Brands
Leo Burnett Orchard makes key senior appointments
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett Orchard, the Leo Group India’s full service creative agency, has made some key senior management changes.
The agency has brought on board Manav Rai Ahuja as vice president and branch head of Mumbai. The branch’s former vice president and head Sharmine Panthaky, has moved to the Bengaluru branch in the same capacity. Panthaky now heads the branch overseeing the Amazon India business, Leo Burnett Orchard’s largest client.
The duo will report to Leo Burnett Orchard COO Mahuya Chaturvedi. Ahuja will work closely with executive creative director Amod Dani. He comes from Leo Burnett India’s Gurugram office where he was the vice president. He joined the agency in 2009 to launch Telenor in India. His advertising experience spans 14 years, of which he has spent the last eight with Leo Burnett India. He has also had stints with Lowe, McCann Worldgroup and Ogilvy & Mather in the past. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the country namely Coca Cola India, Maruti Suzuki, General Motors, SBI Card, Uninor, Snapdeal, Perfetti, LG, Motorola and Yahoo! He has also worked in the high-end luxury retail sector during his year long stint with Lladro and Villeroy & Boch.
Chaturvedi says, “Manav comes in with the rich experience of working on some of the biggest brands across categories. He will take the momentum of the Mumbai branch forward, keeping its winning streak going. His mandate is to grow the great body of work that the branch has done in 2017, by manifold. I expect 2018 to be an exceptional year for Leo Burnett Orchard Mumbai with Manav and Amod working together to create some fantastic work for our clients.”
Excited to be joining his new role, Ahuja mentions, “Leo Burnett Orchard has great momentum right now. We have an exciting set of brands and the right mix of people to create some great work in the coming months. My personal focus would be to delight my current and prospective clients by offering them integrated solutions to their brand problems. I look forward to my new role with all its exciting challenges.”
Brands
Kaspersky and KidZania want Indian children to fight hackers before they hit their teens
Kaspersky and KidZania open a cyber investigation centre in Mumbai to teach children how to outsmart hackers
MUMBAI: India’s children are growing up online faster than anyone can protect them. Kaspersky, the global cybersecurity firm, is betting that the best way to fix that is to make six-year-olds feel like detectives.
The company has opened a Cyber Investigation Centre inside KidZania Mumbai at R City Mall, Ghatkopar, in what it is calling a first-of-its-kind cybersecurity role-play experience for children. Kids suit up in Kaspersky uniforms, sit down at dedicated workstations loaded with security software, and spend 20 minutes cracking simulated cases of phishing, identity theft and cyberbullying. Up to six children can play investigator at a time. Those who crack the case walk away with a personalised Kaspersky Cyber Investigator card — and a healthy suspicion of dodgy links.
The timing is not accidental. In India, 82.2 per cent of children have access to a mobile device by the age of 14. They use it to stream, game, chat and study. Most of them have never heard the word “phishing.”
“The earlier we equip children with the awareness and skills to navigate the digital world safely, the stronger our collective digital future becomes,” said Jaydeep Singh, general manager for India at Kaspersky. Tarandeep Singh Sekhon, chief business officer of KidZania India, put it more plainly: “Every parent today is thinking about how to prepare their child for a digital-first future.”
The partnership comes with commercial sweeteners. Visitors buying KidZania tickets get a complimentary two-month Kaspersky trial subscription. Annual pass holders get a full year’s subscription thrown in. Discount vouchers go out at the exit gates.
The launch ceremony leaned into KidZania’s theatrical DNA — a diya lighting, a dance performance, a key handover, a parade through the miniature city, and a ribbon-cutting at the new centre.
Cybercriminals, it turns out, do not discriminate by age. Kaspersky and KidZania are hoping that neither will the next generation of people trying to stop them.
