accomplished with dentsu and is very much confident with Anita taking over.

“Having worked closely with Anita – a valuable member of my leadership team, I know there is no better candidate for me to hand the reins to lead the media business to new heights. While it’s always a bittersweet moment to leave your ‘baby’, it is time for me to move on and pursue new opportunities,” said Karani. 

Newly appointed Kotwani commented, “I have learned a tremendous amount from Divya and am honoured to be given this baton to carry on the marathon. You don’t just replace three decades of experience overnight – I intend to take this on with my utmost commitment and will look to continually challenge myself and my wonderful team of media specialists to always stay at the forefront of the industry to deliver the world’s best-integrated media strategies.” 

The announcement closely follows last week’s appointment of Harsha Razdan as the new CEO of the overall dentsu network in South Asia. Meanwhile, over at the SEA region, the network has announced the creation of a new cluster for SEA which will include Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Dentsu has bolstered its leadership roster in line with the new arrangement with Sanjay Bhasin, Prakash Kamdar, and Bharti Agarwal being handed new roles as CEO of SEA, CEO of clients and solutions for SEA, and CFO of SEA, respectively.

India – With its commitment to maintaining growth and maximising business outcomes for clients, marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson South Asia has promoted Raji Ramaswamy as its chief growth officer and Joy Chauhan as its chief client officer. They will report to Shams Jasani, chief executive officer at Wunderman Thompson South Asia. 

Ramaswamy will retain her CEO role at Contract India, Wunderman Thompson India’s group company and Chauhan will simultaneously work as a managing partner of Wunderman Thompson in Delhi.

In their new role, Ramaswamy and Chauhan will lead strategic growth for the group, focusing on new business and key clients across the region. They will also oversee client retention and business development, nurture teams of talent and drive strategic growth initiatives including the development of new client services and capabilities.

Ramaswamy brings with her over 25 years of experience in marketing and brand management. During her stint in Contract India, she maintained its vision to create the most integrated agency model for the future with a seamless multi-dimensional structure. 

Meanwhile, Chauhan brings with him experience in managing people across multiple business units. In his stint at Wunderman Thompson Delhi, he was responsible for driving the growth of the agency’s brands, people and business.

CEO Jasani said that Ramaswamy and Chauhan’s appointments come at a perfect timing when the agency can drive good impact for clients and business whilst delivering transformational work that builds Wunderman’s capabilities in creative, data, tech, and commerce.

“With India as one of our fastest growing markets and being uniquely poised to provide integrated solutions to our clients, we are on an ambitious growth trajectory with Raji and Joy as enablers to chart the best course for the next growth phase,” Jasani added.

This month, Wunderman Thompson also elevated Gavin Bain as its chief executive officer for Australia.

Mumbai, India – Advertising agency TBWA\ India appoints Ranjeev Vij as executive director for its North operations to further drive a growth strategy for the agency. Simultaneously, Vij was appointed as managing director of Nissan United 3.0, the dedicated marketing agency for the Nissan brand by TBWA\ to further elevate the impact of the team.

Vij brings with him a strong background in advertising, digital, data and PR working across the markets of United Kingdom and India. In his last stint, he was with Adfactors PR as digital evangelist where he led the digital-first integrated creative mandates and helped in scaling up its digital practice.

He has also worked with marketing and advertising agencies Ogilvy, McCann, BBDO and information technology consulting company Cognizant amongst others. 

Govind Pandey, chief executive officer at TBWA\India said that Ranjeev’s expertise will further accelerate the agency’s ambition to be the leader in total brand experience and disruptive thinking.

Meanwhile, Vij said that the success of brands will be achieved if there is an ability to harness various aspects such as creativity, data, design, technology, experience, commerce, and advertising. 

“I look forward to utilising my diverse experience and propelling our clients’ business forward,” he added.

Aside from Nissan, TBWA\’s global clients include adidas, Apple, Gatorade, Henkel, Hilton Hotels, McDonald’s and Singapore Airlines.

Last month, TBWA\ India has also appointed Russell Barrett as its chief creative experience officer.

India – Wunderman Thompson India has appointed Richa Dholi as its new vice president for strategy planning. With an extensive experience in marketing and digital ecosystem of businesses, Dholi will lead the strategic efforts specifically for the Unilever brands that are handled by the agency.

In her last stint, she was a senior brand manager at the microblogging and social networking service Koo India. She also worked at advertising companies Ogilvy, Lowe, and McCann, and information technology company Capgemini where she engaged with FMCG and lifestyle brands. 

Anurag Tandon, managing partner at Wunderman Thompson Mumbai said that the agency needs to adjust its mindset towards brand management and customer experience, given that customers engaged differently with the brands in the post-pandemic world.

He added, “With Richa on board, we get the right blend of understanding business and strategy. We are excited to have her as part of our team and wish her the very best in her new role.”

Commenting on her new role, Dholi said, “Being part of Wunderman Thompson is a privilege and a testament to the agency’s cutting-edge approach to blending culture, creativity, and technology. As a planner, I am eager to continue growing and evolving in this dynamic environment.”

Mumbai, India – Wunderman Thompson has appointed Harsh Shah as its new chief digital officer for South Asia. Shah will be responsible for accelerating the digital transformation of the Wunderman Thompson Group and will work with its agencies across the creative, communication, tech, health, and commerce practices. 

In his last stint, Harsh was with Dentsu Creative as President – West, and led operations, revenue, people and culture for Dentsu Webchutney, and regional business for the rest of Dentsu Creative. For the new role, he will be reporting directly to Shams Jasani, chief executive officer of Wunderman Thompson South Asia.

Jasani said, “We are Delighted to welcome Harsh to the Wunderman Thompson Family. He brings in a wealth of experience across Digital, Technology and Commerce. Our work at Wunderman Thompson harnesses the power of creative, technology, and Commerce to drive unprecedented growth for some of the world’s biggest brands. We are glad to have Harsh onboard at a critical juncture when we are keenly looking at offering end-to-end capabilities to our clients at scale.”

Meanwhile, Shah commented, “I am deeply excited by the vision drawn up at WT and my specific charter as a key growth partner. I look forward to drive this vision and unlock growth with my highly experienced and talented peers at the agency.”

Pakistan – Telecommunications firm Telenor in Pakistan has appointed Mindshare as its media agency for both traditional and digital marketing. With the partnership, Telenor will be leveraging Mindshare’s expertise in media, digital, and buying.

Agha Zohaib, managing director at Mindshare Pakistan shared his excitement over the partnership. “We are truly honored to be appointed as Telenor’s media agency in Pakistan. This provides us with an incredible opportunity to work with one of the most robust telcos,” he said.

He also added that the partnership seems “promising and passionate” with both companies’ tech-driven and agile mindsets.

Meanwhile, CEO of Mindshare Asia Pacific Helen McRae also commented, “Our ambition of connecting data to good growth for our clients is at the heart of our partnership with Telenor. We look forward to propelling Telenor to even greater heights.”

Mindshare is a part of GroupM and one of the largest media buying house in Pakistan. The company was also previously appointed by MasterKong Beverage as its agency of record in China.