With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Mahendra has worked with agencies like Enterprise, SSC&B Lintas, JWT and FCB, where he created some iconic campaigns for brands like Titan, Britannia, Times of India, Godrej and Unilever. He has been the recipient of many National and International awards including Cannes, Clio, New York Festival, London Festival as well as AME (Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness) and has been on the Jury of several prestigious Advertising awards.

Additionally, Mahendra parallelly dabbles in various aspects of Art. He has created some intriguing pieces spanning across corporate installations, video and digital art, mixed media, contemporary paintings and sculptures. His work has been widely acclaimed by audiences in several countries.

Commenting on his appointment, Agnello Dias, Creative Chairman, Dentsu Aegis Network India said, “I have worked with Mahendra during my last stint at an agency, and always felt he had a calm, collected, creative mind without the tantrums that some creative people have. He is keen to understand the brand’s point of view and apply his undoubted creative skills to find a solution. He has a keen art and design eye as well. I’m sure Happy McGarryBowen will forge a great partnership with him and their clients. I wish him all the best.”

Soumitra Karnik, Chief Creative Officer, Happy McGarryBowen added, “I am thrilled to have Mahendra in our team as we plan to take Happy McGarryBowen to the next level. He is a rare creative talent who is on top of the game as far as craft is concerned, and who has managed to use the new media platforms really well. Above anything else, he is a lovely person to work with and I am quite certain that we couldn’t have found a better leader than him. Happy McGarryBowen is now happier with him around.”

Speaking on his appointment, Mahendra Bhagat said, “The future of advertising lies in marrying creativity with technology. Instead of relying on traditional mediums, Happy McGarryBowen is constantly in an exploratory mode; finding a new age communication solutions. Being a relatively young agency, it is buzzing with new ideas and energy. I look forward to channelizing that energy in creating some path breaking work for our clients.”

Commenting on Mahendra’s appointment Samarjit Choudhry, President, Happy McGarryBowen said, “Mahendra brings to the table the varied experience that is much needed in today’s world and also the freshness that comes from his being an artist. With him as the NCD I am sure we will become a lot more stronger as a creative solution provider to our clients.”

Tags:
Brand News, Advertising Agency, Advertising News, Agency News

#TheRealKashmir FC supported by adidas
You think you’ve heard a lot about Kashmir. It is time you see #TheRealKashmir.

Fearless Kota – Bottle of Love
Bottle of love by Horlicks India | A special kind of nourishment shipped in Horlicks bottles. #FearLessKota. Read More

Jersey Knows No Gender
Virat Kohli Starts #JerseyKnowsNoGender Movement As India Reach Semis Of ICC Women’s T20.

We’re on our way to the semi-finals.. and it’s time to back Team India to bring home the World Cup! #JerseyKnowsNoGender????
I nominate @RishabPant777, @NSaina, @chetrisunil11 and all of you to join in. Wear your jerseys and strike the pose to cheer them on! ????@Uber_India #WT20 pic.twitter.com/cVFhOYjXfX

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 15, 2018

URI – The Surgical Strike | Mission Torrents

Let’s help Delhi #LowerTheWindow
Our actions today will determine how Delhi breathes tomorrow. Small, everyday acts, like taking the metro and ride-sharing, goes a long way in Delhi’s journey towards cleaner air. Let’s come together and help lower Delhi’s pollution. Let’s come together and help Delhi, Lower The Window.

P&G Shiksha – Choose For Change
P&G Shiksha believes that every person has the power to make a big impact and change lives. Just by their simple everyday choices. #ChooseForChange

Maruti Suzuki India – Sound of NEXA Blue
At NEXA, they strive to come up with new and innovative ways to express themselves and sweep you off your feet. In their search to find the most innovative way to express NEXA Blue, they created the sound of NEXA Blue.

Horlicks Fearless Songs
Let’s make learning fun with Horlicks Fearless songs. Because when music is on. Exam prep is full-on. #FearlessExams

Mind your language by Racold
“WATConsult’s ecomm vertical, understood that during the winters, the demand for water heaters is high across the central, northern and certain parts of the south in India. These observations lead the team us to find a unique insight; that people, especially in Tier 2 & 3 towns, talk in a local dialect and their literal pronunciations of English words sound a bit different. Thus, we figured that they type as they speak, which results in misspellings while searching for the required products.
We leveraged the same and used Amazon search ads in accordance with the vernacular vocabulary of the consumers where the demand for the product was high, resulting in whooping sales.”

Ola – #MyIndependenceDay
This Beautiful Video Asks, “When Was Your Independence Day?”. People Respond With Heartwarming Stories

Creative ABBY Awards 2019 Winners full list:

Download

Tags:
Real Kashmir, adidas, The Real kashmir, Football, Cheil Worldwide, Cheil India, Publicis Capital, Grapes Digital, Creative ABBY Awards 2019, Fearless Kota, Bottle of Love, Horlicks, ICC Women’s T20 Championship, Jersey Knows No Gender, Virat Kohli, UBER India, GlaxoSmithKline, Pharmaceutical, Dentsu Webchutney, Uri The Surgical Strike, Uri Mission Torrents, Google Assistant, Lower The Window, Air Pollution, P&G, P&G Shiksha, Choose For Change, Enzy Studios, Sound of NEXA Blue, Maruti NEXA, Maruti Suzuki, Hakuhodo, Public relations, PR Campaigns, Japanese advertising, Horlicks Fearless Songs, Mind your language, Racold, WATConsult, Happy mcgarrybowen, #MyIndependenceDay, Ola cab, Ola, Best Digital Campaigns, Digital Marketing Trends, Best Online marketing strategies, social media campaigns, Best Tv Commercials , Inspiring Short Films, Best Commercial Ads, Best TV Ads, Advertising Agencies Association of India, Goafest 2019, Goafest 2019 winners, ABBY Awards 2019 winners, ABBY Awards 2019

Additionally, Dentsu Grant, the creative agency from Sri Lanka also won 2 metals in the South Asia category.

Overall, DAN has won the maximum number of metals as a group at the Goafest Abbys this year with 15 Gold, 15 Silver and 26 Bronze wins – a total of 56 metals in its pool.

Tags:
Dentsu Aegis Network, digital agency, Dentsu Webchutney, WATConsult, Isobar, Carat, Happy mcgarrybowen, Dentsu Impact, PR Agencies, Dentsu Grant, Goafest 2019, Goafest awards, Goafest 2019 winners, Goafest winners 2019, Best Digital Campaigns, Digital Marketing Trends, Best Online marketing strategies, social media campaigns, Latest Marketing News, Advertising Agency News, Latest Tech News, Brand News, Abby Awards

Binodan comes in with over twelve years of digital and data-driven marketing experience across a wide range of businesses in India and other geographies. His previous stints have been with Cheil Worldwide, Lumata Digital and Wunderman International. He has been part of multiple projects involving digital transformation and building content marketing excellence for companies across verticals. In his last stint at Cheil, Binodan managed and led award-winning digital and content marketing effort for Samsung India Electronics.

Commenting on his new role, Binodan said, “Digital has evolved not just as a marketing vertical but has also become a touchstone to measure the success of the brand’s marketing efforts. Marketers have acknowledged this evolution by bringing in this transformation across their business line up. They expect the same sync from the partners and agencies they work with. Dentsu Impact has been quick to address this need by strengthening their digital teams and investing in set ups for content marketing. I am looking forward to this exciting journey with Dentsu Impact and the overall network.”

Talking about Binodan’s appointment, Amit Wadhwa, President, Dentsu Impact said, “The entire landscape of creative agency is changing and we at Dentsu Impact realized this a couple of years back when we started investing in digital. Now is the time to take this to the next level where we are getting a senior level resource like Binodan to come in and take charge of Dentsu Impact Digital. Binodan will not only strengthen what we offer to the clients but will also help in transforming the existing talent to start thinking digital. I am extremely excited to have him on board.”

Tags:
Dentsu Aegis Network, Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope, Vizeum, MKTG, Amnet, mcgarrybowen, Dentsu Impact, Dentsu One, Dentsu India, Dentsu Media, Taproot Dentsu, Dentsu Webchutney, Happy mcgarrybowen, Fractal Design Studio, SVG Columbus, Merkle Sokrati, Amit Wadhwa

Tanushree Dutta, who in a recent interview, allegedly said that actor Nana Patekar behaved badly with her on the set while doing a song of a film sparked conversations around the well-known #MeToo movement in India. This movement gained a huge momentum on social media after the actor Alyssa Milano took to the social media in 2017 as one of Harvey Weinstein’s most vocal criticizers with the following tweet, “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”

The various sexual assault and harassment allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s along with the hashtag #MeToo became a rallying cry for women to raise their voice on social media who suffered sexual misconduct at some point in their lives. However, not many may know this but it was Tarana Burke, an African-American civil rights activist who founded the Me Too movement 10 years ago. She has been using the #MeToo slogan for more than 10 years and doing the necessary work, too.

And today, after Tanushree Dutta’s scathing polemic against the actor’s alleged misbehaviour, several women are again taking to the social media to reveal the dirty doings by men of high status in the foyers of advertising. The list contains high-profile names from the advertising industry. Their doings are now no more curtained-off but brought to the fore as allegations and testimonies continue to spread like wildfire on social media.
May men who have been called out on social media for shameless acts of sexual indecorum are on the verge of getting ousted from agencies. Also, many of them have stepped down from their coveted seats or designations after the #MeToo movement has publicized their sexually transgressive behaviour. For instance, 4 of the well-known men in the advertising fraternity have stepped down after many women told them off on social media for sexual misconduct while riding the sweeping #MeToo movement. Dentsu Aegis’s Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, Kartik Iyer and Praveen Das were some of the big names to have relinquished their positions as creative barons from Happy Creative Services (owned by Dentsu). Further reports also confirmed a fourth big name that made it to the sexual harassment list, Dinesh Swamy of iProspect India, who also had to call it quits.

Dasgupta, the senior creative director at Happy Creative Services was well-known around his bro-code industry circle as a good creative mind. Now, he is allegedly reported to have been a crude sexual predator by at least four women. Similarly, there are allegations against the agency’s Chief Executive Officer, Kartik Iyer and Managing Director, Praveen Das.

Several Twitter users have tweeted about the various horrors of sexual impropriety that they have had experienced at the hands of some coveted names in the industry, and are leaving no stone unturned to call out their names on social media and also launch a tirade against agencies that have still not taken any action against the reported offenders. We have listed some of them below. (Twitter handles and tweets)

Growing up in India, casual creepiness is considered very okay. But it’s not. And the first person we need to tell that to is ourselves. One such incident happened to me when i was starting off in advertising and constantly brushed aside thinking it was okay.

— Elisha (@e_lisha) October 5, 2018

If you’re working in advertising and come across this man, run. Run for your fucking life. Saying this out of personal experience.#TimesUphttps://t.co/KHQ6yhz2Io

— ???????? (@Kalamwali_Bai) October 5, 2018

Four women at Happy (an ad firm in Bangalore) on email.

Vile vile. pic.twitter.com/gkLA1F5ZOT

— Sandhya Menon (@TheRestlessQuil) October 10, 2018

Last but not the least; we would like to conclude this article with the official press releases from some of the big advertising agencies.

Happy Mcgarrybowen

“Dentsu Aegis Network has always believed in providing a safe environment at our workplaces which is free from any kind of harassments. We have an internal committee constituted as per the rules prescribed under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to look into any complaints in this regard. Certain incidents have just come to our notice involving senior members of Happy that allegedly took place few years ago, when Happy was not a part of DAN (Dentsu Aegis Network).

“An inquiry into these alleged incidents has already been initiated. Dentsu Aegis Network does not and will not accept anything but professional behaviour at our workplaces. We have a zero tolerance policy towards any kind of harassment at our workplaces and we are committed to speedy redressal of any complaints raised in this context after following due process, as advised by the internal committee.”

iProspect India

“With more than 50 percent of our staff being female employees including the agency CEO, iProspect has always believed in providing a safe working environment for all. We have an internal committee adhering to Vishakha Guidelines. It is unfortunate that one of our recently recruited employees has been named in the #MeToo movement for an incident which is alleged to have happened a few years ago during his tenure with his previous employer. We have a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment at workplace and we will immediately be conducting an inquiry regarding this.”

Dentsu Webchutney

“Omkar Sane worked with us at Dentsu Webchutney between 2014-2015. During his time here, we received official complaints about his behaviour from two employees. Post the investigation which started the next day, he was let go from his position and the office immediately. And the company hasn’t worked with him in any capacity since then.”

DDB Mudra Group

“On Sunday, an accusation of behaviors and actions that violate our code of conduct was levied against an individual at our agency, anonymously via a public post on a social media site. The accusation stands in stark contrast to our values and standards at 22feet Tribal Worldwide and at the DDB Mudra Group more broadly, where it is our primary responsibility and commitment to provide our associates with a safe, fair and dignified workplace. Within hours of being notified yesterday, we initiated the process of verifying the allegations and getting them investigated.”

Publicis Communications

We have taken note of the incidences reported in the tweets. We are deeply concerned by the seriousness of these allegations and are investigating them on priority. We will ascertain facts of the matter and see that the outcome is fair and just, and appropriate actions are taken as per the Company’s policy. We re-iterate that Publicis India has a zero-tolerance policy towards any type of workplace misconduct or abuse of power or harassment.

Creativeland Asia

“We have seen some of the rumors spread by certain individuals in anonymity linking the agency with events. CLA has a great gender diverse working culture, we are one of the most secure and coveted creative agencies to work for. CLA has a robust system completely independent of the management to redress, assist and support, complainants having the employees interest at its heart.”

Medulla Communications

“On Friday, one of our employees was accused on social media of misconduct that is against our policies. As an organisation, we have a majority of women employees and are extremely conscious of and against the issues brought alive under #MeToo. Yesterday itself we initiated a conversation with our female employees (through other senior women employees) to see if any of them have faced any such issues in any way. None of them so far have raised any issues with any of our male or female employees. We are also investigating these particular complaints on social media but so far none of the women who have complained are working or have worked with WYP and Medulla or our affiliates in any way.”

Having said it all, the #MeToo movement continues to set the alarm bells ringing among the advertising folks in and around the country.

This article is about:
MeToo Movement, Tanushree Dutta, Nana Patekar, film, Alyssa Milano, Harvey Weinstein, Sexual Harassment, Advertising, Sexual Assault, Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, Kartik Iyer, Praveen Das, Dentsu, Dinesh Swamy, iProspect India, Happy Creative Services, Happy mcgarrybowen, Dentsu Aegis Network, Medulla Communications, Creativeland Asia, DDB Mudra Group, 22feet Tribal Worldwide, Dentsu Webchutney, Advertising Agency, Digital campaign, Awareness campaign

Mumbai: Isobar, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has partnered with Duroflex to launch a new digital campaign called #ReadyForTomorrow.

Isobar and Duroflex leveraged Zapr’s TV-to-Mobile platform to push this digital campaign across those smartphone users who had already watched the brand’s commercial on television. The campaign has been executed across highly engaging platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and DBM Programmatic. The campaign has already engaged more than 49,446 people who exactly fit into the band’s requirements and have moved straight to the point-of-sales at a Click-through-rate as high as 3.1%. The video engaged at a view-through-rate (VTR) of 57.11%, indicating that more than half of all the targeted users watched the video until the very end.

The 50-day-campaign utilises Zapr’s database of over 40 million user profiles in India through fingerprinting technology to map out those who watch Duroflex and other similar brand commercials on TV. Users who fit brand target group are then identified on Facebook and Youtube, and video ad content is displayed on their home feeds. Target groups are also engaged across hundreds of publishers via DBM programmatic network.

Commenting on the campaign success, Suraj Nagappa, VP, Isobar India stated, “In the past, online video advertising usually meant the transmission of television ads to the internet. What we now have is video advertising that easily adapts to the respective medium. Multi-screen use has been a reality for users for a long time. With the interactive formats we offer an ideal opportunity to approach consumers across the characteristics of all platforms and devices. Across all channels – mobile, online, and connected TV (CTV) – there have been above-average video completion rates (VCR) and a high level of interaction has been achieved. The decision for a true multi-screen campaign has fully paid off. This is evident through the VCRs (Video Completion Rate) that significantly increased across all channels. Together with the interactive elements that Zapr allows, this strategy has led to a substantial increase in reach and consumer response.”

On the launch of the new campaign, Arha Padman, Senior Brand Manager, Duroflex commented, “Keeping in mind that TV audiences are no longer glued to a single screen and are often multi-tasking on their smartphones while consuming the medium, it just made sense to layer our TV plan with Zapr. We were curious to see how it would work and it seems to have delivered what we set out to do.”

About Isobar
Isobar is a global full service digital marketing agency, driven by the purpose to deliver borderless ideas enabled by technology, to transform businesses and brands. We have over 5,500 digital pioneers in over 85 locations, across more than 45 markets worldwide. Isobar has won over 250 awards in 2016, including 19 Agency of the Year titles and Asia-Pacific Digital Network of the Year for the fifth time in the past six years. Key clients include adidas, Coca-Cola, Enterprise, Google, GM, Huawei, Lego and P&G. Isobar is part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dentsu Inc. www.isobar.com Isobar India is a winner of Campaign Asia-Pacific’s 2015 Digital Agency of the Year for India and South Asia.

About Dentsu Aegis Network India
Dentsu Aegis Network’s presence in India comprises the global network brands Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope, Vizeum, MKTG, Amnet and mcgarrybowen along with the Dentsu branded agencies – Dentsu Impact, Dentsu One, Dentsu India, Dentsu Media, Taproot Dentsu and Dentsu Webchutney. Also, newly added to the group are the recently acquired local brands Milestone Brandcom, WATConsult, Fountainhead MKTG, the Perfect Relations Group, Happy mcgarrybowen, Fractal Design Studio, SVG Columbus and Merkle Sokrati.

About Duroflex
The late Mr. P. C. Mathew, founder of Duroflex first began manufacturing coir mattresses in 1963. At that time it was a real pioneering effort. In the 50 years that followed, a lot changed. People, policies, economies, markets, ergonomic theories, customer preferences and many new technologies. But the spirit of new ventures has endured. The pioneering effort 50 years ago has led to create India’s leading manufacturer of advanced sleep systems. Duroflex is now India’s largest exporter of sleep and comfort products. What began as a small manufacturing plant along the quiet canal at Alleppey, Kerala, is today a leading enterprise with the most modern manufacturing processes in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana State and Maharashtra. Duroflex expects more change in the years to come but will retain the endeavor that started it all – The spirit that will challenge and motivate the organization to innovate and continuously create better sleep and comfort products.

Isobar Team:
Client Servicing Group Head: Abhay Bhaskar Menon:
Associate Director Media: Baniaikynmaw Shanpru
Senior Director Media: Anish Daniel
Duroflex: Arha Padman, Senior Brand Manager

Credits:
Brand : Duroflex Mattresses
Product Group : Furnishings
Agency : Happy mcgarrybowen
Country of Agency : India
Client : Duroflex
Chief Executive Officer: Kartik Iyer
Chief Operating Officer: Samarjit Choudhry
Director, Strategic Planning: Aditya Kashyap
Planner: Nakul Bhat
Digital Strategist: Ashwin Dravid
Creative Team: Naren Kaushik (Senior Creative Director), Sandeep KS (Creative Director, Digital), Varun Khullar (Associate Creative Director), Ganesan V (Associate Creative Director, Art)
Client Services Director: Ameya Lokhande
Account Executive: Katherine Thomas
Production House: Nirvana Films
Director: Prashant Madan
Producer: Marjorie Rodrigues

This Article is related to:
Duroflex, Maharashtra, digital media, campaign, Isobar, digital agency, Dentsu Aegis Network, #ReadyForTomorrow, TV-to-Mobile, digital campaign, Zapr, Top Mattress Brands In India, DBM programmatic network, Energise Mattresses, Happy mcgarrybowen, Textiles & Clothing, Duroflex TVC, Duroflex Mattresses, 360-degree campaign

Key highlights of the ad campaign:
• The ad campaign is a satire about something that happens every day on the streets of India.
• The aim of the advertisement is to make people more sensitive to the harsh reality that is a result of mere carelessness.
• The initiative taken by Ola is commendable because it tries to touch the hearts of people in a very moving way.
• By showing a satirical happy “ending”, it speaks volumes about the pain that one can have upon losing a loved one.
• With great subtlety, it highlights the fact that, this is just an advertisement and in real life, such miracles don’t happen.

According to the statistics, thousands of people in India have to give up their lives only because their ambulance doesn’t reach the hospital on time.

It is a great initiative by Ola to spread awareness about this cause and is a clear example of creative advertising and design by Indian advertising services.

Credits:
Campaign: Ola Give Way Give Life
Agency: Happy mcgarrybowen
Chief Executive Officer: Kartik Iyer
Managing Director: Praveen Das
Chief Operating Officer: Siddhartha Roy
Senior Creative Director: Naren Kaushik
Associate Creative Director: Varun Khullar
Art Director: Viraj Nandivadekar
Director – Strategic Planning: Ravi Bhat
Digital Content Planner: Ashwin Dravid
Client Services Director: Ameya Lokhande
Group Account Manager: P N Keshav
Account Executive: Ankita Baishya

Production House
Production House: Earlyman Film
Director: Bhavesh Karkera
Executive Producer: Anand Menon
Producer: Amarjeet Phukan
Associate Producer: Alok Potnis