Brooke Bond Red Label Tea releases a new brand campaign. The latest ad narrates that acts of ‘kindness is just a cup away.’ The campaign has been creates by Ogilvy Mumbai and produced by Purple Vishnu Films.
Akshay Seth, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy: “There’s something that is warmer than a great tasting cup of tea- the warmth of a stranger’s company when it is needed the most. We’ve all been in situations where a handshake, a hug, a few comforting words can work magic. For this to get translated, the story and execution needed to feel authentic and heartfelt. And this is one of the reasons the ad is resonating, with people coming forth with their personal experiences.”
CarDekho Group, Autotech Unicorn, has introduced a TVC campaign #BadhteIndiaKaBharosa celebrating the spirit of Indians to fulfil their dreams. The campaign captures the true essence of the people of India in shaping a ‘Badhta India’.
A 10-week long campaign, #BadhteIndiaKaBharosa is live on TV and digital platforms. The campaign is written and directed by Amit Nandwani, and produced by CarDekho Group company PowerDrift, India’s top auto content brand, and a full stack-production house.
Talking about the new campaign, Charu Kishnani, Executive Vice President Marketing-CarDekho said: “India is on a journey of transformation and progress. CarDekho Group is proud to support the growth of the nation and its people, creating opportunities that give them a chance to fulfil unrealised dreams. With this idea, CarDekho has introduced a brand campaign celebrating ‘Badhta India’. The campaign mirrors the core values of CarDekho Group, to solve customer problems and build a progressive India.”
If this column were to continue till 2033, we would be asking the same question. Be that as it may, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the January 12 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/
Q. If people are willing to pay for content offerings like Ken or Morning Context, why are our newspapers so scared of upping cover price? Or is it that they are unsure of their content?
A. I must admit that even I wonder about that the same. Why no one acknowledges the Elephant in the Room: the business model plaguing the sector. With changing times, one needs to accept the criticality of high quality content that makes audiences decode a signal from the noise. And they are ready to pay for it, as you have rightly mentioned some examples. An over-dependence on advertising is an anachronistic model of running a media business which is getting affected by fragmentation of attention and format. This is resulting in inter-category migration of revenue. The old model of using low cover price as an entry barrier for new players is outdated in the context of Content as King and when consumers are spoilt with choices and loyalty has become fragile.
So, brand loyalty has to be earned in a sustained manner. I think success is a bad teacher and extrapolation of past success to future is a game that can’t be played anymore.
One can learn from Messi. Of course, Argentina, as a country, isn’t learning, let alone companies. Easier said than done. Business as usual is intoxicating.
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) India has announced the launch of the OMNI Auto ROI Vault, a market-leading and powerful repository spanning 500+ econometric models built on the back of Omnicom Media Group’s extensive ROI-based approach and industry-leading work with automobile clients in India and around the world. With a dominant market share in the auto category in India, OMG manages over 34% of the Indian auto industry’s media mandate.
As a part of the agency’s focus on making media spending’s impact on revenue a focus, and by extension long-term business growth, the Auto ROI Vault enables automotive players on the global stage to make nuanced decision-making – a cut above many traditional industry frameworks, and one that shines a light on unlocking true revenue potential and sustainable growth. Data-driven attribution continues to be a priority at Omnicom Media Group and the auto category is just the beginning. One can expect more categories in the near future.
Omni is Omnicom Group’s people-based precision marketing and insights platform, designed to identify and define personalized consumer experiences at scale across creative, media, CRM as well as other Omnicom practice areas. With the launch of the Auto ROI Vault, Omni now allows for the ability to precisely curate investment planning and channel plans for both short-term and long-term payoffs for auto brands. Across Omnicom Media Group’s agencies – OMD and PHD, teams can calibrate and optimize investment plans and effective allocation of budgets based on the potential of media spends to generate revenue.
In a market that is in a state of constant flux, combined with increased competition, it becomes imperative for marketers today to analyse metrics tracking, lead generation, conversion, sales and more. Businesses need to adapt and evolve and be able to adjust media budgets with high precision, enabling a rigorous marketing strategy focusing on the big picture – revenue. Traditional ways of estimating and setting media budgets, using a combination of Share of Market/Share of Voice ratios or Advertising to Sales ratios, prove challenging when it comes to getting an accurate picture of the impact of marketing efforts on business functions like customer service, sales and overall revenue impact and this is where the ROI Vault comes in.
Featuring a collection of 500+ models curated for Auto OEMs specifically across 20+ markets; with India being one of the key emerging markets featured in it, the OMNI Auto ROI vault empowers clients to reach the desired revenue objective by allocating budget wisely across various channels, benchmarking of categories to measure the performance and predicting models for future sales and revenue – thereby enabling them to focus on the eventual business generated and not just interim media variables.
Kartik Sharma, Group CEO of Omnicom Media Group India, said: “OMG’s data-led approach delivers on our ambitions of exceeding the needs of our clients, being their most trusted partner on their journey of transformation and being able to uncover business-led insights with a tangible impact on revenue growth. With the OMNI Auto ROI Vault’s marketing orchestration capabilities, we are primed to help brands see the effectiveness of media planning as a long-term investment rather than approaching it as yet another cost incurred. With it in our arsenal, we are uniquely positioned to focus on revenue-driven outcomes for our clients and further deliver on our promise of our transparent and client-centric approach to brand building.”
German automotive maker, Volkswagen, has announced a new campaign – #SafeLikeAVolkswagen – to remind the road why the brand is the safest on it. The campaign leverages the brand’s affinity for simplicity and human storytelling.
Conceptualised by the DDB Mudra Group, the clutter-breaking campaign is launched on the back of Volkswagen Taigun recently scoring a perfect five-star rating in Global NCAP’s crash tests. Taigun has become one of the first ever car models in India to achieve five stars, for both adult and child occupants’ protection.
Abbey Thomas, Head of Marketing and PR, Volkswagen India said: “Safety is at the core of Brand Volkswagen. We build our cars with lots of emotion and passion, the same goes for our communication; emotional and light hearted. Together with our creative team, we hope to deliver this very important messaging on safety in an interesting and engaging manner to our consumers”
Added Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group: “As a brand, Volkswagen has been built around human stories. It’s in the name of the brand itself. Therefore, we thought the best way to illustrate our safety features would be through examples of how we navigate our every day.”
Rajeshwari Rao has been appointed as Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director (ECD) at Wunderman Thompson India effective 9th January 2023. Based out of Mumbai, Rao will be the creative head on the agency’s Unilever’s business in addition to several other important businesses. Rao’s appointment comes at a time when the agency is strategically looking at bolstering its creative leadership team.
Rajeshwari will report directly to Anurag Tandon, Managing Partner, Wunderman Thompson Mumbai.
Commenting on Rajeshwari’s appointment, Anurag Tandon said: “Rajeshwari’s appointment comes at a time when we are looking at strengthening our creative output. We are glad to onboard her at this critical juncture when we are upping the ante on our work. With her vast and and varied experience, Rajeshwari will surely play a pivotal role in understanding the client’s business and translating it into great creative work.”
On taking up her new role at Wunderman Thompson, India, Rajeshwari Rao, added: “I’m excited to be taking on this role and looking forward to create some good work with the incredibly talented and dynamic team at Wunderman Thompson India. Wunderman Thompson is a legacy agency that commands a formidable standing in the industry with an enviable client roster of long standing relationships. The agency is on an exciting growth trajectory and I am thrilled to be part of their journey.”
Disney Star today announced the appointment of Ajit Varghese as Head of Network Advertising Sales. In this role, he will be responsible for overall advertising revenues of Disney Star’s television and digital businesses and for driving growth through transformative sales and channel strategies, creating alliances and business development. Varghese will also develop the long-term vision and define the strategic direction of the sales organization. He will report to K Madhavan, President & Country Manager, Disney Star.
Said K Madhavan: “Ajit is a highly respected and well regarded professional within the advertising and marketing fraternity. I am confident that under his leadership, we will be able to unlock significant value and create more opportunities to further grow our market leadership.”
The year 2023 couldn’t have opened on a better note, or shall I say, ‘inclusive’ note. India witnessed its first ever large-scale inclusive festival for persons with disabilities in Goa from January 6 to 8. Purple Fest was a unique initiative of the state government, supported by the Office of State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities and collaborating NGOs from across the country.
Over five thousand delegates witnessed this novel amalgamation of different stakeholders including, persons with disabilities, parents, academicians, rehabilitation professionals, disability rights advocates, government officials, employers, entrepreneurs, trainers, technology experts, students, NGO representatives, media and civil society members.
Fortunate to be in the middle of all action, I was in awe of the organising and ground level teams who worked tirelessly to curate an experience that was distinctively discerning. The three-day convention had parallel events and activities running in and around the Entertainment Society of Goa in Panaji, attracting curious crowds. Exhibits of products, services and solutions, experience zones, discussions around inclusive education, employment sports and policy, interactions with achievers and changemakers, music, games, dance, cruise ride, bird walk, movie screenings, marathon, car rally, sporting events and more. It was an action-packed jamboree!
Purple Ambassadors for 21 disabilities at the opening ceremony of the Purple Fest
And all done with the prime objective of including and sensitising the society towards the varied needs, solutions, issues and aspirations of persons with disabilities. According to Census 2011, Goa features in the list of states with low percentage of disabled population of around 32,000. But recent reports indicate a sharp rise in the overall number of disabled persons in the last few years. And the State Social Welfare Department is determined to create awareness as well as make infrastructure and services accessible to all. Purple Fest is one such step in this direction.
Now that I have set the context, let me tell you why this event matters. Foremost, persons with disabilities were seen live in action, belying and breaking stereotypes. Age old images fixated in the minds of people were challenged.
All events and activities had inclusion interwoven into them, true to the spirit of Leaving No One Behind. Physical spaces were made accessible with ramps, elevators, braille signage, QR powered navigation app and so on. Ensuring access for every attendee, there was audio description, sign language interpretation, tactile signing, captions and more. It was all done in a precise and yet matter-of-fact manner, emphasising (to the excluding majority) that it doesn’t take too much, only a mindset shift towards accepting the ‘other’.
This was evident from the experiences shared by some people who participated in a car rally where persons with blindness were teamed up with sighted drivers for a 35km-ride. The visually impaired person used a braille map to help the sighted driver navigate his or her way through. During the rally, the conversations and interdependence experienced by both parties resulted in building friendships and potential long-term relationships between the sighted and visually impaired communities.
Apprehensions gave way to curiosity, finally translating into a change in perception. The lifecycle of any person (including those with disability) involves parenting, education, skilling, employment, healthcare and social welfare. The various exhibits demonstrated how persons with disability and their surrounding community could ensure independent activities of daily living as well as equal access to all services and facilities.
There were grassroots and technological innovations on display, making possible for a person with disability to walk, sit, eat, read, write, watch, cook and play independently or with little help. Assistive aids and devices made it possible for them to conduct science experiments, solve math equations, withdraw cash from an ATM, access smart appliances and even drive on their own.
I could go on because there were many hits at the Purple Fest. The biggest one being the representation of Purple Ambassadors for each of the 21 types of disabilities listed in the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. It was a historic moment captured by crowds, cameras and crews where so many different disabilities were seen walking the talk.
The Goan dailies and social media platforms were abuzz with stories from the Purple Fest. The inclusion advocate in me was both rooting and scouting for in-depth coverage of this magical manifestation of ability. But I was disappointed with the surface level reportage focused essentially on already famous government officials, disabled achievers and stalwarts in respective domains.
What was missing from the media discourse were the raw, heartwrenching accounts of ordinary (average) persons with disability who managed to overcome challenges in personal and professional spaces. The media missed the chance to recount the stories of Purple Ambassadors of 21 disabilities, especially the lesser understood ones like haemophilia, sickle cell disease, blood disorder and other invisible disabilities.
Fifty-eight-year-old Umesh Salagar from Pune touched many hearts while recapitulating the struggles of a 10-year-old who lost both his parents, forced to earn and study simultaneously, thankfully with some help from his landlady and primary school teacher, only to be later shocked by the death of his young wife, leading to a life with Parkinson’s disease.
Manju Sharma representing chronic neurological disability, shared the sudden turn of events in her life and the gradual journey of acceptance. A jetsetting air hostess had to reset and reorient to a life with acquired neurological conditions that aren’t easily comprehended. She is now gainfully employed in Naomundi, Jharkhand.
Persons with mental illness and learning disability as well as deaf people shared their excruciating trauma of being excluded at various stages in life by a society that scores rather low on empathy. Walking around the venue, having a cup of coffee, listening to the panel discussions, interacting with the 21 representatives, looking at simple solutions and performances, most people experienced innumerable eureka moments.
Did the show of strength and glimpse of an equitable co-existence fail to stir up the media’s sensibility and responsibility towards its citizens?
So why are we publishing this column on an A&M site? Well, we strongly feel that the media can dramatically transform the world of persons with disabilities. And this series can help bring forth issues that the media must champion to create a truly inclusive and accessible India. To write this column, we invited Shruti Pushkarna, a former journalist who now works as Director, EnAble India where she heads North India operations as well as media and communications outreach. Shruti writes for MxMIndia every other Thursday. Her views here are personal. To access the archives of all her 60-plus columns, please visit: https://www.mxmindia.com/category /columns/shruti-pushkarna/
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released a comprehensive report on advertising in the education technology sector (EdTech) and the impact it has on parents and students. The report aims to decode the challenges and opportunities for EdTech sector advertising. The report also identifies ways in which the sector can shape a more responsible narrative, and move away from opportunistic advertising which many consider problematic.
EdTech as a sector holds immense promise in being able to address the infrastructural and learning challenges in India, hence it is critical that the advertising of the sector does not undermine its potential. The study, done with the active participation of both industry and non-industry stakeholders identifies opportunities and challenges and proposes a framework that could guide advertisers to more balanced advertising.
The EdNext study was undertaken by ASCI with Sprint Studio.ai as the research partner and UNICEF as the knowledge partner. A total of 100 EdTech advertisements across print, TV, digital video and static mediums were analysed by a wide set of stakeholders including parents, students, policymakers, educationists, child development experts, as well as representatives of the industry from the marketing and creative fields. The study was conducted across the cities of Delhi, Bangalore, Indore, Kanpur, Patna, Kolhapur, Warangal and Bardhaman.
The analysis revealed that:
Ads have a huge impact on parents’ choice of EdTech platform, with 49% of parents choosing platforms based on advertising
Like traditional education ads, Ed-Tech ads too, have a huge focus on marks and ranks. Math and science dominated the subjects depicted
While 81% of parents trust EdTech ads, 73% felt that ads showed high pressure of studies
None of the endorsers/ role models were from the academic field
Stereotypes of gender, physical appearances, and mother’s roles crept in to these ads
The findings also noted some positives. Some of the key positives identified were:
Ads featuring parents represented them as supporting partners to students, and thereby provided positive role models for progressive parenting (21 out of 23 ads)
Parents and experts also felt that ads that focused on conceptual learning were progressive and enjoyable
The EdNext study proposed a framework to elevate the communication around EdTech mindfully. Titled ‘RAISE’, the framework provides stakeholders a set of lenses to evaluate the creatives and develop messages that could be considered more progressive. Following the checklist guide provided in the framework will help marketers and creative experts review concepts at the inception stage of the ad itself.
The framework is based on five principles which include:
R – Relationship of the student with learning
A – Authenticity of situations, promises and claims
I – Inclusive representation of characters to depict diversity in gender, age, physical attributes, personality types, learning styles and pace along with regional inclusion
S – Spectrum of pedagogy where there is information on learning methods and how they contribute to holistic learning outcomes
E – Excellence markers to focus on overall development as a measure of success over ranks and marks
Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General, ASCI, said: “EdTech has emerged as a very important sector in recent times, especially in the pandemic era where parents engaged with these companies to supplement their children’s education. Ed-Tech has the ability to solve some fundamental infrastructure and content challenges and revolutionize Indian education. However, given the particular asymmetry between vulnerable parents and students on the one hand, and large organizations on the other, it is critical to ensure that advertising is responsible and does not exploit these vulnerabilities. EdTech advertising has a massive opportunity to build a positive and future-facing narrative, which makes for compelling brand stories that also build confident and multifaceted learners.”
Mayank Kumar, Chair at Indian Ed-tech Consortium, and Co-founder UpGrad added: “The EdNext report shines light on the sheer scale of the EdTech sector and highlights the need for raising the bar on advertising in the industry along with providing a roadmap on how that can be achieved. The report also shows huge acceptance of the benefits of EdTech products by students, parents and teachers. The in-depth research we undertook along with ASCI will help the industry get a clear picture of how the sector can benefit through responsible advertising, which it is already constantly working towards.”
Divya Gokulnath, Co-chair at Indian Ed-tech Consortium and Co-Founder BYJU’S said: “The EdNext report highlights that almost all parents are appreciative of the ads which show children enjoying the process of learning, which is something we live by, work for, and showcase in our ads. We prioritize building strong and sustainable relationships based on first principles. While it’s natural for advertisers to highlight the best outcomes achieved by their users, the EdTech industry strives to present a balanced picture at all times. As a nascent industry that is constantly evolving, we must adapt in our effort so that we can make learning effective for everyone. This initiative by ASCI will help us design even more responsible and effective ad campaigns as we continue to grow and improve.”
The Advertising Club will conduct its annual Effie India Awards 2022 tomorrow, Friday, January 13 at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai, 6.30pm onwards. Effie awards, as we know, are awarded for advertising effectiveness.
The Effie Awards is being conducted for the last 22 years, and this year, the Advertising Club reports receiving 986 entries from 53 agencies participating. With 300 marketing professionals and 193 media professionals and planners, Effie 2022 had 493 jury members in all.
Partha Sinha
Talking about this year’s Effie, Partha Sinha, President, The Advertising Club, said: “The Advertising Club is a proud advocate to brands and agencies that create impactful innovations. It has been a long pause and we are excitedly expecting to witness some amazing work receive recognition and appreciation. This year at Effie India Awards, we are looking out for meaningful work that reflects effectiveness and efficiency. We are ecstatic and cannot wait to watch the category torchbearers and their work being celebrated at the industry’s most coveted awards event.”
Chrome Pictures, ad production house, is expanding their team of directors and producers. After producing over 5000 ad films and carving a niche in the advertising world in their 19 years journey; Chrome Pictures is all set to include a few new names to their list of directors. The list begins with Secret Superstar & Laal Singh Chaddha fame director, Advait Chandan. The list also goes on to name Debanjolie Bhattacharjee, Aman Rai, Roopali Singhal & Atul Shahi.
Chrome Pictures is all set to take on a much larger team of producers for meeting the high demands of the ever growing advertising sector, along with their success with digital wing- Minikin DGWorks. Having lead the TVC department for 10+ years, Napolean Daniel Amanna & Abhishek Notani are now joined by Kush Malhotra & Rajat Gulati. With more than 14 years of experience, Rajat was the Vice President, Account Management at McCann, Delhi. His prior experience also includes account management positions at agencies such as Leo Burnett and Ogilvy.
Speaking about their roadmap, Hemant Bhandari, Co-Founder, Producer & Director- Chrome Pictures, said: “With the revival of the ad production post the pandemic era, Chrome Pictures felt the need to expand our team to accommodate the high demand that we are facing. We felt the need to introduce these individuals who will bring a fresh outlook and help achieve larger goals for Chrome Pictures. Change is constant, thus the need to explore newer ways to connect with the audiences is a must.”
On the heels of Argentina’s historic FIFA World Cup victory, Lionel Messi has posted ‘Namaste India’ on his Instagram to the delight of his millions of followers. The post carries a series of pictures showing Messi wearing Byju’s jersey to promote the cause of equitable and accessible education through the Byju’s Education For All (EFA) foundation.
Byju’s, the edtech company, had announced Messi as the global brand ambassador of EFA, its social initiative, a month before the World Cup began in November. Messi is known to promote the cause of equal education and also serves as a global brand ambassador of UNICEF.
“Children are our future,” Messi wrote, adding that no matter where they live, every child deserves an equal opportunity to learn and grow. Commending BYJU’S and its groundbreaking work in championing inclusive tech-driven education for all, Messi took the message of equal, equitable, and quality education for all to his 400 million+ social media followers, and marked his welcome into the BYJU’S family. His post garnered nearly 10 million, or 1 crore, likes in the first ten hours, making it one of his most popular endorsement posts.
Said Divya Gokulnath, co-founder of Byju’s: “We are honoured to have Lionel Messi join us in our mission to provide accessible education for all children, regardless of their background or location. Messi’s passionate advocacy for education and children aligns perfectly with our own values at Byju’s, and we look forward to working with him to expand the reach and impact of our Education for All initiative.”
If this column were to continue till 2033, we would be asking the same question. Be that as it may, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the January 12 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
The year 2023 couldn’t have opened on a better note, or shall I say, ‘inclusive’ note. India witnessed its first ever large-scale inclusive festival for persons with disabilities in Goa from January 6 to 8. Purple Fest was a unique initiative of the state government, supported by the Office of State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities and collaborating NGOs from across the country.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released a comprehensive report on advertising in the education technology sector (EdTech) and the impact it has on parents and students. The report aims to decode the challenges and opportunities for EdTech sector advertising. The report also identifies ways in which the sector can shape a more responsible narrative, and move away from opportunistic advertising which many consider problematic.
is being conducted for the last 22 years, and this year, the Advertising Club reports receiving 986 entries from 53 agencies participating. With 300 marketing professionals and 193 media professionals and planners, Effie 2022 had 493 jury members in all.