By Our Staff

Dentsu International has announced the launch of its sports marketing unit in India. Former cricketer Anand Yalvigi will be Director of the new vertical for India. Armed with nearly 20 years of experience in sports marketing, Yalvigi is a former Ranji player. Earlier, he has played for Mumbai and Karnataka.

The launch is supported by Dentsu Sports International (DSI) – headquartered in Tokyo, and Dentsu Sports Asia (DSAsia), Singapore. For the record, DSI and DSAsia are global agencies that harness the power of sports to impact human behaviour through meaningful marketing solutions and experiences. DSI leverages deep insights and its network of seasoned, highly experienced team members to establish powerful connections between sports properties and brands. Its core mission is to be the most insightful and impactful sports marketing business, globally.

The sports marketing unit is born out of the Dentsu Group, one of the world’s largest and highly regarded marketing communications companies. In India, the unit will function under DSAsia. Dentsu Sports Asia will operate through with 200+ people across the globe in US, UK, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. Headquartered from Japan, Dentsu Sports Asia will be serving as the rights holders from the world of sports including federations, leagues, events, teams, publishers, and venues.

Yalvigi has successfully launched and worked with multiple sports management companies including Ignite Sports, Havas Sports, Network Sports and Nimbus. He was also instrumental in setting up the Kochi IPL team. He has been persistently involved in the designing of unique sports concepts for various brands with an affinity toward cricket – his core domain. In his new role, Yalvigi will report into Haresh Nayak, COO Dentsu International, Media Brands.

Commenting on Anand’s appointment, Haresh Nayak, COO Dentsu International, Media Brands said, “The launch of Dentsu India/Dentsu Sports Asia unit will harness the power of sports via its commercial and creative capabilities to bring meaningful marketing solutions and experiences for brands. I am thrilled that Anand has joined us; he has an impressive track record. I have the utmost confidence in his ability to steer our business to greater heights.”