Rediffusion launches all-women ad agency 'Ladyfinger' with Tista Sen as CEO and CCO

Rediffusion Brand Solutions has launched Ladyfinger- an all-women’s ad agency that aims to champion the perspective of women in brand advertising.

Tista Sen has been appointed as the CEO and CCO of the new agency, and Tanya Goyal as the Chairperson.

Based in Mumbai, Ladyfinger will aim to challenge norms, break barriers, and create positive change in the Indian advertising landscape, as per Rediffusion.

It further said that the agency is founded on the belief that though a vast majority of Indian advertising is targeted at women consumers, the female perspective is either missing in most of the communication or is largely characterised by casual gender stereotyping.

A 2019 Kantar study found that 58% of on-air ads target women exclusively, and only 35% are directed at both genders. The study also found that while 75% of marketers globally think that they are avoiding gender-stereotyping, 76% female consumers believe that the portrayal of women in advertising is completely out of touch. And finally, it highlights that “gender-balanced brands drive greater brand value while brands that skew towards men tend to underperform and are valued on an average $9 billion less, while only one in three brands achieve this balance in India.”

With an all-women workforce Ladyfinger aims to bring about better gender-balance in its advertising and creative brand solution strategies for its potential clients.

Ladyfinger will offer a full range of services - including creative services, strategic planning communication, insight mining, policy and content development across all media platforms.

In addition to its focus on creative excellence, Ladyfinger is dedicated to empowering women   in the workplace. The agency said it is committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment that promotes equality, diversity, and professional growth. Through mentorship programs, leadership development initiatives and community partnerships, Ladyfinger aims to inspire, uplift, and empower women in the advertising industry and beyond.

“It's about time,” said Tista Sen, CEO and CCO of the agency. “At Ladyfinger our team of talented women bring a fresh and unique approach to advertising, fuelled by our collective passion for creativity, diversity, and innovation. We believe we can unshackle brands to generate more business and there is an opportunity across beauty, finance, nutrition, personal care, banking and yes even real estate.  We are committed to driving a positive change in the advertising world and beyond and we believe that our all-women agency will make a significant impact.”

Sandeep Goyal, MD and Director, Rediffusion, and Chairperson, Ladyfinger, told BestMediaInfo.com that, “Most brands don’t quite do justice to a woman’s point-of-view. Women today are not just the primary buyers of most FMCG brands, but are also big drivers of banking to beauty, wellness to wanderlust. Ladyfinger will represent the woman customer in the buying process and help brands think afresh, think anew.”

“Tista brings tremendous brand building expertise to Ladyfinger; she has got together an awesome team. I am sure Ladyfinger will considerably stir things up in Indian advertising.”

He also told BestMediaInfo.com that the agency has already signed three retainers and aims to work with leading FMCG, beauty and wellness players in the country in the next 12-18 months, even if it is on a project basis, along with international network agencies.

“The team is diverse; their experience rich and varied. And Rediffusion as the parent will provide resources such as Red Lab and Rediffusion Studios to help the new agency. Expect big from Ladyfinger!” Goyal said.

With this, he also clarified that even though Redifussion has a lot of jewellery and saree brands which work closely with the agency, such brands will not move to Ladyfinger and that the agency would therefore have enough play on its own to be able to find its own clients but the entirety of the parent agency’s resources in the form of creative people, readymade offices, etc. will come in handy.

The ladyfinger panel of women advisors include Juhi Chaturvedi, movie writer; Srishti Behl CEO Phantom Films; Malvika Mehra, Independent creative director; Nonita Kalra, Editor-in-chief Tata Cliq Luxury; Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder Elephant Design; Nirmika Singh, Executive Editor Rolling Stone India; Bindu Sethi, Strategic Brand Consultant; Geeta Rao, former Beauty and Health Director Vogue; Sakshi Choudhary, Founder Indian Creative Women; Alyna Haji Omar, Founder Audacity Sri Lanka, Communication Strategist Editor Co. and Sheetal Kumar, High Court Lawyer.

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