Tag: South Asia

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.

Mumbai, India – Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R has announced the appointment of Saurabh Saksena as chief executive officer of VMLY&R India. 

He will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Hari Ramanathan, CEO of VMLY&R, South and Southeast Asia and Japan. 

In the new role, Saksena is expected to drive the integration of VMLY&R’s capabilities across India, such as creative excellence and transformational solutions at the intersection of brand and customer experience, data, platforms, and commerce.

Prior to joining VMLY&R India, he was the president of Red Fuse Communications India. He also held the CEO position at J. Walter Thompson Worldwide and brings with him experience in social, commerce, data and CRM, shopper marketing, full-funnel management, and new-age media, amongst others.

On his appointment, Saksena said, “I’m thrilled to take up this new role and lead the VMLY&R operations in India. The agency houses a great pool of talent across specialisations that don’t usually exist together in a single agency, making it well-positioned to harness creativity, technology, and culture to create connected brands.”

He likewise mentioned that VMLY&R has outstanding growth potential in India and that he and his team will continue to build on it.

Ramanathan further commented, “India is an anchor market for us in Asia and with a breadth and depth of offerings that are unmatched in the industry, VMLY&R India, under Saurabh’s leadership, is all set to help clients get their ‘unfair’ share of growth in a vibrant market.”

VMLY&R India also previously appointed Rajshekar Patil as its executive creative director last year.

Mumbai, India – BBH India, an advertising agency under Publicis Groupe, has appointed Himanshu Saxena, former executive vice president and head of integration at McCann Worldgroup India, to be its new chief operating officer and managing director.

In his new role, Saxena will be responsible for BBH India’s developing talent, organisational tools, and new services, as well as steering these to acquire future-facing businesses.

Saxena brings over 29 years of experience across the communication spectrum, including advertising, marketing and sales, brand management, digital and social, and PR, as well as design, and market research. He has helmed country and multi-office leadership for some of South Asia’s leading organisations, including Lowe, McCann, Trikaya Grey, JWT, and Edelman, as well as IMRB, and Reliance Jio.

Commenting on his appointment, Saxena said, “I am both excited and honoured to join BBH. With its legacy of creating stunning work that has transformed not only brands but also categories, BBH India is truly built for the modern age of marketing. I am looking forward to scaling this further and bringing my experience and a fresh perspective to leading such talented individuals and ambitious clients.”

Meanwhile, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO of Leo Burnett South Asia and chairman of BBH India, shared that BBH India, with its legacy of modern, creative and effective solutions that are well-entrenched in the modern Indian zeitgeist, has built a reputation as a creative firepower in the country. 

“I am delighted to welcome Himanshu onboard. A talented leader known for his deep client relationships, his commitment to business innovation, and his operational acumen, Himanshu embodies the black sheep and zag philosophy that will further fuel this brilliant creative engine,” said Sinha.

In September 2022, BBH India also elevated Priya Gurnani and Arvind Menon to become the new executive creative directors. Both Gurnani and Menon were previously senior creative directors, and will continue to report to BBH India’s CCO and CEO, Russell Barrett.

New Delhi, India – Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India, a manufacturer of air conditioning products under the ‘Hitachi’ brand, has appointed advertising agency BBH India to be its new creative strategy and advertising agency partner. 

As part of the remit with BBH India, Hitachi aims to create high-decibel brand awareness and strengthen its brand leadership amongst the ‘New Informed World’ consumer.

BBH India won the business as part of a contested multi-agency pitch and will manage full-service responsibilities for strategic creative design and advertising. Moreover, the agency will also now spearhead the development of both consumer-focused and business-driven marketing campaigns for Hitachi’s HVAC and refrigeration solutions.

Nilesh Shah, senior vice president of business planning and marketing at Hitachi, shared that they wanted a strategic creative partner to help them strengthen their positioning as an Aspirational Premium brand by bringing in a fresh perspective to their brand proposition. 

“We look forward to this creative partnership with BBH and further building on our track record of memorable, creative campaigns across the target audience,” said Shah.

Meanwhile, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO of Leo Burnett South Asia and chairman of BBH India, commented that as a team, they are very proud and humbled to be chosen as a creative partner of India’s most aspirational and premium air conditioning brand. 

“We have a big task in front of us, as the brand is known for its stunning consumer campaigns and has consistently rolled out great pieces of creative work over the years. We are excited to co-create the next chapter of the brand story and level up the brand salience,” said Sinha.

India – Dentsu Creative India has announced the appointment of Dalip Daniel, as the new group executive creative, and Tulika Seth, as the new group creative director, to bolster its creative team. Both will be reporting to Joy Mohanty, chief creative Officer of Dentsu Creative India.

In their new roles, Daniel and Seth will be focusing on boosting the agency’s creative competence for its existing and prospective clientele. They will design ideas that ‘Create Culture, Change Society, and Invent The Future’ by keeping modern creativity at the heart of the business.

Daniel is a seasoned creative leader and has held leadership roles across agencies and radio stations like Ogilvy & Mather, GroupM ESP, and BIG 92.7 FM. He has worked for brands like Airtel, Nokia, Limca, Dabur, and Pepsi, as well as SONY, and Honda, amongst many others. In addition to this, he has also created branded content for TV shows and launched BIG 92.7 FM in North India.

Meanwhile, armed with over 16 years of experience, Seth has led creative teams at agencies like Lowe, TBWA, Grey, Innocean, and Humour Me in Delhi and Mumbai. Some of the brands she has worked with include Hyundai, Dunzo, LG, and National Geographic, as well as Henkel, and Anne French, amongst others.

Commenting on his appointment, Daniel said, “This is an exciting opportunity, and I am thrilled to be joining dentsu at such a pivotal time.”

Meanwhile, Seth also commented, “‘Wholly integrated’ is the key descriptor that has really got me excited. The work that has been coming out of the agency is truly inspiring, and I can’t wait to dive right in.”

Mohanty said, “Together with a superb body of work, Tulika & Danny bring with them a wealth of experience across formats. They will both play a key role in driving our agenda of creativity beyond silos. It is great to have them on board.”

Just recently, Dentsu Creative India announced the appointment of Benny Augustine as its new chief operating officer, where he will oversee the agency’s operations in India. His objective will be to build various frameworks, platforms, and business processes that promote efficiency and effectiveness for clients using modern creativity.

Mumbai, India – The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and intellectual property (IP) boutique K&S Partners, have joined hands to release a whitepaper titled ‘Misleading Advertisements and Trademarks – A Registration Conundrum’, which identifies the practice and instances of brands making misleading claims and representations through the use of trademarks.

Brands and advertisers often cite trademark registrations as a defence, these words or phrases mislead consumers. With this paper, ASCI and K&S Partners argue that such a defence is not valid, as making misleading representations violates the ASCI code, the Consumer Protection Act, and the Trade Marks Act itself. 

Moreover, the paper calls for greater scrutiny and restraint in permitting descriptive trademarks to brands, and to ensure that such trademarks are not a false representation of the product.

“At ASCI we see cases where the advertiser uses a trademark registration to defend their direct or implied claims, asserting that a trademark registration means that the claim is good in law. This is not true, and we would ask brands to be cautious in using untrue, exaggerated or misleading phrases to describe their products, whether trademarks or not,” said Manisha Kapoor, CEO and secretary general at ASCI.

Meanwhile, Prashant Gupta, partner at K&S Partners, shared that the issue concerning false, unsubstantiated, and dishonest advertisements, under the guise of descriptive or laudatory trademarks, is grave. 

“Protecting consumers from deception is one of the principal tenets of the ASCI Code, the Trade Marks Act, and the Consumer Protection Act. The Trademark Office needs to raise the threshold for descriptive or laudatory trademarks, failing which, protecting consumers’ rights from fraudulent marks and making informed choices would be severely compromised,” said Gupta.

India – India-based hyperlocal experience marketing brand, Things2do, has launched in four cities – Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Delhi. The brand is renowned for providing consumers with distinctive experiences across travel, lifestyle, aviation, food, and culinary.

According to Things2do, it has identified three sets of consumers, namely The Weekenders, who are always looking out for unique experiences to spend their weekends, The Explorers, who are in search of new experiences that they’ve not discovered, and The Aspirers, who want to update their lifestyle in a certain manner.

The brand currently caters to this set of audiences and provides a plethora of experiences to celebrate occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, weekends, topical days, and special events, and brings newness to their lives.

Roch Dsouza, CEO of Things2do, shared that the Things2do tribe is excited to diversify across newer cities after successfully being the discovery platform for experiences across ten cities; they have now successfully launched the experiences in four new cities and are seeing great traction, consumer insights, and needs that are coming through. 

“We express gratitude to all our partner brands for trusting us and introducing great curations and experiences, changing the face of the experiences industry. We are excited to be part of our consumer’s lifestyle journey and help them live a fulfilling life,” said Dsouza.

India – Dentsu Creative India has appointed Joy Mohanty as its new chief creative officer. In his new role, Mohanty will be instrumental in accelerating the agency’s growth trajectory in the North region. 

Moreover, Mohanty will be aligning with Dentsu Creative India’s ambition and work closely with the creative teams to build solutions that have the power to transform brands and businesses through the lens of Modern Creativity.

In a career spanning over three decades, Mohanty’s professional journey has been deeply rooted in Indian culture. He has worked on a host of brands such as Maruti Suzuki, Google, Nestle, and Absolut, as well as Thums Up, and HP, amongst others. In his previous roles, he held creative leadership positions in agencies like Publicis Capital and Lowe Lintas. Prior to joining dentsu, he also led Goldilocks – an agency from the Usha International Group.

Some of the notable campaigns Joy has worked on include Maruti Suzuki’s ‘Kitna Deti Hai’, Absolut’s ‘Colourless’, Google Maps 2-wheeler’s ‘Paaon Zameen Se Door Rahenge’, and Housing.com’s ‘Yahan Search Khatam Karo’, amongst others. He was also a part of the ‘Money Made Simple’ campaign for Google Pay and Google Assistant’s India launch.

Commenting on her appointment, Mohanty said, “I am excited to join forces with Ajay and Amit and be part of the superb talent hub they have turned Dentsu Creative into. An enviable list of clients makes this a big opportunity. I look forward to adding to the energy and doing some great work.”

Meanwhile, Ajay Gahlaut, group chief creative officer at Dentsu Creative, said that the agency is transforming into a powerhouse of creativity, and they are rapidly building capabilities to stay ahead of the curve in a dynamically evolving industry. 

“However, the tallest structures are built on strong foundations. Joy’s appointment is, thus, vital to our plan for times ahead. He is a veteran who has worked on some of the most groundbreaking campaigns. I am certain that his experience will bring solidity and wisdom into the fresh, bubbling cauldron of creativity at dentsu,” added Gahlaut.

India – To honour the Durga Puja celebration, which is an annual Hindu festival in India celebrated from 1 to 5 October, The Times of India (TOI), an Indian English-language daily newspaper under The Times Group, has launched a new campaign called ‘Maa Aashcen. Tumi Kothaye?’, which in English translates to ‘Maa Durga is coming home, where are you?’. This aims to celebrate togetherness and connection between loved ones during the festival.

Conceptualised by creative agency Wunderman Thompson India, the campaign showcases the feeling of belonging, togetherness, and reaching out to dear ones, who can’t be with their families this year during the festival. Loved ones will urge those separated to continue with the celebrations wherever they are. The idea is to remind them that they are with their families during this festive period and that is the real essence of Durga Puja.

The print campaign brings this alive by showcasing visuals of two friends connecting through a symbol of joining their hands to form a heart, while the video campaign is a tale of two friends, who now live in two different cities – Mumbai and Kolkata. The film also features actress Priyanka Sarkar and dancer, actress Sreenanda Shankar as friends who share their story of separation and how Durga Puja unites them.

Additionally, in an endeavour to connect with readers to celebrate with missed loved ones, TOI has invited them to share the pictures on www.phireyeshokolkata.com. Hundreds of entries from Kolkatans and Bengalis across the cities have been received. Select quotes have been featured in the newspaper.

Kaustuv Chatterjee, brand director of TOI and Languages, said, “TOI, India’s most trusted news brand, has always celebrated the incredibly rich socio-cultural fabric of our country. Durga Puja is one of the largest festivals in the nation, in which people from all sections and communities participate and come together, not just Bengalis, to seek Durga Ma’s blessings.”