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<ul><li><keyword id="2805202" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dentsu-webchutney" source="Orion">Dentsu Webchutney</keyword> today announced that Gautam Reghunath, CEO &amp; <keyword id="4332869" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PG-Aditiya" source="Orion">PG Aditiya</keyword>, CCO will be leaving their positions early next year to set up their own venture. </li><li>With this change, the agency will now be back under the direct charge of <keyword id="222016" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sidharth-rao" source="Orion">Sidharth Rao</keyword>, CEO, dentsuMB Group.</li></ul>Dentsu Webchutney today announced that Gautam Reghunath, CEO &amp; PG Aditiya, CCO will be leaving their positions early next year to set up their own venture. With this change, the agency will now be back under the direct charge of Sidharth Rao, CEO, dentsuMB Group. Sidharth, founder of dentsu Webchutney, will front the agency’s talented leadership team. Gautam and PG will continue to work with Sidharth through this period to ensure a smooth transition for a team that has broken all records nationally &amp; internationally as India’s most successful creative agency over the last few years. Commenting on the news, Sidharth Rao, founder of <keyword id="12348411" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dentsu-webchutney-ceo" source="Orion">dentsu Webchutney &amp; CEO</keyword>, dentsuMB said, “Gautam &amp; PG have been the two most defining hires in our history. As a founder, you want your people to find their calling at the company you build, and the legacy the two of them leave behind is the best possible example of this. From joining at entry-level positions in 2010 and 2012 respectively, and rising to the very top through hard work, passion and just simply being the best in the business at their jobs. It’s a story that makes me believe that we’ve created an organisation where anyone can shine. And now, they have a chance to do it for themselves as creative entrepreneurs.” “There is a lot that we at dentsu Webchutney owe them but none more so than the culture they’ve created for us all to thrive in. Business, clients and talent-wise Webchutney today is at its strongest position ever. Today, we celebrate their leadership. They’ve also assembled an outstanding leadership group, an army of superstars across all levels, all of whom who give me and the rest of dentsu’s management immense confidence in how we will march forward as a company,” Rao added. <keyword id="12348412" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gautam-pg" source="Orion">Gautam &amp; PG</keyword> said, “There is no other agency or network in the country where we would have had the chance to build our careers like we have at dentsu and at Webchutney. We’ve spent nearly 90% of our careers here, so moving on is not a decision we’re taking lightly. Our personal views of what success, failure, and everything else in between looks like have been shaped at Webchutney and the people that we’ve had the privilege of working with &amp; leading here. We’re so proud and thankful for how it’s all panned out.” “As for the future, we’re more excited than ever about this wonderful business and have a few ideas germinating in our heads—ones that we get to build out. But for now, we’ve got a few more months left in this dream job, and we’re just going to try and maximize every minute of it. There are so many exciting new pieces of work launching over the next few months, some of them possibly the best work we’ve ever had the chance to be a part of. The best years of Webchutney are ahead of it and we’ll be cheering from the very front,” they added.

Sidharth Rao to take direct charge of dentsu Webchutney from Jan '22 as Gautam Reghunath & PG Aditiya resign to launch new venture

Cannes 2021 winners: Dentsu Webchutney's Gautam Reghunath and PG Aditiya on topping the charts

<ul><li>Once again, Dentsu <keyword id="222017" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Webchutney">Webchutney</keyword> has emerged as the most awarded Indian agency at <keyword id="177378" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cannes-Lions">Cannes Lions</keyword> 2021.</li><li>Dentsu Webchutney's <keyword id="3354572" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gautam-Reghunath">Gautam Reghunath</keyword> and PG Aditiya talk to us about the performance this year, agency's filtering system for Cannes entries, campaigns that won and vision for next year.</li></ul>Dentsu Webchutney topped the charts at Cannes Lions this year with 20 shortlists and 7 Lions for Vice Media's The 8-bit journo, <keyword id="6358977" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword>'s The Better Half and World's most reported trailer. It is for the second year in a row that a digital creative agency has emerged as the most awarded Indian agency at Cannes. The agency won 3 Silver and 2 Bronze for ‘The 8-Bit Journo’ campaign, 1 Silver for the ‘World’s Most Reported Trailer’ and a Bronze for Swiggy’s ‘The Better Half Recipes’ campaign, making 2021 Webchutney’s best year so far. This victory didn’t come as a surprise to Team Webchutney, who were quite optimistic about seeing this kind of reaction at Cannes. While the team wishes that they could send all of their work to Cannes, they just have a simple filtration process: gauge the reaction at Indian awards and send work that you firmly believe in. What’s interesting is that Dentsu Webchutney has secured shortlists and won Lions for the same clients, Swiggy and <keyword id="3586025" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trigger-Happy-Entertainment">Trigger Happy Entertainment</keyword>, two years in a row and as PG Aditiya says, this is his biggest feat. Gautam Reghunath, CEO, Dentsu Webchutney and PG Aditiya, NCD, Dentsu Webchutney further talk to us about their performance this year, the agency's filtering process for Cannes entries, the campaigns that won and the agency’s vision for next year. They told us how the entire agency shares the desire to keep leading the charts and aims to double down on their market differentiation, which is creativity. To find out more, hear this conversation. <div type="Video" msid="83984733" hostid="261" title="Cannes 2021 winners: Dentsu Webchutney's Gautam Reghunath and PG Aditiya on topping the charts" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=83984733"></div>

Cannes 2021 winners: Dentsu Webchutney on topping the charts and goals for next Cannes Lions

<ul><li>On Day 3, <keyword id="2805202" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dentsu-Webchutney">Dentsu Webchutney</keyword> won 2 Silvers at <keyword id="177378" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cannes-Lions">Cannes Lions</keyword>.</li><li>It won the metals in the <keyword id="3203686" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital-Craft">Digital Craft</keyword> and Entertainment categories for The 8-Bit Journo and The World’s Most Reported Trailer campaigns respectively.</li></ul>On Day 3 of this year’s Cannes Lions, Dentsu Webchutney made us proud by bringing home 2 Silver Lions. While it got its first Silver in the Digital Craft category for its campaign, The 8-Bit Journo for <keyword id="1749887" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vice-Media">Vice Media</keyword> under the Real-Time Contextual Content sub-category, the agency, along with <keyword id="3586025" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trigger-Happy-Entertainment">Trigger Happy Entertainment</keyword> was awarded the second silver for its campaign, ‘The World’s Most Reported Trailer’ for <keyword id="7522483" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thappad">Thappad</keyword> in the Entertainment category under the Audience Engagement/Distribution Strategy sub-category. <div type="Youtube" id="g1jQXgfaLXE" title="8-Bit Journo" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g1jQXgfaLXE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> <div type="Youtube" id="jbPdKtaJ-Kk" title="The World’s Most Reported Trailer for Thappad’s Release" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jbPdKtaJ-Kk/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Reacting to their continued winning streak at the festival this year, <keyword id="3354572" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gautam-Reghunath">Gautam Reghunath</keyword>, CEO, Dentsu Webchutney said, "For us, The 8-bit journo and The world’s most reported trailer have been gifts that have kept on giving. They inspire us to do better with this unique Webchutney brand of creativity. I also have to say we’re particularly thrilled with the categories we’re being awarded and shortlisted in. We’ve got 3 diverse pieces of work, including Swiggy’s Better Half recipes, featured across special categories like digital craft, mobile and creative e-commerce - not necessarily categories that work from India is used to shining in. But more than anything, I’m so happy for our talent, both past and present for our success this week. Every single Cannes Lion is a reason to celebrate, let alone the five that’s come our way yet!" We failed to win anything in the Film Craft, Industry Craft, Entertainment for Music and Entertainment for Sport categories.

Cannes Lions 2021: On Day 3, Dentsu Webchutney brings home 2 Silver Lions

<ul><li><keyword id="2805202" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dentsu-Webchutney">Dentsu Webchutney</keyword> has onboarded a new client and it is, wait for it, Dentsu Webchutney!</li><li>The agency will launch a series of brand films for its client, Dentsu Webchutney.</li></ul>Dentsu Webchutney has onboarded itself as its agency on record and we are wondering what did the pitching process look like? Did Dentsu Webchutney reject its own ideas at first because "Wo feel nahi aa raha," did they roll their eyes at themselves after seeing their budget for their 'big idea' or did they request themselves to blow up the logo after an umpteenth amount of changes in their copies because ‘the logo is too small’ or did they simply go easy on themselves? From Dentsu Webchutney's blog, all we know is that "the pitch process took years and now they are set to launch a series of brand films for the agency brand after a multi-team pitch." They have clearly taken the phrase 'be your own boss' too literally. Here's how we think the pitching process would have looked like: <div type="image" title="download (2)" msid="81547946" hostid="261"></div> What would they call their weekly Zoom Calls with the client? <div type="image" title="Dentsu calling Dentsu" msid="81548262" hostid="261"></div> It’s debated how much agencies should brand themselves outside of their work or their clients but Dentsu Webchutney is there to challenge this problem. Afterall, who can be your biggest brand ambassador if not yourself? It's like Dentsu Webchutney is the only agency in India that is doing ‘adulting’ right because it has learnt how to take care of its own problems. Aatmanirbhar much? The agency launched a Request For Proposal (RFP) in early 2019, with a clear brief to tell its story - and not unlike most pitches, close to two years later, the results are finally out. Surprise, surprise on who won it! Dentsu Webchutney has enlisted Dentsu Webchutney as its creative agency, with an all-star team leading the charter. To begin with, the agency will launch a series of brand films, focusing on what happens behind the scenes of its path-breaking work. With this win, Dentsu Webchutney (the client) joins Dentsu Webchutney’s (the agency) roster of consequential clients such as Flipkart, Uber, Swiggy, Tinder, IKEA, ITC, The Hershey Company. In their new role as the client, Gautam Reghunath, CEO, Dentsu Webchutney and P.G. Aditiya, NCD, Dentsu Webchutney, released the following statement… “Agility, synergy, innovation and all the buzzwords in ad-land have been achieved at our agency over 2020. We’re now hungry for more (buzzwords). Truth be told, the pitch process took years and was long and winding. Plus, we already kind of knew which agency we were going to go with at the get-go but that’s beside the point. Getting India’s favourite creative agency on board to launch a campaign for us is a massive privilege. It was evident that they GET us like we GET us. Almost like we’re the same people. It was a no-brainer to launch with their pitch creative itself, which began with Bengaluru and will eventually expand to include Mumbai and Gurgaon as well. This partnership feels like decades in the making (22 to be exact) — we couldn’t think of a better agency partner.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Dentsu Webchutney will also be Dentsu Webchutney’s first client in the creative agency category. Will their lack of experience be a negative?" text="Dentsu Webchutney will also be Dentsu Webchutney’s first client in the creative agency category. Will their lack of experience be a negative?">Dentsu Webchutney will also be Dentsu Webchutney’s first client in the creative agency category. Will their lack of experience be a negative?</cmsannotation> A senior at a top mainline agency said it did feel like a risk for Dentsu Webchutney to onboard a “digital-first” agency to build the brand, considering how little digital agencies understood brands &amp; brand building. And that strategic thinking like this needed some gray hair. Once again, not unlike most pitches it took almost two years post the footage was originally shot to see the first real piece of work from the agency. Nevertheless, thrilled about their success, Reghunath and Aditiya once again released the following statement, this time on behalf of the winning agency &amp; apparently, while dyeing their hair gray: “Here’s the thing about Dentsu Webchutney: there’s a brand side to the agency with so much untapped potential it would have been silly of us to ignore. Making the brand synonymous with its people is our agenda. There was no better time after their recent win at Spikes Asia as Indian Agency of the Year. They also seemed like clients who take their work very seriously but not take themselves too seriously — which always helps create great work. Personally, we cannot wait to claim all the credit for this upcoming brand campaign that we had just about a 1% role to play in.” Everyone else at the agency &amp; the brand’s side released the following statement: “While our CEO and NCD have a bit of fun, in all seriousness the films are unscripted footage from the agency’s office floor, where you’ll encounter raw scenes from Dentsu Webchutney’s people. Shot over early 2019 and interspersed with other employee-shot footage, it covers the highs, the lows, and the joys of working in advertising. It also features Webchutney alumni we love and is directed by one too. It’s a call to the next generation of creative talent to express their most vulnerable selves in the process of creating. The campaign will roll out on the agency’s <a href="https://instagram.com/webchutney">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/webchutney">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/27226/admin/">LinkedIn</a>, and <a href="https://facebook.com/webchutney">Facebook</a> first. Watch. Enjoy." Now we are waiting for the client (Dentsu Webchutney) to award Dentsu Webchutney as the best agency.

When Dentsu Webchutney roped in Dentsu Webchutney as its creative agency

<ul><li>As Gautam Reghunath gets elevated to the role of Chief Executive Officer at Dentsu Webchutney, we take a look at his journey in the industry so far, discuss the challenges of filling in Sidharth Rao's shoes, the opportunities that lie ahead for the industry and his vision for the agency. </li><li>Prior to this, Reghunath was executive Vice President (EVP) and Branch Head for Dentsu Webchutney, Bangalore. </li></ul>Gautam Reghunath started his journey with Dentsu Webchutney 10 years ago. Earlier this week, he was elevated as the Chief Executive Officer of the agency after Sidharth Rao, erstwhile CEO, was promoted to the position of Chairman, Happy mcgarrybowen India and Dentsu Webchutney. Dentsu Webchutney, under the leadership of Sidharth Rao in 2019, set a precedent for the entire digital industry. It brought digital to the forefront by winning one silver, five bronze and 17 shortlists at Cannes Lions for its work on Swiggy, Uri and Flipkart. Rao also walked away with the highest honors at Abby’s and Spikes Asia. About keeping this momentum going in 2020 and attempting to fill in Rao’s shoes, Reghunath admits his nervousness. However, he is all set to take up this new responsibility. He shares with us his vision for the agency and challenges that lie ahead for the industry. Edited excerpts: Q) What is your vision for Dentsu Webchutney? What will be the newer challenges for you? Over 20 years, Dentsu Webchutney has become an incredible brand of its own and I’ve been privileged to spend 10 of those years here. Our client roster features some of the most consequential companies in the world, and our work follows their world-beating ambition. I see talented people around me eager to make meaningful contributions and the outstanding results that follow when we empower them. My immediate hope is to help double down on this and everything else that has made us tick these last few years. Over the next few years, I see the challenge of rising to the speed and potential of our clients. We also want to continue attracting clients across cities that are into the type of work that we do; brands with brave marketing teams that are ready to be disruptive with us. Personally, my role will be to define and maintain culture and values for our company, and to endorse the smart decisions made by our already smart, intuitive workforce. Just to support the right people to make good decisions in alignment with our core values. I’m confident that this team has my back as I’ve got theirs. Q) What will be your focus areas in 2020 and your strategy as the CEO? From an industry perspective, there is a sense that advertising globally finds itself in tricky waters. While Webchutney’s business has maintained its consistent growth over the last few years, we still have the potential to catch up with the opportunities that lie in front of us. There are strong clients out there, in a challenging business environment, who want to partner with only the best. The current climate demands that they do. No one is better placed to deliver than us because of our advantage in strong talent. And that’s where a lot of my key focus is going to be. It will be our foundation for the future. When a client chooses Webchutney, I want them to know that we are committed to putting the smartest and most creative people in the room for their money's worth. I want to call out the best talent in our industry to join us on this ride. Q) Webchutney had a brilliant year in 2019. How will you ensure that you keep the momentum going? I agree, and we’re all very grateful for the success that 2019 brought for us. While much of our public success is recent, it’s obvious that our industry cannot rest on its past, and we can sense how rapidly it’s all changing. I can confirm that our feet are planted firmly on the ground. Our teams understand that the expectations from Dentsu Webchutney have never been higher. Advertising is a special business to be in. It needs passion, patience and a consistent desire to seek out moments of genius. So, we’re just going to continue to try and keep doing what we do best to realise the truest potential of the internet. Inside our four walls and three offices, the best idea wins. Q) Do you think it is going to be difficult to fill in Sidharth Rao's shoes? Absolutely! Replicating his journey is impossible. Sid is an important part of our future and as I mentioned to our colleagues on email, I’m very humbled to follow in his footsteps. He’s someone I reach out to at both my toughest and happiest moments. Hence, I’m so glad to have him by my side as I take on this responsibility. I’m also privileged to find myself in a position to lead a company I have grown to love immensely, having spent the better part of the last 10 years here. Our collective task across our three offices will be to take Webchutney to new heights. Q) What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for digital agencies in 2020? How are you preparing yourself to face it? Well, it’s our time! All of us ‘digital’ first agencies have graduated from getting those last 10 minutes at client meetings to now leading complete brand mandates. I look around at the founding and operating teams at India-born, digital first agencies like The Glitch, Schbang, Kinnect etc. and they’re all brimming with young, world-class leadership. I’d say our collective opportunity is in sustaining this relevance and making the most of it. The talent on our floors have a natural advantage in comparison to the older agencies but it’s not a long-term moat by any stretch of the imagination. As for Dentsu Webchutney, we want to be the absolute best creative agency India has seen. That means being counted among the best globally. We must continue to adapt and build for today and the future, not rest on the past. There’s no two ways about it. Our talent has a natural affinity for keeping up with technology, the internet and modern communication channels. At the same time, we’re focusing on building a nimble agency that is very comfortable seeking external expert collaboration when needed. That’s primarily how we’re preparing to face the next few years. We’re rolling out specific initiatives in this direction very soon. Q) What are the plans for 2020, in terms of expansion, new business targets, talent acquisition, and technology development? Specifically, growth will come from scaling Webchutney’s unique creative and strategy product. Our talent will be at the heart of representing our work — as it should be. The ebb and flow of technologies today leave a lot to the imagination of the people who work with them, and our digitally native workforce has been key to embedding that spirit in the company’s DNA. I’d go as far as saying that’s always been our goal and will be as we begin scripting a new chapter in our story.

Expectations from Dentsu Webchutney have never been higher: Gautam Reghunath, Dentsu Webchutney

<ul><li>Our life and work are now intertwined like never before. Gautam Reghunath, Executive Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney, pens down how to bring empathy and compassion on to the agency workplace and how the future of advertising could be remote work.</li><li>'How do we work together when we’re not always together?' he writes. 'The developing concept of ‘work-life integration’ is key.' </li><li>He further writes about how embracing a culture of writing is going to be key to accepting a more flexible workplace. </li><li>You may wonder that we couldn’t add flexibility to our workdays the same ways that other industries can, but Reghunath answers how we might just strike the balance right. </li></ul>This isn’t a 9-to-5 hit piece. It isn’t a fluff piece for Zoom meetings or work-from-home policies either. Across industries, an unmistakable force influences productivity growth: the changing nature of work. And any conversation about the future of advertising is incomplete without also discussing the realities of the modern workforce. Let me get the clichés out of the way first. Our life and work are now intertwined like never before. Think of all the things you’re doing during work hours that your parents couldn’t even imagine at theirs. Until a decade ago, you had to actually hunt people down and do face-to-face conversations with them to get things done. The horror! Guess it was a no-brainer to keep all employees in one location over a particular number of hours to get them to collaborate better? Right now, I'm sitting in my living room sipping my morning coffee. It’s a Tuesday and I’m thinking I’ll wait until noon for the terrible Indiranagar traffic to die down before I make the one-hour trek to our office on Richmond Road. My team understands. We’ve already had two early morning calls on our week ahead and prepping for the pitch that is coming up later this month. A decade ago, even a setup this simple was far less common. For long, we’ve considered a 9-to-5 at a desk the holy grail of work set-ups. Most offices would have scoffed at the idea of employees not being present in office and punching in on time. If we need our colleagues to be comfortable with work intruding their personal time, shouldn’t it also be okay the other way around? Like the tech industry that thrives on remote or part-remote work, advertising will soon have to incorporate new communication patterns and people management styles that our industry has yet shied away from. Companies who figure it out stand to gain a serious talent arbitrage opportunity. The landscape for creative talent has changed, too. While talent is evenly distributed, opportunities aren't. Clever, interesting people don’t just live in big cities, or for the sake of their creativity, live monotonous lifestyles. Creative people in advertising aren’t all 27, single and work in big agencies. Not all of them need to fall under a homogeneous 9-to-5 workday either. Agencies that care about diversity need to accept diverse lifestyles. Those that can find new ways to nurture and empower talent regardless of our industry’s own straitjacketed processes will find it easier to hire top talent and thrive. Agency culture isn’t by nature remote-friendly, and I’m not even talking full-time remote work like our friends in tech. For a long time, I used to belong to the old school of ‘seeing is believing’. Grappling between trust and control issues and wanting real work happening right on the agency floor. Company culture, a huge part of what makes an agency itself, was built for an in-person workplace. Making a transition towards more flexibility would require changing aspects of the company culture, something that might hurt in the short term, but is an inevitable competitive advantage in the long term. We’re a ‘people’ business, yes. However, we don’t need to be a ‘people always in each other’s faces’ business like we think we do. How then do we work together when we’re not always together? The developing concept of ‘work-life integration’ is key. Think of it as opportunity cost, well spent. Work-life integration calls for smooth overlaps rather than distinct separations between different parts of your day. A 40-year-old father might choose to have breakfast with the family and drop off the kids at school, then work from 9:30 am to 3 pm, finish a meeting by 4:30 p.m., pick up the kids, hit the gym in his apartment, make dinner, and respond to emails &amp; work texts for an hour or two before bedtime. Simple things like catching a friend for coffee or the gym in between work hours are modern realities that were unacceptable until a few years ago. Just like how browsing social media sites on company networks was prohibited. In creative agencies, our entire process is built around in-person meetings. We might not realise it, but a great deal of skill learning is based on people see, people do and learning by observation. We don’t appreciate how much of what we learn is mimicry. We watch a lot more than we listen. Sitting next to a colleague, conversations around the office cafe, seeing how bosses behave in meetings. It’s a core thesis of ‘you’re the average of the 5 people you hang out with’. Of course, people find it harder to establish meaningful connections with colleagues they aren’t frequently meeting in person. It’s natural to talk about post-work plans or share Netflix reviews when you’re meeting in the pantry, but it takes more effort to form a bond when you’re mostly connecting over WhatsApp groups. We're social creatures, we communicate real-time and self-discipline is hard. So outside of logistics, even basic communication could become challenging. Embracing a culture of writing is going to be key to accepting a more flexible workplace. Companies that have embraced remote work in the west rely heavily on writing (post-meeting notes, office memos, written feedback on ideas, etc.). Instant messaging is an inherently one-dimensional way to communicate, why not try and skill up? Don’t underestimate the power of a well-written concise email or a succinct WhatsApp text reply. (Screenshot of an internal work WhatsApp group experiment) All this needn’t be for every organisation, nor am I championing a remote-work strategy. This is about empathy and how being accommodating of the realities of its contributors’ lives will be important for any creative culture looking to thrive. The optionality of being able to define your working style sounds like a nice perk in theory, but not everyone is efficient in such set-ups. It could be wise to have an explicit understanding that flexibility is a privilege to be earned continually. We must learn to accommodate on a case-by-case basis to do what's best. Right now, you may be thinking about the rigidity of the industry that we’re in, positive that we couldn’t add flexibility to our workdays the same ways that other industries can. Modern lives have all of us playing multi-dimensional roles. Real time with kids. To take care of pets. For guitar lessons. Photography. A Zumba class at 5 p.m. Teaching, even. We spend at least 8 to 10 hours working everyday -- more than doing anything else, so then work really is life and life is work. As leaders, success is defined by moments of removing constraints for your team. Actually removing them, however, is dependent on trust between leaders and employees and its bottom line is producing results. I’m slowly finding out that all of this may simply be good for business. - By Gautam Reghunath, Executive Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney.

Work-life integration and the future of the agency floor

<ul><li><keyword id="177378" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cannes-Lions">Cannes Lions</keyword> today announced the Radio &amp; Audio Lions and Mobile Lions, the Creative Business Transformation Lions, Creative eCommerce Lions, Brand Experience &amp; Activation Lions, and Creative Effectiveness Lions, Innovation Lions, and the Young Lions Marketers Award.</li><li>FCB Interface wins another Bronze Lion for 'The Punishing Signal’ campaign in Brand Experience &amp; Activation category.</li><li>Dentsu Webchutney picks two more metals on Day 4, bringing its tally to 7.</li></ul>It is Day 4 of <keyword id="11254454" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cannes-lions-2021">Cannes Lions 2021</keyword> and India has picked up four metals out of 21 shortlists across five categories. FCB Interface has added yet another Lion to its laurel as it won one more Bronze for 'The Punishing Signal’ campaign in Brand Experience &amp; Activation category under sub-category Not-for-Profit/Charity/Government. So far, FCB India and the Mumbai police’s campaign has won seven metals including one Gold, three Silver, and two Bronze Lions under Health &amp; Wellness, PR, Outdoor and Brand &amp; Activation Lions. Speaking on the win, Robby Mathew, Vice Chairman &amp; CCO, FCB Interface, said, “Absolutely delighted. I really wish we had entered it in more categories.” Dentsu Webchutney also continues its winning spree on Day 4 by adding another Bronze and Silver to its metal tally. The digital agency has won a Bronze Lion for Swiggy Instamart’s ‘The Better Half Recipes’ campaign under the Creative eCommerce (cultural insight) category. <div type="Youtube" id="mawkqC5WkIY" title="Swiggy Instamart | The Better Half Cookbook" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mawkqC5WkIY/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Dentsu Webchutney’s most awarded campaign at this year’s fest so far, The 8-bit journo also picked another metal in the form of Bronze under Mobile Lions category for Mobile-led Creativity. <div type="Youtube" id="g1jQXgfaLXE" title="8-Bit Journo" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g1jQXgfaLXE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Elated with the victory, Gautam Reghunath, CEO, Dentsu Webchutney welcomed another Lion to his den at Dentsu Webchutney. He said, “It’s right about now, the middle of Cannes Lions week, where it usually gets exciting for us at Webchutney. That’s because the categories up for awards during that time, and those that we’ve been lucky to win in recently reaffirms our point of view on where creativity is headed. The kind of work that has won in digital craft, creative e-commerce, mobile, social &amp; influencer are true to the style of creativity that we want to champion and we’re so happy to be in such excellent company this year. And also the company of all the other wonderful Indian work that’s won from FCB, DDB, Ogilvy and others.” As of today, both Dentsu Webchutney and FCB India are in the lead with 7 metals. On the other hand, Cheil India has picked its first Silver Lion of this year’s fest for Samsung’s ‘Now, Words Aren't Just Heard’ campaign under Mobile Technology category for Innovative Use of Technology. Since the invention of Braille in 1824, there has not been much progress in the way in which the deafblind can communicate. As they suffer from impairment of sight and hearing it becomes nearly impossible for them to reach out to the world. While communication technology has progressed leaps and bounds from text and speech to images and video chats, it has been in stasis for the deafblind. Samsung Good Vibes and Cheil India came with a unique solution to this problem by launching a smartphone app that opens up the world of the deafblind and helps them communicate like never before. The app comes with two interfaces: a deafblind person can send a message from the app by tapping on the screen using Morse Code—where all letters of the English alphabet are combinations of dots and dashes. <div type="Youtube" id="5bYfvaxelE4" title="#KCA20 | Now, Words Aren&quot;t Just Heard, But Felt | Samsung | Cheil Worldwide" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5bYfvaxelE4/mqdefault.jpg"></div> On bagging the silver, Emmanuel Upputuru, CCO – Cheil India said, "Samsung Good Vibes- Now words are not just heard but felt is an innovative initiative to raise awareness of a problem that is often not seen or heard. It is a campaign that is now bringing inclusivity to over 500,000 people who have been disregarded by modern social media technologies. It is extremely humbling to be considered, much less to win the prestigious Cannes Silver in Mobile/ Innovative use of Technology category. We are grateful to be recognised for this innovative, adaptive and evolving two-way communication experience for the deafblind. The win reinstates our belief in company’s ethos of creativity inspired by technology. We hope to continue bringing such innovative work that will help the society as a whole. Keeping our fingers crossed for other categories.” There were no shortlists in the Radio &amp; Audio, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Effectiveness and Innovation Lions categories from our country. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="83775157" title="Cannes Lions 2021: On Day 3, India secures 21 shortlists" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Cannes Lions 2021: India bags one Silver Lion and three Bronze Lions on Day 4

<ul><li>India has clinched eight metals on Day 2.</li><li>Cannes Lions declared the results for Creative Data, Creative Strategy, Direct, Media, PR and Social &amp; Influencer categories today.</li></ul>It is only day two of Cannes Lions 2021 and India is already shining bright in Gold. Today, DDB Mudra Group’s ‘Project Free Period’ campaign for Stayfree has bagged India’s second Gold Lion at this year’s fest. The campaign won the metal in Creative Strategy category under the audience insight sub-category. DDB Mudra Group’s campaign showcases that women in the sex trade cherish periods as a time off work, which is contrary to the dismay women usually express towards periods. On bagging the Gold, Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group said, “Winning a gold at Cannes is always an incredible feeling. And the fact that we managed to win at Cannes 3 years in a row also makes us feel more confident of the direction in which we’re headed.” <div type="Youtube" id="yVjY-doL9n0" title="Stayfree India | Project Free Period- 2" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yVjY-doL9n0/mqdefault.jpg"></div> On the other hand, Dentsu Webchutney’s The 8-bit journo for Vice Media bagged two Silver Lions and one Bronze Lion in Direct Lions, Creative Strategy Lions and Direct Lions, respectively. This unique campaign is a testament to the dictum ‘necessity is the mother of invention.’ It combined technology from the 60s and the 90s and launched the world’s first teletext news portal: The 8-Bit Journo. Relevant news stories that Kashmiris had missed out during the internet shut down last year, were converted into teletext and dispatched to lakhs of Kashmiris through SMS. Rejoiced with the spree of metals coming in their way, Gautam Reghunath, CEO, Dentsu Webchutney said, “It’s been one of those weeks where we’ve all felt so proud and grateful for the creative culture we’ve been building together at Webchutney. I remember talking to A&amp;M Insider a year and something ago on how we’re hoping to keep the momentum that Webchutney seemed to have found for ourselves going. Well, we’re certainly thrilled with our consistency these last few years. Sure, every Cannes Lion we win is recognition for all the quality work that’s already gone in. But more importantly, it is a glittering reminder on our shelves to be better every year.” <div type="Youtube" id="g1jQXgfaLXE" title="8-Bit Journo" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g1jQXgfaLXE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Continuing its win on day two, FCB India has made India proud yet again by bringing back a Silver Lion for Mumbai Police’s Punishing Signal in the PR category and Not-for-profit / Charity / Government subcategory. With the latest win, the agency is leading in India with six metals. Speaking on the win, Rohit Ohri, Chairman &amp; CEO, FCB Group India, said, “The Punishing Signal is poised to be India's most awarded campaign at Cannes Lions 2021. Really proud of the team at FCB Interface and thankful to the Mumbai Police for putting their faith in this idea.” Adding Robby Mathew, Vice Chairman &amp; CCO, FCB Interface, said, “Looks like the Punishing Signal is turning into a Rewarding Signal for FCB Interface!” <div type="Youtube" id="KIgKvUPXeq4" title="The Punishing Signal in collaboration with Mumbai Police - #HonkResponsibly" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KIgKvUPXeq4/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Ogilvy Mumbai bagged a Silver Lion for Dove #StopTheBeautyTest campaign in the Creative Strategy category under FMCG. <div type="Youtube" id="jEpTa2cMl_I" title="Dove | #StopTheBeautyTest (with English subtitles)" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jEpTa2cMl_I/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Ogilvy Mumbai’s another most-talked-about #NotJustACadburyAd campaign for Mondelez also won a Bronze Lion in Creative Data under Data-Driven targeting category. The 3 CCOs of Ogilvy India, Sukesh Nayak, Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar shared their thoughts on their wins: “Winning Cannes Lions always feels terrific and these pieces are very close to our hearts. Both Mondelez and Unilever are clients who take great pride in meaningful work. They walk the journey with us from inception to execution. It took months to craft 'Not just a Cadbury Ad' and Dove #stopthebeautytest Tonight the teams deserve to put their feet up and celebrate.” <div type="Youtube" id="gBWLm6Sx1WI" title="Not Just A Cadbury Ad Campaign Video" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gBWLm6Sx1WI/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Lowe Lintas’ ‘H for Handwashing’ for HUL’s Lifebuoy also picked another Bronze Lion on Day 2 in Media, under Excellence in Media Execution sub-category. <div type="Youtube" id="fpuAC9VIRyc" title="#HforHandwashing" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fpuAC9VIRyc/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The Indian contingent has overall clinched eight metals in Creative Data, Creative Strategy, Direct, Media and PR categories on day two, bringing the country's total tally to 15. India didn’t get a metal in Social &amp; Influencer category. Here are a few other campaigns that were shortlisted in the Creative Data, Creative Strategy, Direct, Media, PR and Social &amp; Influencer categories: <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="83715133" title="Cannes Lions 2021: India secures 26 shortlists in Direct, PR, Social &amp; Influencer, Creative Data and Creative Strategy Lions" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Cannes Lions 2021: India brings home a Gold, four Silver Lions and three Bronze Lions on Day 2

<keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> has been known for its path-breaking advertising creatives. Be it their initial 'Flipkart Kids' series of ads or the most recent '<a href="http://www.adageindia.in/homepage/flipkart-thanksthe-family/articleshow/46388974.cms" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thank The Family</a>', all seemed to be working well for the <keyword id="436047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ecommerce">eCommerce</keyword> firm. However, the company's recent ad disagrees and states that their advertising ideas need to be 'fresh'. 
 
To announce the latest category based sales, Flipkart has rolled out a series of digital videos under "Sale that sells itself" campaign. 
 
Conceptualized by Dentsu Webchutney, this campaign kick starts with a hilarious film which talks about the sports category sale. The film shows a Flipkart meeting room where a grand TVC idea is being pitched to the Flipkart Marketing Head (fictional). After much discussion, the idea is rejected, and the marketing head states that "nothing can sell the sale, except the sale itself". 
 
 
 
Filled with corporate nuances and a 'take' on popular stereotypes in advertising, the film serves as the first step to the digital extension of the campaign. Flipkart plans to invite ideas from users to try and "#SellTheFlipkartSale" too. 
 
Speaking about this campaign, Shoumyan Biswas, Senior Director, Marketing, Flipkart, said, "As India's largest e-commerce marketplace, our key focus is to reinvent the way we communicate with our audience. For our latest category based sales campaign, we wanted to come up with an idea that is simple, innovative and immediately grabs a customer's attention. This film celebrates the idea of this sale as a grand concept that can sell on its own without the conventional advertising pushes. We are sure that our customers will enjoy the series of ads that will be launched under this campaign." 
 
But to take a dig on its own advertising review process in no mean task. "Kudos to the folks at Flipkart for taking a pun at an idea this crazy. They've always set high standards with the quality of advertising. We took that, spun it around and have hopefully created something exciting out of it... In a way, we look at this campaign as a cheeky tribute to those high standards," says Gautam Reghunath, AVP, Webchutney. 
 
At present, Flipkart offers over 80 categories of products through sellers on its marketplace, with fashion being the largest product line. The company said it sold gross merchandise worth $3 billion last year and aims at closing this year with $8 billion in sales. The firm has planned a strategy to include newer categories and business lines that will help boost revenue and chalk up profits.

Flipkart Agrees That Its Ads ‘Aren’t Working’

<ul><li>A recent study by Deloitte found that India ranks highest among 18 countries in terms of anxiety during the second wave of the pandemic.</li><li>We are constantly living with the fear that someone close to us or someone we know might succumb to the virus.</li><li>A lot of agencies have upgraded their policies to help their <keyword id="6357081" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="employees">employees</keyword> navigate through this tough period and to push them to take care of their <keyword id="6354774" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mental-health">mental health</keyword>.</li><li>From switching to 4 work days a week to hiring full-time, in-house counselors, here’s how they are helping their employees tackle burnout and take care of their mental health.</li></ul>Do you also feel your heart racing when you receive a call from a relative you haven’t spoken to in a while? Or when a friend, who usually texts, suddenly calls you now? You are not alone. We are all either grieving someone’s loss or feeling anxious that we might have to, soon. It is no secret that the second wave of COVID-19 has had a severe impact on our collective mental health. We are feeling dejected or overwhelmed with the huge spike in cases everyday. As of today, there are 2.33 crore active cases in India. And people who are clinically diagnosed with mental illness such as Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, depression, autism, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have found their struggles quadrupled. Many COVID survivors, who do have the privilege to find an ICU bed and pay for oxygen cylinders, are facing survivors' <a href="https://theswaddle.com/survivors-guilt-is-hitting-covid19-survivors-in-india-complicating-their-grieving/">guilt</a>. A recent survey by Deloitte titled Global Consumer Tracker’ found that India ranks highest among 18 countries in terms of anxiety during the second wave of the pandemic with 21% of consumers in India anxious, followed by Chile at 16%. The ad industry has also been impacted severely. This week, we lost a young star from the advertising world, Syed Mohammed Talha Nazim, to COVID. Social media is still flooded with pleas for oxygen and ICU beds. At such a time, it is becoming increasingly challenging to focus on work and continue leading normal lives inside our houses. Ergo, there is an urgent need for improved, empathetic and caring HR policies and counselling sessions at the workplace. It is critical to prioritise employees’ mental well-being rather than seeking updates on their daily tasks. Advertising agencies bear the additional responsibility of coming up with optimistic campaigns that drive change and raise awareness. Despite facing the blues of working in isolation and pressure to overperform in a dismal atmosphere, ad agencies are increasingly pushing their boundaries to come up with empathetic campaigns to help our country. Lately, thanks to #<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/detoxwork/">Detoxwork</a>, many agencies have been called out on LinkedIn for forcing their employees to be available 24*7 and meet deadlines. While it is extremely saddening to read those stories, it is no surprise that we continue to sustain our toxic culture. Over the years, the advertising industry has normalised inhuman working hours. In 2017, Tadashi Ishii, CEO, DAN Japan, had to resign after the suicide of an overworked junior employee. It did raise some questions back then but the topic was brushed under the carpet as always. This time, in India, we have lost two lives to advertising's work stress. They were<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/ad-agencies/news/cheil-india-comes-under-criticism-for-allegedly-asking-employees-to-work-from-office/articleshow/82308605.cms"> forced to come to office</a> as India observed a national lockdown. Even those who are working from home -- are overworked, constantly in-between calls, they do not have the time for their families even if they sit right next to each other. However, there are a few agencies that are prioritising their employees’ wellbeing. We reached out to a few digital and creative agencies to find out what measures they have taken to help their employees look after their mental health and asked to share a few tips on what we need to do as an industry to make sure we don't forget our teams' mental health amidst a crisis, and here is what they said: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Virat Tandon – Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group:" text="Virat Tandon – Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group:">Virat Tandon – Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group:</cmsannotation> <div type="image" title="Virat Tondon lintas" msid="82574512" hostid="261"></div> Health and wellbeing of our people is the need of the hour and our priority. A COVID war-room with all the leadership across the agency and different offices, HR and Admin teams, has been created to keep a lookout for providing help – with a hospital bed or oxygen or any other assistance. Employees well-being and recovery is tracked by the HR team. Our Panel doctor is available for any assistance and has conducted sessions for employees giving guidelines on prevention and the first response to be taken. The Lintas Employees Welfare Trust released a Covid Care package in September 2020 that included financial assistance and counsellor support for employees who need to cope with stress or have mental illness issues. Our focus has been to let people take care of their health, their loved ones, without feeling the pressure of work deliveries. People spend a very large part of their lives with the organisation they work for. It Is their second home and it’s natural to have that level of compassion for them and do the most you can do. Their health and wellbeing directly impact not only the quality of their lives but also impacts the quality of their work and output. Everyone knows that in theory and should attempt to put it into practice. Leaders need to take the necessary steps and put this belief into action. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Aditya Kanthy, CEO and MD, DDB Mudra Group:" text="Aditya Kanthy, CEO and MD, DDB Mudra Group:">Aditya Kanthy, CEO and MD, DDB Mudra Group:</cmsannotation> <div type="image" title="Aditya Kanthy" msid="82574492" hostid="261"></div> The first thing we have to do is normalise the conversation around mental health. And the pandemic may well be a tipping point, where people have realised the importance and seriousness of this challenge. Mental and emotional support is crucial in these times. We started on our journey before the pandemic in early 2019 by bringing on board India’s leading Employee Assistance Provider. In this program, licensed counsellors champion mental health recovery through awareness, education, and empowerment of our people. This was perhaps one of the industry’s first such initiatives. Not only us but DDB as a network globally has also done meaningful work on this subject. So, we have learnt a lot from their experiences as well. It guides our approach – which is to take as full a view as possible. We understand that while counselling helps, we have to do more to make a serious dent. In a situation where many of us have friends and family who are going through the worst phase of the pandemic, on-ground support resources for those who have contracted COVID-19 can alleviate a great deal of anxiety. This includes quick and verified access to medical help, comprehensive insurance, flexible leave policies, and better balance of work and life. On an industry level, at the cost of sounding repetitive, our first step is to acknowledge the problem and talk openly about it. When C-suite leaders champion the cause, it makes the conversation accessible, real, and addresses the stigma attached to mental health issues to a large degree. Peer support plays a huge support too. At the DDB Mudra Group, we make a visible effort to do so with our #justask meets, where anyone in the company can talk to me candidly and anonymously if they feel so, about any issue that’s affecting their work life. Secondly, we also have to be cognizant that a person’s quality of life beyond work, is directly linked to their mental health. So, let’s respect boundaries between work and home and acknowledge people’s lives outside the workplace. One way we do that at the Group is by valuing empathetic leadership and using that as a performance indicator. Each business leader is responsible for ‘people’ metrics just as much as Human Resources is. Everyone with a responsibility for other people is involved in this process. Finally, it also helps to bring clients into the conversation. They too are looking to work with partners who are dealing with this issue as progressively as possible and there is much to learn from them too. And that partnership is crucial to making progress on this subject. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Gautam Reghunath, Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Webchutney:" text="Gautam Reghunath, Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Webchutney:">Gautam Reghunath, Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Webchutney:</cmsannotation> <div type="image" title="Gautam Reghunath" msid="82574485" hostid="261"></div> As agencies, we attempt to maintain reputations as fun, dynamic places to work, but beneath the surface, it’s obvious that many of us are often grappling with various cultural and personnel issues including burnout, overwork and more. People need to know it is ok to be vulnerable and that having trouble with your mental wellbeing does not mean someone cannot do their job capably. It is in the interest of the workplace for every office to provide policies or through their actions show that it is okay for people to speak their truth. Our key aim over the last few years has been to normalise conversations around mental health and one of the first steps was to include it as a permanent official part of the agenda at all our executive committee and quarterly leadership meetings. It starts from the top and sets the tone for all decisions through the year. As our primary actionable measure, we’ve engaged with the Hank Nunn Institute (HNI) as our partner for mental health support services for around two years now. HNI’s trained professionals are available to all employees who can schedule their time anonymously, for free and without the office’s intervention, to discuss either personal or professional aspects of their life. Some weeks are packed, some are not, but what’s important for us is for everyone here to know that it’s okay to seek out someone to talk to if you feel the need to. The teams at Webchutney have also been experimenting with a few employee-sourced ideas on how we can be better to ourselves around areas of mental health &amp; work pressure. Along with planned down-times, we recently piloted our first ever winter break last December where the entire agency with the support of our clients shut shop for two whole weeks. It’s obvious that work-load management has a direct impact on how happy and satisfied we are at work. We’ve tried to turn timesheets, often loathed at agencies, into a tool to have open honest conversations around work timings and over-work. All team leaders who have colleagues clocking over 50+ hours a week have to mandatorily schedule discussions around reasons for this overtime with the CEO every fortnight. Outlier weeks are normal, but we’ve seen a drastic improvement in workload management purely because we’re all discussing this honestly &amp; frequently. Our industry is built around deadlines &amp; deliverables. It’s full of talented people who know what it’s like to find themselves at the intersection where moments of magic meet the point of serious stress. Our learnings with all these measures have been many and the focus on mental health resources aside, for creativity to really thrive, our need to adapt and change has never been more obvious. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Akshay Gurnani, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Schbang:" text="Akshay Gurnani, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Schbang:">Akshay Gurnani, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Schbang:</cmsannotation> <div type="image" title="Akshay gurnani" msid="82574545" hostid="261"></div> It's empathy that is the need of the hour - from our employers to our clients. It's important for us to listen, acknowledge &amp; act upon what an individual may be going through in these trying times. It's important to also understand how we as an organization can help our team members better. We have an in-house therapist who is accessible to aid our employees, free of cost for as many sessions as they would want. Whether it be automating processes that help in increasing the efficiency of work for all our teams to sending out automated monthly reports, we have been pushing our teams to not take up any work on weekends. Mental health is a priority thus 2 mental health leaves have been assigned to teams to avail anytime in the year. We have ramped up hiring to reduce workload and ease out hiring gaps across teams. We have aligned our clients with the situation at hand and aligned them on how we can create better synergies in these difficult times. Our leaders need to be able to ask the right questions to the clients to comprehend briefs better &amp; reduce the number of reworks. It's imperative to have honest conversations with clients and push back on timelines, owing to the fact that currently our teams are facing resource crunches due to either them or their families being affected by COVID19. We have sent out emails to our clients informing them to expect delays and this has been received quite positively. Digital Marketing is not a "life or death" industry. One less or a delayed post will not affect anything, this is something that clients need to realise and accept. Using the reach of the brand pages, we would like to talk about a message that's more important than selling a product under these times. It's important to come together as a community to urge people to register for vaccination, adopt double-masking, staying indoors, etc. This is the time to show more empathy towards agency partners as well. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Roopa Badrinath, Chief Talent Officer, Wunderman Thompson, South Asia:" text="Roopa Badrinath, Chief Talent Officer, Wunderman Thompson, South Asia:">Roopa Badrinath, Chief Talent Officer, Wunderman Thompson, South Asia:</cmsannotation> <div type="image" title="roopa badrinath" msid="82574562" hostid="261"></div> At Wunderman Thompson, we recognized the importance of mental health from the time WHO declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic. As a company we have been communicating openly about the importance of mental health to ensure that the stigma attached with it is addressed with honesty. Mental Health has a deep impact on how we think, feel and act and impacts our relationships with our family members, friends and colleagues. It impacts our mood and our general behaviour. Behavioural changes is a natural reaction to the stress, fear and anxiety that people are feeling as a reaction to the threat posed by COVID-19. It is important to acknowledge that it is normal to feel that way and focus on ways to reduce the stress inducers. The pandemic has created a lot of anxiety around personal health, family health, children’s education and relevance of skills in a changed world to name a few. One of the critical things that we realized early on is the need for empathy and trust driven leadership style. Leaders were constantly reminded about empathy and kindness and were encouraged to have regular check-ins with their team members. Once the initial euphoria of WFH evaporated and the lines between home and work started getting blurred, we constantly and consistently reminded our people to set up a routine and stick to it; draw boundaries for themselves; take breaks in a normal work day just the way they would while in a physical space. We encouraged all our team leads to ensure that their team members took time off from work even if they were going nowhere. As is evident from all the global reports, women have borne the maximum brunt due to the pandemic. Their care giving, household and online schooling responsibilities multiplied manifold. Teams were sensitized to be mindful of this and have flexible options for setting up meetings. We launched an all-women Employee Resource Group (ERG) which will be run for the women and by the women of Wunderman Thompson. This group has taken upon itself to launch several initiatives in the next couple weeks to help women navigate the additional challenges thrown at them. As a company we recognized that sexual harassment can be a reality even in a virtual workplace and ran workshops on sensitizing employees about virtual sexual harassment; how to recognize and report the same. To ensure that employees seek help we are constantly reminding them about the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) where they can reach out to trained counsellors in the strictest of confidence to address their mental well-being issues. This service is available even to the family members of employees. We are confident that all the curated health and wellness programs like compassion meditation, mindfulness hacks – dealing with anxiety, building meaningful connections, staying positive, harnessing the power of sleep that were offered to employees last year will hold them in good stead to deal with the current situation. Currently all employees have access to a COVID stress management program which offers Meditation, Yoga, Breathing Exercises, self-care, Gratitude Session to name a few.

COVID strain and its impact on mental health: How ad agencies are helping employees cope with anxiety and burnout

<ul><li>With the increasing number of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">Covid-19</keyword> cases every day and job layoffs, it is becoming extremely difficult to stay calm and keep working for a lot of people.</li><li>A lot of agencies have upgraded their policies to help their employees navigate through this tough period and to push them to take care of their <keyword id="6354774" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mental-health">mental health</keyword>. </li><li>From sharing their chai time to appreciating their personnel’s cooking skills to playing online games, agencies have put their best foot forward to fight together, despite being miles apart. </li></ul>As of April 29, there are 29,435 positive COVID-19 cases in India. To top that, an air of despondency is looming around because of the fear of the unknown, blues of working in isolation, pressure to overperform in a dismal atmosphere, lack of job assurance and security, and salary cuts. And those who were already battling with mental illness such as OCD, anxiety, depression, or autism—have found their stress levels kicking through the roof and struggles intensified. In such a challenging scenario, it is quite normal to feel dejected and lost. Therefore, there is an urgent need for better HR policies, counselling sessions and human contact today more than ever before. It is critical to check on their mental well-being rather than seeking updates on their daily tasks. Agencies are coming up with creative solutions to help their employees to cope and stay upbeat. From digital Antakshari to making sure they see each other virtually every day during their chai time to one-on-one sessions with medical professionals, experts have left no stone unturned to ease out their employees’ struggles. They claim that they feel closer to their employees today than ever before. We reached out to a few digital, media and creative agencies to find out what measures they have taken to help their employees look after their mental health and asked to share a few tips on what we need to do as an industry to make sure we don't forget our teams' mental health amidst a crisis, and here is what they said: Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia: <div type="image" title="Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia_" msid="75427669" hostid="261"></div> Talent has always been our top priority and focus and we have consistently engaged with employees on health and wellness through various modules on yoga, meditation, fitness routines etc. Furthermore, we are launching an Employee Assistance Program that will offer 24X7 counselling and wellness solutions. This will help employees deal with various work-life challenges.The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated our efforts in this direction. In order to address the isolation and uncertainty that employees may feel in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is our effort to create a safe space for them… Where people are free to express their fears and anxieties and to give them the courage to carry on against all odds. We have facilitated a lot of remote learning and engagement programs so as to keep people stimulated and connected and to not feel the sense of being alone, remote. This includes fun and play, fitness, meditation and music sessions along with a lot of knowledge-sharing and interactive webinars. We frequently check in on each other and are in fact more connected than ever through virtual meet-ups. We are also, at local levels, doing one-on-one connects via listening posts to help employees with their grievances, queries, and are taking suggestions on making this new normal way of working, both productive and comfortable. Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman &amp; CEO, FCB India: <div type="image" title="Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman &amp;amp; CEO, FCB India" msid="75427774" hostid="261"></div> Isolation, the fear of contagion and the uncertainty can be nerve-wracking for anyone. And everything that we are doing through these times for our people is towards their emotional and mental well-being. Our focus is on ensuring that our teams stay connected and bonded and have multiple outlets for stress relief, even as they work remotely <ul><li>We are constantly emphasising self-care. Both physical and mental. Every day we send out a tip on self-care #lockdownbreakout with easy to access resources, whether it is exercise, meditation, self-reflection or other techniques in positive psychology.</li><li>We provide opportunities for people to virtually connect over recreation activities right from group yoga to Bollywood dancing to a weekly My Happy Hour which is a platform for talented employees to stage an hour soiree on Instagram Live of their talent whether it be singing, dancing or stand-up etc. This engagement encourages all employees to take time from their busy work schedules to come together to support and be entertained each week through the love of creativity.</li><li>We put out a curated list of things to do every week in the space of learning and entertainment Cool Sh*t To Do. One thing the lockdown, globally, has created is opportunities for all of us to enjoy artists across the world and nationally online. There is so much happening every week, other than streaming your favourite shows, that our employees can check out. This gives them the opportunity to discover new things from cooking, engaging seminars or even the opera.</li><li>We have ensured there are processes in place by which our leaders are constantly communicating with their teams through virtual meetings and town halls and addressing their issues and concerns. Open channels of communication are critical at times like these.</li><li>Most importantly, we have made sure that our teams have access to any sort of medical help from home through an app Doctor 24x7. This is an app-based service which provides our employees the opportunity to speak with doctors and health specialists across the country at any time. We understand the challenges faced with physically seeking help medically right now, so we wanted to open a channel for employees to feel like they can be looked after through this partnership. The app also has a section dedicated to mental health with qualified therapists readily available.</li></ul>I think mental illness in times like these is an outcome of fear and insecurity. And while it is important to be open, honest and transparent, we as an industry have to be cautious of the messaging that we put out, especially through the period of lockdown. Constant negative coverage spreads anxiety and apprehension. This is the time for us to be supportive, show empathy and inspire with positivity. Anand Chakravarthy, Managing Director, Essence India: <div type="image" title="Essence - Anand Chakravarthy" msid="75427857" hostid="261"></div> Most businesses require a close collaboration of different functions, and years of working together out of an office cannot be completely replaced overnight with remote working. One of the key challenges of entire teams working remotely from home is the dip in energy and engagement, which can be easily sensed by one another in an office but not in a remote working environment. This can lead to reduced productivity in uncertain times. To help mitigate such situations and ensure that we are able to positively impact the mental health of our teams, we introduced initiatives in three areas of focus: <ul><li>Driving engagement</li></ul>At Essence, we have always had our voluntary affinity group, Pirates, who are the culture champions within the agency. During this remote working period, they have been constantly innovating to create a new initiative each week to keep our teams in good spirits. These include online quiz sessions, an online music concert, sharing of pictures of our home workspaces and pets, and even online Zumba classes! There is also our global ‘Essence Olympics’ which takes place throughout April 2020. Employees can take part in the four categories of distance, daily workout, nutrition and mental power. They thus have something fun to do and look forward to on a weekly basis, keeping spirits and energy high while working from home. Additionally, we have a series of town halls conducted online, where both our India and global leadership address entire teams, give prompt updates and answer questions. This process of continuous communication in a very dynamic environment has been instrumental in keeping all employees informed and engaged. <ul><li>Ensuring mindfulness and empathy</li></ul>Extended weeks of working remotely does take its toll on everyone. It is certainly not easy to be working like before while being at home, especially with our varying personal and household responsibilities. We encourage everyone to maintain a daily schedule, just like working from the office, by starting and ending the day on time and avoiding late calls or working on the weekend. Globally, we have weekly ‘Mindfulness Moments’ live streams, which are designed to help employees take time out to pause, breathe and find a centred place. Our global ‘Connect’ newsletter serves as a guide to staying connected during times of social distancing. It is updated weekly to provide the latest information on policies, remote working tips and tools to bolster employees’ physical, emotional and mental health. To support employees and their line managers, we also put together a series of workshops called BRIDGE and TRAVERSE to provide practical tips on how to approach remote working and manage work, while still recognising challenges people face. The aim is to help employees thrive in the face of this new status quo, stay connected no matter the distance, and continue to deliver on our mission to our clients, all while taking care of their own well-being.Access to counselling is available to all employees as well, should they want to speak to a professional counsellor about how they are feeling. <ul><li>Enhancing productivity </li></ul>Technology has played a key role in enabling remote working, and fortunately at Essence, we have always been using Google Hangouts for internal meetings across our India offices and with teams in other countries. Using technology effectively has contributed really well to staying connected and productive. The second space is in the area of upskilling and training. We have devised and launched a series of training programmes across different disciplines that employees can opt in for. -Organisations should have existing systems and processes in place to ensure the holistic wellness of their employees. Essence has an established employee well-being ecosystem that supports staff through both professional and personal challenges. Encouraging more open dialogue around mental well-being is an important first step, as it impacts the productivity, physical and social well-being, as well as the quality of life of employees. There is more that can be said and done about workplace mental health, and organisations need to take it upon themselves to make it a strategic imperative. Gautam Reghunath, CEO, Dentsu Webchutney: <div type="image" title="Gautam DAN - horizontal" msid="75428075" hostid="261"></div> Our industry is such that we frequently delight in the joys of work and life – new pitch wins, awards, celebrations for things big and small and more. We’re inherently celebratory, both for work and life achievements. Our hope for Webchutney has always been that we try to bring our whole selves authentically to work and that includes us not shying away from the hard stuff, such as anxiety, grief, burnout and stress, especially during situations like the one we find ourselves in now. To help us with this, we’ve been partnering with an institution called HNI, a not-for-profit that provides services in mental health, workplace stress management and other individual and organizational needs. They’ve been our partners for nearly a year now, first with a pilot in Bangalore and now for all our offices recently. These are completely confidential one-on-one interactions as would be with any therapist or counsellor, with the advantage that over time we’ve also helped HNI’s team understand the nature of our work and workplace better. Their long-term role will be to help us build an open &amp; progressive work environment where individuals can thrive and perform, and where one needn’t come at the cost of the other. More than anything we need to remind each other that it is okay to not always be okay (my favourite piece of wall art from the Bangalore office is below). Webchutney has been lucky to experience tremendous highs over the past year, and as we try and continue in the same vein despite current limitations, work can often ask a lot of an individual. And dealing with these work pressures, managing personal commitments &amp; relationships especially in this current climate now is guaranteed to be tricky and stressful. We need to encourage everyone to talk openly and show compassion. It may be as small as recognizing when others are going through a tough moment and allowing them the time and space for themselves. It may be listening and about having each other’s backs. It’s an ambitious industry by nature but there’s a lot more that advertising can achieve by slowing down occasionally. <div type="image" title="it&amp;#39;s okay picture" msid="75428203" hostid="261"></div> Rohan Mehta, CEO, Social Kinnect: <div type="image" title="Rohan Mehta, CEO - Kinnect" msid="75428242" hostid="261"></div> During a crisis like this, it is common for everyone to experience increased levels of distress and anxiety, particularly as a result of social isolation. Luckily at Kinnect, it didn't take a crisis for us to understand the importance of our employees' well-being. As part of our #GetALife program that encourages work-life balance, we facilitate one-on-one sessions with a mental health professional on a bi-weekly basis. An external professional conducts these sessions, and we ensure confidentiality. Keeping in mind the current situation, in March and April, the sessions were facilitated through calls/video calls. All leadership is mandated to do team catch-up calls every day, preferably starting the day with a video call. Thus enabling them to stay connected and build better team relationships. We have a designated team that reaches out to all Kinnectors, and discusses at length about their health and work from home scenarios. I make sure to interact with the leadership every week and keep myself updated about each of their team member’s health. We also do virtual engagement activities and training. We encourage our employees to take up activities or learn a new skill, to grow personally as well as professionally in a time where they might feel stagnant. #KinnectFridays are a mainstay as part of the #KinnectCulture. Keeping with our tradition of a monthly #KinnectFriday, we recently did a virtual #KinnectFriday BYOB version where we had our team members across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore strum instruments and sing along to uplift spirits. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Agencies have young employees, specifically millennials, and they are not used to being around family for extended periods, making the situation unique to them. At a time like this, it is imperative to integrate and streamline digital infrastructure. Interaction is the key. Communicating regular updates to your staff, keeps everyone calm and creates trust among employees. Consider including a daily update on their health and well-being in your on-call meetings. Communicate clearly, and be always available to listen. Understand their current work settings, and acknowledge that working around family, and a combination of working and supervising children can get tedious. Hence, maintain some semblance of a structure while allowing that this is an unprecedented situation. Help them plan their work schedules around their homes, and most importantly show kindness and patience toward others as well as ourselves. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Harshil Karia, Founder and Managing Director, Schbang: <div type="image" title="_Harshil Karia, Founder and Managing Director, Schbang" msid="75428310" hostid="261"></div> <ul><li>We have collaborated with <a href="https://www.mindhouse.com/">MindHouse</a> to give our Schbangers a 3 Month Subscription of their Application which gives them unlimited Access to Yoga and Meditation. This allows our Schbangers to relax and recharge and stay mentally healthy. Preventive Mental Health is the need of the hour.</li><li>In addition to that, we have initiated lots of Clubs: We have a Cooking Club called Schefs of Schbang. From Schefs - some of the recipes have already started seeing the light of day. </li></ul> <div type="image" title="Schefs of Schbang 2." msid="75428328" hostid="261"></div> We have a band called Schband and we're working on something very cool and musical to release. We have 2 Fitness and Meditation Tracks - 1 for the Morning and 1 for the evening Below is also a screenshot of our Internal Portal which has them easy for all to access: <div type="image" title="schbang website" msid="75428368" hostid="261"></div> <ul><li>We also recently collaborated with Humans of Bombay where we took shots from our Schbangers and included them in a video.</li></ul> <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Now we are collaborating with Humans of Bombay to come up with a version of the #DontRushChallenge. See it here: <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <ul><li>We have catch ups with the team via Hangout and then we have some extra special catch ups. We recently had Ranveer Allahbadia popularly known as BeerBiceps catch up with our Top Managers on a Video Hangout where we discussed everything from Meditation to the state of Influencers to how he's staying positive in these times.</li></ul> <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> You can see how our Schbangers are staying conected come 5 PM over Chai: <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div>

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