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Dentsu Webchutney and MakeMyTrip

Digital creative agency Dentsu Webchutney won the digital mandate for the online travel company MakeMyTrip. The account, which was won following a multi agency pitch, will be managed by the agency’s Mumbai office. 

The responsibility of the agency includes focusing on further building MakeMyTrip's digital presence by implementing an aggressive creative growth strategy. 

In April, Arjuna Gaur was appointed as the chief creative officer for Dentsu Webchutney and dentsuMB. In his new role, Gaur will be responsible for expanding the creative mandate for both the agencies, which are a part of Dentsu Creative India. 

Team Pumpkin and The-invERSITY

Digital marketing agency Team Pumpkin has won the digital mandate of The-invERSITY, an upcoming brand on financial literacy for teenagers to achieve financial independence. 

Team Pumpkin will handle the brand's digital activities, social media management, online reputation management, search engine optimization and performance marketing responsibilities. The account will be handled by the Bengaluru office of the agency. Team Pumpkin recently won the digital and print mandate of Stovekraft, a cooking appliances manufacturer. The agency will also oversee the entire digital presence of Stovekraft’s brands, which includes Pigeon, Gilma, Skava and Black + Decker.

In June, the agency also won the digital mandate of Prega News, and is managing the brand’s social media, media planning, media buying, public relations and online reputation management. Team Pumpkin was also retained by ITC Foods Division. The agency will continue to work on digital creatives, moment marketing and tech-enabled social media for brands.

DViO Digital and Chalo

Bus transport technology company Chalo has appointed DViO Digital, an independent digital agency, as the digital agency of record. DViO Digital would be in charge of the brand's digital and social media management. The agency will be involved in developing digital-first brand and creative campaigns, and enhance Chalo's reputation as a reliable brand in the mobility space. 

In addition, the agency will also be responsible for creating campaign strategy, ideating for co-branded activations and performance campaign management. 

In June, the agency had bagged the digital and creative mandate of Daily Hunt, a news aggregator application. The focus of the mandate is performance marketing and experimenting with new communication and visual formats to enhance the visibility of the brand. 

In May, financial solutions company Razorpay awarded the digital mandate to the agency. 

Mystic Monk and Scanpay

A young creative agency has bagged the creative mandate of US-based fintech company Scanpay, following a multi-agency pitch. Mystic Monk was started by Anil Manan, who has three decades of experience in Indian advertising, and has worked across J. Walter Thompson, FCB Ulka in Delhi and McCann. About two weeks back, Mystic Monk won the creative mandate of Hotel Expo. The mandate, which will be managed by the agency's Delhi office, includes handling the hotel's brand identity and 360-degree communications.

Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy

Biz Moves: Dentsu Webchutney bags MakeMyTrip; Team Pumpkin, DViO Digital win new business

“Advertising is the business of ideas. And ideas are a messy affair. Through rejection, self doubt, lots of failure, sometimes sadness, if you’re lucky, there arrives a moment of genius. That’s it. And from that moment on, it takes a village, in every sense of the word, to turn a germ of an idea into a beast with its own imagination.”

I find myself going back to these words very frequently. It’s something that Gautam Reghunath, my current CEO at Talented and previously at Webchutney often quips. Personally, I’m one of those who genuinely believes that advertising is a team sport. Sure, most ideas can often be traced back to this one moment of genius that came from an individual in the team. But that’s just that moment. For it to ultimately see the light of day as a genius piece of work - that’s when real teams separate themselves from the average ones.

Earlier last week, Indian advertising witnessed its biggest haul at advertising’s biggest stage.  The Unfiltered History Tour created history as it brought home three Grand Prix (still confused about its plural and I never thought I’d have to) and the Titanium Lion.

Cannes Lions week was amazing but it was also often confusing, I won’t lie. The core team on the project moved on a few weeks after we put this magnum opus into the world, having decided to join our new venture, Talented. And we got together with the next team at Webchutney to see it through the award season over the next few months. The early reactions and impact of the campaign in December 2021 had instilled in all of us a certain confidence that The Unfiltered History Tour had a fair shot on the biggest stages. And prove us right it did.

While we were sad as creators to not have some of us representing Webchutney on the biggest stage of them all, there has been no bigger motivation for me than this campaign now being the standard setter for all future work from Talented.

As an industry, we can do better to celebrate creators more.

The Unfiltered History Tour itself is about topics like credit, ownership and belonging - exactly the kind of topics where we can do better as an industry. There have been some questions from peers about how it feels for the physical Lions not actually being in our hands. Well, to me, the physical Lions are merely a symbol. A symbol of success of nearly a hundred people across teams in Webchutney and partner companies who all had their tiny or big roles in adding to this campaign. In fact, in point 11 size, the credit list for UHT fills up two pages.

It’s always baffled me that even today most large legacy agencies are usually structured for a very tiny group of people to bear most of the credit 
and the upside.

We still don’t see enough mid-level talent being celebrated as creators, recognized clearly for their work, called out for their moments of genius, or even asked to participate in interviews. In fact I know of many publications that refuse to even take quotes from individuals below certain designations. But believe me, even the simplest recognition makes a difference. Careers can accelerate from it. It takes senior leaders with a sort of assured confidence to break that status quo. I’ve seen my CCO at Talented, PG Aditiya be a torchbearer of generosity and in giving credit publicly and proudly. But then again, shouldn’t that be the natural default across creative industries?

There’s also the argument that creative agencies working for brands are supposed to be behind the curtains. I can understand that to an extent. But taking it to the extreme hurts creativity, not foster it.

We also need to create a culture where we feel secure enough to credit our creative influences, especially if it’s work by other agencies that inspired that moment of genius. We owe it to the spirit of our fraternity.

Let’s aim to credit thought leaders and creative talent from other industries who’ve influenced us. To credit the entire team so that they realise the part they have to play in building and moulding culture, and bask in its upside. To even credit alumni and make room for them on award stages for work they’ve done. So many radical sounding ideas around these topics in advertising are actually quite normal everywhere else.

As someone who loves the Indian advertising industry, it’s important we can have honest and open conversations about its flaws. And then take affirmative action to make it better.

Unfiltered credit where credit is due

India is shining at the Oscars of advertising. Dentsu Webchutney becomes the first Indian agency to win three Grand Prix in a single year at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The agency’s work - ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ for Vice has picked up a Grand Prix in Social and Influencer Lions. The agency also won a Grand Prix in Radio & Audio Lions and Brand Activation & Experience Lions. The campaign got a Silver Lion in Social & Influencer category and a Bronze Lion in PR Lions too.

The campaign is a guided tour for visitors at the British Museum, which houses some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through The Unfiltered Tour, visitors to the museum could scan the artefacts using Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleport the objects back to their homeland. Taking this further, The Unfiltered History Tour also extends into a ten-part podcast series featuring experts from the countries were the artefact was taken from and not from where it’s currently housed. This was done to provide a broader education on the artefacts, as well as the history and ongoing impact of colonialism.

In a recent interview with Storyboard18, PG Aditiya, former chief creative officer of Dentsu Webchutney, and now co-founder of Talented, said the idea for the campaign started as a casual conversation between Gautam Reghunath, former CEO of Dentsu Webchutney and now co-founder at Talented, and him, about an episode from Empires of Dirt - a VICE original series on YouTube.

“Ever since, over a 100 people have stepped in to do the bravest work of their lives (yet), amidst a raging pandemic, across 10-plus countries - and some of us, for months even after moving on from our jobs officially...because this discourse matters. We’re already seeing its impact with smaller museums and private collectors around the world changing their stance on repatriation. The history buff in me is overjoyed,” he told Storyboard18. Aditiya and Reghunath left the agency after working on the campaign to set up their own creative shop Talented.

FCB India on a winning spree too

FCB India is the other Indian agency that’s bringing home a troop of Lions. In the Social & Influencer Lions, FCB India and Kinnect won three Lions (Gold, Silver and Bronze) for SOS Children’s Village India’s ‘Chatpat’ campaign. This piece of work picked up a Gold and Silver in Media Lions too. A Bronze Direct Lion was also given to the campaign.

FCB India and FCB Chicago grabbed a Gold in Direct Lions for The Times Of India's ‘Nominate me Selfie’ campaign. The agency was also awarded a Silver Lion in Media Lions for the same campaign.

FCB India’s ‘Unbox Me UNAIDS' campaign for UNAIDS got a Bronze Lion. This campaign also scored two Bronze in PR Lions.

Ogilvy India strikes Gold 

Ogilvy India won two Gold Lions for Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan - My Ad’. One in Creative Lions and the other in Direct Lions. They also got a Bronze Direct Lion. Wavemaker India was the media agency behind this campaign.

Ogilvy India also won a Media Lion for Cadbury Perk’s ‘Perk Disclaimer’ campaign. Both these brands are owned by Mondelez India.

BBDO India received a Media Bronze Lion for P&G India’s ‘See Equal #ShareTheLoad’ campaign.

Dentsu Webchutney gets a Grand Prix hat-trick; Ogilvy gets two Gold Lions

VICE World News’ The Unfiltered Tour campaign is stealing the thunder and the trophies at award shows across the world this year. At the world's most prestigious ad award show Cannes Lions, The Unfiltered Tour has already got quite a haul - a Grand Prix, a Gold, a Silver, and two Bronze Lions. It has also qualified under many other categories and may bring home some more Lions.

The work was led by PG Aditiya and Gautam Reghunath when they ran the show at Dentsu Webchutney. It took the duo and an army of writers, animators, sound engineers, researchers, historians, freelancers, and a client team to conceptualise and execute the ambitious project.

[caption id="attachment_1007" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/PG-Aditiya-via-Twitter-pg-Aditiya.webp"><img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/PG-Aditiya-via-Twitter-pg-Aditiya-300x300.webp" alt="PG Aditiya (Image via Twitter)" width="300" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-1007" /></a> PG Aditiya (Image via Twitter)[/caption]

Eighteen months were spent putting together a guided tour for visitors at the British Museum, which houses some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through The Unfiltered Tour, visitors to the museum could scan the artefacts using Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleported the objects back to their homeland.

Aditiya and Reghunath executed the campaign and then decided to call it quits at Dentsu Webchutney. A few core team members on the campaign also left the agency to join the both of them at Talented, the newest creative shop in town.

Dentsu Webchutney has been entering the campaign for awards and has been bringing shiny metal home from across the globe. Every time a few trophies are added to the agency’s shelves, they tag Aditiya, Reghunath, and a few others on social posts giving them due credit and respect. So much so that Gurbaksh Singh, chief innovation officer, Dentsu Creative India, couriered a replica of the Grand Prix trophy to Reghunath before he flew to Cannes and asked him to unbox it when they win. Singh had a gut feeling that the campaign will go far and wide.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Three screenshots worth and plenty more! via <a href="https://twitter.com/Binaifer_dulani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Binaifer_dulani</a> <a href="https://t.co/XmSNNlvwy3">pic.twitter.com/XmSNNlvwy3</a>&mdash; Gautam (@gautxm) <a href="https://twitter.com/gautxm/status/1539116221848866817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The team spirit of Dentsu Webchutney and Talented is setting the right example for the industry. It says a lot about how the Indian creative community is becoming more mature when it comes to sharing credit. As technically these trophies are going to Aditiya and Reghunath’s former agency, we asked Aditiya how it feels when that happens and more. Here’s what he had to say:

What is it like when you get big awards (not technically) for a mega campaign that you worked on for your former agency? How does it feel to see trophies on their shelves? 

Proud. Nervous. Exciting. Fulfilling. Confusing. Challenging. All sorts of feelings, to be honest. But I know The Unfiltered History Tour is proud of us. It started as a casual conversation between Gautam (my ex-CEO at Webchutney and now co-founder at Talented) and me, referencing an episode from Empires of Dirt - a VICE original series on YouTube that we both loved. Ever since, over a 100 people have stepped in to do the bravest work of their lives (yet), amidst a raging pandemic, across 10-plus countries - and some of us, for months even after moving on from our jobs officially… because this discourse matters. We’re already seeing its impact with smaller museums and private collectors around the world changing their stance on repatriation. The history buff in me is overjoyed.

The creative person in me knows what he signed up for. Most of the members of The Unfiltered History Tour’s core team are now our founding team members at Talented. We’re all grateful to have left an agency we love dearly after crafting our most impactful project yet. And now, we’re working together again, as a founding team, to build our own agency from scratch. The Unfiltered History Tour is on record our last huge win at Dentsu Webchutney, but in spirit, it’s our first huge win at Talented. We can’t wait to outdo it.

The Lions are not coming to your new work address. What’s your tip for folks who are in a situation like yours?

I think the Lions are coming to our new address in every way - apart from the ‘technical’ one. Funny coincidence that this project is also about topics like ownership and representation.

Make no mistake, we want Talented’s clients to challenge us to outdo the craft, research, detail and commitment our leadership gave the Unfiltered History Tour last year. We want our colleagues to expect nothing less than the kind of deep learning and management their founding team perfected while working on this project. We also want our favourite ex-colleagues and newbies at Dentsu to be motivated by these massive wins like never before.

I’m convinced that the impact of the tour is large enough for more than one or two entities to bear its fruits. We’ve worked with Pixel Party, an incredible external tech-partner for developing and deploying the Instagram filters. With Shaleen Wadhwana, an external cultural historian who helped us perfect our visual narrative. With Ronak Chugh, an external director from Rooted Films for the project’s trailer that went viral worldwide. With over two dozen consultants and  freelancers, over 18 months. Each of them and their organisations consider The Unfiltered History Tour their most impactful work to date. These Lions, symbolically if not physically, belong in all of these work addresses.

What according to you makes ‘The Unfiltered Tour’ a winning campaign piece?

It is the first large-scale project around colonialism to be recognised by global creativity festivals. I think juries across shows have found it a necessary discourse to recognise. They’re impressed by the boldness and irreverence in its execution. And they find it a great translation of VICE’s mission to push underreported stories and narratives.

What's a bit about the campaign you haven't shared yet?

How we pitched it. The Unfiltered History Tour's first-ever presentation to VICE was through a scratch film - not a narration of the idea. While the numbers, tone and details in this scratch are all only illustrative - it helped everyone get on the same page about our broad intent, execution and potential for impact in one go. Probably one of the best early decisions in the project that set the tone for the next 18 months.

Indian adland becomes more mature in matters of credit 

VMLY&amp;R Commerce’s ‘Smart Fill’ campaign for Unilever has been shortlisted for one Creative Business Transformation Lion, and three lions in the Creative Commerce category. (image: Screen grab)
India’s report card at the ongoing Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity looks solid and promising. On Day 2 at the ongoing Oscars of advertising, shortlists for Mobile Lions, Brand Experience &amp; Activation Lions, Creative Business Transformation Lions, and Creative Commerce Lions were announced. India has managed to add 20 more shortlists to its kitty, taking the total shortlist tally for India to 57.

In Mobile Lions, Dentsu Webchutney’s ‘The Unfiltered Tour’ for Vice Media made three shortlists. On Day 1, the campaign won the Grand Prix award in the Radio and Audio Lions. It is so far India’s most shortlisted campaign at Cannes Lions this year.

Ogilvy India’s ‘Nothingcoin’ for Cadbury 5 Star also got one shortlist in Mobile Lions.

https://youtu.be/lRWwym-WCYc

DDB Mudra’s ‘Stayfree Project Free Period’ campaign for Johnson &amp; Johnson’s bagged the only Creative Effectiveness shortlist for India.
Indian agencies managed to pick up a total of 10 shortlists in the Brand Experience &amp; Activation category. Ogilvy India got shortlisted for ‘Shah Rukh Khan - My Ad’ in two sub-categories. Dentsu Creative India again secured three shortlists for Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered Tour’.

FCB India along with FCB Chicago grabbed three shortlists for the campaign ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ for The Times of India. VMLY&amp;R has also been shortlisted for Unipads’ ‘Adeli’ campaign. The agency’s commerce unit added a shortlist for Unilever’s ‘Smart Fill’ to its Cannes cart.

In the Creative Business Transformation Lions, VMLY&amp;R Commerce got one shortlist for its Unilever’s ‘Smart Fill’ campaign. The campaign has three in the Creative Commerce category. McCann India received one shortlist in Creative Commerce Lions too. The agency bagged it for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank’s Shagun Ka Lifafa campaign.

No Indian entries qualified in Creative Strategy Lions.

Cannes Lions 2022: Indian creatives shortlisted for 20 more Lions on Day 2

In the 2022 edition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Dentsu Webchutney won a Grand Prix in Radio &amp; Audio Lions for its ‘The Unfiltered Tour’ campaign for Vice Media. The campaign, which is the most shortlisted Indian entry (so far), also picked up two Bronze Lions and one Silver Lion too in the same category.

In a behind-the-scenes blog for Storyboard18, Dentsu Webchutney’s former CEO Gautam Reghunath had described ‘The Unfiltered Tour’ as a “project of serious rigour and ambition”.

The key members who worked on the campaign made multiple secret visits to the museum, and spent over 18 months to put together the campaign. Under the campaign, VICE World News and Dentsu Webchutney launched a new guided tour for visitors at the British Museum in London. Interestingly, the museum has nothing to do with the campaign directly. British Museum is home to some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through ‘The Unfiltered Tour’, visitors to the museum could scan these artefacts using the Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleported the objects back to their homeland.

It’s for the first time that visitors to the museum were able to hear the story behind each artefact in the voices of experts from the countries they were taken from and not from where it’s currently housed. A moment of guerrilla genius that gave each of them an opportunity to play ‘audio tour guide’ right under the museum’s nose, said Reghunath. Taking this further, ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ also extends into a ten-part podcast series featuring these experts, providing a broader education on the artefacts, as well as the history and ongoing impact of colonialism.

Watch all about ‘The Unfiltered Tour’ here:


https://youtu.be/Y7iVMnS5-LU

The other campaign that picked a Grand Prix is VMLY&amp;R's 'The Killer Pack' campaign for Maxx Flash in the Health &amp; Wellness Lions. In India, garbage collection points act as major breeding grounds for diseases like dengue and malaria, while mosquito repellent coils are only used to fight mosquitoes inside homes, Maxx Flash decided to change that practice. The mosquito repellent brand introduced The Killer Pack, a 100% biodegradable, innovative packaging lined with 5% Active Probiotic Bacillus thuringiensis, which kills mosquito larvae when disposed of in garbage dumps, dustbins, and stagnant water, helping to break the vicious cycle.

Watch the brand’s case video here:


https://youtu.be/ZHxyR9Qjnm0

DENTSU WEBCHUTNEY