Week at a glance: What’s brewing in Dentsu? Brands tap into festive fervour

What’s brewing in Dentsu? Rejig sees Anand Bhadkamkar stepping down as CEO

Dentsu India is currently undergoing quite a few changes in its top rung, Adgully has learnt. With this rejig, in a surprise move Anand Bhadkamkar, CEO, Dentsu India, is stepping down from his role.

Isobar's Group MD Shamsuddin Jasani puts in his papers

Shamsuddin Jasani, Group Managing Director of Isobar India, has put in his papers. Sources close to the development have confirmed the news to Adgully. Along with heading the Isobar Group in South Asia consisting of Isobar India, Watconsult, Isobar Srilanka and Fractalink, Jasani has also been looking after the Taproot and Isobar Cluster.

Now, Agnello Dias quits Dentsu as Consultant

More exits are afoot at Dentsu as the agency undergoes internal restructuring. The latest to leave is Agnello Dias, who has been working as a Consultant on select brands after deciding to step down as the Co-founder and CCO of Taproot Dentsu earlier this year.

Dentsu Creative appoints Ajay Gahlaut as Group Chief Creative Officer

Dentsu India has announced the appointment of creative veteran Ajay Gahlaut as Group Chief Creative Officer (GCCO), spearheading creative excellence across dentsu India’s award-winning creative agencies.

Why KBC continues to attract advertisers Y-o-Y?

Over the years, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ has become the perfect fabric to weave in every Indian’s dreams and aspirations. In every season, the knowledge-based show has celebrated human virtues of courage, self-belief, patience, confidence, and intelligence – as Season 13 of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ states, ‘Sawaal jo bhi ho, #JawaabAapHiHo’.

The Advertising Club elects Partha Sinha as President

Advertising, Marketing and Media industry’s apex body – The Advertising Club today announced the Managing Committee for the current fiscal, i.e., F.Y. 2021-2022, at its 67th Annual General Meeting. Mr. Partha Sinha, President – Response Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., has been elected to lead the body. 

MRUCI Elects Shashi Sinha as Chairman & Shailesh Gupta as Vice Chairman

Shashi Sinha, CEO - India, IPG Mediabrands, and Shailesh Gupta, Director, Jagran Prakashan, have been unanimously elected as MRUCI’s Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. Sinha takes over the mantle from Pratap Pawar, Chairman, Sakal Media Group, who served as MRUCI’s Chairman for two consecutive terms – from 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Regional & localised PR is helping brands engage at a micro level this festive season

Festive season this year is expected to bring about a stronger revival than last year as brands look to leverage the positive consumer sentiments. Raksha Bandhan and Onam saw considerable brand activity, even though the threat of a third wave of COVID-19 looms. Despite Kerala seeing the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the opening up of the markets during Onam saw a heavy rush of shoppers.

Money Heist finale & Cinderella – A tale of two promotions

This Friday (September 3, 2021) saw two international releases on OTT – a much loved crime series, which will see its finale, ‘Money Heist’; and the other, a movie on the much loved fairy tale, ‘Cinderalla’, which gets a musical twist. With so many content options competing for viewers’ attention, it has become imperative for OTT platforms to come out with innovative promotions to stand out amid the growing clutter.

Snapchat has pioneered AR advertising at scale with Lenses: Prasanna Raman

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Prasanna Raman, Advertiser Solutions Lead, Snap Inc., speaks about the key factors driving the YoY growth of Snapchat in India, engagement of brands on the platform, learnings from 2020 and projections about 2021, initiatives for the Indian market and a lot more.

“Visa plans to connect local merchants with 13 mn+ audiences with Bring India Home”

Visa has initiated the ‘Bring India Home’ drive, a platform intended to support small businesses, Speaking to Adgully for the column Talking Insights, Sujatha V. Kumar, Head – Marketing, India and South Asia, Visa, speaks about the various issues faced by artisans and Visa’s mission in empowering them for greater digital and financial inclusion, as well as the positive impact that conscious shopping choices can have on local communities.

Coconut Films’ Tushar Raut narrates the story behind Royal Enfield’s ‘Home’ film

Royal Enfield recently rolled out a brand-new film digitally, titled ‘Home’. Adgully spoke with the makers of this brand film, Tushar Raut, Co-founder, Coconut Films. Read on to know the idea behind the concept of amalgamating emotions with a machine, touching upon various feelings attached to returning to one’s safe haven – one’s home.

Post-pandemic India is leading the social commerce landscape in Asia: Sairee Chahal

Social commerce is much more than just selling to customers via social media channels. Adgully’s premier property – #GullyChat – in its latest episode on August 27, 2021, turned the spotlight on ‘Rise of Community Marketplaces – Social Meets Commerce’, wherein Sairee Chahal, Founder & CEO, SHEROES, decoded and analysed this growing field in Friday’s Twitter chat.

OTT has emerged as game-changers in the entertainment industry: Vishnu Sharma

Vishnu Sharma, Founder & CEO, Efficacy Worldwide, traces the growth of OTT platforms in India and how the pandemic has further spurred the growth of the number of OTT subscribers. At the same time, Sharma doesn’t see OTT cannibalizing TV viewership, but rather OTT and TV co-existing and being an integral part of diverse households.

India has 353 Million OTT users & 96 active paid subscriptions: Ormax Report

Media consulting firm Ormax Media has released the largest audience research to size the OTT universe in India, titled The Ormax OTT Audience Report 2021. The research, based on a sample size of 12,000 across urban and rural India, was conducted in May to July 2021.

Consumers do not pay premium for sustainability: Paru Minocha, Kantar

Kantar recently released its preliminary findings from a new study exploring what sustainability means to Indian consumers. In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Paru Minocha, Managing Director, South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar, highlights the pertinent findings from the inaugural Sustainability survey, role of Kantar in the new normal, identifying the concerns of our society, the role that brands can play in shaping the future and a lot more.

We plan to grow Dangal Games’ user base to 150 mn in the next 5 years: Varun Mahna

Dangal Games recently announced the launch of their Gaming App, which signals the brand’s entry into the casual gaming market. Adgully spoke to Varun Mahna, Founder & CEO of Dangal Games, to know more about their thought behind launching a unified application, their current DAU and MAU, performance of their flagship games and much more.

Well intentioned, but misinterpreted - Why Zomato faced flak for its ad campaigns

Zomato recently launched two new ads featuring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif to show how much they care about their delivery "partners". However, it attracted a lot of flak on social media, with netizens saying that instead of paying the actors such huge amounts as endorsement fees, Zomato should be offering better payment to its delivery executives instead.

Key movements this week

Bajaj Group Appoints Neeraj Jha as Group President and CCO

Bajaj Group has appointed Neeraj Jha as Group President & Chief Communications Officer with effect from September 1, 2021. He will report to Kushagra Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Group and will be based at the Group’s Head Quarters at Bajaj Bhawan, Mumbai.

Zee TV appoints Siddhesh Maldikar as Marketing Director

SPN's Siddhesh Maldikar has joined Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as its Marketing Director. He made this announcement via his LinkedIn post.

Nikhil Gandhi joins MX Media as Chief Operating Officer

An industry leader that brings over two decades of rich experience to the table, Nikhil Gandhi has joined MX Media as Chief Operating Officer.

ZEE5's Chief Revenue Officer Rajeev Dhal moves on

Rajeev Dhal, Chief Revenue Officer, ZEE5, has decided to move on from the company. In his role, he has been responsible for building adtech and data capabilities to scale revenue with farm-to-fork vision.

Shourya Chaudhuri joins Digitas India as Senior Creative Director

Digitas India has announced the appointment of Shourya Ray Chaudhuri as Senior Creative Director. Shourya will be based out of Bangalore and will be responsible for strengthening and growing the creative capabilities across Bangalore and Mumbai regions. He will report into Mark McDonald, EVP & Head of Creative, Digitas India.

Veteran journalist & ex-MP Chandan Mitra is no more

Chandan Mitra, a former Bharatiya Janata Party MP who switched to the Trinamool Congress in 2018, passed away late on Wednesday. Mitra was a journalist, former editor and managing director of The Pioneer newspaper in Delhi. He was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha during August 2003 to August 2009. He was elected to another term in the Rajya Sabha, as a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Madhya Pradesh, in June 2010.

Actor and Bigg Boss 13 winner Sidharth Shukla passes away

Sidharth Shukla, a television and Bollywood actor, best known for his part in the long-running TV programme "Balika Vadhu”and for winning Big Boss 13,died of a severe heart attack.He was 40 years. His death was confirmed by Cooper Hospital, Mumbai.

Twitter tests Super Follows, a new way for creators to monetise content

Twitter is where people go to have real conversations about what's happening. We want to help those people earn money who are driving the conversations that make Twitter what it is. Yesterday, Twitter rolled out Super Follows to some people in the U.S. who will be able to share an extra level of content and conversation with their most engaged followers on Twitter.

Disney to shut down Hotstar in US, Moves Content to Hulu & ESPN+

The Walt Disney company has decided to shut down its Hotstar operations in US by late 2022 as they are joining the Disney Streaming bundle. The giant Media & Entertainment company will divide its content to ESPN+ & HULU, starting September 1. Content related to sports like Indian Premier League (IPL), International Cricket Council (ICC) will move to ESPN+, and the non-sports content including movies and TV shows will move to Hulu.

How Brandmovers India amplified GenZ engagement for Vogue Eyewear

Vogue Eyewear’s latest digital film, featuring Taapsee Pannu, has been creating quite a stir since its, reaching 10 million views on YouTube within 10 days of its launch. Executed by Brandmovers India, the film is part of an ongoing global campaign for Vogue Eyewear – titled #LetsVogue. Brandmovers India is helping amplify the campaign across multiple mediums and has recently used Instagram Reels to reach out to the young and digital-savvy audience. They have created 6-second and 15-second Reels for Instagram.

Always trust your gut, it’s a great internal navigation system: Pooja Dhingra, Le15

While the global pandemic has brought economies to a halt and massively disrupted businesses, it has also fuelled start-up dreams and we are seeing several Indian start-ups achieving Unicorn status during the pandemic period. The times have never been better for the budding entrepreneurs to give wings to their start-up dreams.

The ads that stood out in a campaign-filled August

The month of August saw brands and advertisers very active with several occasions lined up. Be it emotional, energetic or patriotic – the advertisers gave it all. Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Onam and Janmashtami were celebrated in August, marking the beginning of a busy festive season ahead. Advertisers came out with campaigns to mark these festivities.

Watch how brands celebrated Money Heist's premiere

Money Heist is a Spanish television series in which eight criminals kidnap and lock themselves up in Spain's Royal Mint while a criminal genius manipulates the police to carry out his plot. Money Heist has become a worldwide smash phenomenon, surprising everyone with its phenomenal popularity. It has a large following of followers that like and appreciate the show.