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2022: The year of surprising account movements
Mumbai: The year 2022 has finally seen a wrap, and Indiantelevision.com thought it would be great to put together a round-up of the advertising industry’s significant happenings, talking about the major account wins and mergers & acquisitions that took place.
Getting on with the major account wins across creative, media and digital…
WPP Group:
Snack giant PepsiCo India ended its 30 years of partnership with WPP.
Wunderman Thompson India won the creative mandate for Cera Sanitaryware.
Contract Advertising won the mandate for Haldiram’s.
Urban Company brought Initiative Media on board as its media agency on record.
Mars retained WPP’s Mediacom as its global media agency.
Mirum bagged the digital duties for IDFC Mutual Fund.
The Glitch/VMLY&R
Enamor appointed The Glitch as its agency on record. The agency also won Olx Autos’ digital mandate.
Wavemaker
In a severe blow to the WPP Group, Wavemaker lost the ITC Group’s media and digital business.
The agency in turn gained the media mandate for Tata Consumer Products and Truecaller. Don’t know, though, if it would be enough to make up for the loss of the ITC biz.
Essence
Rebel Foods appoints Essence as its integrated media agency in India – the agency will help drive growth for brands like Behrouz Biryani, Faasos, Oven Story Pizza, Wendy’s, and EatSure, all operated by Rebel Foods.
Beauty brand Plum India, too, assigned its integrated media duties to Essence.
Omnicom Group India:
Omnicom Media Group India won the integrated media mandate for Electrolux.
BBDO
Jack Daniel’s India appointed BBDO India as its integrated communications agency. The agency also won the creative mandate for Milkbasket.
Publicis Groupe:
One of the biggest account movements that took place in 2022 was that of Publicis Media winning PepsiCo India’s media agency mandate.
Starcom bagged the media mandate for Vadilal Ice Creams.
Hitachi assigned its creative duties to BBH India – the account was won after a multi-agency pitch.
Leo Burnett
PepsiCo, after ending its 30-year-old relationship with WPP, assigned its creative mandate to Publicis-owned Leo Burnett. The agency also won Meta’s corporate account.
Leo Burnett became the global AOR for Jim Beam. Niva Bupa, too, onboarded the agency as its creative partner.
L&K Saatchi & Saatchi
L&K Saatchi & Saatchi bagged the creative mandate for Akasa Air and Somany Ceramics.
Zenith
Nestle India retained Zenith for its Rs 700 crore media account. The agency also bagged the media mandate for Eureka Forbes and the digital duties for LG Electronics.
IPG Group:
FCB Interface won the integrated creative mandate for Max Life Insurance.
In a handsome win, IPG Mediabrands won ITC’s media and digital duties from GroupM’s Wavemaker. The account was worth Rs 600 crore.
Lodestar UM retained BMW India’s integrated media mandate – the agency retained the media duties of the auto major for five more years following a multi-agency pitch.
MullenLowe Lintas
Mullen Lintas Delhi won the creative mandate for Vadilal Ice Creams, Ferns ‘N’ Petals, and ITC’s Fabelle.
The agency also bagged the creative mandate for the Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL 2022).
Interactive Avenues
Interactive Avenues bagged the digital media mandate of Emami and Kohler.
Havas Group:
Burger King India assigned its digital mandate to Havas Worldwide India.
Slurrp Farm’s integrated media mandate has been awarded to Havas Media Group India.
Havas Media secured the integrated mandate for Valvoline and CoinSwitch.
Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN):
Taproot Dentsu won the creative mandate for Biba.
Dentsu India won the integrated media account for Hero MotoCorp’s Vida.
Dentsu Webchutney bagged the digital mandate for MakeMyTrip.
Dentsu X won the digital media mandate for Dabur India and Reckitt Benckiser.
Lenovo appointed Assembly and Dentsu as its media agencies of record.
Zoo Media Network:
Zoo Media Network secured the creative and branded content mandate for Kingfisher Premium and Ultra.
FoxyMoron won Organic Tattva’s digital and performance marketing mandate. The agency also won the digital performance media mandate for Schwarzkopf Professional.
Liqvd Asia:
Liqvd Asia won the creative mandate for Go First. The agency also bagged the digital mandates for Parle Confectionery and Vega.
Grapes Digital:
Grapes bagged the integrated creative mandate for the media conglomerate, Zee Media. The agency also became the digital AOR for Faces Canada and the social media AOR for JBL.
RepIndia:
Sleepwell appointed RepIndia as its mainline agency for brand communication. The agency also bagged Haldiram’s digital mandate.
Other important brand account movements include..
Art-E MediaTech won the social media mandate for realme and the digital mandate for Pidilite Industries.
Yellow bagged the creative account of Sephora India.
SoCheers won the creative and digital mandate for Keya Foods.
Humour Me bagged the creative mandate for Dunzo Daily.
Meesho assigned its creative mandate to Sideways.
Brand Visage bagged the digital mandate of Baidyanath Ayurved.
Truecaller assigned its creative mandate to The Womb.
Madison World bagged the integrated Godrej & Boyce media mandate.
iCubesWire bagged the digital mandate for Luxor.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A):
Langoor and Havas Group India decided to part ways.
Homegrown advertising agency R K Swamy and international advertising network BBDO decided to part ways after an association of 37 years.
Cake officially set up shop in India last year. Founded in 1999, this London-headquartered agency, which joined the Havas Group in 2008, chose India as its first global office outside the UK.
WPP has acquired the remaining 26 per cent stake in MediaCom in India from Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara Vajifdar.
GroupM merged Essence and Mediacom to form Essencemediacom, and Mindshare with Neo to form a new 9,000-person cross-channel performance platform based on AI technology.
With so much happening in the year 2022, one can only look forward to what could happen this year!
NEW DELHI: Hamdard Laboratories gathered a cross-section of India’s achievers in New Delhi on Friday, handing out the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Excellence Awards to figures who have left their mark across healthcare, education, sport, public service and the arts.
The ceremony, attended by minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth and senior officials from the ministry of Ayush, celebrated individuals whose work blends professional success with a sense of public purpose. It was as much a roll call of achievement as it was a reminder that influence is not measured only in profits or podiums, but in people reached and lives improved.
Among the headline awardees was Alakh Pandey, founder and chief executive of PhysicsWallah, recognised for turning affordable digital learning into a mass movement. On the sporting front, Arjuna Awardee and kabaddi player Sakshi Puniya was honoured for her contribution to the game and for pushing women’s participation onto bigger stages.
The cultural spotlight fell on veteran lyricist and poet Santosh Anand, whose songs have echoed across generations of Hindi cinema. At 97, Anand accepted the honour with characteristic humility, reflecting on a life shaped by perseverance and hope.
Healthcare honours spanned both modern and traditional systems. Manoj N. Nesari was recognised for strengthening Ayurveda’s place in national and global health frameworks. Padma shri Mohammed Abdul Waheed was honoured for his research-backed work in Unani medicine, while padma shri Mohsin Wali received recognition for his long-standing contribution to patient-centred care.
Education and social development also featured prominently. Padma shri Zahir Ishaq Kazi was honoured for decades of work in education, while former Meghalaya superintendent of Police T. C. Chacko was recognised for public service. Goonj founder Anshu Gupta received an award for his dignity-centred rural development initiatives, and the Hunar Shakti Foundation was honoured for empowering women and young girls through skill development.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to former IAS officer Shailaja Chandra for her long career in public healthcare and governance, particularly in the traditional systems under Ayush.
Speaking at the event, Hamdard chairman Abdul Majeed said the awards were a tribute to those who combine excellence with empathy. “These awardees reflect Hakeem Sahib’s belief that healthcare, education and public service must ultimately serve humanity,” he said.
Minister Seth struck a forward-looking note, saying India’s young population gives the country a unique opportunity to become a global destination for learning, health and wellness by 2047.
The ceremony also featured the trailer launch of Unani Ki Kahaani, an upcoming documentary starring actor Jim Sarbh, set to premiere on Discovery on 11 February.
Instituted in memory of Unani scholar and educationist Hakeem Abdul Hameed, the awards have grown into a national platform that celebrates those building a more inclusive and resilient India. For one evening at least, the spotlight was not just on success, but on service with substance.
