AD Agencies
White Rivers Media bags DIZO’s digital mandate
Mumbai: White Rivers Media bags the digital mandate of DIZO — a global technology brand and the first brand in the realme TechLife ecosystem. The brand comes with realme’s support in 3 aspects – Industrial Design, Supply Chain, and AIoT experience that works perfectly with the realme Link app.
Being an independent, full-service digital marketing agency, White Rivers Media will curate the digital strategies for DIZO to promote and elevate user experience in AIoT. The brand will focus on Smart Entertainment, Smart Home, Smart Care, and Accessories for its consumers. The agency has conceptualized the brand launch video with the vision of establishing the brand not just for the young generation but also for those who are young at heart.
DIZO social media lead Sugandha Varshney said, “With DIZO we aim to break the clutter and offer a discerning young generation of tech enthusiasts with differentiated technology that is aligned to their needs, complements their individuality, empowers them, and becomes an extension of their personality. We are leveraging our years of research at realme and a profound understanding of consumers and their needs. The team at White Rivers Media understands that we intend to keep the consumers at the very epicenter of the technology. They have helped us curate a digital campaign that will help us reach our target audience.”
White Rivers Media co-founder & right brain Mitesh Kothari said, “With people spending most of their time home, we have witnessed a gradual shift in their mentality — they are now willing to spend more to optimize comfort in their home lives. With the launch of DIZO during a time when the experience economy has slowed down, we are expanding our horizons towards creating versatile digital tech experiences and creating a sphere of tech-empowered life through AIoT.”
DIZO, being the first brand in the realme TechLife ecosystem, is launched with an aim of creating a variety of AIoT solutions to meet the varied needs of the young and vibrant generation of the world. The brand’s focus is to provide the latest, innovative, and high-quality AIoT products in Smart Entertainment, Smart Home, Smart Care, and Accessories for its consumers.
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.
