MAM
Creativeland Asia only Indian entry shortlisted in Creative Effectiveness Lions
MUMBAI: Creativeland Asia Mumbai is the only creative agency that has got its entry shortlisted in the Creative Effectiveness category of Cannes Lions 2012.
The agency has been shortlisted for its work done for Parle Agro’s Hippo Baked Munchies, titled Plan-T.
Hippo Baked Munchies was launched by Parle Agro in the Indian Snacks Market in January 2009, and was followed by a communication launch in January 2010.
According to the brief, Hippo’s unconventional packaging and universal philosophy of ‘Fight Hunger, Fight Evil’ made it a runaway success. Hippo’s growth hit a roadblock when consumers’ demand for it far exceeded the supply of the brand as consumers were being greeted by empty shelves in 400,000 retail stores, across India. This overwhelmed the nascent sales and distribution team as they found it challenging to track and replenish stocks quickly.
The company needed an alternative inventory tracking system that was quick and cost-effective and found the answer in the platform of Twitter and invented ‘Plan-T’.
Through Hippo’s twitter account, Creativeland Asia Mumbai made him interact with his followers, urging them to tweet to him in case they found empty racks in stores. A core cell was set up to monitor, analyse and pass on information collected from the tweets to local distributors in respective areas, who then replenished the stocks in 24 hours. In a country dominated by traditional media, connecting with Hippo’s supporters through Twitter made the impact.
Plan-T drove consumers to report empty shelves on-the-go, across 400,000 stores, in about 53 cities and towns across 18 Indian states, all this within a span of six months. Plan-T, along with the existing sales and distribution team, helped Hippo post a 76 per cent increase in sales within six months.
AD Agencies
WPP Media elevates Dipti Gulati to vp, client growth for APMEA
Singapore-based executive to commercialise AI-powered solutions business across the region
SINGAPORE: WPP Media has promoted Dipti Gulati to vice president, client growth, handing her the mandate to lead the commercialisation of its solutions business across APMEA.
Based in Singapore, Gulati steps up after serving as senior director, client growth, where she drove expansion across APAC spanning programmatic, search, social, CTV, DOOH and cross-channel offerings. Now, she is tasked with translating advanced AI, data and technology ecosystems into scalable growth strategies for global brands across FMCG, luxury, F&B and financial services.
“I commercialise the future of media — at scale, across APMEA,” Gulati said, announcing her appointment. She added that she turns advanced data, AI and technology ecosystems into real commercial outcomes, shifting the conversation “from a pure media play to owning business outcomes”.
Her brief is unapologetically future-facing: addressable, accountable and AI-powered media. She will work with cross-market teams across APMEA, bringing together diverse perspectives and cultures to accelerate growth and build what she calls the “future of media”.
Gulati’s rise caps nearly two years at WPP Media and follows a six-month stint as regional director of growth, APAC, at Mindshare, where she led new business development and expanded capabilities for existing clients. Earlier, as global account director for integrated marketing communications on the Unilever business, she drove communications strategy for multi-million dollar beauty and wellbeing brands across Southeast Asia.
Before that, Gulati spent close to two years as associate director at Warner Bros. Discovery in Singapore. She also served as director, strategic partnerships and market development at TrustSphere, leading go-to-market and growth initiatives across Asia and evangelising relationship analytics to C-level executives. TrustSphere, credited by industry and Harvard Business School case studies as a pioneer in relationship analytics, became a springboard for her deeper engagement with data-driven growth.
Her board and evangelist roles at the Asia Cloud Computing Association and its Asia Analytics Alliance further sharpened her regional policy and analytics credentials. Earlier chapters include marketing consultancy at Blockchain Foundry and a seven-year run at Warner Bros. Discovery in India, where she led ad-sales and business development for HBO and WB across north and east India, delivering record billings. She began her career at Diligent Media Corporation Ltd and Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd..
From ad-sales floors in Delhi and Mumbai to boardrooms in Singapore, Gulati’s arc mirrors the industry’s own shift — from selling spots and slots to engineering outcomes through data and AI. At WPP Media, the brief is clear: scale smarter, move faster and turn algorithms into advantage.
