Biz Moves: LodestarUM, BBDO India, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi and Social Neeti

Mediabrands India’s agency Lodestar UM, who has been working with BMW India for the last five years has retained the integrated media mandate. The mandate spans the entire media spectrum across mainline, digital, out-of-home, events and special projects. The agency retained the account in a competitive pitch which was held from March to October.(Representative image via Unsplash)

Keep up with all the key business wins and account movements.

One day India (for WPP) will overtake the UK market: Mark Read, WPP’s chief executive

In an email sent by Read internally, he said the scam was unsuccessful and that everyone needs to be more vigilant to the techniques that go beyond emails to take advantage of virtual meetings, AI and deepfakes.

Mark Read, CEO of the world’s largest ad holding company – WPP, on the state of advertising, global economic uncertainties, client concerns, Big Tech layoffs and more.

Mast & Meh: Cadbury 5 Star, Bournvita, Pepsi, 82°E, Amazon Pay, Mamaearth

Deepika Padukone’s new skincare brand 82°E's latest campaign depicts. It’s a visual collage capturing women practising everyday self-care rituals while also caring for their skin. Self-care for you could be anything. It could be allowing yourself to sleep five minutes longer, pushing yourself to follow an exercise routine or simply relishing your favourite food.

Find out who made the cut and who got cut in Storyboard18’s weekly picks of the best and boring ads.

Dentsu employee accuses agency of inaction on workplace harassment complaint

The employee named Samvidha alleged that instead of supporting her with her rights, the HR department's advice was to use earned leaves and take a break. And if she needs more time off, she can use “unpaid leave option”. (Representational image via Unsplash)

She has claimed that she has been a victim of verbal abuse, bullying and shaming at the agency.

Lodestar UM retains BMW India’s integrated media mandate

Lodestar UM’s renewed mandate for BMW spans the entire media spectrum across mainline, digital, out-of-home, events and special projects. The account will continue to be led out of the agency’s Gurugram office.(Representational image via Unsplash)

The agency has retained the account in a competitive pitch held from March to October. Lodestar UM has been working with BMW India for the last 5 years.

Big Tech Layoffs: Will the advertising industry benefit from big tech mass layoffs?

A lot of startups in India picked up mid to senior level employees who worked in the brand and creative side to create their in-house creative teams. Now that funding is drying up, these companies are cutting cost especially in the advertising and marketing spends and trimming down their brand teams. So could this spell the return of talent to adland? (Representational image via Unsplash)

While the tech gloom seems to be far from over, some leaders in advertising believe that the mass layoffs by tech firms could be an opportunity for ad agencies to hire good talent.

When Causevertising becomes cringevertising: How and why Cadbury Bournvita’s ‘force fit’ ad flopped

In the advertising and marketing community, the campaign went on to create a stir where many executives thought it to be a ploy designed to win advertising awards. (Stills from the ad)

While some viewers found the campaign remarkable a huge section of audiences found it “forced” and “cringeworthy”.

Digital Marketing Mavericks: The rise of homegrown independent ad agency networks in India

Global advertising networks have a reputation for not being able to retain the founders of the companies they acquire. The reasons are many. But two that pop up often are business complexity and reporting structures. Independent ad networks are changing the way their partnerships and acquisitions are done. They are focused on creating simplified structures with hyper-specialized services. (Representational image via Unsplash)

How leading digital marketing agencies Gozoop Group, Schbang, and Zoo Media are building future-ready agency models.