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Keshav Naidu & Kahini Panjabi launch boutique creative agency

Christened Naidu & Panjabi, the agency has bagged its first client, beauty & wellness booking app Ziffi, post a multi-agency pitch

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Keshav Naidu & Kahini Panjabi launch boutique creative agency

Keshav Naidu & Kahini Panjabi launch boutique creative agency

Christened Naidu & Panjabi, the agency has bagged its first client, beauty & wellness booking app Ziffi, post a multi-agency pitch 

Aanchal Kohli | Mumbai | May 8, 2015

Naidu-and-Panjabi

The Indian advertising world has got a new entrant. Ad professionals Keshav Naidu and Kahini Panjabi have got together to form a boutique creative agency – Naidu & Panjabi. Headquartered in Mumbai, the agency has been formed keeping in mind the growing need and demand of creativity.

Before starting his own venture, Naidu has given more than a decade in the ad world and has worked with agencies like Creativeland Asia as Executive Creative Director, JWT as Executive Creative Director, Lowe and Partners as Creative Director and many more. He was voted by Clio as one of the Top 12 Global Creative Directors under 30.

Panjabi is a second generation art director who literally grew up in the creative department at Lintas.

Both believe that they can cultivate brands for growth by way of quality human experiences. It is not some great mission statement that they have, but abiding by a simple rule – Don't sell it if you won't buy it.

Keshav Naidu Keshav Naidu

When asked what prompted them to launch a new agency in a highly competitive market, Naidu said, “Traditional advertising and creativity needs to be challenged as the world gets smaller by the day and that was what made us launch an agency that believes more in creative values than business values. With Naidu & Panjabi we hope to create the perfect conditions for path-breaking, creative collaborations.”

Within a few days of inception, the agency has bagged the business for the recently funded beauty & wellness booking app Ziffi. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch in February 2015. Within weeks the Ziffi brand was re-born, complete with the heart-of-five-senses logo.

The campaign broke across radio, press, outdoor, digital and the agency claims that a 50 per cent jump in week on week traffic to the website was seen even as the number of appointments went up by four times since December 2014. An ad film for Ziffi is slated to hit the market in a couple of days and marks the directorial debut of Kunaal Roy Kapur.

Speaking about their new client, Ziffi, Naidu said, “Ziffi is the kind of new digital service that we don't realise we need until we use it. Once you're hooked, you wonder how you ever managed without it. The real challenge, however, is to get people to try something like this. How do you get people to try something they don't consciously need?”

Naidu feels that India is one of the largest and strongest markets in terms of advertising as compared to other competitive markets. “There are a lot more opportunities in the industry. Everybody discusses advertising in India, whether they are part of the advertising industry or just viewers. There is a need and demand for creative advertising which appeals to the viewers, like in the 90s, and not just a selling commercial,” he elaborated.

Kahini Panjabi Kahini Panjabi

Panjabi explained, “We didn't set out to make an ad film. We wanted to make a funny video that is young and urban India would enjoy as entertainment. Somewhere along the way we bumped into Kunaal Roy Kapur, who totally gets this demographic.”

Shantanu Jha, CEO, Ziffi.com, remarked, “Naidu & Panjabi are an amazing team to work with. Their understanding of the product and audience is spot on. Their creativity and freshness in thought process is refreshing and often sets the campaign apart from the clutter. Loaded with experience, the Naidu & Panjabi team goes the extra mile to get work done and deliver things. They are just the right partner you need for fast-paced delivery timelines. I am sure Naidu & Panjabi are here to make a big dent and we wish them the very best.”

When asked about their strategy to take on the mature players in the market, Naidu said, “It is not about competition, but about creating creative work. It is not about forming a brand, but about delivering something innovative and engaging. There is also a growing need for understanding technology. Technology today is creating products, services and categories faster than we could have ever imagined. For example, Zomato was just a product but not an all-new category and same applies to Bookmyshow, so having said that, we need to cope up with the fast changing world.”

A strong believer of quality than quantity, the two young entrepreneurs believe in achieving creative targets rather than business targets. “More than eying specific brands and categories, we will focus on new channels and mediums where we can reach people and which are creating opportunities for fresh communication. Today, people are not waiting to hear a brand message hence, we as advertising people will approach a brand as a consumer, which will help us understand the way we can approach our consumers,” Naidu said in conclusion.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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