Tag: VMLY&R

Massachusetts, USA – Global athletic wear brand New Balance has released its new global campaign called ‘We Got Now’ which focuses on highlighting the joys of each one’s craft in everyday moments.

Conceptualised and produced alongside VMLY&R, the campaign features NBA Champion Kawhi Leonard, singer-songwriter IU, English football players Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka and New Balance’s newest ambassador, Grammy-nominated artist Jack Harlow. It features a series of three vignettes, one highlighting Harlow and Leonard, the second showcasing Sterling and Saka, and the last focusing on IU, which symbolises the faces that are shaping the ‘now’ in the worlds of sport and culture.

“New Balance is a firm believer in the power of now, and ‘We Got Now’ is a rallying cry for a global generation to fearlessly redefine themselves in pursuit of their passions. Now is the time to energise culture and create positive action, without waiting for permission. Through its relationships with athletes and ambassadors who aren’t afraid to change the game, challenge the system, and encourage others to do the same, New Balance strives to empower everyone to live life on their own terms, always in the now,” the company said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, Chris Davis, CMO and senior vice president of merchandising at New Balance, commented, “Through the continuation of our ‘We Got Now’ campaign, New Balance is challenging our ambassadors, athletes, and fans to come together in fun and meaningful ways. When we allow ourselves the freedom to play in settings authentic to ourselves, there’s a liberating energy that comes from moving our bodies, showing off our skills, and doing something – whatever it may be – that we truly love.”

The campaign goes live globally on NewBalance.com and on New Balance’s social media channels, as well as media placements throughout 2022.

Singapore – Global marketing agency VMLY&R has announced that its CEO for Singapore, Preethi Sanjeevi, steps down from her role after 16 successful years with the network. Following through on a long-held dream, Sanjeevi will be moving on to begin her own digital venture, creating products and solutions outside the marketing space to solve global issues.

Commenting on her departure, Sanjeevi said, “It’s been a journey of 16 years, since joining VML (Qais) back in 2006, and a dream career with the agency. I will always be grateful for the journey full of fantastic clients, learning, mentors who gave generously and most of all the life long friendships. Thank you for everything VMLY&R!”

Meanwhile, Hari Ramanathan, CEO of VMLY&R South, Southeast Asia, and Japan, said that they will soon announce new leadership for the office under the new structure, designed to continue supporting collaborative and dynamic work across the agency’s customer experience (CX), brand experience (BX), and commerce teams, giving the employees, who are housed in Singapore, the chance to learn and grow with the best in the business and to provide world-class solutions for their clients.

In recent months, Singapore’s investment into capability growth includes moving Saurabh Mathur, previously EVP of growth and innovation for India into the role of regional head of customer experience & head of experience for Singapore. The team has also hired Alex Tan as regional commerce director. Both Mathur and Tan will be based out of Singapore and lead growth in solutions for Singapore and regional clients.

Ramanathan further shared that VMLY&R Singapore is a flagship for the region and has gone from strength to strength under Sanjeevi’s leadership, and she leaves it perfectly primed for its next stage of growth. 

“We thank her for everything she’s contributed to the network’s growth over the past 16 years and wish her all the best with her new venture,” added Ramanathan.

He also noted, “In the coming months, our renewed and strengthened Singapore teams will continue to make an impact on our clients’ businesses, reiterating our focus on commerce as the intersection point between BX and CX. This seamless coming together of the three pillars (BX, CX, Commerce) places us perfectly to partner with our clients to diagnose their business problems and work with them on solutions that have an impact far beyond the traditional communications and marketing sphere.”

Malaysia — Telekom Malaysia (TM), has produced a heart-warming Hari Raya film that incorporates Kufi, a type of early Arabic calligraphy, in an innovative way to unite the cultures of the past with the technology of the future. The campaign was created, handled, and executed by brand and customer experience agency, VMLY&R.

The short film entitled ‘Dari Hati’ or From the Heart, is part of the TM’s wider Festive Campaign for 2022 – which encompasses all the main festive celebrations in Malaysia, including National Day.

The short film revolves around a young man, Iqbal, and his ruminations on life and his purpose. His mum then rings, asking for help clearing out the workshop of his deceased father, who was an artist. By revisiting the workshop and being inspired by his father’s art to create tech Kufi versions of his own, Iqbal reconnects with his family, his heritage and above all his father’s values of doing everything with wholeheartedness and sincerity.

VMLY&R’s proprietary ‘Muslim Intel Lab’ insights helped shape the idea, that Malaysians have one intangible heritage that is passed on from every generation: Words of wisdom. This is an important pillar of the Malay community as it forms and guides everything that they do in life. Through this, the agency found a way to turn this intangible heritage into a tangible end product with the Kufi generator.

Kenni Loh, CEO of VMLY&R Malaysia, shared, “Our proprietary ‘Muslim Intel Lab’ provided a valuable insight that inspired us to find a solution that could convert the intangible, a heritage passed down through the generations, into the tangible. Our goal was to honour and celebrate Aidilfitri in a unique and interesting way and get our audience to not only enjoy the touching and meaningful Raya film but also share their own words of wisdom thanks to the world’s first Kufi generator.”

Together with TM, VMLY&R co-created a proprietary platform, Artificial Intelligence Visual to Extralinguistic Experience (A.I.VEE) that allows users to key their words of wisdom into a special page on the TM website that then converts their submission from text into beautiful Kufi. They can then customise, download their personalised Kufi design and share them with their friends and family.

KC Aui, executive creative director of VMLY&R Malaysia, said, “Many brands just produce a TVC for Raya, but we wanted to build on that in an innovative way. We wanted to celebrate the culture of sharing words of wisdom from our elders by converting them into another form of Malay heritage: turning Jawi (the traditional way of writing Malay script based on Arabic letters) into beautiful Kufi art.”

Commenting on the project, Shanti Jusnita Johari, CMO of Telekom Malaysia, said, “We want to highlight and celebrate Malaysia’s many cultures and heritage during a festive season when people are more attuned to the idea of how culture connects our humanity and brings families closer together. We also want to demonstrate TM’s role as the enabler of technology, by empowering Malaysians to use technology to create art pieces.”

Since its launch for Hari Raya, the film has garnered over 2 million views, and over 700 pieces of original Kufi art have been created. VMLY&R developed the first of its kind Kufi generator using A.I.VEE technology and building the microsite.

Mumbai, India — Dell India’s program, Dell Futurist, is set for youthful and ambitious thinkers who want to create a future where their passion transforms into their careers by enabling technology. The program has focused on different verticals like visual arts, music, and gaming, as they choose sustainability and art as the theme of the latest segment.

Dell Futurist invited students to present their idea of sustainability with a project or art and raise awareness in their own unique way. Partnering with thousands of colleges and universities across India, the competition encouraged students to think about sustainability and highlight the stark reality of many ecological problems in India. The winners were mentored by the best in the industry to help them build their case for their future.

Simultaneously, the digital-first creative agency of VMLY&R, The Glitch, conceptualized and executed the competition. The agency collaborated with eco-consultant Anirudh Sharma of Graviky Labs and Kunel Gaur managed by Art&Found to create a personalised masterclass educating students, providing mentorship, and allowing them to build sustainable project ideas and art.

Commenting on the program, Mayuri Saikia, director for India consumer marketing at Dell Technologies, said, “Reaching the young, creative, aspiring minds who are inspired is crucial for us as a brand as our products are clear enablers in this journey and celebrate their process. Dell Futurist is for youthful and enthusiastic ones who desire to pursue their passions as their careers.

Saikia added, “Dell’s flagship digital program intends to connect the passion areas for youth, and their future aspirations in terms of their professions and technology. We not only help them nurture their skills and get access to subject matter experts but also the leaders that inspire them!”

Five winners were selected from across the country who participated to co-create the final, 35-foot installation in Delhi, a city with one of the worst air quality indexes in the world. Drawn with ink made from filtering carbon and other pollutants from the air, it is one of the biggest eco-friendly murals in the country. Despite the third wave of COVID which brought a lot of movement restrictions, the team took the right advantage of technology by conducting AMA sessions with the students to plan and design the mural virtually and ultimately paint it in Delhi.

Also on the program, said Varun Anchan, associate vice president for Flux@The Glitch, commented, “We didn’t want to create a token campaign that hypes the problem of pollution. For us, it was important to build sustainability into the mindsets of students and show them that they can make an impact on the world. The campaign was about giving them a canvas that combined sustainability, creativity, and technology.”

Simultaneously, Rahul Dcruz, associate creative director for Flux@The Glitch, added, “Dell Futurist Sustainability+Art has been built over a span of 4 months, with partners from across the country and 4000 colleges and universities, to create India’s most sustainable mural in the world’s most polluted city. For us, the success of the campaign isn’t just the mural but the fact that it was co-created with students who will take the baton forward of sustainability and art.”

Singapore – Global marketing agency VMLY&R has elevated Camellia Tan, former managing director of network development for Asia at VMLY&R, to step into the newly created role of chief network growth officer for Asia. 

In her new role, Tan will be responsible for the planning, design, and execution of VMLY&R’s growth strategy for Asia, focusing on new and existing markets against key network client opportunities. She will also be ensuring the agency’s preparedness to operationally support core and new clients’ business – to achieve growth targets by building, buying, partnering for, and integrating capabilities.

Tan has played an instrumental role in network development since joining Y&R in 2010, and then VML in 2013. She grew the network’s Caltex remit, from just regional brand AOR to becoming an integrated lead agency, including driving digital transformation covering data, marketing automation, and experience design. She has also helped to integrate WPP’s foremost commerce agency Geometry into VMLY&R by bringing complementary capabilities together and creating market-leading offerings for shared clients – including subscription commerce, data-driven marketing, and service design.

Commenting on her elevation, Tan said, “Growing and building the VMLY&R network has always been close to my heart. Whether it’s helping to grow clients’ businesses or ramping up capabilities through integration or right-fit acquisition, I look forward to building on our current momentum to help drive the agency’s continued expansion and relevance.”

Meanwhile, Yi-Chung Tay, VMLY&R’s CEO for Asia, shared that the agency has enjoyed robust growth over the last three years because of its relentless focus on integrating, building out and acquiring market-leading capabilities to meet its clients’ business needs, and having a great culture for like-minded innovators and marketers to collaborate and grow together. 

“With Camy having been in the thick of this growth, she’s the ideal choice to maintain this momentum, continuing our focus on growth and our ever-expanding capabilities,” said Tay.

Singapore – Scoot, Singapore Airlines Group’s low-cost arm, has tapped brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R Singapore to help the airline’s creative strategies. Alongside this, Omnicom Advertising Group-owned network PHD has been appointed to handle global media planning and buying. 

The 2-year appointment follows a closed-door pitch. The mandate entails the creative partners to support Scoot’s aim to be a low-cost carrier that emphasises quality flying services at pocket-friendly pricing while maintaining stringent health and safety standards. On a global scale, integrated brand work will include digital, social, outdoor, and above-the-line media.

Named the World’s Best Long-Haul Low-Cost Airline by Skytrax in 2021, Scoot’s network encompasses 72  destinations across 16 countries and territories.

Agatha Yap, director of communications for brand and marketing of market partnerships and loyalty at Scoot, said that with the easing of border restrictions in many parts of the world, the future looks exciting for the airline. “It is therefore timely for us to fortify our strategies and efforts to rebuild travel confidence, strengthen our brand, and step up our role in enabling physical human connections, especially given the fact that we celebrate a decade of flights in June 2022,” Yap said

Yap added, “We look forward to working with VMLY&R and PHD as partners to build our brand narrative and creative pieces using the most relevant media channels to speak to our customers in key markets around the world.”  

Commenting on the win, Preethi Sanjeevi, managing director, VMLY&R Singapore, said that it’s always exciting to start working with a new client, but this feels amplified now that they’re seeing the resumption of air travel with restrictions being eased globally. 

“Being deprived of foreign travel means many people are eager to explore new and exciting destinations. Scoot is the perfect choice for people looking to pursue their travel dreams, and we’re really enjoying working together to help these travellers follow their wanderlust,” Sanjeevi said.

Meanwhile, Chloe Neo, chief operating officer of Omnicom Media Group Singapore commented, “The resumption of leisure travel presents new opportunities for us to tap on meaningful use of data to connect with travellers with greater empathy. Coupled with the calibre and passion of the team, we look forward to leveraging our network capabilities to build brand love and measurable business impact for Scoot.”

Mumbai, India – Insurance provider Ageas Federal Life Insurance (AFLI) in India has launched a one-of-a-kind integrated campaign featuring a youthful legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Developed with VMLY&R, the campaign was created using bespoke DeepFake AI video regeneration technology to transform the cricket legend into an 11-year-old version of himself.

The campaign wants to inspire parents to invest in their children’s future by allowing them to follow their greatest aspirations. Tendulkar overcame numerous obstacles as a child, yet he trusted his instincts and went on to become one of the best batsmen in cricket history.

DeepFake recently arose in buzz on the internet to the delight of the general public and professional creators, and customer experience agency VMLY&R revealed that they designed a new approach that combined AI, CG, and live shoot to obtain the desired result in the campaign. There were also no existing videos of the young Sachin which pushed the team to utilise a few existing pictures. 

Mukund Olety, chief creative officer, VMLY&R India, said that it’s amazing what they can do with technology, that they can tell stories that could have never been told before. 

“We wanted an inspiring figure to convince parents to overcome their fears with better financial planning from Ageas Federal Life Insurance, and who better than our protagonist – the 11-year-old Sachin. While we knew this was something we could achieve using technologies such as DeepFake AI, unfortunately for us, we didn’t have any pre-existing videos of Sachin as a child. Instead of letting that stop us, we found our way through custom tech innovations,” Olety said.

“This is perhaps the first time a person or celebrity is being de-aged by so many years. Not just that, even the voice is de-aged. We recorded the adult Sachin and de-aged his voice to make sure it had realistic notes and nuances, things people recognize about him today,” Olety adds.

Karthik Raman, chief marketing officer, Ageas Federal Life Insurance, said that their brand ambassador, Sachin Tendulkar is the perfect embodiment of being #FutureFearless. Un-deterred by any hurdles that life threw at him, he persevered with determination to achieve his dreams and build his future. 

“Our aim through this campaign is to use Sachin’s example to encourage parents to wisely plan for their children’s future. We are going through uncertain times but with financial discipline and timely investment in life insurance, parents can help fulfil the fearless dreams of their children,” Raman said.

Raman underscored, “We were excited to work with VMLY&R on our brand film which uses DeepFake AI video regeneration technology to portray a young Sachin at the age of 11 years. While we have watched the Master Blaster innumerable times as an adult, we did not have any pre-existing footage of him as a child. Hence, we completely relied on this technology to de-age him and create the video.”

Mumbai, India— Computer and technology company Dell Technologies has unveiled its latest campaign that centres around the reimagining of the PC as a gateway to transformative education with a TVC entitled ‘Yeh Hai Padhai 2.0’. The promotion was done in collaboration with brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R.

Dell Technologies further advocated the importance of PC in education as a gateway to learning and transforming education in a fast-changing digital world. In a country where PC adoption stands at 11 per cent, this campaign is an engaging effort to underline the importance of PC as an enabler for the future of learning, especially with schools and colleges adopting hybrid learning at scale.

The campaign is an entry into the larger umbrella of Dell’s annual #BackToSchool and #BackToCollege campaigns. The campaign is set against the backdrop of a modern classroom, which showcases new ways of learning for students and teachers delivering impactful teaching in a fun manner. It emphasizes how students are making the most of their laptops to immerse themselves in the world of experiential learning as well as honing their talent for extracurricular activities. The TVC also showcases how Dell’s Inspiron 2-in-1 PCs play an integral role in actioning an idea that inspires students to innovate, collaborate and achieve their dreams.

Mukund Olety, chief creative officer of VMLY&R India, said, “In this all-kids campaign, we have portrayed how learning is changing and how our kids are learning all-new things in all-new ways. With schools moving to hybrid models, new platforms of learning popping up, and with subjects themselves ever-evolving, our kids have had to adapt fast. And they have in ways we could have never imagined. Dell Technologies with its new range of PCs are made for this new way of learning.”

Meanwhile, Mayuri Saikia, director of consumer marketing of Dell Technologies India, commented that the education and learning sector has witnessed a major shift in the past two years, the PC especially has been indispensable in delivering it across all sections and ages.

“Right from music to extracurricular activities and developing new hobbies, the PC has been at the centre of schooling and training. The campaign focuses on the maturing and dynamic nature of learning. Immersive blended learning is the future and Dell Technologies is committed to leveraging its technology leadership for addressing the evolving needs of the education sector and the students,” Saikia said.

The campaign kicks off with a brand film followed by a 360-degree amplification, across television, radio, digital and social media with prime associations and high-impact creatives. The second phase of the campaign features prominent personalities namely Harsha Bhogle, Tisca Chopra, Mandira Bedi, and Amrita Raichand, who advocates how the PC is augmenting experiential learning, which helps students understand concepts better and retain information. The second and third phases will extend to social media, YouTube shorts, on-ground activations, retail and online promotions. The brand film will be broadcast across India in 5 languages including Hinglish, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, and English, and showcased on OTT platforms like Sony Liv, Voot, MX Player, and Zee5.

As part of the campaign, Dell will be offering additional warranty, headsets, and discounts exclusively to students at their website, Dell exclusive stores, multi-brand outlets, and large format retail.

Singapore — Global marketing agency VMLY&R has announced key senior leadership appointments within its whole Asia division. Yi Chung Tay takes on the position of chief executive officer of VMLY&R Asia. Simultaneously, Hari Ramanathan is being promoted to the role of chief executive officer of VMLY&R South and Southeast Asia and Japan. Lastly, Tripti Lochan is elevated into the newly created role of global capability development officer for VMLY&R, based in Singapore.

Tay will oversee all agency brands in the region – which includes VMLY&R, VMLY&R Commerce, VMLY&Rx The Glitch based in India, ClickMedia based in Vietnam, and Dawson based in China, having previously worked closely alongside Lochan as co-CEO for Asia overlooking markets in Greater China. Previously, Tay was CEO of VMLY&R China which he developed from start-up im2.0 into one of China’s leading full-service digital marketing agencies.

Tay commented on his newly expanded role, saying, “I look forward to continuing to build on our success in Asia, by harnessing creativity, technology, culture and data to create innovative solutions for our clients and business partners. Lochan has set up some of our highest potential markets for success, and we are deeply grateful for her outstanding contribution.”

Meanwhile, Ramanathan’s responsibilities now include the role of chief executive officer of VMLY&R South and Southeast Asia and Japan, overseeing these markets for the group. Since joining VMLY&R in 2007, he has been instrumental in developing a strategy for Asia including transformational plans and processes for the markets. Ramanathan pioneered new strategic models and tools, created proprietary data assets including BAV and provided directional thought leadership.

Lastly, through her elevation, Lochan is tasked with identifying areas for capability growth and developing strengths globally. Lochan has been a part of the global leadership team of VMLY&R for ten years and will now partner with the team on capability expansion. Under her leadership in Asia, the network has undergone three global integrations – VML+Y&R, Geometry, GTB – with talent and billings doubling across Asia during Lochan’s tenure, creating one of the most established, full-service agencies in Asia.

Lochan shared her thoughts on the new role, saying, “I look forward to further expanding our capabilities globally, integrating offices and training leading to even greater levels of success. I’m proud of the culture of innovation and connectedness we have built together. It’s been inspiring to lead teams to success, building connected brands for our growing portfolio of clients. Importantly, I am excited for VMLY&R Asia’s future with Tay at the helm.”

Ramanathan will be reporting to Yi Chung Tay, CEO of VMLY&R Asia, alongside Kevin Zhu, CEO of VMLY&R China. Meanwhile, Lochan will report to Jon Cook, global chief executive officer, and will partner with Ronnie Felder, global chief people officer and Christine Nollen, executive director on leadership training and coaching worldwide.

Jon Cook, global chief executive officer VMLY&R, said that these strategic appointments are essential to VMLY&R’s connected growth plans for both Asia and our global operation.

“Tay, Ramanathan, and Zhu are phenomenally sharp marketers who believe in driving business momentum for our clients while ensuring we are creating a culture of belonging for our talented teams. Our Asia market is in great hands with their leadership. And I’m thrilled to expand Lochan’s remit by leveraging her acumen for capability-building and integration across our full global network. 2022 is proving to be an exciting year for the connected growth of VMLY&R,” Cook said.

Last January, VMLY&R in Thailand welcomed Anuwat Nitipanont as its newest chief creative officer.

Philippines — Caltex, a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., has partnered with VMLY&R, a global brand and customer experience agency, to launch #Caltexunstoppablestar, a campaign on TikTok centred around engaging musicians and fans across Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The said campaign was also done in collaboration with Def Jam Southeast Asia, Universal Music Group’s flagship hip-hop label.

Musicians and fans across the said countries are encouraged to enter the rap challenge on TikTok, which aims to underscore the joy of driving and the freedom of journey.

The mechanics, as conceptualised and executed by VMLY&R, features a unique 60-second rap song co-written and co-produced for Caltex by SonaOne and performed by artists across three countries: Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia. The rap is divided into four 15-second sections, each increasing in speed and difficulty. Leveraging the different AR features of Tiktok, participants can create unique rap videos of their celebration of the joys of driving and adventures.

Dean Gilbert, general manager for marketing and sales support of Chevron Corporation, said that VMLY&R and Def Jam Southeast Asia helped Chevron encapsulate Caltex’s #unstoppable ethos through a fun and unique campaign. Gilbert added that with Caltex’s unbeatable mileage, users can keep on going, and fuel stops become one less thing holding them back from what they want to achieve, be it performing as a rap artist or running daily errands.

Valerie Madon, chief creative officer of VMLY&R Asia, said, “Singing in our cars is a universal joy, and Caltex is focused on enabling drivers to enjoy their journeys. Sharing energy and new music through this project encompasses the human spirit we are championing and keep empowering as the VMLY&R brand.”

The song, written and produced for Caltex by Def Jam Southeast Asia, features a catchy, tongue-twisting, free-flowing rap. Participants are encouraged to use Caltex’s special TikTok AR filters to glam up their rap to get a chance to win numerous prizes up for grabs in the contest.

Meanwhile, Calvin Wong, CEO of Universal Music Group Southeast Asia, commented, “Hip-Hop is highly influential across the region. With some of Southeast Asia’s biggest rappers including Malaysia’s Joe Flizzow, Thailand’s Daboyway and the Philippines’ Matthaios performing on the track, we’re excited to see how fans and users take the song to the next level through this partnership.”

According to the agency, within just 10 days of launch, the campaign has already garnered over 650 million views on the hashtag page with several unique submissions from participants. The campaign is running in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand from February 18, 2022, to April 24, 2022.