Aakruti Upadhyay

Experience

• 

  Ogilvy

  Aug 2010 - Aug 2015

  Account Supervisor

  Ogilvy is India’s leading communications agency catering to media agnostic creative solutions to a vast number of brands in India. I was key member of the account management team of Bajaj Auto; the 6th largest motorbike manufacturer in the world and India’s #1 exporter.I also managed Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI), and its marquee properties like Indian Premier League (IPL) that is the 3rd most expensive sporting property in the world just below the National Basketball Association (NBA) and English Premier League (EPL). It’s currently worth US $ 5000 million; with viewership across the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.Key highlights:• Bajaj Auto produces motorbikes for three segments - Sports, Commute and Economy, which gave me exposure to conceptualising campaigns for both Upper and Lower Tier markets• Instrumental in rolling out successful launch of Bajaj Auto Corporate, Discover, Pulsar & Platina involving mainline TVC & Print campaigns, along with below the line communications • Independently handled the India launch for Bajaj Pulsar 200NS, India’s first Naked Sports motorbike. • Played key role in launching the New Pulsar RS 200, the first Race Sports full-faired motorbike from the Pulsar stable targeting Young Tier 1 & 2 males on digital through short form user generated content to long form digital films• Played a key role in repositioning Bajaj Auto business problem for ‘Bajaj Discover’ from being a ‘mileage commuter’ to a ‘power commuter’, which helped Discover become the Highest selling motorcycle in the world, ahead of its rival ‘Hero Splendor’• Working for BCCI on the Cricket World Cup 2011, Indian Premier League and Champions League gave me experience in managing high-pressure, quick turnaround campaigns• I have been fortunate to receive personal recognition by Ogilvy in the form of most prestigious internal awards ‘Suit of the year’ in 2013 and shortlisted for ‘Young Lion’ at Cannes 2013 Show less

• 

  Mindshare

  Sept 2015 - Sept 2018

  Manager

  A core member of Mindshare Fulcrum’s bespoke Invention Studio building immersive brand connections • A work portfolio with 50+ award wins across Global, APAC and India forums like Cannes, Spikes, Festival of Media, Smarties, Effie and Emvies • Content creation, curation, and implementation for India’s biggest advertiser – Hindustan Unilever • Solving brand challenges by using media for storytelling, not limited to long and short form videos, IP creation, brand integrations and activations• Build consumer connections across some of India’s marquee Personal Care, Food and Beverage brands – Lux, Lifebuoy, Pears, Lever Ayush, Vaseline, Lakme, Red Label, Taaza, Knorr and Pureit• Instrumental in rolling out the Red Label 6 Pack Band, which won the Glass Lion Grand Prix at Cannes 2016• Developed and implemented Unilever’s biggest Owned media property, Lux Golden Rose Awards, featuring India’s leading Bollywood stars for 2016, 2017, 2018• Part of the team that created Mindshare’s first ever Brand Content Day, that brought together India’s top 300 content creators and curators, a best practice now adopted across Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan, and Vietnam• Part of the core team that successfully pitched for Unilever India’s digital media mandate, in 2018 Show less

• 

  Mindshare

  Jul 2020 - Jan 2022

  Director

  • In a dynamic platform-first digital market, I identify cultural-led insights and new media trends • Use data to drive content strategy and activations that can result in end-to-end consumer journeys • Consumer and category audits including retail, to identify opportunities for brand growth• Support business development initiatives with innovative ideas for campaigns

• 

  EssenceMediacom

  Mar 2022 - now

  Part of Coca-Cola’s new strategy team leveraging Brand Experiences across media touchpoints. Led the conceptualization to execution of media activations (E2E) for The Coca-Cola Company across portfolios (Mother brand Coke, Sparkling, Nutrition, Hydration and New Product Development) • Lead end-to-end (E2E) media activations: Conceptualization E2E media strategy and activations for Coca-Cola’s multiple categories - Coke, Nutrition and Water• Localized global charters: Craft social, content strategy, and partnerships for Coke’s two global charters – Meals (small and large scale food fests), and music breaks (Coke Studio - Coca-Cola's first ever monetization IP) • Design O2O influencer strategies (Content, Social , College programs and Youth Ambassadors)

  • Business Director

    Jun 2023 - now

  • Associate Director

    Mar 2022 - May 2023