Brands
Digital Brand Fest 2022: Decoding digital transformation for tech-led future
Mumbai: Indiantelevision.com is organising a five-day event ‘Digital Brand Fest 2022’ from 21 to 25 February to explore and understand the new forces driving the digital transformation for a tech-led future. The week-long virtual summit is presented by Voot. Interakt, Josh and Pixis have joined as industry partners.
The industry stands at a crucial juncture today. As the internet empowered consumers with more choices, digital became the new battleground for brands to test their marketing skills and retain their connect with consumers whose preferences were changing faster than ever. Whether it was the boom in influencer marketing or the popularity of short-video platforms, brands did not hesitate in jumping onto the digital bandwagon to up their marketing game.
As we enter into 2022, Indiantelevision.com is taking this opportunity to bring a host of industry experts together on one platform to discuss these trends shaping the future. Digital Brand Fest 2022 will have brands, advertisers, tech platforms discuss all these developments and more. The virtual event will also look at the changes in consumer behaviour and how it has impacted the industry’s growth.
The event will begin on Monday, 21 February with a keynote on ‘Decoding Current Digital Trends’ by Google industry head – telecom, media and entertainment Siddharth Shekhar.
It will be followed by two-panel discussions – ‘Human X Machine’ and ‘SMS, Notifications and Whatsapp Marketing’. The first session moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari will have Bharat Arora (Taboola), Nikhil Kumar (mediasmart and Affle company), Mehul Desai (Integral Ad Science), Rohan Chincholi (Havas Media Group India) and Salil Shanker (Amnet India) as panelists.
On the second panel moderated by Niraj Ruparel (GroupM) are Ahshad Jussawala (Jio-Haptik), Jayant Kshirsagar (CleverTap), Madhur Acharya (WOW Skin Science), Priya Patankar (PhonePe), Ritesh Ghosal (Soptle) and Suchit Sikaria (SUGAR cosmetics).
The discussion on 22 February will commence with Rapido’s Amit Verma, BigBasket’s Arun Jayaraman, Pixis’ Neel Pandya, Essence’s Sonali Malaviya, Snowflake’s Vimal Venkatraman, and Fresh to Home’s Vanda Ferrao deliberating on ‘Performance Marketing, Partnerships for good ROI’. The panel will be moderated by Xaxis India’s Dimpy Yadav.
The second session will explore ‘Digital Marketing – The New Dynamic Shift Post Pandemic’ with BharatPe’s Ashish Agarwal, Omnicom Media Group’s Bharat Khatri, GoKwik’s Chirag Taneja, Godrej’s Michelle Francis, Adlift’s Neha Pandey and Network 18’s Puneet Singhvi as panellists and Chetan Asher of Tonic Worldwide Media as the moderator.
Day three (Wednesday, 23 February) will witness another insightful session on ‘Engaging Communities and Driving Culture through Social Media’ moderated by Kosal Malladi from Madison Digital. Panellists include Sharechat’s Akshat Sahu, Cleartrip’s Himanshi Tandon, Zivame’s Khatija Lokhandwala, Trell’s Manikanta Yadavalli, Kalyan Jewellers’ Rupesh Jain and Puma’s Shreya Sachdev.
On Thursday, 24 February a TBA-moderated panel will delve into ‘Content Marketing’ trends with Kunal Bhardwaj from Upstox, Maninder Bali from Vedantu, Pallavi Chelluri from Moglix, Samir Sethi from Policybazaar.com and Sharmin Ali from Instoried.
‘CTV 101’ and Gen Z X Short Video’ will be key themes discussed on the last of the summit, Friday, 25 February. The first panel moderated by Anil Wanvari includes Gijsbert Pols from Adjust, Mete Bargmann from Magnite, and Vijay Anand Kunduri from PubMatic.
The second session will have Lenskart’s Anupam Tripathi, OML’s Gunjan Arya, Verse Innovation’s Nakul Puri, Bombay Shaving Company’s Siddha Jain and WATConsult’s Sahil Shah as speakers.
For registration, click here.
Brands
Hiili names Sanjay Hemady as country manager India
Media veteran to drive digital decarbonisation push
MUMBAI: Climate tech firm Hiili has announced its entry into India, appointing industry veteran Sanjay Hemady as India country manager to steer its growth in one of the world’s fastest-expanding digital markets.
Hemady, a familiar name across India’s media and consulting circles, will lead Hiili’s India operations from Mumbai. His mandate is clear: help Indian companies measure, manage and reduce the carbon emissions generated by their digital services.
Hiili offers a scientifically validated platform, certified by the UC3M-Santander Big Data Institute, that enables businesses to improve the efficiency of their digital infrastructure while cutting emissions. As organisations race to meet ESG targets, the company positions itself as a practical bridge between climate pledges and measurable action.
“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as country manager, India at Hiili,” Hemady said in a LinkedIn post, adding that the company aims to move beyond broad sustainability promises towards precise, science-based decarbonisation.
Hemady brings more than three decades of experience spanning print, television, radio and digital media. He has previously served as chief executive officer at HIT 95 FM, assistant general manager at CNBC TV18, and held leadership roles at MTV India and The Indian Express, among others. Most recently, he worked as an independent business consultant advising firms across media and technology.
With India’s digital economy expanding at pace, the environmental cost of data, streaming and online services is climbing quietly in the background. Hiili’s bet is that carbon efficiency will soon sit alongside cost efficiency in boardroom conversations.
For Hemady, the move marks a shift from selling airtime and ad inventory to championing climate accountability. If successful, Hiili’s India play could make digital growth not just faster, but cleaner too.
