Draftfcb Ulka completes 50 yrs: NCD KS Chakravarthy in conversation

In this e4m series on Draftfcb Ulka’s Golden Jubilee Year, the agency’s National Creative Director, KS ‘Chax’ speaks on the creative thought process of the agency.

e4m by Tasneem Limbdiwala
Published: Jan 24, 2011 7:39 AM  | 4 min read
Draftfcb Ulka completes 50 yrs: NCD KS Chakravarthy in conversation

Continuing with the series of celebrating Ulka's Golden Jubilee Year, the agency’s top executives are sharing their time and experience with the agency and the road ahead. exchange4media catches up with National Creative Director KS ‘Chax’ Chakravarthy this time.

Chax takes a walk down memory lane at the agency as well as shares his agenda for himself and his team and the excitement of getting the creative juices flowing.

He informed that the agency had recently announced the formation of a Creative Council comprising their five key creative leaders from across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. “The idea is to constantly keep an eye on our work from across our offices and clients, and pushing to improve it every month, every week, every day,” he said.

Chax further said, “The other exciting development is in our approach to digital. Draftfcb Ulka was probably the first mainstream agency to set up a full-fledged Digital Division with complete creative as well as back end capabilities. In the new structure, while the digital team will continue to implement and execute the complete solution, it is the CD on the brand who will lead, shape and control the creative ideation, across platforms and channels.”

The journey so far
Going back a bit in time, it was in 2008 that Chax was appointed NCD at Draftfcb Ulka. However, it had been a homecoming of sorts for him, as Chax traces the transition period from the time of Nirmal Goswami and Rumi Mistry, the then Joint Deputy MDs, to the present times. He reminisced, “When I first joined the agency, Ulka (as it was called then) was an agency in transition. Nirmal Goswami and Rumi Mistry were the Joint Deputy MDs. Bal was no longer actively involved, the agency had outgrown its creative hot-shop roots and was struggling to find a new identity as a mainline agency. The Delhi office was almost as big as Mumbai, and the future leadership of the agency was far from clear.”

“What I came back to was a large, professional organisation with an exceptionally clear sense of purpose, a leadership team that worked effortlessly in a powerful matrix structure, a glittering line-up of clients who regarded the agency as true partners, and a pretty deep team of senior creative and management professionals, who shared a sense of common culture and professional values,” he added.

Let the creative juices flow
Chax strongly believed that an agency was as good or as bad as the work it put out there. He further said, “I also believe that you can’t do that consistently across large brands without an extremely strong strategic underpinning. In fact, on any brand with any kind of legacy – read almost any brand – we believe the important breakthrough happens before the brief is written. After that, it is just a question of how much fun the creative has with it. And that sums up my job – make sure there is a leap of imagination in the brief, and create the space for creative to have a ball.”

As Chax walked down memory lane, he reminisced about his first pitch during his first stint. He recalled winning the entire Hongkong Bank business. “Soon after, Bal took me to The Taj for lunch. ‘This was the table, son’, he confided with a chuckle, ‘This is where I sacked the XYZ account’. Needless to add, XYZ was a sizeable business that had been making Ulka executives’ lives miserable, and happened to be exactly the same size as the Hongkong Bank account,” Chax said.

As a post script, Chax added, “The pitch work that Subhash Tendle and I did very in a hush-hush way at Rumi’s house, ran without a single comma being changed – some four campaigns in all.”

Also read:
Draftfcb Ulka completes 50 yrs on Feb 1: Ambi Parameswaran in conversation
 

Draftfcb Ulka completes 50 yrs: Exec Director & CEO Arvind Wable in conversation

 

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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur

The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more

e4m by e4m Staff
Published: Oct 27, 2023 6:15 PM  | 1 min read
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With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.

The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.

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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out

The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'

e4m by e4m Staff
Published: Oct 27, 2023 6:07 PM  | 1 min read
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Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."

The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."

COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.

Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.

He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.

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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK

Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 26, 2023 11:48 AM  | 1 min read
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e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.

Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.

According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.

As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.

A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.

Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.

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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall

The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 26, 2023 10:54 AM  | 1 min read
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Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.

“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.

“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."

"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."

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e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 25, 2023 4:39 PM  | 1 min read

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e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 25, 2023 4:38 PM  | 1 min read

KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias

Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 24, 2023 3:35 PM  | 1 min read
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KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.

Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy

Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.

Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."

Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."

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