MAM
Mindshare APAC ups Srivastava & Gowthaman
MUMBAI: Mindshare Asia Pacific said Wednesday its new ‘global to local‘ structure will be under a leadership team helmed by Ashutosh Srivastava.
APAC CEO Srivastava will now take up the position of chairman and CEO for global emerging markets. He will also be new global
leader for products/services and talent development. Under his shadow will also fall Greater China which he will directly oversee.
Under the new restructuring, R Gowthaman will take up the charge of CEO for South and South East Asia. He was earlier chief client officer.
Both Srivastava and Gowthaman will be based in Singapore.
Agency‘s Australia CEO James Greet will add Japan, Korea and New Zealand to his responsibilities, and also be the APAC regional leader for talent. He will continue to be based in Sydney.
Srivastava will focus on emerging markets such as Russia, in addition to APAC. He will also work closely with global and regional leaders in London and Asia to drive new products and services – and with the agency‘s talent development community, work to strengthen the agency‘s talent pool and leadership globally.
Mindshare Worldwide CEO Nick Emery said, “I‘m delighted that Ashutosh is taking on the global role to drive Mindshare’s development. Ashutosh is the epitome of a new world leader and our product, people and growth markets are in safe hands.”
Srivastava’s promotion is accompanied by a change in the structure of Mindshare in the region, re-organising it around three clusters.
“In Ashu, James and G’man there is no better leadership trio and I am privileged to work with them,” Emery added.
Talking about his new role Srivastava said, “James has in a very short time turned our Australia office into a powerhouse of great work and talent. G‘Man has crafted our success in India, which is a world class office – and in the past few months built up our product for regional clients. Alongwith China, they have been the driving force behind the momentum we have across Asia Pacific. They are both outstanding leaders, and I look forward to working with them in their new roles.”
Prior to joining Mindshare in 2010, Greet founded and ran talent recruitment firm The Ladder. Since 2010 he has turned around Mindshare‘s business in Australia.
The new structure of Mindshare in Asia Pacific brings it into line with Mindshare‘s operation in Europe, which is also organised around a cluster approach, and provides a global to local approach for the agency around the four core areas of trading, emerging markets, new products/services and talent development.
MAM
Cars24 launches bold assurances
Auto-tech giant unveils lifetime warranty and 30-day returns in quirky campaign.
MUMBAI: Shifting gears from empty promises to ironclad policies, Cars24 is revving up the used-car scene with assurances that could make even a sceptical mother-in-law nod in approval. India’s leading auto-tech firm has unveiled a fresh brand campaign spotlighting two industry-first perks, a Lifetime Warranty for enduring peace of mind and a 30-Day Return Policy that lets buyers test-drive their decision without buyer’s remorse, a rarity in the pre-owned wheels world.
Conceptualised by the creative whizzes at Talented and directed with flair by Shivang Monga of First December Films, this marks the duo’s debut collaboration with Cars24. Ditching the usual symbolic fluff and emotional tugs, the ads put tangible guarantees front and centre, transforming trust from a fuzzy feeling to a firm handshake.
At the heart of the films is Cars24’s India CEO Himanshu Ratnoo, who steps into the spotlight to deliver “family promises” think Mother Promise, Mother-in-Law Promise, and Sister Promise, all underscoring the brand’s rock-solid confidence in its revamped systems. These light-hearted spots treat cars like cherished kin, plonking them in cosy living rooms for that soap-opera drama, as Monga quips, “Cars have always been a soft spot for Indian households, a source of pride and treated like a member of the family. So placing cars inside living rooms felt like the right way to get the wheels turning. The CEO himself taking these ‘family promises’ just made the situations more dramatic and relatable, like a soap opera with cars!”
Cars24 co-founder and CMO Gajendra Jangid explains the backstory: “We have spent the last few years working on one thing more than anything else: the quality of the cars we sell. In this business, you can’t compensate for a weak product. So we became far more disciplined about what we source, how we inspect, and how we prepare every car before it reaches someone’s driveway. A lot of cars don’t make it through our filters. We don’t sell a car that we would not buy for ourselves and that has been a conscious choice.” He adds that these bold moves reflect genuine self-assurance, with Ratnoo’s on-camera role signalling internal seriousness. “This brand film is coming after three years and it feels good to finally share this side of our journey. We are genuinely excited about where the product stands today and proud to put our name behind it.”
Talented creatives Sanket Audhi and Udit Joshi from chime in on the cultural twist, “Buying a car in India is rarely just a transaction. It’s surrounded by opinions, advice and, most importantly, promises. Everyone has one: family members, friends, neighbours, even people who’ve never owned a car. While trust in this category has traditionally been communicated emotionally, the real shift needed to happen at a product level. With the Lifetime Warranty and 30-Day Return Policy, Cars24 is backing confidence with something tangible.”
Catch the films in all their promise-packed glory on Youtube. In a market often riddled with dodgy deals, this campaign might just steer buyers towards smoother rides.
