MAM
Swiggy finds you a food partner this ValenDine’s Day
MUMBAI: Matching in the modern-day is all about choosing a partner (by face) and hoping it clicks. This Valentine’s Day, among all the roses and right-swipes, Swiggy and its digital agency partner, Dentsu Webchutney, came up with a novel approach to finding the perfect match.
Swiggy AVP of marketing Ashish Lingamneni says, “Food is one thing that nearly every Indian loves, in his own different way. However, there are so many people out there who would have similarities in which they order and enjoy their food. As India’s top food delivery service, we see these similarities on a daily basis. So we thought, what could we do with India’s greatest talking point — food?”
It is with this intent that Swiggy created My ValenDine, an opt-in platform, which uses interested Swiggy users’ order history, and matches them based on their favourite food and preferences. On Valentine’s Day, users come back to the microsite to find who their ValendDne’s matches are.
Dentsu Webchutney Bangalore creative director PG Aditya adds, “The insight came from one of the seemingly bigger challenges of modern dating and it’s not a match if you have nothing in common. Food is the perfect talking point as everyone has a particular food they love, and a particular way they love their food. With Swiggy’s user data, we have found a way to use this to bring people of similar tastes together.”
The campaign was launched on 11 February on myvalendine.swiggy.com, where registrations were open until Monday night. Interested users had to register before the deadline with their name, phone number and a link to their Facebook profile.
The site hit immediate success on Sunday, with close to 1000 registrations within the first few hours, despite limited promotion. “Food plays a far more important role in our society than just filling our tummies”, Lingamneni continues. “This is just one of the innovative ways in which the team has been exploring the things food can do.”
AD Agencies
WPP appoints Hephzibah Pathak CEO of WPP Creative India
Ogilvy India chair takes charge of unified creative model in key market
NEW DELHI: WPP has appointed Hephzibah Pathak as chief executive officer of WPP Creative India, putting a local leader at the helm of its newly created creative operating model in one of its most important growth markets.
The move brings clarity to how WPP’s global restructuring will play out in India, weeks after the group unveiled WPP Creative as part of its Elevate28 strategy. The unit sits alongside WPP Media, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions, and is designed to simplify what the company previously described as an overly complex structure.
Pathak, who continues as executive chairperson of Ogilvy India, will represent all agencies under the WPP Creative umbrella in India. Her role centres on driving integration across brands, expanding capabilities and ensuring clients can tap into the network’s full talent pool without friction.
WPP said Pathak will work closely with agency brand CEOs to “enhance integration, expand capabilities, and ensure seamless client access”, while maintaining the distinct identities of its agencies.
The portfolio under WPP Creative includes leading networks such as VML, Landor, AKQA and Grey, along with Burson and its affiliated firms. Leaders across these agencies will now report into Pathak, even as each brand continues to operate independently within a unified system.
The appointment also formalises a dual-track strategy in India, preserving agency identities while accelerating collaboration. Pathak is expected to work closely with media leadership to align creative and media capabilities, reflecting growing client demand for integrated, multi-market solutions.
WPP Creative global CEO Jon Cook has described the unit as “not an agency” but an operating system that helps creative, design and PR brands work together more effectively. The group has been clear that it is not merging or phasing out legacy agency brands, instead aiming to reduce complexity on the client side.
Pathak brings nearly three decades of experience within the network, having joined in 1997 and held roles ranging from Mumbai office head to chief client officer. She made history in 2024 as the first woman to lead Ogilvy India in its 95-year presence in the country.
Her expanded mandate positions India at the centre of WPP’s Asia-Pacific strategy, with a focus on strengthening brand presence, deepening client relationships and unlocking growth in a fast-evolving market.
The appointment signals WPP’s intent to move beyond the traditional holding company model towards a more integrated, AI-enabled structure. With Pathak now steering WPP Creative India, the group appears set to test whether simpler structures can indeed deliver sharper creative outcomes.
