Week at a glance: India @75 - Through the Ad Lens; CMOs’ Charcha; Festive Mood

“We aim to be the biggest digital marketing transformation company in the world”

In an interaction with Adgully, Prasad Shejale, Founder & CEO, LS Digital, and Venugopal Ganganna, Co-founder and CEO, Langoor, speak about Logicserve Digital’s transition to LS Digital, the acquisition of Langoor, how the combined entity will enrich the brands’ digital capabilities, and more.

India @75 – Through the Advertising Lens

India @75: When Raj Kamble fell in love with Indian advertising all over again

“It is the job of the advertising business to always represent and lead the sentiment of the nation. And that’s why we need to stay two steps ahead,” remarks Raj Kamble, Founder and CCO, Famous Innovations, in an email interaction with Adgully.

India @75: Indian advertising impacting cultures on a global scale

Advertising has evolved from just product promotion to a means of communicating with society, noted Shrenik Gandhi, Co-Founder and CEO, White Rivers Media, in an interaction with Adgully. He added, “Having worked closely with various brands, I have seen that the purpose of advertising now is also to bring a change by raising sensitive issues.”

India @75: Shradha Agarwal reminisces strong legacy of advertising over the years

In an interaction with Adgully, Shradha Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Grapes, noted that it is evident that the Indian advertising has undergone sea changes from 1940’s till now, the industry as a whole has witnessed Herculean transformations. The Indian advertising fraternity has evolved over the course of the last 70 years, reflecting the change that the country’s economy as well as society has went through.

India @75: Hari Chakyar on how advertising has been creating powerful stories

In an interaction with Adgully, Hari Chakyar, Creative Director - Copy, Chimp&z Inc, noted, “Sure, advertising has a bad rap for “faking” campaigns for awards. But advertising is also responsible for creating powerful stories that got people talking about important issues.”

India @75: Advertising and sports – the unifying factor: Dhruv Warrior

According to Dhruv Warrior, National Creative Director, FoxyMoron (Zoo Media), one of the most heartening contributions that Indian advertising has made to our culture and society is to unite people under the banner of sport.

India @75: Sugandha Varshney on the many moods & facets of advertising

“Advertisements always bring a wave of awareness around them, making things visible for people, which otherwise could have left invisible,” noted Sugandha Varshney, Lead - Digital Marketing, DIZO, in an interaction with Adgully.

India @75: Amrita Dey on the increasing pride in ‘Make in India’

“Sirf hamara nahi, hamse! In a North Indian family of 5 mischievous kids, we grew up singing the famous 80’s song – ‘Hamara Bajaj’, reminisces Amrita Dey, Group Creative Director, 4AM Worldwide, adding, “So much so that the first scooter was a Bajaj, of course. The core of the song was an innate sense of pride in the nation that it brought about.”

Strengthening the bonds, brands eye big festive revival this Raksha Bandhan

Festive season sales account for a significant chunk of the annual sales for retailers selling apparel, electronics products, household furnishings and FMCG brands. Retailers across the board reported a strong recovery, with sales in September 2021 reaching 96% of the pre-pandemic levels, according to the sales data released by RAI.

CMOs’ Charcha 2022 coverage

Ajay Gupte on metaverse, personalisation, persuasion powering brand strategies

Ajay Gupte, CEO - South Asia, Wavemaker, delivered a keynote address on ‘Digital and Pandemic have given new opportunities for brands to surge ahead’. While commenting that there were several things that were created in the last two years that would stay with us and that the acceleration will continue, Gupte said that six points stood out for him while talking about how the pandemic has impacted us in the ways that we have developed ideas to help propel our brands further. “In all this, digital has been a great tool for us to pull this off,” he added.

An adjustment or an exponential shift - Vivek Malhotra decodes post-pandemic times

The third edition of CMOs’ Charcha 2022 saw Vivek Malhotra, Group CMO & COO - Consumer Revenue, India Today Group, deliver a special keynote address, where he posed a very pertinent question on whether the current situation is an adjustment faced by everyone or an exponential shift. According to him, the decision is choosing between minor adjustments like optimisation and the need for imagining new pathways, the need to build new bridges or the need to think totally differently.

61% netizens will be using a lot more social media during festival season: Kanika Mittal

Delivering the keynote address at CMOs’ Charcha 2022, Kanika Mittal, Country Lead, Large Client Solutions, Twitter India, dwelled on the topic – ‘How brands can capitalise on festive cheer to enhance brand recall and drive full-funnel results’. Mittal spoke about the key festival trends and insights on Twitter, what are the kinds of conversations that happen, why it’s important to connect with what’s happening, how to really make the best use of the spike in these conversations, how to go from branding, to shopping and create impact through social commerce and more.

Marketing in the New Age - Lessons from the Game of Thrones: Anisha Iyer

Delivering her keynote address on ‘Marketing in the New Age - Lessons from Game of Thrones’, Anisha Iyer, Chief Executive Officer, OMD India, noted that marketing is an art of persuasion and that there are several valuable marketing lessons to be learnt from the highly popular web series ‘Game of Thrones’.

“Ads today are bite-sized brand experiences that also include commerce”

Delivering his keynote address, Girish Ramachandra, Founder & CEO, Shopalyst, turned the focus on ‘Discovery Commerce - A blueprint for brands to close the loop between impressions and conversions’. He highlighted how advertisements can be made a little more useful, interactive, experimental and e-commerce driven.

Chacko Thomas on crafting a perfect blend of tradition and modernity

Delivering the opening keynote address, Chacko Thomas, MD & CEO, Tata Coffee, spoke on ‘Crafting a perfect blend of tradition and modernity’. Highlighting the significance of marketing and branding in business, Thomas said, “The persona of the company or its vision is actually transmitted very clearly to the external world.”

No room for complacency: What Rahul Joshi said about numero uno status

Network18 Group channels have been putting up a strong show. Some 15 weeks back, the Group’s English general news brand CNN-News18 moved ahead of Times Now. In the last few weeks, the Group’s Hindi News channel, News18 India, moved ahead of Aaj Tak and India TV to attain the No. 1 position, as per BARC data.

Industry experts bullish on ad spends projections for festive season of 2022

The expectations are high for the festival season this year, which will roll out with the Raksha Bandhan-Independence Day-Janmashtami-Ganesh Mahotsav period, before flowing into Onam and forward. The festive-focussed event dwelled at length on ‘Ad spends projections for festive season 2022’.

How Content Marketing can be leveraged for brand success

Content marketing has gained in significance over the years. Every aspect of our lives – right from the morning newspaper to the movie that we watch – is all about great storytelling. It’s something that aims to pull you in and help the marketer achieve their objective. Speakers at the third edition of the CMOs’ Charcha 2022, dwelled on ‘Content Marketing for Brand Success’ in a panel discussion.

Metaverse Marketing: What's the hurry?

While researching for this article, I spent some time watching the November 27, 1995, episode of the Late Show with David Letterman. In this episode, Letterman had invited Bill Gates (then 39) as a guest. During the interview, Gates tried to explain the internet to Letterman, and the exchange was hilarious!

We see better growth rates in the premium segment: Karthik Yathindra

Speaking to Adgully for the column Marketing Minds, Karthik Yathindra, Chief Marketing Officer, Jockey India, speaks about how the brand has been maintaining a strong position in the premium innerwear category and also highlights how the brand is committed to offering the best products.

Pan Pasand Vs Spotify: Much ado over transformation as a creative device

Some netizens have pointed out that Spotify’s campaign is similar to that of the ad campaign of Pan Pasand, the paan-flavoured candy from Ravalgaon, in concept. Conceptualised by Advertising Avenues, the Pan Pasand ad campaign was released way back in 1986.

Festive Mood: How brands can stay relevant during the festive clutter

In conversation with Adgully, Cyrus Shroff -  Head of Banking and Financial Services, Performics speaks at length about the projections on advertisers spends for the festive season, categories that are expected to grow this year and much more.

“Despite the turbulent times, we’re witnessing a solid uptick in short-haul destinations”

In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Lau Yin May, Group Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Malaysia Airlines, speaks at length about their plans and touched upon their various promotional offers and packages, which will make the travel of their passengers very memorable and exciting.

PR is integral to the business strategy from the beginning: Vandana Sandhir

In conversation with Adgully, Vandana Sandhir, India Lead Six Degrees BCW and Chief Client Strategy Officer, BCW India Group, speaks about the changing face of PR, building corporate reputation, meeting client expectations, and more.

Reckitt contributed Rs 78.8 bn to India’s GDP in 2021: Oxford Economics

The report presents an independent analysis of the significant economic impact of Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc in India, one of Reckitt’s top three markets. As a global leader in health, hygiene, and nutrition products, Reckitt contributed a total of Rs 78.8 billion (£775 million) to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021.

Print ad space up 5x during May’22; attracts 17.9K+ new advertisers: TAM AdEx

Overall Print Ad Space increased 5x during May’22 compared to May’20 and 3x compared to May’21, as per TAM AdEx report. Ad Space in Print climbed up in all weeks of May’22, compared to the same weeks of May’21, with the highest growth (4x) occurring in Week 1 of May’22.

DailyObjects witnessed 300% growth in business in the past two years: Pankaj Garg

In an email interaction with Adgully, Pankaj Garg, Co-Founder and CEO of DailyObjects, explores more on the brand’s journey and how it brings a unique quotient to the table, leveraging influencers, future growth strategy, and more.