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<ul><li>With <keyword id="540819" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kinnect">Kinnect</keyword> now part of the family, the Group will be better poised to bring multidisciplinary, integrated digital creative solutions to its clients. </li><li>This strategic alliance of two very like-minded and culturally congruent agency groups will ensure the elevation of creative ideas to a whole new level.</li></ul>Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) and FCB today announced the acquisition of equity stake in Kinnect, India's largest independent digital marketing agency. While the agency will partner <keyword id="11697687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="fcb-group-india">FCB Group India</keyword>, it will continue to operate under the management of its current leadership. Founded by Rohan Mehta and Chandni Shah in 2011, Kinnect is a truly integrated creative and media agency built for the now. With a strong growth trajectory, the agency has scaled to 350+ Kinnectors, working across offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Awarded Campaign South Asia’s Independent Agency of the Year multiple times, and Digital Agency of the Year 2020, Kinnect is credited for conceptualizing and executing digital-first campaigns and works with some of the biggest brands in the country, including Amazon, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, P&amp;G Group (Ariel, Tide &amp; Old Spice), Disney+ Hotstar, Bytedance Group, TVS Motors, RPSG Group, and more. Speaking about the acquisition, <keyword id="268920" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Ohri">Rohit Ohri</keyword>, Chairman &amp; CEO, FCB Group India, said, “We believe that today creativity needs to be fueled by technology and data. Our ideas must not only generate greater long-term brand value but also activate business in the short term. This new partnership between the FCB Group, India’s most awarded creative agency, and Kinnect, India’s largest independent digital agency, will actualize this vision and mission for all our clients.” Kinnect has a strong belief that creative and media should work together in the digital world. While creativity is at the heart of every campaign, the agency distinguishes itself by conceiving ideas that are data-informed and adapted to new age platforms, which allows for maximizing performance and getting the best creative in front of the right audience. The agency has been doing this successfully through its specialized media planning and buying arm, <keyword id="3519936" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Media-Kinnect">Media Kinnect</keyword>. Kinnect has a solution-driven approach to advertising and has built its business model keeping the clients at the very center. It has built in-house capabilities for influencer &amp; talent outreach - Kinnect Outreach, reputation management &amp; listening - Kinnect 24/7, Kinnect Tech, and <keyword id="4613045" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kinnect-Productions">Kinnect Productions</keyword>, to meet the rapidly evolving needs of clients and deliver work that positively impacts their businesses. Discussing the partnership with FCB Group India, Rohan Mehta, CEO, Kinnect, said, “This development represents an exciting new chapter in our journey! As part of a global network, we see a huge opportunity to learn from their experiences and apply them in an Indian context. We will continue building new capabilities and evolving our services based on the needs of the markets while focusing on delivering the most effective solutions for our clients.” Chandni Shah, COO, Kinnect, added, “We are thrilled to be joining forces with the FCB Group. Leveraging their expertise in building brands over decades, we hope to achieve similar legacies for our clients. Together we look forward to engineering a more transformative and holistic experience for brands and are excited about the possibilities of what we can achieve together." With Kinnect now part of the family, the Group will be better poised to bring multidisciplinary, integrated digital creative solutions to its clients. This strategic alliance of two very like-minded and culturally congruent agency groups will ensure the elevation of creative ideas to a whole new level. Recently commemorating 60 years of operation in India, The FCB Group India has seen an extraordinary creative transformation over the last four years, winning top honors at prestigious global creativity festivals including One Show, Clio, The Andys, D&amp;AD, Spikes and Cannes. Most recently, it was India’s No 1 Creative Agency at Cannes Lions 2020/2021.

Interpublic Group of Companies and FCB Group India acquire an equity stake in Kinnect

<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>

How agencies are helping their employees take care of their mental health amidst a global pandemic

<ul><li>The Awards recognise how leading brands are effectively leveraging YouTube as a platform to engage audiences to drive business goals and drive consumer engagement at scale across the country. </li><li>Launched earlier this year in association with Kantar for advertising released between October 2019 and February 2021, the winning campaigns represent a range of popular advertising formats across seven categories.</li></ul>The inaugural India edition of the <keyword id="11803860" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="youtube-works-awards">YouTube Works Awards</keyword> today announced its winners. The Awards recognise how leading brands are effectively leveraging YouTube as a platform to engage audiences to drive business goals and drive consumer engagement at scale across the country. Launched earlier this year in association with Kantar for advertising released between October 2019 and February 2021, the winning campaigns represent a range of popular advertising formats across seven categories, from 6-second Storytelling to Multi-video Storytelling, and were selected by a 12-member jury comprising some of the most respected business leaders and marketers in the country. During a time that was marked by several lockdowns and restricted creative production, the jury picked campaigns by Mondelez, which bagged both the Ruby and the Grand Prix for its ‘Not just a Cadbury’ ad, InMobi, Amazon Prime, Puma, Motilal Oswal, and upGrad as the winners. Announcing the Awards, Aditya Swamy, Director, Marketing Partnerships, Google India, said, “Online video is the gateway to the Internet for India. With four in five Indian consumers valuing YouTube deeply, and viewership growing both in rural and urban India, YouTube has emerged as India's favourite destination for video content. I raise a toast to the gamechangers across brand, creative, media, and creator ecosystems that are shaping digitally supercharged India’s shift towards YouTube. With these awards, our effort is to spotlight the most incredible work across the industry, using data-driven insights and tech-powered storytelling to deliver real impact for every kind of business. I want to express my deep gratitude to the Jury for their thoughtful analysis of the entries and picking the stand-out work done in India on YouTube. I look forward to all of us creating magic for brands by mixing creative, data and technology together.” Speaking about the key role YouTube served in the execution of the ‘Not just a Cadbury’ campaign, Anil Viswanathan, Senior Marketing Director, Mondelez, said, “We are thrilled for the ‘Not just a Cadbury’ campaign to be judged winner in two prestigious categories of the <keyword id="11803861" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="youtube-works">YouTube Works</keyword> Awards, the Ruby and the Grand Prix. This is yet another fabulous moment of celebration for the team. “Our campaign idea was to support small business owners impacted by the COVID-19 lockdowns through hyper personalisation and hyper localization. Both these would not have been possible without YouTube which powered it to achieve the levels of customization never achieved before. YouTube’s personalization capabilities helped bring together thousands of small business owners across thousands of PIN codes together with customers in their neighbourhoods, all on a single ad.” Commenting on the Awards, jury member and Head of Marketing, Bajaj Auto, Narayan Sundararaman, said, “'It was a great experience to be on the Grand Jury of these Awards and view such a large number of outstanding creative executions across businesses. The winning campaigns stand out for their ability to harness audience insight and storytelling with the advantage of content and context that YouTube uniquely provides to brands.” Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, said, “Being on the jury of the first ever YouTube Works awards in India was a mind-altering experience. The experience opened my mind to the immense possibilities that YouTube offers. I came as a judge and left as a student.” Speaking of the judging process, Nandini Dias, CEO, LODESTAR UM, said, “The craft-agnostic nature of the jury put together for the YouTube Works Awards resulted in a fresh cross-pollination of perspectives, which made the discussions enriching and stimulating.” Agnello Dias, Creative Chairman, Dentsu, added, "The YouTube Works judging experience was a fascinating experience because some of the categories were such a clear indication as to where the world of marketing communications is heading. Besides, a lot of the work threw up completely fresh insights into how creativity is being consumed by target audiences in the contemporary era."The winners of the <keyword id="11803859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="youtube-works-india-awards">YouTube Works India Awards</keyword> are: Grand Prix: Demonstrates excellence throughout the entire process, from identifying critical consumer insights and building creative idea, to executing the campaign through effective media buying and powerful messaging in all assets and formats <ul><li>Campaign Name - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWLm6Sx1WI" target="_blank">Not just a Cadbury ad</a></li><li>Winners - Mondelez | Wavemaker &amp; DeltaX | Ogilvy India</li></ul>The Ruby: The most creative, innovative and data-driven work with demonstrable business results <ul><li>Campaign Name - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWLm6Sx1WI" target="_blank">Not just a Cadbury ad</a></li><li>Winners - Mondelez | Wavemaker &amp; DeltaX | Ogilvy India</li></ul>Media Innovation: Brilliant media planning that drove business results <ul><li>Campaign Name - <a href="https://youtu.be/Mu3Rq3dzMzE" target="_blank">Glance - Baar Baar Dekho</a></li><li>Winners - Glance | In-Mobi | DDB Mudra</li></ul>Best Multi-Video Storytelling: Demonstrates a keen understanding of the audience, and an ability to bring a story to life through exceptional copywriting, creative direction, and flawless production across multiple videos <ul><li>Campaign Name - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUeyAItugv8" target="_blank">Mirzapur S2 ka Bhaukaal</a></li><li>Winners - Amazon Prime Video India | PivotRoots | SoCheers</li></ul>Best Long Form Storytelling: Demonstrates a keen understanding of the audience, and an ability to bring a story to life through exceptional copywriting, creative direction, and flawless production in a video beyond 30 seconds <ul><li>Campaign Name - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVhnuCzHdA" target="_blank">PUMA Propah Lady</a></li><li>Winners - Puma | Digitas</li></ul>6-Second Storytelling: Demonstrates a keen understanding of the audience, and an ability to bring a story to life through exceptional copywriting, creative direction, and flawless production in a 6 second YouTube bumper ad <ul><li>Campaign Name - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCEUJ_0GPaw" target="_blank">Poor Quality Hurts – Motilal Oswal</a></li><li>Winners - Motilal Oswal Financial Services | Social Kinnect | Mullen Lintas</li></ul>Best Collaboration: The best strategic and creative collaboration between Brand &amp; Creator that drove incredible buzz &amp; positive brand associations <ul><li>Campaign Name - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkBuuRW8f_Y" target="_blank">BeYouNick x upGrad Originals - The Office Canteen</a></li><li>Winners - upGrad | Monk Entertainment | Be YouNick</li></ul>The Jury also included: Aditi Shrivastava, Co-founder, Pocket Aces; Amer Jaleel, Group CEO and Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas Group; Anita Nayyar, COO-Media &amp; Communications, Patanjali Ayurved Limited; Harman Dhillon, Vice President - Haircare, HUL; <keyword id="2811220" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sukesh-Nayak">Sukesh Nayak</keyword>, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India; Priti Murthy, CEO, OMD India; Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Office &amp; CEO – South Asia, Leo Burnett; Ravi Santhanam, CMO, HDFC Bank.

YouTube announces Winners of first India edition of YouTube Works Awards

<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>If an industry can flourish during a global pandemic and one of the worst economic crises we had to face, it can survive through any challenges that come in its way.</li><li>Digital media has proven time and again how integral it is to the advertising industry’s survival and growth.</li><li>However, every year brings with it a set of challenges different from the previous one. So, in our second year-ender, we look at digital marketing, its growth trajectory and look at what lies ahead.</li><li>Experts are optimistic that 2022 will be a game-changer that will help them redefine a lot of rules in advertising, with smarter marketing techniques.</li></ul>The digital marketing industry in India not only managed to weather the pandemic’s impact but also flourished gracefully in 2020. It accelerated at an unbelievable speed, exceeding all predictions and expectations. Brands were quick to adapt, pivoting aggressively from traditional mediums to invest in digital. Digital media became one of the most effective mediums to reach out to people locked inside their houses and stuck to their phone and tablet screens. This trend of increased smartphone consumption is only expected to amplify as more people, especially in Tier II and III cities, engage more digitally and make purchase decisions through websites, apps, social media platforms. Apps have undoubtedly become the most popular destination for consumers and marketers are capitalizing on this trend to engage with them. As per GroupM’s TYNY report, global digital advertising should account for 64.4% of total advertising in 2021, up from 60.5% in 2020 and 52.1% in 2019. Zenith also estimates that global adspend will reach $705 billion in 2021, up from $634 billion in 2019, and will rise to $873 billion by 2024. Digital marketing in India is also at the cusp of a massive revolution as brands explore options beyond <keyword id="640850" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media-marketing" source="Orion">social media marketing</keyword> within the digital ecosystem and look to expand their presence across regional markets. RedSeer predicts that India’s digital ad expenditure will grow 10 times over the next decade and will likely account for 70-85% of the total ad market, which currently stands at 33%. It is expected to touch $25-35 billion by 2030 from $3 billion in 2020. So, without a doubt, digital marketing is the future of advertising and the only way brands can grow is by harnessing various digital tools. From buying medicine to groceries or shopping for a wedding, many consumers who would otherwise prefer to browse and purchase in person, have moved to online shopping due to the limitations that the pandemic threw at them. This quick change in consumer behaviour, accelerated by the pandemic, gave a push to e-commerce, performance marketing, augmented reality, mobile marketing, digital animation, video content, voice search, audio advertising and influencer marketing. In this last year, Instagram has also moved beyond just a discovery platform and influencer-led commerce has arrived earlier than expected. According to WARC, Instagram grew to become the largest social media platform globally in 2021 after overtaking the core Facebook platform for the first time. Instagram is forecast to grow to control over a third of the global social media market in 2023. Apart from social commerce, Instagram’s parent company’s Metaverse was the hot topic and trailblazer of 2021. In 2022, more brands will prepare for the next phase of the internet, include Metaverse in their marketing strategy and experiment with AR and VR. As we enter a new year and it brings a new set of challenges, different from the previous one, we speak to digital marketing experts, discuss the industry’s growth trajectory and look at what lies ahead. Here’s what experts had to say about digital marketing’s future in India: Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions: The dominant trend that seems imminent and set to grow is the cross media measurement. The customer connect is critical given the significant shift in consumption patterns. Understanding the impact of the mediums and planning connect basis that is an inevitability. This would require customer segmentation by cohorts, enablement of linking these cohorts between brand and publisher (any medium) and tracking response and measuring attribution using data integration at a CRM level. The entire system is data and tech driven supported by psychometric tools for the purpose of cohort creation and mapping. All in real time. Single source panel is the need of the hour. And there are multiple measurement organisations working together on this. More importantly it’s critical that a brand understands trading needs to be made more efficient by enabling customer segmentation in real time that can be activated using programmatic means, also in real time. The data pool and nodes will take some time to build as in any data led ML, and eventually it’s data science and creativity at work to engage prospects. Harshil Karia, Co-founder and Managing Director, Schbang: I think two big trends will dominate marketing: 1) More and more brands using a combination of technology to enrich what they do at last mile conversion, data management, and using the marketing data as signals to business and sales teams more effectively. Expect more martech being deployed. And expect more people to learn martech and it's capabilities and the ability to learn and unlearn the same. 2) The use of automation will start to affect creativity. One ad can be delivered in a 100 ways using video Ai and voice. One copy can be written in many ways customised to context. The writers to can work well with an Ai and make it their friend will do well. An Ai works as well as the instructional data it recieves. The factor that will help drive this is increased demands from CEOs to integrate the marketing function into large scale business processes and have the vision to see the value it can unlock - a push but also some patience. The automation allows marketing to now affect at scale far more parts of the organisation than they already have. Marketers and creators will do well to be curious and have a learn it all attitude while knowing and deepening their craft on copy and design." Prashant Puri, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, AdLift: We’re entering the organic first age where prioritizing organic search becomes paramount. We see content playing a vital role here, be it optimizing for voice search or improving user experience via engaging content across all brand touchpoint. We estimate influencer marketing spends to catapult to $150 to $225 in 2022 with brands doubling down on influencer led marketing campaigns across nano, micro and macro influencers - capturing 7 to 9% of overall digital marketing spends in India. Chandni Shah, Founder and COO, Kinnect: The one trend I see dominating 2022 is Social Commerce. The e-commerce industry experienced accelerated growth with the pandemic, and social commerce emerged as the 'flavour of the year'. Social media platforms too joined the bandwagon and introduced features and tools to enhance the consumer journey - from product discovery to purchasing them on/through the platform itself. Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 contributed significantly to the new era of online social retail. In 2020, Facebook introduced Instagram shops, integrating e-commerce and the world's most popular social media platform. In the Covid-19 pandemic, the worldwide social commerce market is anticipated to increase at a whopping <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5140143/social-commerce-global-market-trajectory-and?utm_source=GNOM&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=rm7g2f&amp;utm_campaign=1434938+-+Global+Social+Commerce+Market+Worth+%24604.5+Billion+by+2027+-+COVID-19+Updated&amp;utm_exec=joca220prd" target="_blank">31.4</a>%. By 2021, social commerce will continue to expand as consumers stick to digital habits, whilst e-commerce and conventional retailers adjust to the post-Covid-19 reality. Combining e-commerce with social media can be highly valuable; it allows consumers to look for brands via social media platforms and search for products they wouldn't usually look for on an e-commerce website. Brand hunt, influencers, and mobile payments are examples of social commerce in action. Thanks to AI, marketers can now gather real-time data on consumers and transform it into actionable insights. The upcoming year will see more users turn into buyers and make purchases through social commerce. Brands that haven't explored the opportunity yet will be quick to jump onto this trend. To sum this up, the shorter the buyers' journey will be, the lesser chance of them abandoning products in their cart. Hareesh Tibrewala Joint CEO of Mirum India: Covid has taught us that every business, big or small, B2B or B2C, irrespective of the category -- needs to have a way of reaching out to the consumers online, be able to showcase ones products and services, collect payment and make delivery. We will see e-commerce driving investments in the area of technology, content creation and media. We will see continued expansion of market places as well as emergence of D2C brands. Within ecommerce we will see movement towards voice-based ordering as well as conversational commerce Harsh Shah, EVP, Business- North and West, Dentsu Webchutney: 2022 is going to be the year of alternate digital realities. Yes, the metaverse! That moment in time where our digital life seamlessly co-exists with our physical life. That year, where our virtual possessions are of as much worth as our real-life possessions. Bank accounts and crypto wallets. Art works and NFTs. One of the key outlooks for brands should be to see how they can use 2022 to prep themselves to be not only present in the metaverse but also for immersive storytelling. With growing interest in the concept and it being part of popular culture, will accelerate adoption. It will outgrow the internet in adoption. Also, with 5G hitting the market, it can act as a great platform to drive that initial burst of growth. Shradha Agarwal, COO and Strategy Head- Grapes: In my opinion, AI will play a crucial role in the digital marketing ecosphere. We have witnessed that from data collection to geo-fencing, AI has been helping businesses grow extensively. The technology comes with such a great combination that it has been used widely in certain aspects such as content creation, chatbots and search engines. Sectors like retail, e-commerce, banking, healthcare, gaming and others are already backed upon on artificial intelligence as it helps them recognize consumer behaviour, search patterns and it also helps businesses understand how customers find their products and services. In the coming time, we would see many others sectors trying their hands on the tool marketers want good sales and better ROI through their marketing strategy. Therefore, AI applications can predict what customers are likely to buy in the future based on their past purchases and browsing history. With this approach, it becomes easier for them to target their users. Also, AI use is becoming of utmost importance for those companies whose business depends on smartphones and drive sales through social media. Hence, AI as a market will grow exponentially. Raman Mittal, CMO and Co-Founder, TO THE NEW: I believe the dominant trend of 2022 will be Contextual Targeting. Contextual targeting isn’t something new, but for a while it was in the shadows because it’s performance was lower than Behavioral Targeting that used cookies. But in this cookie-less world, the modes of serving personalized ads to the audience have shrunk and marketers are moving back to contextual targeting. Whether it is category, keyword, or semantic contextual targeting, it will be exciting to see future developments in this arena. Mohit Gyanchandani, Head, media planning and growth, DCMN India: For several years, the marketing industry has witnessed an ongoing contest between performance and brand marketing in terms of budget, resources and impact. But in 2022, we predict that the old dichotomy between the two will become increasingly blurred. This is in part due to the impact of COVID on businesses. After a volatile 18 months, many organisations are re-evaluating their goals and moulding themselves to survive and thrive in this new economy. Above all, companies know that to succeed, they need to build brand salience. We’re already seeing that for many of our clients, it’s not simply about brand versus performance anymore: the two need to work in tandem. That means bringing both sides of marketing even closer together and building fully integrated, 360 degree campaigns that power growth and build brand recognition across online and offline channels. Marketers will also start looking at results more holistically. Instead of just looking at one specific channel and its impact on direct KPIs, they will look at results through a broader lens: for example, the impact that a TV campaign might have on digital channels like search or retargeting. This doesn’t mean that pure performance-driven campaigns are going away completely. The best approach for a brand will always depend on the company’s stage of growth and their overall marketing goals. But for companies looking to scale, taking a fully integrated approach will be key to achieving cut-through in an increasingly competitive industry." Ankur Gattani, VP - Growth and Marketing, WebEngage around MarTech: Majority of Indian organizations have been using a mix bag of first-party (1P) and third-party (3P) data for marketing and advertising. However, the usage and impact of 1P data are expected to amplify in 2022 in a big way. This trend will dominantly be driven by the legal framework that will prohibit the usage of 3P data and force the adoption for 1P. Organisations like Amazon and Netflix have spoilt the customers with their personalisation mechanisms. What this means is that customers expect personalisation from the websites and apps that they visit. Marketeers will have to make optimal use of data and analytics to bring that level of experience for their customers. Reports suggest that over 80% of marketeers see benefits in leveraging consumer data for marketing. At WebEngage, we work 100% on 1P customer data and we believe this trend will not only help our clients engage with consumers in a meaningful manner but also improve their business ROI. Shivani Kamdar - Associate Creative Director, SoCheers: 2020 &amp; 2021 showed us how content is still the centrepiece of every marketing communication and how brands went the extra mile to establish a better connection with their audience. The coming year is going to be no different, in fact "Localisation of Content" is the need of the hour. A marketing technique for product promotion leveraging the local culture of the target areas by studying their preference, likes, dislikes. The customer begins to relate with the content at a subconscious level which in turn not only helps aid their purchase decision but in the long run, also helps forge a better recall for the brand. One of the key factors that will help drive this trend home is ground research - an intense focus on understanding the consumer intent by renewing SEO efforts. The other is the medium of communication. Building the right story is not enough; finding the most compelling way to sell it will do just the right thing. Will that copy be more relatable as a video or will adding audio to this help enhance the user experience? Consumers are craving interactive, consumable, entertaining content be it on mobile or across social channels; question is, will you give it to them? Dia Kirpalani, VP, Head of Strategy, Blink Digital: As we move into 2022 and beyond, we believe that both marketers and consumers will increasingly seek a clearly demonstrable line to value. To achieve this, marketers will need to harness the ability of end-to-end measurement, with an eye on their north star metric. India is moving online more than ever. With everything from shoppable content on social media, to conversational commerce bringing India's smaller towns further into the fold, this measurement is progressively important to assess where and how to communicate. Meanwhile, consumers will seek value and authenticity from their brands. Brands that win consumers' hearts will meet consumers where they are with content that has real relevance, whether they access it through voice, video or vernacular. Brands will need to also provide consumers an exceedingly easy content consumption or shopping experience through hiccup-free, friendly interfaces. Importantly, content will also need to authentically reflect evolving consumer values, and this will help determine what brands should communicate. For brands looking to scale up further, this combination of multiple elements is what will ultimately drive value. Rahul Nanwani, Co-founder &amp; CEO of ImageKit: It is predicted that globally, 82% of consumer web traffic in 2022 would be from videos. With India’s video market set to touch $18 billion by 2026, it will soon play a dominant role in digital marketing as well. Short-form videos have already attracted the attention of many Indians and the market is predicted to reach 650 million users by 2025. Thus, if brands need to reach a wider audience in the coming year, they need to utilize tools that will maximize their outreach through videos. Video optimization and media management tools help improve internal collaboration for teams creating the videos and then ensure that those high-quality videos can load quickly on a user's device. With several advancements being made in this field, brands will be able to provide better customer experiences and ensure their messaging reaches them through videos.

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