Ideacafe.agency announced the launch of its new division focused on Rural and Urban communication, IDEACAFE ROOTS. IDEACAFE ROOTS is designed to bridge the communication gap between rural and urban markets in India. The division aims to address brands’ needs in “Rurban” areas, a blend of rural and urban landscapes.
IDEACAFE ROOTS has already onboarded over 25 professionals across markets, serving more than a dozen national brands. IDEACAFE ROOTS aims to become the largest Rurban brand communication service provider in the next two to three years.
To lead IDEACAFE ROOTS, Ideacafe has brought on board Sandip Bansal as Practice Head of ROOTS. Bansal, an industry veteran with over 35 years of experience, began his rural marketing journey with Video on Wheels in 1989 and later developed rural marketing arms at Ogilvy, Starcom, and GroupM’s Dialogue Factory.
Joining Sandip on the senior leadership team is Shweta Lamba as Business Head of Experiential. With over 14 years in marketing, Shweta’s expertise in Intellectual Properties, Key Account Management, and experiential solutions will enhance ROOTS’ offerings. She has previously managed key accounts for leading brands, including P&G, Britannia, and Mahindra, in roles with Entertainment Network India Limited, Big Magic, and GroupM’s Dialogue Factory.
Also joining the team is Amish Morjaria as National Operations Head of ROOTS. Amish brings over 20 years of experience in business operations and urban and rural activations. Before joining Roots, Amish held pivotal roles at leading organisations, including Tech Smart, DDB Mudra, and GroupM’s Dialogue Factory.
Sandip Bansal said, “Helping brands build equity and share in Rural India is what drives me, and I found ideacafe to be the best equipped to drive this as it has the agility and fluidity of an independent setup which is often absent in large network agencies. As brands seek to increase distribution and reach across Tier2 and Tier3 landscapes roots were the answer to what is now more appropriately known as RUrban LANDSCAPES. My focus is going to remain on aggregating and creating scalable, sustainable models that best address brand objectives at the local level, setting up our own teams that understand the need on ground rather than depending on outsourced assistance like network agencies are accustomed to do.”
Nabendu Bhattacharyya, Founder of Ideacafe.agency, said, “My focus is on the need of brands and the talent who can suffice the purpose of brands . While group companies are busy reducing manpower I believe certain businesses need local level manpower expertise and execution capabilities and that is the need gap for brands we would like to address. By providing accountability to brands staying on the ground and not depending on 3rd party solutions. We are at investment phase and will build credible offerings for brand needs at the point of sale. Ideacafe ROOTS started operations a few months back and has onboarded 25 plus people across markets working for over a dozen national brands and expanding rapidly. Ideacafe roots aims to become the largest RUrban BRAND IN 2-3 years’ time.”
