The Covid-19 outbreak has severely affected businesses globally including India. While the advertising industry has been critically impacted due to the pandemic, the effects are certainly more pronounced across the events and out-of-home businesses within the market.
Consequently, in a proactive attempt to smoothen the damage that the OOH sector continues to face in India under the coronavirus threat, Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India has embarked upon multiple initiatives to future proof the group along with working closely with other DAN markets from the network to further strengthen its capabilities.
As part of these initiatives, Milestone Brandcom, the out-of-home agency from the house of DAN India, will lead the program to augment the agency’s OOH business by adopting new technology, media insights, and best practices by working closely alongside the agencies in the network and getting the best practices from other markets. Nabendu Bhattacharyya, CEO & MD – Milestone Brandcom, will spearhead the initiative. In the coming period, Nabendu will be alternating between the US and India offices to introduce the best practices and learnings to DAN India in addition to catalyzing Milestone Brandcom’s OOH business capabilities in the market and provide connectivity to its Indian businesses. Nabendu will continue to report into Anand Bhadkamkar, CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network India.
Speaking on the initiative, Anand Bhadkamkar said, “The post-Covid world will summon a new era. It will demand new ways of working and thinking across businesses. Fresh strategies will have to be charted to improve business productivity. We will have to re-invent the way we work and bring in more resilience in our businesses to embrace the disruption in the market in a post COVID scenario. Therefore, to inculcate innovation, and introduce fresh learnings and perspectives into the business, Nabendu will drive this initiative. He will continue leading Milestone Brandcom, alternating between the US and India offices.”
“Nabendu is an accomplished and highly regarded and awarded professional in the OOH business. He is also very well versed in and exposed to the skills and capabilities of the OOH sector not just in India but globally. Hence, he is best placed to spot the trends and bring those to Milestone operations to help drive the business on its next phase of growth journey and ambitions,” he added. It is pertinent to note here that Milestone Brandcom is acclaimed as a fully integrated cutting-edge agency in India. Besides being one of the leading OOH agencies in India, it offers creative and experiential marketing solutions to a plethora of national and multinational brands.
Commenting on his new role, Nabendu Bhattacharyya said, “The US controls nearly 50% of the world’s ad industry. So what better than to start there, import their technologies and ideas, and use their learnings to enhance Milestone Bandcom and DAN India brands. I strongly believe that Dentsu as a network will help in the growth of India’s advertising structure and Milestone Brandcom will strengthen its position as a flagship brand of DAN India. I am also convinced that the whole world will come out of these challenging times soon and large markets like the US will accelerate economic growth faster than ever.
Home to two of the strongest OOH brands in the country – Milestone Brandcom and Posterscope, competing fiercely in the marketplace, DAN continues to command clear leadership in the out-of-home business in India; and now, with this new initiative and other measures, Milestone Brandcom along with DAN Brands are gearing up to support clients address their business problems and target exponential growth once businesses start coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.
For the record, Milestone Brandcom and Posterscope India will continue to work independently, with its respective leaders reporting into DAN India CEO, Anand Bhadkamkar, while team Milestone Brandcom will continue to report into Nabendu Bhattacharyya.
