Dream come true for us; owed it to ourselves to work towards becoming the No1 Healthcare agency: Praful Akali, Medulla

Medulla Communications won the coveted Healthcare Agency of the Year title- a first for the country and also 7 metals in the Cannes Lions Pharma category

e4m by Sarmistha Neogy
Published: Jun 28, 2016 8:32 AM  | 4 min read
Dream come true for us; owed it to ourselves to work towards becoming the No1 Healthcare agency: Praful Akali, Medulla

Bagging the coveted Healthcare Agency of the Year title - a first for the country, Indian agency Medulla Communications created history at the 2016 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Out of 58 entries in the Cannes Lions Pharma category, Medulla Communications scooped seven Lions – the maximum metals by any Indian agency.

In fact, last year at the inaugural edition of the Healthcare Agency of the Year awards, Medulla had won the third place, becoming the first from India to do so. It was also the agency’s maiden year of submitting its work at the Cannes Lions and it received a lot of recognition and visibility for its work done in the healthcare segment.

Visibly delighted, Praful Akali, Founder & Managing Director, Medulla Communications said, “We were expecting to be No 1 in the Healthcare segment, but never thought of leading the Indian metal tally at Cannes. This is a dream come true for all of us, after we came third last year with no planning or working towards it, we really owed it to ourselves to work towards becoming the number 1 agency. So it was actually a focused effort; and studying last year’s winner, it seemed impossible, but it isn’t.” 

Before starting his own agency eight years ago, Praful Akali, an IIM graduate, worked with top companies like Pfizer, Boots Healthcare International and Ranbaxy in the consumer Healthcare marketing segment. His brother Amit Akali comes from an advertising background. His previous stint before starting his own agency was at Grey Worldwide India as the NCD and Senior Executive Vice President. A lot of the work is jointly created by Amit and Praful’s team and both of them equally contribute in each other’s agencies.

Amit Akali, Managing Partner & Creative Head, What’s Your Problem said, “We are a small agency and we realised that we don’t have crazy budgets to send in a lot of entries. So we focussed and shortlisted our 4 best campaigns to enter the category with. We were fairly confident with at least 3 campaigns and that went on to win everything. We are also extremely delighted that these are the work done for big clients like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Johnson & Johnson and Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC).”

Talking about how the agency has worked towards changing the portrayal of healthcare in the Indian advertising space, which is usually perceived as boring, Praful cited, “It is not only in India, but globally as well, healthcare is considered to be boring. But healthcare genuinely has the life changing ability, which any detergent or fashion piece of work won’t have. So the positives are real and we realised that a lot of the negatives like the regulatory barriers posing as challenges are more in our heads. It can be complex, but then complexity gives you more peg, people say, you need to be ethical in medical advertising, but hey you need to be ethical in any given piece of advertising work! So we realised that the challenges don’t exist at all and went on to create a healthcare specialist agency.”

Medulla bagged 2 Gold Lions for its work “Last Words” in the Education and Awareness category (Integrated Campaign and Digital: Online Video) for its client IAPC. The agency won 2 Silver Lions for its campaigns for GSK and IAPC.  It further got 1 Bronze Lion for its campaign “Slums (Housing Colonies) for Worms” for GSK and 2 Bronze metals were bagged for “ADHD Symptom Stamps” campaign for Johnson & Johnson.  Medulla Communications was India’s lone entrant to the Pharma Lions shortlists. Both Praful and Amit also took the stage at the Cannes Lions Festival 2016 to deliver a session on ‘Integrating Medical with Creative: Learning from the Great Indian Family’.

The agency had two representatives selected for the RB and Lions Health Innovation Hack at Cannes, amongst a select group of 12 candidates globally this year. Vinayak Shinde, Creative Director, Medulla Communications and Swapna Kulkarni, Medical Consultant, Medulla Communications was selected to be part of the global innovation hack.

In a guest column written for exchange4media, Shinde shared, “As I leave for India today, I have a reply for my friends from the fraternity who used to ask me, ‘Kya kar raha hai healthcare mein yaar, humare pass dekh, mainline ke clients hai, FMCG products hai, crores ka budget hai, kya hai tumhare pass?’ To them I say - Mere pass apna personal “Lion” hai!”

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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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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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