MAM
Embee rice ad campaign to hit Kannada television
BANGALORE: This is one marketer which has aggressive ambitions for the humble grain of rice. Karnataka-based Embee Agro Foods recently introduced basic rice under the brand name Embee. Hitherto, not many have dared to brand basic low end rice; they have preferred to focus on premium varieties such as basmati.
And Embee Agro is sparing no expense to get its brand name recognised by the denizens of Karnataka. The company has earmarked an initial spend of Rs 500,000 for airing ads on ETV Kannada and Udaya TV starting Ugadi, the Kannada New Year on 9 April. The effort is to focus on the retail housewife in Karnataka.
The 15-second Kannada ad features Embee brand Ambassador Shama Sanjay, a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and actress, in the role of a housewife in a departmental store. In the ad, she prefers buying an Embee branded rice pack to an unbranded packet of rice offered to her by the store manager.
The ad has been created by a local agency – Chandra Advertising Agency, which is also the campaign manager for the brand. Approximately, Rs 2,25,000 have been spent by Embee towards the making of 10, 15 and 30 second clips on the same housewife theme, of which only the 15 second clip is being aired at present.
MAM
WPP appoints Guillaume Epstein as its global head of commercial
Publicis veteran to streamline pricing, contracts and client deals globally
LONDON: WPP has created a new global commercial leadership role and appointed Guillaume Epstein to lead it, according to media reports, as the company looks to simplify client deals and strengthen commercial operations.
In his new role as global head of commercial, Epstein is expected to oversee pricing structures, contract frameworks and client negotiations across markets. The move points to WPP’s growing focus on making its commercial approach more streamlined and consistent worldwide.
Epstein joins from Publicis Groupe, where he spent close to four years in senior leadership roles, including global commercial finance director and chief operating officer for Brazil. His work there covered financial strategy, operational efficiency and client profitability across multiple regions.
Prior to that, he held key roles across Asia Pacific within Publicis, including chief commercial officer for Apac and regional client finance director. During this period, he helped build regional hubs, standardise pricing models and manage complex, multi-country client relationships across markets such as Singapore, China and Hong Kong.
He also brings experience from Valtech, adding digital transformation expertise to his commercial skill set.
At Publicis, Epstein played a key role in developing multi-country rate cards, improving financial processes and creating training programmes around negotiation and pricing strategy. His work also focused on unlocking new revenue streams through digital and analytics capabilities.
The newly created role at WPP comes at a time when global agencies are under pressure to offer more transparent, efficient and scalable commercial models to clients.
With Epstein’s appointment, WPP appears to be fine-tuning its commercial engine, aiming to make client partnerships simpler, sharper and more aligned with evolving market needs.
