AD Agencies
Contract appoints Mayur Hola as ECD
MUMBAI: Mayur Hola has joined Contract India as executive creative director, based in Delhi.
Prior to this, Mayur was with McCann on some of the most talked about and award winning campaigns like Pan Vilas’ ‘Shauq Badi Cheez Hai’ and the Nescafé – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy work, for which his team won an integrated ABBY and the marketing campaign of the year at the CMO Asia awards.
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“Mayur is a fantastic new addition to our rapidly growing Delhi branch, and he will lead the creative charge of that office from here on. In the last few years, his work on brands like Nescafe, Dish TV, and Chevrolet, has been noticed, applauded and awarded. Plus he is a fabulous team-builder, so I am positive that with him on board, Contract, Delhi is going to be a revved up, happy place”, said Contract’s NCD Ashish Chakravarthy on the appointment.
This would be Mayur’s second stint at Contract. He started his career in advertising with McCann as a writer, where he spent close to seven years over three stints. At McCann he launched the life insurance brand PNB MetLife with its ‘Be Double Sure’ work, conceived the madness of Dish TV’s ‘Dish Sawaar Hai’ campaign and carried forward the power brand Chevy Cruze for GM in addition to the most awarded Nescafé campaign.
Over the course of his career, Mayur has worked with TBWA where he headed the Delhi office, Grey and Contract.
AD Agencies
Microsoft shifts global media account from Dentsu to Publicis Groupe: Reports
Closed review ends decade-long tie-up; Xbox remit may remain with Dentsu
MUMBAI: Microsoft has reassigned its global media planning and buying business to Publicis Groupe, according to media reports, ending Dentsu’s long-standing stewardship of one of the advertising industry’s biggest accounts.
The move follows a closed review and marks a notable shake-up in the global media landscape. Dentsu, which managed the account through Carat, had held the mandate since 2014 and successfully defended it in a 2018 review.
While the broader business is shifting, Dentsu is expected to retain media responsibilities for Xbox, according to media reports, though the exact contours of that arrangement remain unclear. None of the parties involved have publicly outlined the transition timeline or the full structure of the handover.
The scale of the account underscores the significance of the change. Estimates from COMvergence, cited by Ad Age, peg Microsoft’s global media spend at roughly $700 million last year.
For Publicis Groupe, the win deepens an already expanding relationship with the tech giant. Earlier this year, Microsoft Advertising partnered with Publicis Media Exchange and Epsilon to integrate Epsilon’s data into its platform, aiming to sharpen targeting across search, native and display formats.
The decision reflects a broader industry shift, as large advertisers increasingly favour agency partners with strong first-party data capabilities, AI integration and platform-led solutions. Publicis Groupe has been leaning into this model, positioning its data assets and technology stack as a central differentiator.
For Dentsu, the loss is significant. Media remains a core pillar of its global business, and the development comes close on the heels of leadership changes, including the appointment of Takeshi Sano as global chief executive officer.
The shift also carries a touch of irony. Microsoft and Dentsu have worked closely beyond the client-agency relationship, including collaborations around AI tools such as Copilot to support media and creative workflows.
As the dust settles, the message is clear: in today’s data-driven, AI-powered media world, relationships may be long, but they are rarely permanent.
