MAM
Maxus brings Navin Khemka on board as managing partner
MUMBAI: Maxus has appointed Navin Khemka as its managing partner. Khemka will be heading the north and east regions for the media agency and will also be responsible for new business development across the country. He will report to Maxus south Asia managing director Kartik Sharma.
With over 17 years of experience in the advertising and media industry, Khemka’s last appointment was with ZenithOptimedia, where he left as managing partner. With a tenure spanning the last eight years, he was initially the trading lead for key accounts such as Nestle and HP. He subsequently took over the business leadership of the HP account, delivering some award winning campaigns such as the HP Serena Williams campaign at Lakme Fashion Week. Thereafter he took on the additional role of new business director for India. He was instrumental in bringing on new clients such as Honda, Toshiba, Uninor, McVities, Karbonn Mobiles, Godfrey Philips, Best Rice, Greenlam Laminates, Olx.in, Jabong.com, Yatra.com at ZenithOptimedia.
Sharma said, “Navin comes with a varied skill set and extensive experience across various product categories. He is an ideal leader to spearhead the Maxus team, and uphold our PACE value system across the organistaion. At Maxus we endeavour to push the boundaries to delivering excellence for our clients, to achieve our 10/10 mandate.”
Khemka said, “I am delighted to be a part of India’s most dynamic agency – Maxus. Brand needs are changing and Maxus is geared up to providing a holistic solution to its clients. I look forward to work closely with the team and help provide seamless, media neutral solutions to our clients. Driving growth for Maxus in existing and new geographies also makes my role challenging. I am looking forward to exciting days ahead.”
A graduate of St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and MICA, Khemka started his career with Mudra where he worked for five years. Prior to ZenithOptimedia, Navin worked at Cheil Communications, Mindshare and Carat.
MAM
Cars24 launches bold assurances
Auto-tech giant unveils lifetime warranty and 30-day returns in quirky campaign.
MUMBAI: Shifting gears from empty promises to ironclad policies, Cars24 is revving up the used-car scene with assurances that could make even a sceptical mother-in-law nod in approval. India’s leading auto-tech firm has unveiled a fresh brand campaign spotlighting two industry-first perks, a Lifetime Warranty for enduring peace of mind and a 30-Day Return Policy that lets buyers test-drive their decision without buyer’s remorse, a rarity in the pre-owned wheels world.
Conceptualised by the creative whizzes at Talented and directed with flair by Shivang Monga of First December Films, this marks the duo’s debut collaboration with Cars24. Ditching the usual symbolic fluff and emotional tugs, the ads put tangible guarantees front and centre, transforming trust from a fuzzy feeling to a firm handshake.
At the heart of the films is Cars24’s India CEO Himanshu Ratnoo, who steps into the spotlight to deliver “family promises” think Mother Promise, Mother-in-Law Promise, and Sister Promise, all underscoring the brand’s rock-solid confidence in its revamped systems. These light-hearted spots treat cars like cherished kin, plonking them in cosy living rooms for that soap-opera drama, as Monga quips, “Cars have always been a soft spot for Indian households, a source of pride and treated like a member of the family. So placing cars inside living rooms felt like the right way to get the wheels turning. The CEO himself taking these ‘family promises’ just made the situations more dramatic and relatable, like a soap opera with cars!”
Cars24 co-founder and CMO Gajendra Jangid explains the backstory: “We have spent the last few years working on one thing more than anything else: the quality of the cars we sell. In this business, you can’t compensate for a weak product. So we became far more disciplined about what we source, how we inspect, and how we prepare every car before it reaches someone’s driveway. A lot of cars don’t make it through our filters. We don’t sell a car that we would not buy for ourselves and that has been a conscious choice.” He adds that these bold moves reflect genuine self-assurance, with Ratnoo’s on-camera role signalling internal seriousness. “This brand film is coming after three years and it feels good to finally share this side of our journey. We are genuinely excited about where the product stands today and proud to put our name behind it.”
Talented creatives Sanket Audhi and Udit Joshi from chime in on the cultural twist, “Buying a car in India is rarely just a transaction. It’s surrounded by opinions, advice and, most importantly, promises. Everyone has one: family members, friends, neighbours, even people who’ve never owned a car. While trust in this category has traditionally been communicated emotionally, the real shift needed to happen at a product level. With the Lifetime Warranty and 30-Day Return Policy, Cars24 is backing confidence with something tangible.”
Catch the films in all their promise-packed glory on Youtube. In a market often riddled with dodgy deals, this campaign might just steer buyers towards smoother rides.
