MAM
Kohler awards creative biz to Ogilvy
MUMBAI: Bathroom and kitchen fittings manufacturer Kohler has awarded its creative mandate to WPP‘s creative agency O&M India.
The account was previously handled by the Delhi office of Publicis Groupe‘s Leo Burnett who won it in April 2010. The win is the result of a multi-agency pitch that was initiated in November last year.
Kohler Kitchen & Bath India MD Salil Sadanandan said, “Ogilvy is the name behind some of the most memorable ad campaigns for brands across diverse categories in the country. We welcome them on board and look forward to working on some great campaigns together.”
O&M group president Prateek Srivastava said, “We are delighted to get an opportunity to work with Kohler. It‘s a sharp and aspirational brand. Besides, it‘s always a pleasure to work with a company whose business is also about creativity and aesthetics.”
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
