In his new role, Reghunath will continue to report into Sidharth Rao…

Dentsu Webchutney, the creatively-led digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has named Gautam Reghunath as its new chief executive officer (CEO). The news comes soon after DAN India announced the elevation of Sidharth Rao as chairman, Happy mcgarrybowen (HMB) India and chairman, Dentsu Webchutney – last week.

Prior to this, Reghunath was executive vice president (EVP) and Branch Head for Dentsu Webchutney, Bangalore. In his new role, Reghunath will continue to report into Sidharth Rao and will now lead the agency, nationwide.

Commenting on Reghunath’s appointment, Rao said, “Gautam’s remarkable and much-deserved rise from within the ranks of Dentsu Webchutney is one of my favourite stories from the agency’s 20-year-old legacy. He started out as a junior servicing executive in 2010 and earned his stripes through sheer hard work and creative brilliance. He is a homegrown leader, someone whose impact on our people and business is unparalleled. Nothing exemplifies this better than our success with Bangalore - an office that he built from ground zero to the stature it commands, now. He understands our history. He cares for our legacy. He has more than an eye on our future. I am so proud to have him lead us on our next journey!”

Reghunath added, “In my time at Dentsu Webchutney, I’ve had the opportunity to work with incredible colleagues who inspire me and, for us, to find purpose, success and joy in our work along the way. I’ve grown up here. I’ve had my best years here, and today, I’m so proud to be the leader of this remarkable group of talent. Dentsu Webchutney started the digital advertising market in India as we know it. Our incredible client roster with some of the most globally consequential companies gives us a foundation to continue industry-leading creative work across branches in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurgaon. Sidharth is a tough act to follow. But he remains a keen advisor, well-wisher and a mentor I’m thrilled to have as we take on our biggest years of growth.”

New York Festivals® Advertising Awards announced the first 20 members of the elite 2020 NYF Executive Jury. This is the 10th consecutive year that NYF will host some of the world’s most awarded creative leaders to judge entries submitted into New York Festivals Advertising Awards.

These respected Chief Creative Officers and Executive Creative Directors from the world’s most prominent advertising agencies will gather for four days of passionate and focused deliberations taking place in New York City March 31st – April 3rd to select the World’s Best Advertising®. The 2020 Executive Jury will review the shortlisted entries selected by the online NYF Grand Jury.

“For 10 years NYF has brought together an elite jury of global creatives with a reputation for innovation. We are beyond thrilled that these respected leaders will bring their attention to the 2020 New York Festivals Advertising Awards entries,” said Ellen Smyth, CEO, New York Festivals.

“NYF’s Executive Jury of respected creatives set the standard for award-winning work,” said Scott Rose, Executive Director, New York Festivals Advertising Awards. “All entries achieving shortlist status will be judged by this panel of renowned industry leaders ensuring that each entry is reviewed with meticulous care and consideration and with a global perspective.”

2020 Executive Jury to date:

Executive Jury President – Alex Schill, Global Chief Creative Officer, Serviceplan Group, Germany

• Rodolfo Borrell, President and Chief Creative Officer, Pagés BBDO, Dominican Republic
• Nathalie Brown, VP, Executive Creative Director, VMLY&R, USA
• Paul Chan, Chief Creative Officer, Cheil Hong Kong, Hong Kong
• Juliana Cobb, Executive Creative Director, Droga, USA
• Gaëtan du Peloux, Executive Creative Director, Marcel, France
• Fede Garcia, Global Executive Creative Director, Huge, USA
• Guido Heffels, Chief Creative Officer, HEIMAT, Germany
• Genevieve Hoey, Group Executive Creative Director, R/GA, USA
• Sheena Jeng, Chief Creative Officer, McCann Worldgroup, China
• Simon Langley, Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman Thompson, Australia
• Walid Kanaan, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\RAAD, United Arab Emirates
• Monica Moro, Chief Creative Officer, McCann, Spain
• Piyush Pandey, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, India
• Kazoo (Hidekazu) Sato, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\HAKUHODO, Japan
• Jason Schragger, Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, USA
• Chaka Sobhani, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett London, United Kingdom
• Walid Kanaan, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\RAAD, United Arab Emirates
• Ahmed Tilly, Chief Creative Officer, FCBAfrica, South Africa
• Tony Waissmann, Chief Creative Officer, Geometry, Argentina
• Gerrit Zinke, Managing Director Creation/Partner, thjnk Hamburg Gmbh, Germany

The final deadline to enter the 2020 New York Festivals Advertising Awards is March 2, 2020. For more information and to enter the 2020 competition please visit: HERE.

Additional Executive Jury members will be announced in the coming weeks. Entries into the 2020 NYF Advertising Awards competition will be judged by 400+ members of NYF’s Executive Jury and Grand Jury, a panel of prominent global creative minds, who collectively cast over 400,000 votes to select the World’s Best Advertising®.

The Final deadline to enter the 2020 New York Festivals Advertising Awards is March 2, 2020.

5 renowned artists, one platform; a mix of alternative, popular and Indie music on offer for music lovers

India’s largest and most awarded private radio network, 93.5 RED FM hosted a day long musical soiree ‘The Yellow Taxi Music Project’ with the renowned musicians – Jawed Ali, Lou Majaw, Mame Khan, Soulmate and Darshan Raval. The event that took place on 11th January at Big Lawn, Nicco Park and brought together the entire Kolkata for the love of music. The event was an experience of versatility of music with genres like Blues, Rock, Sufi, Indie, Bollywood along with some delicious food.

The festival started with the sounds of the blues, performed by Soulmate, followed by Lou Majaw’s electrifying country rock set. With Mame Khan’s soulful folk, the audience was transported to rustic Rajasthan. Later, Javed Ali took over the stage and left entire the crowd enthralled with his Bollywood & Sufi numbers. While youth heartthrob Darshan Raval wrapped up the gig with his popular melodies. Apart from music, the event had a plethora of enjoyment and chilling options, which kept the festival goers engaged.

Commenting on the success of ‘The Yellow Taxi Music Project’, Ms Nisha Narayanan, COO and Director, RED FM and Magic FM, said, “We are overwhelmed with the response that we have received from Kolkata for The Yellow Taxi Music Project. We got the best of best folk/alternative artists and popular musicians together on one stage, which encapsulated the vibrant music scenario of contemporary India. It is our endeavour to bring forward the growing community of independent and regional musicians through RED FM IPs. For RED FM it is a unique opportunity to nurture our bond with Kolkata and celebrate the spirit of oneness through music. We plan to take this festival to other cities with an aim to support growing community of independent and regional artists.”

‘The Yellow Taxi Music Project’ experienced a footfall of 5000 festivalgoers, enjoying the scintillating performances, binging on delicious cuisine and spending a great weekend with their loved ones!

Both men and women are eager to strengthen their financial knowledge to meet this end

YouGov’s latest research reveals that ‘Savings’- either starting to save or increasing one’s current savings is the main financial goal of more than a third of urban Indians (37%) in 2020. Following this, ‘Starting or increasing investment’ (28%) and ‘Securing self or family through insurance’ (22%) were ranked as the main goals by many.

Among the genders, a higher number of women than men categorised saving as their key target (42% vs 32%) while more men than women considered investment to be an important focus area (31% vs 24%) in the new year.

Saving was stated as the most important financial goal in 2019 as well (by 32%) and continues to remain a priority in 2020. When it came to rating themselves on their performance towards this goal, 63% said they were satisfied with their efforts. However, satisfaction was the highest among those who chose to secure family through insurance (with 77% saying they were satisfied) as well as those who chose investment (74%) as their main financial objective for 2019.

In the new year, most people are looking for new financial opportunities to increase their income in order to fulfill their monetary goals. The data shows that there seems to be an eagerness among men and women to enhance their knowledge and educate themselves about the various financial tools. Half of those who said saving is their main goal for 2020 are likely to increase their knowledge about personal savings in order to meet their objective. The same is true for almost half (47%) of those who chose investment as their key target and around half (45%) of those who want to secure themselves or their family through insurance.

Thinking about the future, people seem optimistic about their finances. Two in five (40%) are more likely to say, “I’m financially better off now than I was a year ago” at the end of 2020. Those who chose savings as their financial goal for 2020 were most likely to say this.

An equal proportion (40%) believes their earning will increase in the future. Slightly lesser than that (36%) think they will be financially more stable while even fewer (31%) hope to start saving for their child’s education.

Speaking about this, Deepa Bhatia, General Manager, YouGov India, said, “Financial literacy is imperative in today’s tech-intensive digital world. Lack of it can lead to poor investments and bad monetary decisions. The data shows that people are eager to empower themselves by enhancing their financial knowledge in order to fulfill their goals. Government bodies, banks and insurance companies need to work together in order to increase awareness and take necessary steps to help people recognize their choices and improve their understanding of the various finance tools.”

Data collected online by YouGov Omnibus among around 2023 respondents in India between December 17-20, 2019 using YouGov’s panel of over 8 million people worldwide. Data is representative of the adult online population in the country

Discovery has expanded the role of Vijay Rajput, currently serving as SVP – Affiliate Sales & Product Distribution, with an additional responsibility of heading its Sports business in South Asia.

Vijay is a media industry veteran having more than 3 decades of work experience, majority of which has been in leadership roles. Prior to Discovery, Vijay was the Chief Operating Officer at India’s leading sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports.

Speaking on the occasion, Megha Tata, Managing Director, Discovery – South Asia, said, “We are yet to actualize the full potential of our sports business in India. This year, Vijay will lead efforts to ensure that DSPORT channel gets its rightful due in the sports broadcast arena.”

Vijay Rajput, said, “We are reviewing DSPORT’s content strategy at the moment, as we aim to make it a more holistic multi-sport offering which will connect with passionate fan communities in a more engaging manner.”

Keeping in view the aggressive outlook of the sports vertical, Discovery is currently expanding its in-house sports-focused team. The company has also ended its relationship with third-party service provider Lex Sportel, bringing all services in-house, effective February 14, 2020.