MEC Singapore Ramps up Digital Offering with a String of New Hires

MEC, a leading media agency www.mecglobal.com, has announced a series of new digital hires in Singapore to fuel the agency’s digital and data acceleration.

Amy Dabbs joins MEC Singapore as its new Head of Digital, adding to a string of senior and specialist hires that started earlier this year with Kunal Robert joining as Digital Director and Joshua Campanella joining as Associate Digital Director.

Sharon Soh, Managing Director of MEC Singapore said “The current Singapore team and our clients are already very digitally savvy so it’s natural that we want to accelerate our growth in this area.  With Amy, Kunal and Joshua on board, we have made a huge investment in our future and our clients’ futures, with genuine, proven talent leading our digital development charge. I’m excited to have them on board and look forward to creating a thriving, digital culture at MEC.”

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy, the premium biscuit brand launched by ITC in 2005, has been very successful in carving out a niche for itself at the top end of the market.

The brand has over the years become the gold standard that competition is forever trying to match and has expanded its offering to include variants like Dark Fantasy Choco Fills, Dark Fantasy Choco Meltz, and Dark Fantasy Luxuria.

Over the years, the brand has pegged itself as the ultimate in indulgence - just one bite is all it takes to get transported into the world of Dark Fantasy – making every biscuit a doorway to a truly memorable experience.

The latest communication from the brand tailors this promise to suit Crème Biscuits, a format that is intrinsically associated with one’s childhood. Conceptualized by FCB Ulka Bangalore, the film revolves around a young man who encounters the brand in the lobby of a luxury hotel. Just one bite of Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Crème Biscuit is all it takes to bring out the child in him, inspiring him to hop on to a bellhop trolley and ride it around the lobby, much to the amusement of the people around him.

Dennis Koshy, Vice President–Bangalore, FCB Ulka, has this to say: “Crème Biscuits are part and parcel of one’s growing up years. Even as adults we have fond memories of splitting them open, licking the cream etc. This coupled with the fact that every adult has an inner child waiting to burst out, gave us a unique platform to anchor the brand to”.

Dharmesh Shah, Creative Director–Bangalore, FCB Ulka, adds: “Crème biscuits are primarily targeted at kids. However, Dark Fantasy is an adult brand. The new film straddles the sweet spot, appealing to the child in every adult, thereby keeping the brand codes intact.”

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Crème Biscuits are available in two variants – Choco Crème and Vanilla Crème, and comes in an all new premium packaging.

Credits:

Client: ITC Foods

Brand: Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Crème Biscuits

Agency: FCB Ulka, Bangalore

Creative Team - Dharmesh Shah, Rama Krishnan, Supreeth Nagaraja

Servicing Team - Vignesh Babu, Priyank Vaghela & Shreyas Upadhya

Account Planning – Menaka Menon

Agency Producers – Alpa Jobalia, Mazhar khan

Director: Zap (Gingerwater Films)

TV18 and CNN will be successfully concluding their 10-year licensing arrangement in January 2016 for CNN IBN.

The conclusion of the arrangement will enable each company thereafter to chart its own growth trajectory independently in one of the most dynamic, complex and fast growing markets in the world.

A.P. Parigi, Group CEO, Network18 said “The last decade has seen a lot of momentum in the Indian media industry and has been particularly exciting for us. During this time we witnessed two media houses coming together to redefine the way news is presented to a demanding audience; we at TV18 have benefited from this relationship with CNN. At the launch of the channel, TV18 was a relatively small organization; that has changed now.  Network18 has grown from 2 news channels in 2005 to 17 news channels in 2015. Today, we have the largest footprint in the current affairs, regional and business news space in India.  The TV18 line-up of channels today are well established and highly regarded in this dynamic, complex and challenging environment.”

Rani Raad, Chief Commercial Officer, CNN International said, “We are very proud to have created CNN IBN in our decade long partnership with TV18. The channel was a pioneering initiative that combined the best of CNN’s global expertise with TV18’s journalistic and newsgathering capabilities. We have truly valued this long standing partnership.”  He further adds, “As the number one international news brand in Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, and the winner of multiple prestigious awards, CNN International, continues to lead and serve consumers in India with the best of global news content across multi-platforms.

High fives as WPP scores “un quintuplé” in Cannes

For the fifth consecutive year, a winning performance from its agencies has handed WPP the title of Holding Company of the Year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Cannes Lions is the world’s biggest celebration of creativity in a commercial setting, and a Lion trophy is the highest accolade in the advertising and marketing services industry. The holding company award is based on the total number of points won by each group’s agencies during the week of the festival.

Agencies from more than 50 different countries contributed points to WPP’s total. WPP finished first ahead of Omnicom and Publicis respectively. Ogilvy & Mather won Network of the Year for the fourth time in as many years.

Earlier this year WPP was also named – for the fourth time in row – the world’s most effective holding company by the Effie Index, which recognises the effectiveness of marketing communications.

Winning work from WPP agencies included: Grey London’s “Life Paint” (Volvo); Ogilvy Beijing’s “Great Chinese Names for Great Britain” (Visit Britain); “Red Light App” by Y&R Team Red Istanbul (Vodafone); “Abla Fahita” by J. Walter Thompson Cairo (CBC Egypt); “Interception” from Grey New York (Volvo); David Miami’s “Proud Whopper” (Burger King); “Melanoma Likes Me” (Melanoma Patients Australia) by GPY&R Melbourne and Brisbane; Grey New York’s “Gun Store” (States United to Prevent Gun Violence); “House of Mamba” from AKQA London (Nike); “The Marathon Walker” by Ogilvy Paris (Water for Africa); Grey Germany’s “The Berlin Wall of Sound” (Soundcloud); “It Happens Here” (28 Too Many) by Ogilvy London; “Microsoft Collective Project” by POSSIBLE Seattle; “Coke Thirst” by J. Walter Thompson Brazil; “The Last Shot” from AKQA San Francisco (Jordan Brand); and Prolam Y&R Chile’s work for UNICEF.

Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and CEO of WPP, said: “We are delighted to have made it a quintuplet (or should I say quintuplé?) of wins in Cannes. The holding company award is special because it is a shared achievement, reflecting the hard work, passion and commitment of every member of the WPP family. A big thank you to our agencies and all the hugely talented and creative people within them.

“However, this week of celebration has been overshadowed by loss and sadness for many people after the untimely deaths of two colleagues and friends during the festival. On behalf of WPP I would like to extend our deepest sympathy to everyone affected by these tragic events.”

John O’Keeffe, Worldwide Creative Director of WPP, said: “Anyone who doubts the transformational power of creativity need look no further than the Palais this evening. Of course it’s wonderful to be named Creative Holding Company of the Year, but each individual winner tonight, from wherever they came, is testament to an amazing industry full of incredibly talented people. My congratulations to them all.

“Regarding the sad events here in the past few days, I would, of course, wish to echo the sentiments expressed by Martin.”

Havas Media has won the Digital Mandate of Turtle Limited. One of India’s fastest growing menswear companies, the Turtle mandate includes media planning and buying and digital solutions including social, search and mobile.

The account will be lead out of Havas Media’s Kolkata office.

Turtle has a pan India presence with its own Turtle Stores as well as TurtleOnline.com. It also retails through leading online and store-in-store outfits which also includes the large format stores. Set up in 1993 Turtle is today a force in the apparel industry providing a complete range of dressing across Shirts, T-shirts, trousers, Suits, Jackets and accessories for men with a reputation for delivering value and international style. In short they provide complete men’s range from head to toe.

Shitanshu Jhunjhunwalla, Director Turtle Limited said, “Turtle is young and ambitious. We are on a high growth path and looking to expand our pan India footprint. At our core is delivering value, variety, quality and a great experience to our customer. Havas Media shares the same passion and philosophy of being meaningful. Their understanding of the category and customised digital strategy are in line with our growth plans and we look at them as long term partners.”

Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group India and South Asia explained, “Turtle is in a fast growing, interesting and challenging category. Today’s Indian male is always on the move, has a sense of style, likes choice and dresses for the occasion. We look forward to partnering with Team Turtle to scale their offering to the digitally engaged mobile Indian male.”

Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India, continued, “This is a good win - a great brand and team to work with. Havas has been on a winning spree of mandates with digital focus. We are glad that clients find us as the go-to brand keyed in on their marketing plans. The win further boosts our Kolkata operations.”