MxMIndia

Author: mxmadmin

  • Now this was meant to be a provocative question, but then shot off the park by our Wizard with Words. Here's Dr Bhaskar Das in the February 1 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | If you see a corporate leader reading a speech from a piece of paper as against an iPad, laptop or mobile phone would you judge her/him to be old-fashioned?

    Bhaskar DasNow this was meant to be a provocative question, but then shot off the park by our Wizard with Words. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the February 1 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 you see a corporate leader reading a speech from a piece of paper as against an iPad, laptop or mobile phone would you judge her/him to be old-fashioned?

     

    A. I personally abhor being judgmental about individual or situations on the basis of perfunctory evidence. So what? Are we interested in the content of the delivery (in this case) or with the optics? If someone is comfortable with gadgets, that’s fine, but I need not be correlated with unique content. A ChatGPT content can be delivered through an iPad for instance. But s/he may not be as original as Malcolm Gladwell, for instance. My example might be extreme but I hope you get the drift. Gadgets usage is convenient, fast and makes an individual look cool geek and in sync with time, but that doesn’t mean that an individual at the opposite end hails from the neolithic age.

     

  • Account will be handled by the agency's Gurgaon office

    Mullen Lintas wins creative duties for Hindware Sanitaryware

    By Our Staff

     

    Mullen Lintas Delhi wins creative duties for Hindware Sanitaryware and Tiles. The business was won after a keenly contested multi-agency pitch process. The account would be handled out of agency’s Gurgaon office.

     

    Speaking of the win by the agency, Hari Krishnan, CEO – Mullen Lintas said: “Purchase decisions when it comes to Sanitaryware used to be led by functionality and value. However, that’s not the case any longer and it’s not seen as an extension of personal space and expression. This is where Hindware has made a difference with its innovations & design and our focus would be to consolidate the brand equity for Hindware based on these values & benefits. We are excited about this partnership and look forward to creating a new narrative in this category.”

     

    Commenting on the association, haru Malhotra, Vice-President, Marketing, Hindware Limited added: “Hindware is known for Design Excellence, Innovation and Quality. Our products are backed by extensive consumer research and Insights. We have been evaluating different partners to further build the Hindware brand equity through sharp and relevant consumer insights and creative expressions. For us what stood out about Mullen Lintas was how the Strategy & Storytelling came together in perfect sync and of course the passion and enthusiasm the team brought to the table. We look forward to some stellar work being developed for the brand.”

     

  • Launches BigIVF- SeedसहीTohBirthDefectनहीं

    Seeds of Innocence unveils mega campaign for Infertility Treatment

    By Our Staff

     

    Seeds of Innocence, North India’s premier IVF and Fertility Treatment provider, has unveiled the Centre of Excellence for Reproductive Genetics ‘BigIVF- SeedसहीTohBirthDefectनहीं. It is comprehensive fertility program launched across 15 IVF & Fertility centres in 8 states of India. With an aim to deliver high-end technology-based infertility treatments through innovative reproductive genetic, foetal medicine and genetic screening services, this program is a blessing for couples aspiring to become parents despite multiple failed IVF cycles, miscarriages, genetic diseases or genetic abnormality in the previous pregnancy.

     

    ‘BigIVF- SeedसहीTohBirthDefectनहीं  program is the brainchild of the visionary IVF specialist Dr Gauri Agrawal, who is a pioneer in implementing path-breaking research & the use of new technologies/ techniques and the  founder of Seeds of Innocence. While treating infertility among patients across the country, Dr Agrawal observed that people do not understand the reason for multiple failed IVF cycles or their miscarriages. It was this observation that led to the dawn of the revolutionary program ‘BigIVF- SeedसहीTohBirthDefectनहीं’, which caters for the missing link in it, i.e., Reproductive Genetics, a big game changer in IVF treatment.

     

    Citing her experience, Dr Gauri Agarwal, Founder & Director, Seeds of Innocence, said: “What really led me to make Reproductive Genetics an integral part of our ART protocol at Seeds of Innocence was when I came across a couple from Jharkhand who finally used their life savings for IVF after 11 years of marriage and successfully conceived in the 2nd attempt, however, their world came shattering when the foetus was diagnosed with Down Syndrome during Ante-natal scans. With science by our side, this should not happen to anyone.”

     

  • Film created by Leo Burnett

    Zivame launches new brand campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    Zivame intimate wear announces the launch of its new brand campaign. In #WearYourConfidence film made by Leo Burnett, it encourages women to confidently seize the day. The core insight behind the campaign is that confidence is needed in every aspect of our lives, in our every day. And the right intimate wear designed for your body, empowers you to confidently take on any day.

     

    Lavanya Pachisia COO of Zivame, said: “Our campaign celebrates every Indian women and her diverse everydays, from the mundane to the special, and how with the right intimate wear by her side, she can put her most confident foot forward.”

     

    Sonal Chhajerh, Group Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett, Mumbai, added: “The right intimate wear can give women the confidence to take on any day. The campaign brings alive how each day brings the need for a different kind of confidence, and there is a Zivame for her every need.”

     

     

  • The same tech that enables digital giants to make exploit an individual's private data will be used for a more equitable arrangement, writes Ashoke Agarrwal

    Data Barons: Will tech hoist them on their own petard?

     

     

    By Ashoke Agarrwal

     

    Ashoke AgarrwalThe past three decades have seen the rise and rise of the Data Barons, chief among them Alphabet and Meta. Like the Robber Barons of old, these giants have infringed on private and public rights and sought to profit even if it meant causing harm to individuals and society at large.

     

    When Google and Facebook started, their implicit pact with consumers was to provide them with quality free services. However, what was in it for them could have been more explicit in the compact. But it wasn’t. I do not believe that Google and Facebook, at first, were clear about their business model. In time, however, they discovered the gold mine, consisting of sneaking in on users, hoarding their data and then using it to permit advertisers and marketers of all sorts to target them with messaging. Apple has, up until now, resisted the temptation to Data Barondom – probably because they are busy mining a gold mine of their own. However, as innovation flags, Apple is seriously considering adding advertising to its revenue stream. Over the past few years, Amazon has also set out on the road to Data Barondom. In the case of Amazon, though, their core compact with consumers of selling them goods and services makes targeting advertising to them a natural corollary. Soon the OTT giants Netflix and Disney Plus will bid for Data Barondom of their own.

     

    However, in a few years, these Data Barons will be reined in. The EU’s GDPR is just a first step. In time the same technology that enables these digital giants to make money based on an individual’s private data will be used to force them into a more equitable arrangement. Hoist on their petard.

     

    Let me explain. Linear TV and print publications serve advertising en masse—the contract to air an advertisement on specified time slots or pages on a specific day or issue. Media planners expect the ad to reach a certain quantity and type of target audience. However, there is no way to isolate the serving of the ad to a specific individual.

     

    On the other hand, every digital screen, be it a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, a PC or a connected TV, can be linked to a specific user. All the powerful platforms insist on a user signing in before usage.

     

    In this case, the contract is, at the core, to serve an ad to a particular individual. And this fact will allow the platform to share the revenue it generates from the advertisement with the individual! But, of course, this will only happen if forced by regulation. Later versions of rules like GDPR will likely get around to doing so.

     

    These rules will allow an individual to pay upfront for an ad-free service. However, if the individual opts to receive ads, his subscription fee will be deducted from his share of the ad revenue.

     

    While this rule will pay the individual for the use of what is essentially his property – his data and his attention – it will still leave the question of the echo chambers that the algorithms that social media platforms use to increase engagement.

     

    While the harmful effect of these echo chambers is evident, any effort to combat them through regulations runs into the larger argument that free speech is a foundational human right. Every piece of content put out into the public sphere – books, journalism, entertainment – puts out overtly or covertly a point-of-view. It is up to the individual how she responds to that point of view. It is best to combat the rise of echo chambers using the open vistas of free speech.

     

    However, all the above arguments could be moot in a decade or two. Advertising will give way to two-way messaging between an individual’s AI avatar and the AI engine of brands and platforms. I envisaged this in my MxMIndia column dated January 6, 2022 titled ’The Coming Post-Digital Age’.

     

    As for social media algorithms that control what users see, they will go the way of linear TV. Instead, the algorithms will have to negotiate the feed with the individual’s AI avatar. And the individual will control the settings on her avatar. So AI will progress to be not the Big Brother that some people fear but an individual’s brother from another mother – protecting and enabling. Or it could be both. Whichever, we are set for an exciting ride into the AI era.

     

  • We asked for a walloping (albeit a gentle one!) on this one. Without any further ado, here's Dr Bhaskar Das in the February 2 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | It’s the Ad Club’s Quiz show tomorrow. A question you would like to ask our readers?

    Bhaskar DasWe asked for a walloping (albeit a gentle one!) on this one. Without any further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the February 2 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. It’s the Ad Club’s Quiz show tomorrow. A question you would like to ask our readers?

     

    A. In the age of Google-empowered omniscience or ChatGPT’s ability to pass a law exam or writing a poetry or in one word anything under the sun, do quiz-based shows have a market? Or perhaps they do… there’s nothing to beat the energy of a Derek O’Brien Live, right?

     

  • For the fifth consecutive year

    WPP recognised in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

    By Our Staff

     

    WPP was today named in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for the fifth consecutive year.

     

    The 2023 GEI represents companies from 45 countries and regions, measuring gender equality across five pillars: leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand. WPP’s inclusion in this year’s index acknowledges the company’s continued implementation of best-in-class policy development and data reporting against a global threshold established by Bloomberg.

     

    Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “Nurturing diverse and inclusive workplaces not only creates an environment where our people feel supported to grow their careers and be innovative, it benefits our client and partners too. We want WPP to be the employer of choice for all, and I’m proud of our inclusion as a Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index industry leader for our ongoing focus on improving gender equality in the workplace.”

     

    Peter T. Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg and Founding Chairman of the U.S. 30% Club said: “Congratulations to the companies that are included in the 2023 GEI. We continue to see an increase in both interest and membership globally, reflecting a shared goal of transparency in gender-related metrics.”

     

  • The theme for this year's PDF is Nxt 25

    Pune Design Festival ready to roll out 17th edition

    By Our Staff

     

    The 17th edition of the Pune Design Festival (PDF), organized by Pune chapter of Association of Designers of India (ADI) will be held at Hotel Hyatt Regency on the Pune-Ahmednagar Road on February 3 and 4, 2023. The Festival will be held from 9 AM to 7 PM on both the days.  The 17th edition of PDF, which is a national-level annual convention of professionals, educators, and business houses related to the field of design, returns to be held in physical form, after it was held online for two years due to COVID-19 pandemic.

     

    Said ADI Pune Chapter President Rugwed Deshpande: “The theme for this year’s PDF is ‘Nxt 25’, where there will be discussions and deliberations on subjects related to changing paradigms of designs in terms of use of technology, approach of young designers in the next 25 years. The focus of the festival is on understanding how to engage with emerging or new technologies in the field of design. The theme will bring forth discussions, debate, case studies and workshops that showcase the future forward design.”

     

    There will be three keynote sessions by Samar Singh Jodha, who is the Founder and Executive Director of Red Balloon (on Creativity versus Inner Voice), Meeta Malhotra, Editor in Chief of ‘The Hard Copy’ Magazine, (on Pune: For Design, By Design) and Bharat Bala, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bharat Bala Products (on History of the Future).

     

    The two-day event will also see special felicitation of some individuals, personalities who have made outstanding contributions to the field of design. Veteran design educator Kirti Trivedi will be felicitated for contribution in design education, while Pradeep Sinha, product designer and educator, and Mala Sinha, textile designer and founder, Bodhi, will be feted for pioneering efforts in design entrepreneurship.

     

    Other speakers for the Festival include Bharatbala, a distinguished film-maker, Nikki Gonnissen, an experienced designer at Thoknik in Amsterdam, Kenneth Segal, an expert in large-scale public transportation projects from Israel, Aniket Das of Ultraviolette Automotive and Rupali Bhave, a noted theatre professional.  The topics of discussions range from ‘Drama in Design’ to Challenges in the Design Business.

     

    Moreover, an initiative titled ‘Battle of Projects’ initiative will be held.  Under the initiative, students of design submit their final year projects and best awards/recognition is given to the best 30 projects across 11 different categories.

     

    Another initiative ‘Open House Workshops’ is also being held alongside, where those interested in design and design students, will be able to visit open studios and they can attend free workshops on subjects related to design.

     

  • A microsite that uses GPS for #DoNothing proposition

    Cadbury 5 Star launches Mush Detector for V-Day campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    Cadbury 5Star from Mondelez India has rolled out a campaign for this Valentine’s Day. As part of this year’s #DoNothing proposition, the brand has introduced a Mush Detector Web App that detects high mush zones thus, helping free birds ‘Do Nothing in peace.

     

    Speaking on the campaign, Nitin Saini, Vice President – Marketing, Mondelez India said, “Speaking directly to the nation’s youth, Cadbury 5Star with the perfect balance of quirk and wit has consistently conveyed relatable stories. Creating yet another engaging narrative for Gen Z, our latest edition of Valentine’s Day campaign stands for all those who do not celebrate Valentine’s Day and will help them steer clear of any mush, anywhere. With a resounding response to last year’s Valentine’s Day campaign, we are confident that this year’s efforts will resonate equally well with our consumers.”

     

    Sukesh Kumar Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India added: ‘Valentine’s Day has become an annual event for Cadbury 5 Star to leverage and land its ‘Do Nothing’ counterculture attitude. This year we have conceived and built a zany, dynamic webapp, the 5 Star Mush Detector – which helps people detect and avoid mush around them with a real-time map using various data points like nearby florists, gift shops, movie theatres, restaurants, etc. What makes it even more irreverent, is that the data is also triangulated with chocolate sales to deduce mush. The more lovey-dovey an area, the redder it appears on the map. The app also assists users find mush-free spots, where they can escape to ‘Do nothing’. To make it further engaging, friendly folks can help us in populating the real-time map during Valentine’s week, by reporting mushy places to avoid. It was a super-fun experience creating this unimaginably, sophisticated piece of work to take ahead 5 Star’s message for Valentine’s Day – ‘Escape the mush and Do Nothing in peace.”

     

    Shekhar Banerjee- Chief Client Officer and Office Head- West, Wavemaker India further added, “Continuing with our legacy of being a counter-culture brand, we are protecting the single souls from all the mush during Valentine’s Day with the mush detector app. This campaign has been mounted on the back of exclusive partnerships with brands like Frozen Bottle, Keventers, and Smaaash to create mush-free zones for singles to hang around while escaping the mush! In collaboration with popular faces that celebrate ‘singlehood’, we had a very unique use of hyperlocal targeting, we are alerting singles about the mushy areas to avoid, warning them to escape these zones through the mush detector app.”

     

  • To lead strategy and ideation for integrated solutions across media platforms

    Sarfaraz Ansari joins DDB Mudramax as Senior Vice President – Integrated Media

    By Our Staff

     

    Sarfaraz Ansari
    Sarfaraz Ansari

    DDB Mudramax boosts its media expertise with the appointment of Sarfaraz Ansari as Senior Vice President – Integrated Media. He will be responsible for leading strategy and ideation for integrated solutions across media platforms.

     

    With over 17 years of experience, Ansari has worked across industries like FMCG, financial services, telecom, and worked with brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Spotify, Mahindra, Hershey’s, Finolex Pipes, Marico among others. His previous stint was as the buying lead at Lodestar Media.

     

    Speaking on the new appointment, Rammohan Sundaram, Country Head and Managing Partner – Integrated Media, DDB Mudra Group said, “Sarfaraz’s calm and composed demeanour backed with solid conviction and science makes him one of the best in the business. Especially with some of our large clients, where we needed someone who can fit into our culture and at the same time solidify our leadership in strategic buying across all media. To that effect, he is perfect and has already impacted positively to our setup at Mudramax”

     

  • To help deliver disruptive brand experience solutions for its clients

    TBWA\India appointed Russell Barrett as CCEO

    By Our Staff

     

    Russell Barrett
    Russell Barrett

    TBWA\India has appointed Russell Barrett to the newly created position of chief creative experience officer, a further nod to the agency’s commitment to delivering disruptive brand experience solutions for its clients.

     

    Previously at BBH India, Barrett brings close to 27 years of experience creating some of the markets most impactful work for brands like Abbott, Google Chrome, Red Bull, Audi, Skoda, Uber, Mahindra Racing, Marico, UNIQLO and Johnny Walker to name a few.

     

    Barrett will be charged with setting the creative vision and delivering TBWA\India’s total brand experience approach to the agency’s portfolio of clients. Barrett will work closely with the key management team in India and the global creative leadership to drive the global ambition for TBWA’s creative product.

     

    Said Govind Pandey, chief executive officer: “There is a need to deliver modern brand experiences to our clients, and I’m confident Russell will elevate our disruptive creative thinking that our environment and our clients demand. His depth of experience and varied skill set will sharpen our creative thinking and deliver ongoing value across the entire brand experience for our clients.”

     

  • The little Rs 7 lakh no tax regime pales into insignificance when compared to what faces us, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: The Fall & After

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ranjona BanerjiThere is only one story in India right now.

    And that is the continuing fall in the Adani Group’s worth in the world’s markets.

    I knew you thought I was going to say the “Union Budget”. But I was there at the Cricket Club Of India (CCI), post-economic liberalisation, when the legendary Nani Pakhiwala said he was no longer going to interpret the Budget because India was leaving the old regime behind. I know many of you were not born then, but it still happened.

    So no, the Union Finance Minister’s boring take-you-for-a-ride speech is not the biggest news. Even if The Times of India got four BJP supporters on the payroll, and one edit writer (no comment) to tell us what a great it this was. (Quick tip: Check that salary slab change in the light of no exemptions before you celebrate.)

    Anyway. There’s this Times of India story which tells you what’s happening in the markets and with “investor confidence”:

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/gautam-adani-stock-rout-continues-as-loan-talks-fail-to-ease-concerns/articleshow/97568557.cms?from=mdr

    It has words like “brutal” and rout”. And much as the mainstream media tried, it could not stem the tide.

    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/adanis-108-billion-crisis-shakes-investors-faith-in-india/articleshow/97566730.cms

    O dear. $108 billion crisis says The Economic Times. Did they waste precious economic “real estate” with some massive superhero graphic across the front page like they used to? I really can’t be bothered to check.

    https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/stocks/story/adani-enterprises-shares-hit-15-lower-circuit-on-dow-exclusion-other-adani-group-stocks-bleed-368767-2023-02-03

    Business Today says Adani stocks are bleeding. Even if last year India Today, the gold standard of Indian journalism, called Adani the “growth king”.

    This is also India Today:

    https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/adani-group-gautam-adani-market-rout-shares-dow-jones-sebi-nse-hindenburg-report-top-developments-2329883-2023-02-03

    Do you think someone at the webdesk has put her or his job in jeopardy?

    And here’s Time Magazine, entering the fray:

    https://time.com/6251935/gautam-adani-group-india-hindenburg/?linkId=199508761

    More seriously, the implications for India are terrible. The ruling dispensation has invested a lot of our money – public money – in Adani and also handed over large chunks of infrastructure growth to the group. How will we recover from this massive fall? It can only be contained with even more or our money being gifted to the group.

    The little Rs 7 lakh no tax regime pales into insignificance when compared to what faces us.

    That not one retail investor trusted Adani’s FPO speaks more volumes than all Modi ji’s speeches and the collective yelling of our TV anchors.

    Speaking of which, one of those geniuses at Times Now wants India to ban the BBC because of that documentary. Sadly for him, I forget his name – initials are RSS – the British government has decided to stand by the BBC. In spite of tens of Indian origin British citizens wandering outside the BBC office in the freezing cold protesting against the BBC. Life is so unfair. Even worse, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s brother JoJo has quit Elara, some bank that funded the Adani Group. And was mentioned in the Hindenburg Research report on fraud by Adani.

    BJP and Modi Bhakts are even funnier. Chatter on social media now demands a class action suit against the “whole West” for being anti-India. From the BBC to Hindenburg Research. Which court, any idea?

    Scroll.in has done a good recap here:

    https://scroll.in/article/1043147/big-picture-how-the-adani-crash-unfolded-and-what-it-could-do-to-the-indian-economy

    Cynics ask how long before we have some publicity shots of Modi ji with an ambulance or the inauguration of a highway or some other distractionary nonsense. It’s not that unlikely, given the past record.

    But for yourself, and for ourselves as journalists, let’s mark what’s left of our democracy in this report from The Economist:

    https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/02/01/the-worlds-most-and-least-democratic-countries-in-2022?utm_content=article-link-3&etear=nl_today_3&utm_campaign=a.the-economist-today&utm_medium=email.internal-newsletter.np&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=2/1/2023&utm_id=1471067

    Not much.

    One of the reasons is because we in the media have not tracked what mattered.

    That’s it.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal