MAM
Ad Club names Ajay Kakar & Vikram Sakhuja to head Effies 2015
MUMBAI: The Advertising Club has named Aditya Birla Group chief marketing officer – financial services Ajay Kakar as the chairperson and Madison Media & OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja as the co-chair for this year’s Effies. The awards ceremony will be held at the sea-side lawns Hotel Taj Land’s End, Mumbai on 15 January, 2016.
The Effies are marketing communications awards given yearly by Effie Worldwide Inc. Effies provides recognition to campaigns for their direct impact on return on investments for a brand at the market place with special attention given to effectiveness and results. In its 15th year, Effies will celebrate not only the advertising agency behind the campaign, but also the client.
Commenting on their appointment, The Advertising Club president and Colors CEORaj Nayak said, “The Effies is an institution by itself giving due recognition to campaigns that engage consumers thereby furthering a brand’s promise and proposition. I would like to congratulate Ajay Kakar and Vikram Sakhuja for this new project that they will be leading. The entire advertising community looks forward to the Effies and I am certain that they will strengthen its credibility within the industry.”
Kakar said, ”Over the past four years that I have chaired the Effies, I have seen growing support and participation. Every year has broken the record entries and numbers of participating agencies, from the previous year.I believe this demonstrates the underlying need and demand for marketing campaigns that are not only creative, but more importantly, work for the brand and business. And I am confident that this year’s Effies will again beat last year’s record. And be even bigger and better.”
Added Sakhuja, “For me it is imperative for advertising to drive demand and strengthen brand value. It is therefore an honour to be part of the Effies, which is the undisputed champion of effectiveness in India and worldwide.”
Earlier this year, Kakar and Sakhuja were also inducted as the new office bearers of The Advertising Club. While Sakhuja was elected as the secretary, Kakar was elected as the joint secretary.
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI: Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
