MAM
RK Swamy BBDO Interactive wins Mercedes-Benz’s digital mandate
MUMBAI: RK Swamy BBDO Interactive has won the mandate for the digital and social media business of Mercedes-Benz.
The incumbent on this account is GroupM‘s MEC: Interaction. Active in the digital space for the last two years, Mercedes-Benz India plans to intensify its activities during the course of this year.
Mercedes-Benz director sales marketing Debashis Mitra said, “We were looking for a partner with in-depth understanding of the luxury automotive space and has the ability to steer the brand online engaging with our target group in a meaningful manner. RK Swamy BBDO Interactive strategically fit the bill as they understand our brand by virtue of handling our creative business. They have a young and passionate team and our expectations from them are high.”
RK Swamy BBDO Interactive senior partner Neeraj Sangani said, “Brands need to have a vision and a purpose in the online space. We are glad that the Mercedes-Benz team and we think alike. There is a lot of ‘noise’ around the medium but brands that will listen and engage will win in the long run. We have clearly articulated a plan to achieve our objectives.”
RK Swamy BBDO Interactive offers digital solutions including web design, iMedia planning and buying, social media, mobile and ipad pps.
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.
