We closed 2014 by winning new business worth Rs 400 crore: Kartik Sharma

Maxus South Asia's MD Kartik Sharma on winning 26 new clients and 120+ awards in 2014, significant leadership changes within the agency, and the way forward for Maxus in 2015

e4m by Priyanka Mehra
Published: Jan 28, 2015 10:23 AM  | 5 min read
We closed 2014 by winning new business worth Rs 400 crore: Kartik Sharma

Kartik Sharma, MD, Maxus South Asia talks about winning 26 new clients and 120+ awards in 2014, significant leadership changes within the agency, and the way forward for Maxus in 2015.

How has the agency leaned into change this past year, in other words what are the significant changes you brought about post taking over leadership role last year ?

2014 has been a fantastic & dream year for Maxus. We started the year by strengthening our senior leadership teams.  Early in 2014 Sanchayeeta Verma was promoted as Managing Partner South and South Asia.  Other promotions included the elevation of Pratik Rathod to handle overall buying for Maxus & Kishankumar Shyamalan as General Manager for South. We also added fresh talent across various offices. Notable amongst these were Anand Chakravarthy who took over as Head of West followed by Navin Khemka joining us as Managing partner for our North India operations with additional responsibility for growing new business. We also got on board Monaz Toddywalla as General Manager for one of our key SBU.

A lot of emphasis also went on launching new products. These included the launch of Resolve, our bespoke planning tool which is backed by robust consumer surveys & helps planners to make channel neutral decisions. By the middle of the year we launched Moribus a first of its kind behavioural science lab in APAC in exclusive alliance with Bombay University’s Center for Computational Social Science.

Our focus on digital continued with teams delivering cutting edge solutions to clients through the year. We also had several internal initiatives where our planners got trained to become integrated planners. The results so far have been very good.

Can you share the business wins of 2014 the last report  which by mid year was Rs 300 crore?

The last year has been a stellar year for new business. We closed the year by winning close to Rs 400 crores of new business. We added 26 new clients to our roster.

2014 has been an interesting year for Maxus India  with retaining Vodafone and losing Nokia to a global alignment, what have been the highlights of the year in your view ?

Vodafone is a key client and we are extremely thrilled to have retained it. We have a deep bond with Vodafone since the hutch days & personally for me I have handled the brand right from the days when it was Orange.

On Nokia we have had a long & fruitful association. The Nokia move out of Maxus has been due to global realignment & we have to respect it.

Apart from the Vodafone retention 2014 was a great year for us on the awards front. Overall we won more than 120+ awards. The Emvies agency of the year was very gratifying feat which we have been eyeing for several years. We also won the agency of the year at Campaign South Asia – India sub region, the Big Bang and we dominated all the digital awards.

Our focus on analytics also helped us win the data analytics innovation awards at the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards, the only agency to win from India and also a merit at the Atticus, a global  competition across WPP companies for original thinking. Last but not the least we ended the year by winning the “Crème De La Crème” at the WPP’s prestigious award called the WPPED Cream awards for our work on Tata Tea’s Power of 49.

Maxus has created Digital Accelerated Social Hub (DASH) for Nestle. Are there any similar initiatives for clients on similar lines?

Yes we are in various stages of discussion with several clients & also nearing closing a few more customized initiatives. You will hear more of this in 2015.

How do you ensure growth, ensuring the culture is intact as a leader at the helm of Maxus?

I have said this earlier too. We never take our position for granted and work hard towards delivering a great product for our clients. To ensure that our culture is intact we start from the beginning i.e. in the recruitment stage itself. We look for PACE (Passionate, Agile Collaborative & Entrepreneurial) qualities in people. We also give lot of freedom to our people and back them to deliver the best for our clients. We have both formal town halls & informal meetings regularly with teams where we share information and also listen to their feedback and implement many of the ideas.

To me growth is a natural outcome of allowing our teams to do their best every single day.

What can we expect from Maxus in 2015?

In 2015 we will be strengthening and consolidating from the previous year. Our key focus areas will be :

• To continue to deliver client delight every single day

• To launch several cutting edge products through the year. We will be launching our first product for this year by end of January. We are also increasing our focus on improving effectiveness & have planned many initiative around the same

•  To strengthen our digital products and offer up full service solutions to all our clients and also launch DASH type initiatives for several clients as mentioned earlier

• To execute many new content led projects not as a one-off but on a sustained basis

• To see a few clients use our technology enabled solutions via Metalworks. We see several of our clients getting more interested in this offering and Metalworks has some great solutions which address client challenges. We would like to see at least 3 to 4 large projects to be executed in 2015.

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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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