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The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the governing body for the sport of shooting in the country, has issued an invite to qualified Commercial & Marketing Agent’s to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to drive the commercial growth and visibility of the inaugural edition of the Shooting League of India (SLI).

The annual shooting professional league is slated to be launched in 2025 and will feature 6-8 franchise teams from across India. The first season of SLI will feature six shooting disciplines - 10M Pistol, 25M Pistol, 10M Rifle, 50M 3 P Rifle, Trap and Skeet. Both Men and Women shooters are expected to participate in the league across multiple disciplines.

NRAI has advised interested and qualified agencies to find details of the EOI along with the scope of work at the NRAI website. 

Notedly, the agencies can make their submissions by 25th November 2024. The selected agency will play a crucial role in revenue generation, sponsorship acquisition and audience engagement for the league.

Kalikesh Narayana Singh Deo, NRAI President said, “We are marching ahead in full steam with our plans to build an innovated landscape for shooting in India. The sport has found a new lease of life in the country and around the globe after the success at the Paris Olympics. The time is ripe for businesses to invest in the sport and view it as a viable long term commercial opportunity. We are eager to partner with like-minded marketing and commercial ventures who can align with our vision and help us achieve our mission to revolutionise the sport.”

The League was announced by NRAI in October following unanimous approval by the governing body and has also received an in principle approval from ISSF. The decision came at the back of successful hosting of the ISSF World Cup 2024 in New Delhi in October and the announcement that India will also be hosting the Junior Shooting World Cup next year.


NRAI looks for Commercial & Marketing Agencies for Shooting League of India

Amidst the festive cheers, October came bearing somewhat awful news for employees at the Wieden + Kennedy (W+K) in India. The independent American advertising agency on October 3 announced that it is winding up its operations in the country. The news was announced soon after the agency's chief creative officer (CCO) Santosh Padhi (Paddy) and president Ayesha Ghosh said they had tendered their resignations.

While the global advertising company is still trying to figure out how the Indian market fits into its future plans, a handful of industry watchers have called the development ‘insignificant’ given the country is already busy producing some of the best works on the global scale without the help or tag of any global multinational company. 

For others, it was a slow death of the agency in India, that lacked creative vision and individuals for some time now.

V. Sunil, creative director - Motherland .POTNTIAL— and the man behind the 'Make in India', Royal Enfield, IndiGo airline ad campaigns, all of which once were under the W+K roaster— tells Storyboard18 that the lack of good leadership has resulted in the unfortunate failure of the agency in the country.

Sunil quit as the executive creative director of W+K (Delhi) in 2016. 

[caption id="attachment_44142" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/10/MakeInIndia-2024-10-bea81dbe1072574a31bf7adfa5a65a2e.png" alt=Make in India campaign designed by Wieden+Kennedy (India)." width="1000" height="750" class="size-full wp-image-44142" /> 'Make in India' campaign designed by Wieden+Kennedy (India).[/caption]


“W+K has always had great people and it was almost like a sort of cultural force that attracted a great talent rather than just an advertising agency. However, it struggled with getting the right leadership team after 2016 and one could see that from the work- there was a sudden drop, and a lot of the good people left thereafter,” he says.

Both Dan (Wieden) and David (Kennedy) wanted to have the same sensibility as Portland in Delhi— and globally, they always had a strict guiding principle when it came to hiring people, especially in the leadership team. 

Therefore, Sunil notes that it has always been difficult to get the right people. 

Typically, the ideal/perfect model for the W+K office would be: one-third W+K global, one-third the culture of the city/country, and then one-third the leadership team (mainly the creative director of the office whose characteristics merged with the global team).

“It's almost very cultish and it's very difficult to then scale up that kind of model. You need to always be finding those kinds of people, otherwise things fall apart,” he adds.

The result of which, according to him, also was reflected in the agency’s billing. 

“When we departed there was Indigo, Royal Enfield, and Make in India— all iconic brands on board, not just a small one-campaign brand— so that affected the revenue, otherwise they would not shut down, especially in a time when India is a big market and most important economic powers in the world. This is the time to rejig and re-energise and not shut down,” he remarks.


[caption id="attachment_44146" align="aligncenter" width="965"]<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/10/Indigo-2024-10-f29d7971635e86d14b452efa87d124cf.png" alt="Wieden + Kennedy (India) played a key role in establishing IndiGo’s presence in the Indian market from 2008 to 2023." width="965" height="576" class="size-full wp-image-44146" /> Wieden + Kennedy (India) played a key role in establishing IndiGo’s presence in the Indian market from 2008 to 2023.[/caption]


It is to be noted that W+K was known to charge a premium on the promise to deliver quality work. Today, in the country it works with the likes of Hero MotoCorp, Jockey, Casio, and Clove(Dental), among others.

KV Sridhar aka Pops, Chief Creative Officer Global, Nihilent notes that the failure can also be blamed on the agency’s inability to adapt to the local culture. Meanwhile, its success so far can only be attributed to Sunil and Paddy’s creative force. 

“When W+K first came to India there were expectations in the sense will they ever be successful outside Portland, given they tried in multiple places like the UK, and Singapore but didn't even manage to get as close to their original officer stature. 

They failed in India because they could not replicate the work of the iconic brands on which they built their reputation,” he says.

“Strong agencies including the likes of Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, and BBDO went ahead and replicated the culture ethos and values in different locations, and therefore in the last 40 years all these have become global companies. All of these have started as individual offices or individuals but they managed to manage to adapt to different cultures and do it right,” he points out.

Best known for its work for Nike and its 'Just Do It' tagline, W+K globally has served some of its biggest clients including Facebook, Coca-Cola, P&G, and Old Spice.


[caption id="attachment_44149" align="aligncenter" width="560"]<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/10/1_44T2V2PYIMQsSplV_8Ko6w-2024-10-70005214c4a41299670d1e86189a8ba7.jpg" alt="Dan Wieden coined the tagline Just Do It for the then-smaller sportswear brand based out of Oregon (Nike)." width="560" height="251" class="size-full wp-image-44149" /> Dan Wieden coined the tagline "Just Do It" for the then-smaller sportswear brand based out of Oregon (Nike).[/caption]




It becomes all the more interesting to note that while W+K existed in India, it was McCann and Leo Burnett who stole the show on Coca-Cola, it was Taproot, and then JWT who stole the show on Nike in India.


From cultural force to being irrelevant


W+K had been in India since 2007 and after singularly operating from the Delhi office for more than 15 years, the agency opened its Mumbai office.

Industry observers do agree that post the ‘V Sunil era’ when W+K had some massive clients, it did hit a bit of a lull.

However, they did have some good new business years since the Covid-19 pandemic, and bringing in new blood did help. More recently as well they won some decent-sized businesses and reportedly for the first time also registered a profit margin.

But while these are "decent-sized" from the perspective of a small/mid-sized agency, they weren’t enough to propel W+K into a giant, according to Adityan Kayalakal, marketing head & founding member at Veera.

“What did not work for W+K are the ticket sizes even for large-size businesses. A $1mn client would be seen as a reasonably large client in an Indian ad agency - but that’s a drop in the ocean for W+K globally which did about $670mn in revenue in 2023. So even an office with 10 such clients (hardly an easy task for an agency of its size) would be a rounding error in the larger scheme of things for W+K globally,” according to him.


[caption id="attachment_44147" align="aligncenter" width="750"]<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/10/royal-enfield-ace-2024-10-85ac9be3c1f9526eb30fd8f6cec3dbbb-1024x556.jpg" alt="To create awareness for famous Royal Enfield&#039;s gear, Weiden + Kennedy (India) showed real riders in real (but intense) riding environments." width="750" height="407" class="size-large wp-image-44147" /> To create awareness for famous Royal Enfield's gear, Weiden + Kennedy (India) showed real riders in real (but intense) riding environments.[/caption]


It is to be noted that on average, a smaller/local unit of any global company is required to earn ten times more than its expenses because of the global fee, management fee, and corporate fee— all while maintaining its margins.

So while W+K did some effortlessly cool work in its glory days, Kayalakal notes that the scale W+K expected from the market was missing and 15 years of investing in a market without the necessary return would have dampened any further interest in the market.

Naresh Gupta, co-founder, Bang In The Middle partly blames the failure on the flat year of the Indian advertising industry.

“What we are seeing is the impact of a flat year for the advertising industry. In India, the year may have even been a year of de-growth. Fundamentally the ad business is changing. The clients are spending far less on collaterals than what they used to spend earlier. For instance, there was a time when the retail collaterals for brands were done by creative agencies. All that is now decentralised or being moved to cheaper agencies. The large agencies are looking at a bleak future where the revenues linked to a large dedicated team are changing to more tactical,” he remarks.

Additionally, what W+K has experienced in India is the lack of support from global operations and very little business from Indian brands.

“They had accounts, but they were not enough to sustain an agency operation. They lost the likes of Indigo, Royal Enfield— so they must have been under pressure,” he opines.


Is Indian advertising land still robust?


Advertising agencies have had good and bad days in the last decade and a half. 

There is a lot more fragmentation, a lot of different pieces of the pie, and tough competition for fees and businesses as the number of players vying for business has grown. The need to evolve has brought them to new frontiers of the marketing business - CRM, social, business and digital transformation, etc – but these have also brought in new competitors and new entrants from adjacent industries looking to take away business, like Accenture with their division Accenture Song.

But businesses are growing as are marketing needs, sums up Kayalakal. 

“I don’t see advertising agencies going away entirely as some people prophesied over the last 10-15 years. Agencies and their networks have shown that they are resilient, adaptable and have been able to stay relevant. The business will continue to change and evolve as technology and consumers continue to change,” he says.

So while for W+K India might not make sense anymore, networks like Publicis Groupe, WPP, Dentsu, Omnicom, Interpublic and Havas have built hugely profitable businesses in the country which contribute significantly to their global numbers— which are expected to stay committed and invested to this market.

Given that the advertising industry’s health is in robust shape, Sridhar has a piece of advice for global firms as they continue to eye the Indian market. 

“One cannot be sitting with a high-end image of themselves and then play with the local talent or a local client. Global companies need to acknowledge that individual talent is far more important than any multinational company tag.”

He goes on to add, “Today either you survive as a large global player or you survive as a talented individual agency.” If you are a truly global company, be like Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, and McCann— these are the only three companies that manage without global interference and make a difference to their global clients and also to local talent and local clients.

For his part, Sunil emphasises the need for great talent in the country and how he sees that gap widening— also one of the reasons why agencies do fail to take off.

“The problem today is agencies are busy learning digital rather than focusing on the real talent of their craft and storytelling— the reason why we don't see iconic work coming out of many places anymore. If you don't have the right people running an agency, you will become irrelevant,” he shares.

However, according to him, when there is real talent and real work, there is a market for that and the brands today need it more than ever— given a lot of young companies that are well funded but spending money on mindless marketing gimmicks.

"Impossible Dream": Why Wieden+Kennedy couldn't 'just do it' in India

In a special chat, Storyboard18 caught up with the top women leaders at Dentsu. Amanda Morrissey, global president, iProspect, and chief growth officer, media, Dentsu and Shenda Loughnane, global brand president, dentsu X, the arm of the Japan-headquartered agency that delivers customised marketing services, were on their India visit and were joined by Prerna Mehrotra, chief client officer and CEO, media, Asia Pacific, and Anita Kotwani, CEO, media, South Asia, at a special all-women Dentsu roundtable.


Morrissey outlined the pillars that have shaped the agency’s growth trajectory this year: a focus on clients, talent development, growth and capability building.


She said that Dentsu has made commendable progress in each of these areas, enhancing its operational structures to better serve clients in a fast-changing environment.


Morrissey explained that in 2024, Dentsu concentrated on realigning its teams and structures to adapt to ongoing geopolitical shifts, post-pandemic recovery and a rapidly evolving media landscape. This reorganisation, coupled with integrating client leadership at the highest decision-making levels, has strengthened the agency’s client partnerships.


On her part, Loughnane highlighted that the company has successfully transitioned from the broadcast era to the precision era and now into the algorithmic era, where AI controls much of the digital experience.


Kotwani underlined India’s role in the company’s growth strategy. As one of the fastest-growing markets for global media agencies, Dentsu’s approach in India focuses on deepening client relationships and expanding service offerings in areas like commerce, retail, content and data analytics.


"We have added 80 new clients so far this year, and this growth has been supported by a dedicated squad focused on driving new business," Kotwani shared.


Below are the excerpts of the discussion.


What are the plans set out for Dentsu for 2024 and how much of that has been achieved so far?


Morrissey: The real focus areas for us as we have come into 2024 were number one, clients. We always put clients at the centre of our business. As we have come into 2024, there's a lot of insecurity. Obviously, because we've come out of COVID, there's a lot of geopolitical change within the environment. There's a lot of media landscape shifting.


So how do we really make sure that we are creating the right team structures, the right operational structures for our clients? We spend a lot of time doing that to give them the flexibility and resources that they need. We have been very successful at that. We have reorganised our top clients globally and how they fall in regions and markets.


We have also put client leadership on the board within Dentsu as well, making sure they are part of the decision making, that their point of view and conversation is important for us as an organisation. So that's been a really big strategic priority for us and one that has really helped us drive growth for Dentsu and for our clients and build that business partnership because that's really what is at the heart of our business. 


Our second one was around talent. I am relatively new to Dentsu, I was amazed by how long people have actually been here. And one of the things that's really surprised me when I first arrived was just the generosity of spirit and the quality of the talent here. 


People are having to upskill all the time, the geopolitical landscape and the way people are having to work is having to change. So how do we set our talent up for success, make sure we train and develop them and make sure we've got the right talent capabilities within our business to move forward?


The third part for us with Dentsu has been growth. We need to grow our business and so we've been really focused on growth and we've achieved fairly significant growth this year. We've seen really good growth as we've come into the first eight months of the year. 


You asked about the industry trends, we've really focused this year on capability building. When we thought about capability building, it's very much been around our clients and what's going to drive growth for them and for us as well. And so we've been looking at those really fast currents for growth. And obviously, a lot of that is in retail because everything is commerce. So retail, media and commerce have been big focus areas.


Effectiveness is a really big thing that clients are asking us for. Media's actually got onto the boardroom table. And so what a lot of our clients are asking for is business intelligence. How are my media dollars really driving my business impact so they can take it to the board?


Marketing ROI (return on investment) has been another area that we've really focused on. Not just media ROI, but marketing ROI. 


And I guess the final piece for us has been around content, and the emergence and proliferation of content around social influencer and live commerce as well. So we've been building those capabilities as well. So I think we've done a lot.


I have actually been here in India this week and seeing what the team have done and achieved here across those strategic priorities, it's just blown my mind.


Dentsu has been through quite a shapeshift, a turmoil, so to speak, over the past couple of years. Now, finally, we see some sort of stability. Over the past few months, how much of client trust have you regained? And how successful have you been in attracting talent?


Loughnane: The industry has changed quite fundamentally. We're seeing some really interesting developments, of course, in AI. Everybody's talking about AI. We say that we've come from an era that was very much the broadcast era, which was all about brand building, into the precision era, which was all about sort of performance marketing. And we're now in what we call the algorithmic era, which is all where AI is the gatekeeper and is controlling aspects of our lives and also deciding what content is displayed and what brands are displayed. That's required some changes.


So what we've done over the last, I guess a number of years, is to really look at how we reorganise our business to be ready for that change in the industry. We've done all of that work over the last number of years. We've done work to rationalise our brands. We went from 150 brands down to five key brands that we focus on. That's all been in the service of delivering for our clients and really thinking about how we drive growth for our clients.


So to your question about driving growth for our clients, that organisation is about facilitating how we build brands for our clients across media, creative, data and technology, and bringing those skills together really holistically to be able to drive that growth for our clients. So that's the journey we've been on. We're really starting to see the fruits of that. The growth that we've delivered over this year, I think, is really a testament to that, not just at a global level but also in India as well.


I think that is really what is now driving growth at a global and at a local and regional level as well.


What are the strategies you're focusing on to drive growth for Dentsu in India? Because we all know, whoever I speak to, everyone's focus is on India. They speak about how India is going to be the next big market for the holding company. So what are some of the things that you're focusing on to drive growth?


Kotwani: One of the most important parts that we've pulled in in our growth agenda is really saying, how do you define growth? For us, it's the depth that we get into with a client. How do we immerse ourselves into our clients' businesses? So the sheer depth gives us the expansion of services. The new-age ones that Amanda talked about are very much prevalent in our country.


Whether it's total commerce, retail, content, influencer marketing, data and analytics—these are all specialisations that we have very much in India as well. So that's one level of saying, I have a client, how do I expand my services to that client?


The other one is really around the new logos. How do I bring in the additional new logos that are going to give us the badge value that Dentsu really, really needs? We've added 80 so far in the year. So we're pretty happy with the momentum in growth that we are seeing.


There is a dedicated growth squad within the organisation that has helped us deliver a lot better momentum compared to, let's say, what probably other agencies are, where you have your client leaders striving to drive the new logo. But we've created a special team that's really helping us accelerate growth. So that's how we're looking at it from an India standpoint.


What are some of the things that clients are speaking about? How has the year been for Dentsu? What is the sentiment like for 2024? From conversations I've had with CMOs and CEOs, they are saying they are cautiously optimistic. Are you also hearing that?


Mehrotra: It's fair to say that it is cautiously optimistic because clients are moving in with a lot of caution when even dollars are being channelled to us, as agencies.


But what has happened in the last few years, I would say, is that there is a lot more accountability expected from agencies than ever before. So whether it's a review process or an existing brief, there is a demand that clients have where, as Amanda mentioned, media takes the front seat. But media also takes full accountability of how and where that money is being spent. So we need to ensure that the money being spent by these clients is in the right places to target the right consumers. Hence, a lot of the conversations have been around ROI and how media could become the growth driver for their business. I think there's a lot of linkages that we are seeing in that space.


But clearly, money's flowing when you're able to show value. So it's all about value creation. What clients are expecting from us is to show value through the full funnel experience that the consumer goes through in ensuring that from start to finish you're able to deliver the KPIs (key performance indicators). But eventually, deliver business results. So the expectation is you become a growth partner for them.


And if you are the growth partner, in my view, money flows.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/dentsu-group-india-biz-showing-encouraging-signs-after-long-period-underperformance-39680.htm">Dentsu Group: India biz showing "encouraging signs" after long period underperformance</a>

Dentsu’s Focus: Clients, talent, growth, and capability building

The venerable German auto company Volkswagen (VW) landed on the Indian shores in 2007 and introduced the Passat, which it has manufactured since 1973. The company brought on board the DDB Mudra Group as its creative partner to help with the launch.


The brand has since gone on to introduce the Polo (2010, discontinued 2022), Vento (2010), Volkswagen Jetta (2011), the 21st century Beetle (2015), Volkswagen Taigun (2021), and Volkswagen Virtus (2022), among others. 

 
Talking to Storyboard18 of this long-standing agency-client relationship of 17 years, Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer (CCO), DDB Mudra Group, stated that the brand is defined by three words: responsible, valuable, and innovative.


He highlighted, “Our depth of brand understanding, our creative prowess in translating the brand’s unique tone of voice for the Indian market, and our ability to make innovative messaging and media choices have been key for our success with the brand all these years.” He added that the brand was defined by three words: responsible, valuable, and innovative, and wanted to convey that innovation and good engineering were not for the few but for everyone — it was, after all, the ‘people’s car.’


Edited excerpts from the interview:

 

How did DDB Mudra Group happen to come on board for Volkswagen India?

 

To talk about our history with Volkswagen, we would have to start with DDB’s long and storied past with the brand. The iconic ‘Think Small’ and ‘Lemon’ campaigns crafted by DDB in the late ‘50s / early ‘60s for Volkswagen Beetle changed the face of advertising. In a market dominated by flash and exaggeration, the black and white minimalist design combined with the clever, yet refreshingly honest copy brought about a creative revolution. Those campaigns are as powerful today as they were more than 60 years ago. 


<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/08/Lemon-2024-08-7fc99a4de578fe9ebb9a252176061afe.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="768" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-40534" />
 

The DDB Mudra Group has been a proud flag bearer of this legacy ever since we started our partnership with Volkswagen in 2007. We introduced the brand and its multiple car lines in India. Our depth of brand understanding, our creative prowess in translating the brand’s unique tone of voice for the Indian market, and our ability to make innovative messaging and media choices have been key for our success with the brand all these years.


Which was the first ad campaign that was rolled out and what were the challenges?

 
The first big pan-India campaign we rolled out was the launch of the Volkswagen brand in India. There were several challenges. To begin with, Volkswagen was new and had limited brand awareness. It also had ambitions of launching multiple models within the first year of brand introduction. As their creative partner, we had to think beyond just the brand launch and had to keep in mind the product introduction plans too. 


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/quantum-brief/volkswagens-abbey-thomas-on-youre-in-a-volkswagen-campaign-women-being-the-major-influencer-and-more-12381.htm">Volkswagen’s Abbey Thomas on ‘You’re in a Volkswagen’ campaign, women being the major influencer, and more</a> 
 

At its launch, the brand was defined by three words: responsible, valuable, and innovative. We made the decision to focus on the value of innovation. We had to create a lot of buzz for the brand. The launch had to make India sit up and watch a new beginning.

 

Volkswagen was introduced to India with India’s first newspaper roadblock (a digital affair). We bought every ad in the Times of India (.com) and communicated our approach to innovation, our range of products, and our new factory in Pune. We educated people on how to pronounce the name ‘Volkswagen.’ Most importantly, we wanted to convey that innovation and good engineering were not for the few but for everyone – it was, after all, the ‘people’s car.’ 


Who was the target audience? And what were the marketing strategies adopted, and the media mix?

 
The brand planned to launch multiple car lines over 12 months, so we were speaking to everyone — from potential young owners of the mass-premium hatchback Polo, to people who would drive the luxury Phaeton. That’s what made the campaign so creatively challenging and ultimately successful — finding that one idea that translated across segments. Our idea of ‘innovation for everyone’ didn’t leave anyone out of the conversation. 



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NWKlnZR03J0?si=KM0WtFEZ9fq7j3ZR" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

The brand launch as well as the subsequent launches of Polo, Beetle, Phaeton, Touareg, and Vento used major innovations in print and outdoors advertising to drive impact. This, combined with interesting TV ads, created a perfect media mix. Our strategy was simple — to build up German engineering through authentic, human stories in the famous Volkswagen voice. 



<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/08/VW-Polo-2024-08-2cd110afcbdb88abfba9ad51e3e7f98a.jpg" alt="" width="1262" height="871" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-40533" />

 

For the launch of Polo, for example, we had to hype the fact that it was a German engineered car built for Indian roads. So, our print work featured the world’s first cut-out newspaper ad. A Polo-shaped hole was cut in each page of the newspaper, and as people flipped through, they could read about the India-appropriate features of the car. 


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This was supported by a TV commercial (TVC) which showed the uniquely Indian road tests that the Polo had to pass. Similarly, for the launch of the Vento we created the world’s first ‘talking newspaper’ which spoke about innovation from the point of view of a Volkswagen engineer who loathes to see his beloved creation leave the factory. Even today, when it comes to print innovation, the first example that comes to everyone’s mind is VW’s talking newspaper. There was an audio chip that started playing when you unfolded the paper.


Could you also touch upon the subsequent ad campaigns, and how the target audience evolved with time?

 

In the decade after the launch, we used the momentum to continue building the brand in India. ‘Innovation’ and ‘German engineering’ remained our key pillars, but we also narrowed down on the human lens of innovation and engineering focussed on the human aspect. Unlike the market, which was stuck on bells and whistles, we focussed on what made a car truly great. What made a car a Volkswagen. Our campaigns spoke about what makes Volkswagen safer, more solid, and more enjoyable for the people driving them. 


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q-Uo3OuVApA?si=haFIb7PaCp687cGo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Over time, we started seeing a shift in the market. Earlier, car buying used to be a fairly linear journey that could, to a large extent, be mapped to age and life stage. But, with the introduction of ad innovations, a growing population of the young affluent, and the rising influence of digital interventions in the purchase journey, the game has changed completely. The buying journey is no longer linear, and the audience is younger, more informed, and more vocal.

 

While our work continues to capture the emotions of what it means to drive a Volkswagen while highlighting its superior safety, build quality, and driveability, our approach has also evolved for this young audience and the digital world. 

 

Our digital-first campaign bidding farewell to the Polo is a good example of this. Our launch of the Taigun became one of the biggest live launches in the category, resulting in over a million enquiries before bookings even opened. Our safety-focussed campaign used small, human instances to bring to light our features without using the car in the frame. 


Could you take us through the evolution of the media mix for Volkswagen India

 
In the automobile industry, aspiration and desire is still built through mediums such as TV, print and OOH. This becomes even more important in the case of launches. 

 
Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/quantum-brief/volkswagen-indias-rs150-180-crore-media-business-up-for-grabs-calls-for-pitch-22564.htm">Exclusive: Volkswagen India's Rs 150-180 crore media business up for grabs; calls for pitch </a>


But the purchase decision is fast becoming a digital journey. Once the car purchase journey started at the showroom, but now showrooms are often only visited to pick-up the car you’ve bought. People are reading car reviews, visiting websites, comparing cars, and even booking test drives online to arrive at their choice. 

 
With digital now carrying the major load of conversion, it means the so-called traditional mediums have the opportunity to be even more disruptive. We should now be using these mediums to be even more innovative and engaging, so that we’re top-of-mind for every potential car buyer.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/quantum-brief/volkswagen-india-calls-for-a-creative-pitch-carmakers-global-media-account-already-under-review-26438.htm">Volkswagen India calls for a creative pitch? Carmaker's global media account already under review</a>

Volkswagen defined by 3 words — responsible, valuable, innovative: Rahul Mathew, DDB Mudra Group

Cheil X, part of Cheil SWA group revealed its new visual identity and philosophy which takes its inspiration from the agency’s Korean heritage. Cheil X is an independent full-service agency under the Cheil SWA group. It has two full-fledged offices in Gurgaon and Mumbai. 


The Gurgaon team is helmed by Neeraj Bassi, chief growth officer, Cheil X-Gurgaon with the creative team managed by Amit Nandwani, NCD, Cheil X-Gurgaon. 


Anurag Tandon, Chief Growth Officer, Cheil X-Mumbai is leading the charge of newly opened Mumbai office while Rajit Gupta is the creative head of Cheil X- Mumbai. 


The visual identity of Cheil X is the emblem which is a profound synthesis of cultural heritage and creative ethos, echoing the very essence of the agency's philosophical underpinnings. At its core lies the symbol of the letter X, a manifestation of their relentless pursuit of disruptive innovation within the realm of advertising, stated the company. 

 
Rajit Gupta, vice president and creative head of Cheil X - Mumbai, who is also the creator of the identity, says, “The form of X, which is inspired by traditional and modern Korean script, essentially breaks down to lines and dots. This framework has been extended to create a unique typeface and illustrations that form a whole visual ecosystem for the brand. The logo philosophy embodies the ethos of Cheil X – a commitment to disruptive creativity rooted in cultural empathy and emotional resonance. It is a reminder that in every stroke of design, we are not merely crafting images but shaping experiences, touching hearts, and inspiring change.”

 
“At first blush, this new identity is a visual delight but if you dig deeper it reflects Cheil X’s preparedness for its next phase of growth as it spreads its wings with the launch of new office in Mumbai says, Anurag Tandon, Chief Growth officer, Cheil X- Mumbai. We are uniquely poised to capture the next wave of business evolution as our clients are becoming more tech focussed with our portfolio of services that draws on our expertise of leveraging creativity and technology. We have the best talent in the industry who have hands on experience in handling the dynamic business ask of our clients combined with the desire to fuel their growth and be an enabler for their business success” he added.

 
Commenting on Cheil X’s philosophy, Bassi said, “Agencies today need to move beyond their traditional remit of campaign led approach to a broader focus on improving the business outcomes. Our main differentiator is that we are already ahead of this curve. We have been living the philosophy of Business Connected Agency for years, developing solutions that Impact every moment in the customer journey. Our BCA approach helps clients achieve their business results through cumulative impact of connected experiences across the customer journey”.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/72-believe-ai-will-understand-them-better-than-many-people-cheil-india-35261.htm">72% believe AI will understand them better than many people: Cheil India</a>

Cheil SWA group unveils a new visual identity for Cheil X

IdeateLab - an independent digital-first marcom solutions provider – has repositioned itself as "The Outcome People."


“In the BANI world, getting the best output is not enough. In order to achieve the best outcomes, businesses need to create and embrace the best outcomes themselves. IdeateLab is partnering clients in bringing this mindset shift – to help reshape their thinking about their products & services in order to achieve business outcomes”, says Bhaskar Das, Chairman of IdeateLab.


To reflect the new thinking and focus, the company has refreshed its identity and digital assets. IdeateLabs becomes IdeateLab, and dawns a crisper, contemporary logo, stated the company.


The company has outlined three key pillars to engage with clients, such that ‘outcome’ becomes the currency:


· Differentiated Approach: IdeateLab starts at the Business Objective level, not just Marketing or Communication objective. And identifies the role it can play to make a visible and sustained difference to the clients’ business through its CEO (Creative & Consult, Engage & Execute, Optimise & Operate) framework.


· Tailored Solutions: No two businesses or brands are same. From data-backed insights, deep social listening to nuanced creative & content and advanced media optimization, IdeateLab crafts bespoke solutions that deliver outcomes. It is particularly geared to help MSMEs, entrepreneurs, and home-grown businesses. To the extent, that IdeateLab functions like their outsourced marketing function.


· Partnership DNA: Ideatelab’s growth is truly linked to the growth of its clients. The operating model is designed on the principle of shared success – with a hybrid of fixed and variable elements. It’s a partnership based on collaboration, transparency and agreed outcomes.


“Ideate has always prided itself on the ability to adapt to changing times, hence over the last few months the leadership spent a lot of time discussing and brainstorming with our clients as well as Industry Leaders on how can we partner and create a true partnership model with our clients, whether a Startup looking to Scale or an Established Brand looking to diversify. This new avatar reflects that changed thinking that we bring on board.”, said Vrutika Dawda, director, IdeateLab.


“We are looking to expand and sharpen the very definition of the word ‘idea’ in our vocabulary. Moving beyond the ‘what’ of output, at a campaign or social post level, we want to crack the ‘why’ of that outcome at the business level. So that a refreshing & tangible mashup of data, creativity and technology comes into play”, said Raman R.S. Minhas, chief creative officer, IdeateLab.



Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/agency-news/fcb-six-india-to-handle-seo-and-content-mandate-for-nuvision-auto-glass-34716.htm">FCB/SIX India to handle SEO and content mandate for Nuvision Auto Glass</a>

IdeateLab reboots to become “The Outcome People”

One of India’s leading cement manufacturing companies JK Cement’s media business has likely been bagged by Wavemaker India, according to sources. Industry sources indicate that the GroupM-owned media investments firm was given the mandate as the company looks to increase visibility on the back of its expansion plans. 

Meanwhile, in response to the article JK Cement shared the following statement: "JK Cement has not yet awarded the media mandate to any agency. The selection process is not complete yet, and no final decision has been made." 

It added, "Any updates regarding our media mandate will be communicated through proper channels in due course." 

In an official statement, Wavemaker said, “Wavemaker denies the recent reports claiming they had been awarded the media mandate for JK Cement. We hereby clarify that the information circulating is inaccurate and we are not currently engaged with JK Cement in any such capacity.”

On May 12, JK Cement announced its fourth quarter financial results, reporting an increase of 101 percent in its consolidated net profit to Rs. 219.75 crore. The company reported Rs. 3105.77 crore as consolidated revenue from its operations in the March quarter, an increase of 11 percent from Rs. 2777.88 crore last year. 

At the Abby awards during the Goafest this year, Wavemaker India won the title of ‘Agency of the Year’ with a total of 16 metals. The agency won a total of four gold, nine silver and three bronze trophies. 

JK Cement Ltd. is one of India’s leading manufacturers of Grey Cement and one of the leading White Cement manufacturers in the World. JKCement’s operations commenced with commercial production at its flagship grey cement unit at Nimbahera, Rajasthan in May 1975. 

The Company has an installed capacity of 22.2 MTPA of Grey Cement, making it one of the top cement manufacturers in the country. Its Grey Cement business has a strong Pan-India presence across 15 states with an enhanced reach in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. JK White Cement is sold across 36 countries around the globe and the Company has a strong international presence with two subsidiaries, JK Cement Works Fujairah FZC and JK White Cement (Africa) Ltd.

The article has been updated with comments from the company and agency.

Wavemaker India bags JK Cement's media business?: Exclusive

FCB/SIX India has bagged the SEO (search engine optimisation) and content mandate for Nuvision Auto Glass and Autoglass America, the two websites housed by Nuvision Auto Glass, a windshield replacement and repair company in the United States. 

With this mandate, FCB/SIX India plans on enhancing the brand’s online visibility, optimising its search engine rankings, and creating content to drive customer engagement for both the brand’s websites.

The account will be serviced by the agency’s Mumbai office. 

Sandeep Jha, Director of Marketing, Nuvision Auto Glass, said, “We are thrilled to partner with FCB/SIX India to enhance our online visibility and drive organic growth. This collaboration marks a significant step in our commitment to providing innovative solutions and exceptional service in the auto glass industry. Together with FCB/SIX India, we look forward to achieving new milestones in SEO excellence and business development.”

Ankit Banga, chief business officer, FCB/SIX India, added, "Excited to join forces with NuVision and elevate their online organic growth strategy for the US market. Together, we anticipate setting new benchmarks in the auto glass industry with a conversion-based SEO roadmap. We aim to map consumer journeys across multiple touchpoints and drive business success."

On bagging the account, Rohan Mehta, chief executive officer, FCB Kinnect and FCB/SIX India, said, "It's fantastic to see our services in demand both domestically and internationally. The auto glass category is a niche, and we are thrilled to elevate the content and SEO management for Nuvision Auto Glass to new heights."


FCB/SIX India to handle SEO and content mandate for Nuvision Auto Glass

Dentsu Group Inc. has announced the global expansion of its BX practice, supporting the business and growth transformation of clients. Dentsu’s BX offering, which has long been available in Japan, is one of the key Global Practices alongside Media, Creative, and Customer Experience Management (CXM). The global team consists of more than 400 consultants in locations around the world, delivering services including business strategy, sales transformation, culture transformation and sustainability strategy.

 

Yuichi Toyoda, global practice president - business transformation, dentsu, said, “BX is a practice that has been offered by dentsu Japan for more than 10 years, helping clients transform their businesses, create new categories and drive competitiveness. Dentsu’s BX is a highly regarded consultancy offering that differs from conventional consulting model, because it combines dentsu's strengths in creativity, execution, and data & technology with a marketing perspective to address the challenges faced by our clients. These include stalled transformation initiatives, a need for more originality in strategy, or barriers to the development of new categories or revenue streams for growth. With our fully-fledged, international expansion, we’re looking forward to serving the needs of both existing and new clients.”

 

Jean Lin, global president - global practices, dentsu, commented, “dentsu’s BX practice aims at creating new values, with a unique dentsu consultancy approach, to impact businesses, brands, and people’s lives. We are excited to support the transformation journey of clients internationally, to enhance our client promise, Innovating to Impact.”


Dentsu’s BX offering

 
With its more than 120-year history as a leading advertising partner to the world’s biggest brands, dentsu’s people-centered business transformation offering is rooted in its deep understanding of human behavior and drivers. As an integrated growth partner to clients, dentsu now goes beyond advertising and marketing to truly guide the “Growth Transformation” of organizations wanting to disrupt their market, and even themselves. Dentsu’s BX offering focuses on providing people-centered transformation support in the three core areas:

 
Business transformation (business strategy, new business development, sales transformation, marketing transformation), corporate transformation (corporate culture transformation, human resources and organizational transformation), sustainability strategy
 

Structure and areas of expansion

 
Global expansion will begin with a focus on the U.S., UK&I, DACH, Northern Europe, China, Taiwan, and India, led by client demand. Under the leadership of Toyoda, dentsu has appointed leaders across Sustainability Strategy (Global), Americas, EMEA, and APAC, respectively. The BX teams formed in each market will serve as one location-free global team. In other markets where dentsu operates, these BX teams will work closely with local teams to provide services.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/dentsu-announces-key-elevations-for-global-expansion-of-dentsu-lab-34549.htm">Dentsu announces key elevations for global expansion of Dentsu Lab</a>

Dentsu expands business transformation (BX) services globally to support client transformation

Havas today announced an important evolution to its global strategy and significant investments to answer clients’ ever-increasing needs for cross-functional, fully integrated communications solutions. The global ad holding company launched a new groupwide Operating System powered by technology with creativity at its core. It committed €400 million to data, tech and AI over the next four years and created a Global Task Force to support investment. Further it is to develop client-centric approach, unlocking the full potential of its capabilities across all markets to offer hyper-personalized solutions. 

The announcement comes as Havas looks to the future and prepares for a new chapter with the potential to become publicly traded, and continues to experience solid growth, strong commercial and creative activity, as well as record years in M&A, the company said in a statement. 

Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO, Havas commented, “I couldn’t be more excited about this transformative development for Havas. Aiming at supercharging our positive impact for our clients and contributing to shaping the future of the fast-evolving communications industry, our new Converged strategy will build even more bridges between creativity, media, production, and technology than ever before. We are building a model that is future-thought, agnostic in terms of data and tech partnerships and perfectly interoperable with our clients’ systems, to meet their needs even more swiftly and cost-effectively. Converged is a collective journey, as it marks a further acceleration in our growth journey, representing a cultural shift that will resonate across every level of our organization and ensure the success of our clients and partners.”

Building on the success of the Together Strategy and the Village approach launched in 2014, which have contributed to transforming Havas in the most integrated group, Converged is designed to bring global collaboration at Havas even further, fusing talent, capabilities, platforms and expertise, the company added. 

With meaningful ideas at its heart, it will leverage Havas’ creativity, media, and production capabilities, powered by the best data, technology and AI, bringing its global networks and agencies even closer to help drive clients’ businesses through: 

A new Operating System delivering an integrated and meaningful value proposition - Built upon the foundations of Havas’ industry leading “Converged” media tool, an AI-powered solution that aims to provide transparent, cross-platform audience planning and has demonstrated its efficiency in recent years, the Converged OS takes integration further. Fueled by data, tech and AI, with creative ideas at its core, the new OS will be available across all Havas’ networks and areas of expertise and enhanced beyond its current media focus. It will empower the group’s 23,000 talents to not only work smarter and faster, but also to craft integrated and sustainable solutions through four steps to match the client journey: 1. Intelligence 2. Design 3. Activate and 4. Measure. 

The best in Marketing technology, data and Gen AI, supercharging the delivery of creativity, media and production with an expected investment of €400 million over the next four years - This additional financial commitment builds on Havas’ consistent investment in new capabilities and tools, the establishment of international networks dedicated to content production, customer experience, and e-commerce as well as the formation of strategic partnerships with global technology leaders like Adobe. 

Havas will appoint a Global Task Force to support this major investment.
 
A transformed Client experience that leverages this unique end-to-end integrated model, to create, produce and distribute real-time, optimized, personalized and meaningful content and experiences at scale - To unlock the full potential of its capabilities across all markets, the group will adopt an even more centrally led client structure with a new Global Chief Client Officer, ensuring a seamless experience for clients across the world.  

The new OS will be implemented over the next few months to accelerate new growth opportunities for its clients.



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