MAM
Ajay Gupte talks about the fabulous three years of Wavemaker India
NEW DELHI: It has been three years since two very successful agencies called MEC and Maxus merged to give birth to Wavemaker India. The fledgling venture from the house of WPP’s GroupM already enjoys a market share of anywhere between 12 and 15 per cent, as per reports. Boasting valuable clients like Vi, Mother Dairy, Mondelez, ITC, and Supr Daily, to name a few, the agency has made great strides in seemingly no time at all. As the agency celebrates its third anniversary today in India, Wavemaker South Asia CEO Ajay Gupte, who took over from Kartik Sharma earlier this year, talks to Mansi Sharma from Indiantelevision.com about the journey thus far, their future growth plans, and how 2020 has made Wavemaker a more tight-knit and hands-on family. Edited excerpts follow.
On three-years of Wavemaker
Wavemaker, in many ways, is a very special and unique agency because it happens very rarely that you get this opportunity to take two powerhouses and merge them to create something massive. Combining MEC and Maxus gave us the ability to invest in many things that we believed in and understood will be important for the future. With our combined strengths, we invested in data, tools, digital, programmatic, etc. and that really helped us in creating a strong bond with our clients. All these investments also helped us greatly in managing our business through this tough time of the pandemic.
On the challenging year 2020
2020 has been a massive experience for all of us in many ways. But for the agency, it came as a big opportunity to utilise and promote the many investments we made in the previous two years – be it in the data and analytics space, influencer capabilities, the effectiveness labs, etc, and give our clients the best services possible.
On the team-level, we have gotten much more closer and understanding of each other. Earlier, our teams in various states could manage to meet once or twice a year, but now we are having at least two meetings every week. We are thinking about the future, the challenges, and how we can improve on our offerings. We also managed to do some amazing work for our clients, especially in the content space.
On the new leadership panel
I am very blessed to have such a phenomenal team here in India. The recent shifts in roles and promotions have only made it better for us. Premjeet (Sodhi) is an industry stalwart and getting him on board has added so much depth and intelligence to our work. Kishan Kumar has been with us for 17 years and he is extremely innovative. Mac Machiach is a fabulous resource for client relationships and I am very confident of him handling our one of the most valuable accounts of ITC. I am very proud of Sandeep (Pandey) who has now taken up a global leadership role. The best part is that he is based in India, so we can always approach him to help the teams.
On his vision for future
I am positive that 2021 is going to be very positive for us. I see it as a massive opportunity. We, therefore, want to strengthen our capabilities and investments in the data, content, and influencer capabilities. Our tools, analytics, and strategies are only going to be sharper.
From a work culture perspective, it is definitely on our agenda to make Wavemaker India an inclusive workplace with gender ratios balanced. In fact, it is a wider WPP agenda that we are very seriously following to adopt here as well. We are taking small steps by making women feel more empowered and comfortable in the workplace, giving them much-needed respite when it comes to maternity or family roles. I am not saying that we are perfect, but we definitely are making strides in the right direction, towards becoming a good workplace for people of all sexualities and socio-cultural and economic backgrounds.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI:Â Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
