Tag: South Asia

New Delhi, India – Delhi-based boutique social and creative agency, Mixed Route Juice, has been appointed by casual dining restaurant franchise company Stellar Concepts to handle the creative and digital media mandate of its brands – Chili’s and Paul India.

Through this remit, Mixed Route juice will be driving both brands by providing strategic content design, manifesting creative ideas, and strengthening their digital storytelling, along with its media duties like media planning, social media, and creative development. Furthermore, the agency will be responsible for enhancing the brands’ existence and strengthening their digital presence.

Amrita Sharma, Mixed Route Juice’s co-founder and creative head, commented that they are extremely happy to collaborate with one of the leading F&B powerhouses of the country and aim towards providing customised and effective campaigns across multiple cohorts and segments. 

“Chili’s Grill & Bar and PAUL both have a devout customer following and invite a lot of fanfare amongst their regulars. Both these brands have inherently distinct brand personalities and we will for sure do justice to the overall image with our campaigns,” said Sharma.

Meanwhile, Payal Singh, Stellar Concepts India’s head of marketing, said, “We look forward to a successful partnership with MRJ to further communicate our amazing story, distinct product. We believe that this partnership will add value to our brands and fuel our growth in India by helping us to penetrate deeper into the consumer market and take this association to the next level.”

In February 2022, Mixed Route Juice has launched its new vertical, MRJ Shorts, which will cater to its zippy viewers through its short format munchable content pieces.

Mumbai, India – Chimp&z Inc, the digital creative agency from the house of Merge Infinity Global, has elevated Ashish Duggal, former vice president of growth and operations at Chimp&z Inc, to the new role of chief operating officer.

In his new role, Duggal will be accelerating Chimp&z Inc’s expansion across key business verticals by adding new revenue streams. He will administer new business acquisitions, large-scale campaigns, strategy, influencer management, and project management team, as well as overall agency operations to redefine the company’s growth metrics.

Prior to joining Chimp&z Inc, Duggal has served as the senior manager of business alliance at digital marketing services provider Logicserve Digital, and was later on elevated as the associate vice president of business alliance.

Commenting on his elevation, Duggal said, “I am truly honoured to become the COO of this whip-smart team of storytellers. With a strategic roadmap in place, an exciting time comes ahead. I look forward to contributing to the new wave of growth for Chimp&z Inc in the global market establishing it as a digital powerhouse.” 

Meanwhile, Angad Singh Manchanda and Lavinn Rajpal, Chimp&z Inc’s founders, shared that Duggal is a thinker with an acute understanding of their client’s evolving requirements, and he has a track record of harnessing creativity in all its forms to deliver rapid growth and results.

“His knowledge and erudition about the ever-changing digital market always came to fruition for the agency. We wish him the best for his new role and hope that he continues to deliver strategic solutions that will uplift Chimp&z Inc.’s success metrics,” they both added.

Earlier this month, Chimp&z Inc has won the digital mandate of the Indian skincare essentials brand, Raw Beauty. The agency will be managing Raw Beauty’s social media and increasing brand awareness for boosting conversion rates and sales.

Mumbai, India – Premium men’s innerwear and comfort wear brand, XYXX, has launched a major brand campaign starring the star cricketer KL Rahul in a series of films that urge viewers to tune out the noise and trust their instinct. 

The campaign, which was conceptualised by creative agency The Womb and directed by Shashanka Chaturvedi from Good Morning films, aims to show that when KL is faced with an on-field situation where he must choose between the available right options, he does not give in to the hype that surrounds him and decides to do things his own way.

Titled ‘Play Your Way’, the campaign is left open-ended and intentionally does not showcase the decision KL finally makes, building intrigue and keeping viewers guessing, all the while pushing the viewer to choose the ‘Play your way’ philosophy even in life situations off-field.

Navin Talreja, The Womb’s co-founder, noted that for a sportsman of KL’s stature, it is so important to cut out all the noise, believe in his ability and trust his own instinct, and that is exactly what they have tried to showcase in their communication. 

“To add to this, it was a conscious call to showcase KL Rahul wearing just underwear when the whole category is shying away from this and discouraging it. In our mind this is what the brand stands for: Playing your way,” said Talreja.

Meanwhile, Yogesh Kabra, XYXX’s founder, shared that with the ‘Play Your Way’ campaign, their aim is to encourage and applaud authenticity, people who chart their own path, steer clear of the naysayers and trust their instinct through all of life’s choices. 

“There could not be a better face for the campaign than our ambassador – KL Rahul, who is the true embodiment of understated grit and courage. With the campaign, we hope to drive culture in new, provocative ways that hopefully encourage people to always follow their instinct and be true to their most authentic selves,” said Kabra.

The fully integrated campaign is now available across digital, social, and traditional media platforms.

Mumbai, India – Advertising agency DDB Mudra Group has elevated Vanaja Pillai, former consultant of diversity and inclusion at DDB Mudra Group, to be its new head of diversity, inclusion, and impact.

Pillai was the driving force behind the agency’s ‘Phyllis India Project’, which is one of the industry’s most comprehensive and intense leadership development programmes with consistent and deep interventions, to help prepare DDB’s women talent for leadership.

In her new role, Pillai will be working closely with Aditya Kanthy, DDB Mudra’s CEO and managing director, and Rita Verma, DDB Mudra’s head of HR, on initiatives to grow a diverse and inclusive workplace, including talent acquisition, retention, training, and outreach to talent in underrepresented communities. She will also be leading the creation and delivery of effective growth and development opportunities rooted in the company’s purpose and growth strategy. 

Pillai said that over the next year, they will focus on a select set of DEI goals and approach them with the same rigour and passion that made the Phyllis India Project what it is today. 

“From an overall talent perspective, the pandemic made us even more aware of the need for constantly focusing on people and their growth. We hope to make some of our talent programs world-class this year,” added Pillai.

Meanwhile, Kanthy shared that besides being a stellar leader, having run operating roles in the agency business with flair and distinction, Pillai has over the last two years built one of the industry’s best-run diversity programs – the Phyllis India Project. 

“This work with the Group’s effort as a global network to bring in diverse voices to help shape workplace culture and brand communication of the future,” said Kanthy. 

Nikki Lamba, DDB Worldwide’s chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, noted that Pillai’s work on the Phyllis India program has been applauded across DDB’s borders and is a brilliant example of senior leadership driving actionable change in advancing DEI within the DDB family. 

“We are excited about her taking on this larger mandate and bringing DEI to the heart of our business, people and product strategies in India. There is a lot of good work happening already in parts of the DDB network that India will surely build off and gain from,” said Lamba.

Just recently, DDB Mudra Group has also announced the appointment of Anand Murty as the national strategy head for DDB Mudra and Mehak Jaini as the national strategy head for 22feet Tribal Worldwide. Both will be leading the group’s promise of a cohesive view across advertising, digital marketing and media.

Indonesia – DBS Foundation, an endeavour from DBS Bank to make a great impact in addressing Asia’s evolving social needs, has launched a new grant programme to support SMEs looking to kickstart their transition towards becoming more sustainable businesses. 

This new programme is an extension of the DBS Foundation’s ongoing support for social enterprises (SEs), as it endeavours to foster the growth of businesses-for-impact, which is defined as businesses with dual bottom lines of profit and impact, regardless of their stage of growth.

The new grant programme is in search of SMEs, which are incorporated in Indonesia, as well as in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India, with innovative sustainability solutions. Their proposals should address at least one of the following areas, namely reducing energy consumption, reducing waste, or sustainable supply chains.

The grant awardees will be receiving a grant amount of up to IDR1,051,405,196, a structured mentorship and advisory support, where DBS Foundation and the DBS SME Banking team will work with each SME awardee to map out key milestones and impact outcomes across a two-year horizon, and support from broader DBS franchise to help promising grant awardees to scale their businesses, including a range of working capital, supply chain financing, and digital transformation solutions.

Joyce Tee, the group head of SME banking at DBS and the board member of DBS Foundation, shared that while their engagement with SME owners has revealed their keen interest in adopting more sustainable business models, they are often caught up with operational matters and may lack the bandwidth or resources to begin. 

“This is a gap that the DBS Foundation aims to fill with the new SME Grant Programme, which will help SMEs take their first step towards transforming into businesses for impact. Beyond grant funding, DBS will also avail our suite of sustainable financing solutions, ecosystem platforms and advisory services to help the most promising SME awardees accelerate their transformation efforts,” said Tee.

Mumbai, India – The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)’s flagship product RuPay has launched its first Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign, ‘RuPay. Be On-The-Go’, aimed at highlighting the benefits of RuPay ON-THE-GO on cards and other convenient form factors such as smartwatches, keychains, and mobile stickers, as well as wristbands.

RuPay ON-THE-GO allows customers to make small and large value transactions at RuPay contactless-enabled PoS from the accessories they use every day and by using their RuPay cards. Living up to its tagline ‘RuPay. Be On-The-Go’, RuPay ON-THE-GO aims to redefine contactless payments and enable instantaneous on-the-go payments.

The campaign, which was conceptualised by advertising agency DDB Mudra, features Indian iconic fast-bowler Ishant Sharma. It includes five clutter-breaking advertisement films released on television, OTT, digital, and social media platforms. The brand has also roped in popular cricket commentator, Harsha Bhogle, and former Indian cricketer, Virender Sehwag, to endorse the campaign on Twitter.

The film revolves around the banter between three characters, including an Umpire struggling with payments, a batsman who knows how incredible RuPay is and takes it upon himself to educate the Umpire on it, and a fierce pacer, Ishant Sharma. It underscores the availability and accessibility of the RuPay cards, and the advertisements highlight that every bank in India is issuing RuPay Debit cards and a large number of banks and prepaid/credit card players are also issuing RuPay Prepaid and Credit cards.

“The film also creates awareness amongst customers to ensure activating their cards for contactless, e-commerce, and international transactions per the regulatory requirements in India,” said DDB Mudra in a press statement.

Mumbai, India – Cleaning brand in India ChakaaChak has launched a new campaign that features three films, demonstrating the ease of cleaning with a healthy dose of wit and fun.

The campaign, which was created in collaboration with independent ad agency Infectious Advertising, showcases the brand’s endearing spin mop mascot, which is shown in a series of engaging home cleaning scenarios. It also aims to keep gender neutrality in mind, with the stories portraying men doing house cleaning to create a well-balanced perception in the masses.

Aditya Pittie, Pittie Group’s managing director, said that with the TVCs, they are envisioning taking a giant step in maximising their brand presence and capturing a large market share in the ever-growing cleaning utility market. 

“From revamping Chakaachak’s brand presence to unveiling TVCs, we are on the verge of creating a strong foothold in terms of brand loyalty, distribution and Pan India presence,” added Pittie.

Meanwhile, Ramanuj Shastry, Infectious Advertising’s co-founder and director, noted that these are exciting times to be a household cleaning brand as the demand for smarter, more efficient cleaning solutions grows exponentially. 

“Super kicked to help develop a campaign for ChakaaChak. It takes a brave client to buy fun films and a brilliant director like Niranjan Kaushik to push them to the next level. Delighted,’ said Shastry.

The TVCs will be aired on TV channels and digital platforms as part of the brand’s larger marketing campaign.

Mumbai, India – Digital marketing agency Yellophant Digital, which is an alliance of Merge Infinity Global, has been awarded a 360-degree digital mandate by Oxemberg, a men’s fashion clothing brand from the house of Siyaram. 

As part of the remit, Yellophant Digital will be responsible for Oxemberg’s website planning and social media marketing, amplifying the brand’s presence on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. It will also strive toward developing creative social media strategies, harping on influencer and PR activities in the future, along with the overall management of the brand’s digital presence.

Prashant Awasthi, Siyaram Silk Mills’ marketing head, commented that they were most impressed by the vision Yellophant Digital had for their brand. 

“They are masters of their craft and know how to make brands stand out from the rest. We are thrilled to kickstart the project and our entire team is looking forward to a successful collaboration with Yellophant Digital,” said Awasthi.

Meanwhile, Preksha Seth, Yellophant Digital’s co-founder, shared that coming from the Siyaram group of family, the team is more than pumped to get started and work with the Oxemberg team. 

“The enthusiastic response from the entire Oxemberg team during our pitch gave me an insight that this partnership will bear fruit in the coming months, and we are excited to put our strategy into action and create something exciting across all platforms,” said Seth.

In February this year, Yellophant Digital has also won the digital mandate for 1Rivet India, a tech-based consultancy firm headquartered in the USA. Through this, the brand’s entire social media responsibilities, from ideation to execution will be tasked to Yellophant.

Mumbai, India – India-based higher edtech company, upGrad, has launched a new ad film, which features the legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan in his ‘Angry Young Man’ persona, aimed at introducing its new vertical that redefines studying abroad – upGrad Abroad.

The film, which was conceptualised by creative agency The Womb and was directed by Amit Sharma of Chrome Picture, spotlights Bachchan wreaking havoc at the upGrad Headquarters. It aims to reassure parents and young aspirants that learning opportunities from globally recognised institutions need not be limited by societal or financial constraints. 

Through upGrad Abroad, aspirants who seek to attain academic qualifications from global institutes or universities can now pursue their dream. This vertical has a diversified portfolio of over 20 programs that comes with the flexibility to complete the first 12 months online, followed by the on-campus learning in the subsequent months, in a 1+2 and 2+2 learning model.

Arjun Mohan, upGrad’s CEO for India, said that while their recently launched upGrad Abroad vertical is a breakthrough, they realised that the bigger challenge is to first reach out to the relevant target audience and create maximum visibility for them to be able to make an informed decision. 

“In this regard, it was extremely critical for us to understand the market sentiment and then make a strong marketing move. And that’s when the decision of joining hands with Amit Ji to further our upGrad Abroad mission, came to life; whose on-screen persona and charm will undoubtedly make heads turn and will leave a lasting impact on the audience, thus hitting the bull’s eye,” added Mohan.

Meanwhile, Suyash Khabya, The Womb’s creative head, shared that over the decades, the world has seen Bachchan on 70mm, KBC on TV, and in numerous ads, which led them to think of other ways on how do they show him differently now. 

“And that’s where the idea of bringing back ‘Angry Bachchan’ struck us. At the shoot, he was as fit as a fiddle even at 80, kicking, punching, and breaking stuff. We’re confident that just like he breaks upGrad’s office in the commercial, the ad will break the clutter,” said Khabya.

The film is now available across upGrad’s digital platforms.

Mumbai, India – India’s deemed-to-be university, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies ((NMIMS), has appointed independent media agency Madison Media to be its new media agency of record. This account will be handled by the agency’s business unit Madison Media Alpha based out of Mumbai.

As part of the mandate, Madison Media will be scaling up NMIMS’ media presence, and generating a higher reach for the institute across the country. It will also handle the University’s traditional and digital media services including visibility in print media and radio.

Burzeen Bhathena, NMIMS’ director of marketing and PR, said, “I’m confident that Madison Media will help us establish an impactful media presence and build a strong brand with its innovative approach. I look forward to working with them.”

Meanwhile, Chintan Soni, Madison Digital’s vice president, commented that they are looking forward to this exciting opportunity with NMIMS, which is one of the few universities in the country to have established a global footprint. 

“By leveraging our digital-first and outcome-driven approach, we are confident that NMIMS will achieve its goals and surpass industry expectations. Madison is committed to further NMIMS media presence with strategic planning at all levels,” said Soni.