MAM
WaterHealth entrusts Orchard Advertising with creative duties
MUMBAI: Orchard Advertising has bagged the creative mandate for WaterHealth India , a social enterprise in the community water space.
Other agencies who participated in the pitch included JWT Mindset, Mudra, Bates, Rediffusion-Y&R, Euro RSCG, Ogilvy and TBWA.
Orchard will handle the account out of its Bangalore office.
Confirming the news to indiantelevision.com, Orchard Advertising Bangalore VP and brand head Anish Daryani said, “I believe we out-hungered and out-passioned the other competitors in this case. We immersed ourselves in the planning and reached out to the areas of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka where the client interacts with consumer.”
Thomas Xavier chairman and national creative director Orchard Advertising said “This is a great achievement for the agency, and we’d like to acknowledge the faith WaterHealth India has bestowed upon our abilities. I think we were able to immerse ourselves completely into the category, and consumers, which led to a thorough understanding of the business. We’ve acted in character, and have been rewarded for it.”
Daryani also said that this win gives further support to the fact that in today’s environment, the size of the agency doesn’t matter as “we are in the ideas business.” The agency has a designated team in place working on the project.
WaterHealth India COO Vikas Shah said, “WaterHealth’s business is a confluence of social and commercial objective plus the business is based on a decentralized public utility model. Given these complexities, the conventional advertising and marketing techniques don’t work in this space. We found Orchard to be appreciative of these challenges and willing to work within these boundaries; also their approach to consumer centricity and questioning of the established business practices appealed to us.”
WaterHealth marketing head India Arup Bansal added, “Orchard had a compelling and differentiated approach towards positioning our brand, Dr. Water, in the rural markets. The brand strategy proposed by Orchard resonated well with our business strategy and through this partnership we are geared to create a memorable and effective brand for rural India.”
“We used Leo Burnett’s proprietary brand tool named HumanKind which allowed us to have better brand insight and lead brand purpose in a better manner,” averred Daryani.
The media mix for ad campaign, slated to be launched in the coming month, will be activation-led and will primarily exploit BTL (below-the-line) and print media channels with special emphasis on brand engagement.
The aim of the campaign will be to help create saliency for the brand Dr. Water and help it command a premium in its segment. The end goal will be to establish leadership category.
WaterHealth International is a US-based company that provides innovative business solutions in places plagued with the lack of safe, clean and affordable water. The company specialises in water purification, consumer service, rural marketing and social entrepreneurship. It provides de-centralised, scalable, safe and affordable water solutions to underserved communities throughout the world.
WaterHealth India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of WaterHealth International Inc. Besides India, the parent company has operations in Bangladesh, Ghana and the Philippines.
Brands
Kotak Mahindra Prime names Suraj Rajappan as managing director and chief executive
The car-finance arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank lines up a new chief and raises its borrowing limit
MUMBAI: Suraj Rajappan is getting the keys. Kotak Mahindra Prime Limited (KMPL), India’s veteran car-finance outfit, has named him managing director and chief executive, effective June 1st, 2026—the same day his predecessor drives off into retirement.
The board approved the appointment at its meeting on March 18th. Rajappan, currently a whole-time director at the company, has spent his entire 24-year career at KMPL, working across functions before rising to the top job. The three-year term remains subject to shareholder approval, and the company confirmed he faces no bar from SEBI or any other authority from holding the post.
He takes over from Shahrukh Todiwala, who superannuates on May 31st after more than three decades with the Kotak Group. Ashok Vaswani, managing director and chief executive of parent Kotak Mahindra Bank, was generous in his send-off. Todiwala, he said, “leaves behind a legacy marked by prudent growth, strong risk discipline, and a focus on customer-centricity.” Of his successor, Vaswani was equally bullish: Rajappan’s “deep industry experience and execution capabilities position KMPL well for its next phase of growth.”
The board also loosened the purse strings, raising the company’s overall outstanding debt limit from Rs 43,000 crore to Rs 48,000 crore. The expanded ceiling covers bank loans, debentures, commercial paper, treasury operations, credit facilities and external commercial borrowings.
KMPL has operated as a car-finance company since 1996, branching into two-wheeler loans in 2018 and loans against property in 2021. With fresh leadership, a bigger borrowing arsenal and an ambitious lender for a parent, Rajappan’s first task is clear: step on the accelerator.
