MAM
Royal Challenge to organise Roger Waters concert in Mumbai
MUMBAI: On 18 February 2007 rock icon Roger Waters will perform at a concert in Mumbai. He was the co-founder and creative genius behind the psychedelic band Pink Floyd.
The Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon concert tour will be in India courtesy Royal Challenge and DNA Networks. He will perform live at the MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai suburb of Bandra.
This is Waters’ second performance in the country. He was here last in 2002, when he performed in front of over 30,000 fans in Bangalore.
The event will include signature Pink Floyd effects of thundering helicopters, the pink pigs, and brick walls, combined with psychedelic special effects and a 360 degree quadraphonic sound. The concert is the largest event ever held in India, and Roger Waters is expected to arrive in India a day before the event, with a 12 member band, and more than 32 tons of equipment to ensure fans get the ultimate experience. The concert is also the longest ever held in India, with the legendary expected to perform on stage for close to three hours.
Waters says, “My last India experience was phenomenal. The Indian audience really knows how to rock – and Bangalore was a fabulous city. I’m looking forward to being in India again, and rocking with my fans in Mumbai. From what I hear of Mumbai as a city – this is going to be a rollicking experience.””
United Spirits executive VP, marketing, Alok Gupta says, “Royal Challenge is proud to present Roger Waters to the Forever Young Indian audiences. Like Roger Waters, Royal Challenge is a brand that has appealed to a wide spectrum of audiences cutting across age and time. In true sense this is an association of two legends coming together.
“Royal Challenge and Roger Waters are two names that can effortlessly unify different generations in one single spell. Very few brands enjoy such wide appeal and hence their association is absolutely perfect and in harmony.”
DNA Networks MD Venkat Vardhan says, “Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon is an iconic album, and a best seller of all times. It remained in the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart for a record-breaking 15 years and, as recently as 2003, occupied the number one spot on the Billboard Pop Catalog chart. In 2004, the album was still selling more than 8,000 copies a week. It has been estimated that 1 in every 14 Americans under the age of 50 owns a copy of this album. Not just rock music buffs, but music enthusiasts of all ages love Roger Waters’, and following the phenomenal success of the Roger Waters’ concert in Bangalore in 2002 – we were sure we wanted him to come back again.”
In the Set One of the concert the legendry artist will play classic compositions from the album The Wall. He will also play pieces from his albums Animals, Wish you were here and The Final cut and songs from his solo albums.
Set Two will consist of Roger Waters and the full band performing “The Dark Side Of The Moon,” one of the defining works of rock music history, from start-to-finish. The Dark side of the Moon is a concept album by Pink Floyd, the lyrics of which are solely credited to Roger Waters. It is the third best selling album of all time and has remained the longest standing album on the US Billboard top 200 chart in history.
The concert is being presented by Royal Challenge in association with Pepsi, Reliance Mobile, Worldspace and VH1. The category sponsors are Taj Land’s End, HSBC, TicketPro, Indiatimes, Lufthansa and NDTV.
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Havas Media Network India names Archana Aggarwal chief growth officer
The appointment comes as the network accelerates its integrated, data-led push across one of its top ten global markets.
MUMBAI: Havas Media Network India is moving fast, and it wants someone who can move faster.
The network has appointed Archana Aggarwal as chief growth officer, tasking her with driving the new business agenda and deepening client partnerships across Havas Media, PivotRoots, Havas Play and Arena Media. Based in Gurugram, she will report to Mohit Joshi, chief executive of Havas Media Network India.
Aggarwal arrives with more than two decades of media and marketing experience, most recently as vice-president of media at Airtel, where she led integrated media strategies tied to shifting consumer behaviour and business outcomes. Before that, she worked across some of the world’s most demanding marketing accounts, including P&G, Unilever, L’Oréal, Coca-Cola, the Diamond Trading Corporation and Airtel, spanning FMCG, telecom and the broader marketing ecosystem. She is noted for her command of emerging platforms, including connected TV, AI and the metaverse.
Rana Barua, group chief executive of Havas India, South-East Asia and North Asia, framed the hire as timely. “India continues to be a critical market for Havas globally and is among our top ten markets worldwide,” he said, noting strong momentum across the network’s integrated model and growing client partnerships. “Archana’s appointment comes at a pivotal time as we continue to scale our capabilities and accelerate growth.”
Joshi was equally direct. “Her deep understanding of consumer behaviour and proven ability to translate insights into business outcomes will be instrumental as we continue to scale our integrated, data-led capabilities across agencies,” he said.
Havas Media Network India currently serves more than 100 clients and employs over 1,000 professionals across Gurugram, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The network’s growth engine runs on Converged.AI, its proprietary operating system that brings together data, technology and human insight under the global vision of “Growth Powered by Desire.”
Aggarwal, for her part, called the opportunity compelling. “The chance to drive growth across a diverse and integrated ecosystem is exciting,” she said. “I look forward to working with the teams to deliver meaningful impact for clients.”
In a market where media fragmentation is accelerating and clients are demanding cleaner proof of return, Havas has hired someone who has sat on both sides of the table. That, in itself, is a statement of intent.
