MxMIndia

Category: Ad Agencies

  • It is encouraging to find from the two reports that the worst effect of pandemic is over, writes Indrani Sen

    So how do the GroupM & Madison forecasts compare?

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Like every year, last week we saw the release of both This Year Next Year 2021 (TYNY2021) by GroupM and Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2021 (PMAR2021) by Madison Media. Both agreed that the pandemic year 2020 was a disastrous one for the Indian Media and Advertising Industry, when the overall AdEx dropped by 20% (PMAR2021) to 21.5% (TYNY2021) from the 2019 level. Both have predicted better days in 2021 with the overall AdEx growing by 23.3% (TYNY2021) to 26% (PMAR2021).  According to PMAR2021, the predicted AdEx INR 68,325 crore in 2021 will touch the AdEx INR 67,603 crore in 2019. According to TYNY2021, the forecast for 2021 is INR 80,123 crore, which falls short by 3.35% from the AdEx in 2019 which was INR 82,904 crore.

     

    In spite of the huge gap in the overall AdEx estimates by the two agencies, it is relieving to find that the trends predicted by both of them are similar. The gap in the estimated size of the Indian AdEx between the two reports has been existing over many years and the Media and Advertising Industry has learned to live with the differences. TYNY2021 has estimated both TV and Digital AdEx at much higher levels than PMAR2021. On the other hand, PMAR2021 has estimated Print AdEx at a much higher level than TYNY2021. The following two tables show the details of the two reports by medium for making easy comparisons.

     

     

    According to PMAR2021, the pandemic year 2020 will go down in the history of Indian Media and Advertising as the year when Digital overtook Print and became #2 in terms of market share of overall AdEx. However, TYNY2019 showed Digital as the #2 and Print in the #3 positions in terms of market share. In 2020, GroupM estimated a 2% degrowth in Digital from 2019 level, while Madison Media estimated a 10% growth in Digital over 2019 level. Both the reports show Print AdEx in 2021 would be below the 2019 levels, while Digital AdEx would be crossing the 2019 levels in 2021. So, we can now conclude that Digital has the second highest market share in overall AdEx and it is unlikely that Print would be able to regain that position in 2021 or later.

     

    TV which holds the #1 position in Indian AdEx in both the reports, had degrowth of 11% (PMAR2021) to 14% (TYNY2021) last year, but is expected to grow at higher rate 17% (PMAR2021) to 18% (TYNY2021) in 2021 and touch or cross the 2019 AdEx levels.

     

    Both the reports show the huge loss which was suffered by the other traditional media, Outdoor, Radio and Cinema during 2020.  In spite of the overall growth of AdEx predicted for 2021, these three media would be far below their 2019 benchmarks. The combined market share of these three media continues to be less than 10% in both the reports. A difference in reporting between TYNY and PMAR has been noticed this year regarding Radio. While PMAR2021 has reported only on Radio, TYNY2021 has changed the nomenclature to Audio. It is however not very clear what other audio component apart from Radio has been included under that definition.

     

    It is encouraging to find from the two reports that the worst effect of pandemic is over; Media and Advertising industry is on the path of recovery; the process of digitisation has been accelerated; we are expecting a robust GDP growth and globally India will continue to be the second-fastest growing AdEx market among the top ten countries in 2021. At the same time, it is also frightening that the economic effects of Covid-19 have manged to wipe off two years of overall AdEx growth (2020 & 2021) and many media-owners and some media agencies still have to fight battles for survival.

     

  • To make connections in other markets over food, music, sport, travel, books, etc

    Dentsu APAC launches Common Ground to unite employees

    By Our Staff

     

    Dentsu international has launched a new internal initiative for its 11,000 employees in 17 markets in Asia Pacific, entitled “Common Ground”. Notes a communique: “It is a way for employees at Dentsu to make connections in other markets and regions based on their common interests, whether that’s food, sport, music, travel, books, film or as obscure as stamp collecting. By using common interests as a way to reflect diversity, dentsu believes its people will shine through. Dentsu’s DEI lead in APAC, Merlee Jayme partnered with Gautam Reghunath, CEO, Dentsu Webchutney, to bring this initiative to life for diversity month believing that building strong relationships by understanding each other’s backgrounds is a big step to diversity.”

     

    Said Jayme: “People are at the heart of every great creative business and dentsu is a hallmark of that. With a clear strategy on how we want to build our identity in the region, bringing our people together in a fun, informal way is a meaningful start. We’re thrilled with Common Ground volunteers in Japan, Thailand, India, Philippines, and Australia exchanging Instagram handles and making travel plans to countries already. Common Ground has something for everyone at dentsu, and we’re proud to launch during diversity month. I can’t wait to see how it will bring people together in new ways across our network.”

     

    Added Ashish Bhasin, CEO, Dentsu APAC: “Our talent is as ingenious as they are diverse. Dentsu has always bet on the serendipitous connections across regions and fostering that kind of networking in such an organic manner is going to take us to new places. In a data-rich world, I’m proud all the pairings will happen based on actual interests and actual people. The team has asked me to be patient before I get to meet my dentsu twin!”

     

     

  • Both will report to CEO Anand Bhadkamkar

    Divya Karani is CEO Media at Dentsu. Kartik Iyer, COO of the network

    By Our Staff

     

    Kartik Iyer
    Kartik Iyer

    Dentsu International has announced key leadership changes in India as part of its global organisational redesign. Kartik Iyer, erstwhile president – Media Brands and Amplifi, will now join the network’s market leadership team as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will continue to report to Anand Bhadkamkar and will be instrumental in driving the implementation of Dentsu’s new business model within the country.

     

    Divya Karani
    Divya Karani

    The network has also appointed Divya Karani, CEO at Dentsu X India, as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Media, South Asia. Here, media includes the agencies Dentsu X, Carat, iProspect and Posterscope. In this additional role, Karana will be responsible for driving the global media strategy and delivery in South Asia, ensuring its alignment and relevance to the market. She will continue to report to Anand Bhadkamkar.

     

    Anand Bhadkamkar
    Anand Bhadkamkar

    Said Bhadkamkar: “Dentsu is committed to delivering the best to its clients and Kartik and Divya are veterans in what they do. Kartik is recognised industry-wide for his media expertise while Divya is one of our finest from the industry. Her strength lies in delivering first-class, client-centric results and I am confident that their expertise and experience will only help accelerate the effectiveness, purpose, and performance offered to our clients.”

     

    Meanwhile, Haresh Nayak will continue to serve as COO for Dentsu Media in India in addition to his other roles as President, Posterscope Asia Pacific and MD, Posterscope India, while Rubeena Singh is now incharge of the freshly rebranded iProspect. Anita Kotwani will continue to lead the Carat brand for India.

     

     

  • The new role will see S Subramanyeswar manage responsibilities for the whole of Asia-Pacific over and above his current charge as the Group Chief Strategy Officer at MullenLowe Lintas Group (India)

    Subbu is now CSO of Mullen Lowe APAC

    By Orur Staff

     

    S Subramanyeswar
    S Subramanyeswar

    MullenLowe Group has announced the elevation of S Subramanyeswar (better known as Subbu) as Chief Strategy Officer for the Asia-Pacific region. He will continue to lead strategy for brands at MullenLowe Lintas Group as its Group Chief Strategy Officer.

     

    Since joining Lowe Lintas in 2011 as National Planning Director, Subbu has led major strategic thoughts or shifts for multiple brands across the clients that the group works on in India.

     

    James Fox
    James Fox

    Speaking about his elevation, James Fox – Global Chief Strategy Officer, MullenLowe Group said: Subbu’s promotion is much deserved as he is one of the finest marketing minds in the region. He is a true leader for his team and his clients, helping them achieve new heights professionally and commercially. I am very proud to have Subbu as part of the global planning council, leading MullenLowe Group’s strategic charge across Asia-Pacific countries.”

     

    Virat Tandon
    Virat Tandon

    Added Virat Tandon – Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group, India: “In the 10 years that he’s been at MullenLowe Lintas Group, Subbu has played a huge role in not just improving and innovating the planning product, but forging strong partnerships with colleagues at the agency, clients and academia. Not to forget his big role in putting us on the global map of effectiveness! Having worked very closely with him over the last 10 years, I have to say that he is clearly one of the top brand strategists in the world. I am extremely happy that Subbu will take his amazing brand of strategic planning beyond South Asia and into all of Asia-Pacific.”

     

    Excited about his new role within MullenLowe Group, Subbu said, “I’m honoured, humbled and fired up. It’s a huge opportunity and that’s very exciting. At the same time, I’m also grounded on the challenges that lie ahead. And it is that trip and the constraint that also brings out the passion and fierce obsession in me, to do great culture-leading work. I’ll take the rich learning that I had in my ten years at MullenLowe Lintas Group – India, an ecosystem or the fulcrum of marketing, forward.” Subbu will be based in Mumbai, India, as he takes up the Asia-Pacific charge with immediate effect.

     

  • It is a new term to describe consumer emotions during pandemic

    Rediffusion files trademark for ‘Postalgia’

    By Our Staff

     

    Sandeep Goyal is at the helm and it’s raining communiques and announcements. The Rediffusion Consumer Lab (Red Lab) has coined a new word, Postalgia, or nostalgia in the future tense or ‘post-nostalgia’. It has filed a trademark on the usage of the word.

     

    Said Navonil Chatterjee, Head of Red Lab and the person who coined the term: “Postalgia is a new pandemic-driven twist to the traditional concept of nostalgia. We at Red Lab observed this trend of consumers today wanting the future to reflect their pandemic-freepast, and came up with the term postalgia to describe it. If nostalgia is for the past or the ‘pre’, postalgia is all about the future or the ‘post’. Hence the coinage.”

     

    Added Goyal, who is Managing Director of Rediffusion Brand Solutions: “Trademarking of ‘postalgia’ is just to ensure that Rediffusion and Red Lab are credited for the coinage. We will otherwise encourage its widespread media usage, and its usage by brands. Red Lab is dedicated to greater understanding of consumer behaviour, and to sharing key insights with our clients and peers.”

     

  • Called 'The Ad Fellows Returnship', it is created in partnership with Indian Creative Women

    Dentsu Webchutney unfurls comeback offer for moms in advertising

    By Our Staff

     

    Dentsu Webchutney, the digital-led creative agency from Dentsu India, has launched a new talent development programme, The Ad Fellows Returnship. It is a 30-day back-to-work programme for moms created in partnership with Indian Creative Women, an independent forum working towards furthering diversity in creative teams across the Indian Advertising and Design Industry. For the record, the virtual learning programme will begin on July 1, 2021 and applications will be open from June 1, 2021 till June 10, 2021.

     

    Speaking on the programme, Dentsu Webchutney team said: “We believe in the power of perspectives to make ideas stronger. Diversity in talent will always lead to more diverse work and following up on our success in making advertising open for everyone from Gen Z, to internet obsessives, to people in other industries, we’re excited to take this next step and welcome moms to Dentsu Webchutney. The program has been chartered by a passionate woman-strong team that believes more mothers need to put their lived experiences on the table. We’ve certainly got a long way to go ourselves but we’re very proud to partner with Indian Creative Women and take this much overdue step forward.”

     

    Added the team of Indian Creative Women: “Women face several systemic and structural challenges that get in the way of them growing into senior leadership roles. Our industry isn’t doing enough to retain them, specifically mothers. A woman is still blamed if she quits the industry after becoming a mother. There’s simply no organizational support for her to succeed. Dentsu Webchutney’s The Ad Fellows Returnship is a small step in the right direction and should be a great example of what other agencies can follow. This program is hugely influenced by Harshada Thakurdesai, a creative mom and Group Creative Director from Team Indian Creative Women.”

     

  • Rajesh Ghatge takes on additional role of Chief Growth Officer

    Publicis Groupe launches PubHub

    By Our Staff

     

    Publicis Groupe launches PubHub, an ecosystem to create bespoke marketing transformation solutions at scale, through the integration of specialised capabilities across Data, Content, Technology, Production, and Commerce.

     

    Rajesh Ghatge
    Rajesh Ghatge

    PubHub will be led by Indigo Consulting CEO Rajesh Ghatge, who now additionally takes on the role of Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe India. Ghatge is already leading the implementation of Global Hub for GSK.

     

    Ghatge has been with Publicis Group for close to four-and-a-half years and has close to three decades of experience across marketing and technology. Previously he has launched and built organisations in the space of travel, training and brand activation. Before joining Publicis, he also led a technology-enabled social enterprise which trained and certified school drop-outs to become certified elder care workers.

     

    Anupriya Acharya
    Anupriya Acharya

    Said Anupriya Acharya, South Asia CEO, Publicis Groupe: “Today, the demand for scaled marketing transformation solutions is growing exponentially- on the back of accelerated adoption of digital and tech. For Publicis Groupe, India has emerged as a massive capability centre for digital and tech-led deep expertise across contemporary and innovative marketing and business transformation solutions. Large mandates across global and national brands are being managed across the Groupe in India. The launch of PubHub is timely and apt. With an intrinsic model to scale fast,  it has been designed to be agile and responsive while leveraging our proficiency and vast experience across the creative, technology and media competencies.”

     

    Added Ghatge: “As a Client organisation, the choices of agency partners, consulting partners, tools and technologies are immense. These choices are giving rise to one big challenge – that of being able to weave together the right components of creative, data and technology to effectively win in the platform world. Moreover, reclaiming growth has become the number one priority for most enterprises in a dramatically changed world. In this added mandate, I am looking forward to leverage our diverse capabilities and experience to create repeatable and scalable solutions for our clients via PubHub, and fuel significant growth for them.”

     

  • As Head – Creator and Content Ecosystem

    Sunder Venketraman joins Josh

    By Our Staff

     

    Sunder Venketraman
    Sunder Venketraman

    DailyHunt and VerSe Innovation’s short video app Josh has announced the expansion of its leadership team with the appointment of Sunder Venketraman as Head – Creator and Content Ecosystem. He will be based in Mumbai and will be responsible for spearheading the short video ecosystem beyond mainstream content categories like dance, drama, comedy, and lip sync.

     

    Prior to his association with Josh, Venketraman was Head of Strategy, Monetisation and Revenue at Firework India.

     

    Welcoming Venketraman, Josh Founder Virendra Gupta and Co-founder Umang Bedi, said: “It gives us immense pleasure to welcome a seasoned professional like Sunder onboard. His achievements in the domain of entertainment and content ecosystem precede him, as he comes armed with a deep understanding of the short video ecosystem that we believe will create a lasting impact and will take Josh to greater heights. Sunder’s expertise in content strategy and business-oriented functions will fuel Josh’s vision of encouraging Bharat’s youth to create engaging content in local languages and will allow us to infuse multiple content categories into our app.”

     

    Added Venketraman:“I am excited to be a part of Josh which I believe is a perfect blend of international structuring and raw Indian spirit. I am truly enthralled by the Co-founders’ vision in building this app and look forward to weave in my ideas and experience to inspire the next wave of content creators for Bharat. I am thankful to Umang and Viru for this opportunity that sets me on yet another exciting journey to re-imagine the content landscape in India.”

     

  • Will be handling integrated creative duties for the company

    Enormous wins communications mandate of Workex

    By Our Staff

     

    Independent creative agency Enormous has bagged the communications mandate of Workex, a unified technology platform for hiring and managing Workforce for enterprises of various sizes, across sectors and every part of the country. As part of the mandate, Enormous will be handling integrated creative duties for Workex, to create a brand positioning.

     

    Said Nimish Sharma, Co- Founder and CEO, Workex: “We are excited at the possibilities emerging from our coming together with Enormous, in whom we have found an innovative, vibrant, extremely grounded creative agency.”

     

    Added Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous: “We are ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with Workex, India’s leading Workforce, Hiring and Management platform. We’re excited to create ground-breaking work that adds value to the brand and helps to increase brand preference in India. Because of the current circumstances, the hiring and managing workforce in the industry is becoming increasingly competitive, and the future belongs to brands who stand out. And that is exactly what we intend to achieve for the brand Workex.”

     

  • As Chief People Officer, South Asia

    GroupM appoints Madhvi Pahwa as CPO

    By Our Staff

     

    Madhvi Pahwa
    Madhvi Pahwa

    GroupM has appointed Madhvi Pahwa as its new Chief People Officer for South Asia. Pahwa, previously Chief People Officer Mindshare APAC, has been promoted into the role to lead the GroupM India talent team and develop GroupM’s talent proposition for the region. She will report to Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia.

     

    Said Kumar: “Madhvi has a proven track record of delivering innovation and education that moves the dial for the business. She is the perfect choice to lead the GroupM South Asia talent team and to lead us into the next phase of our growth.” He added, “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Rohit Suri for his commitment and efforts in helping build the talent team across South Asia. We greatly appreciate his contributions and wish him the best.”

     

    Added Pahwa: “Our employee promise has been to make Mindshare the place where you do your best work, and it has certainly been true for me. The people, priorities and culture just come together almost magically to bring out the best in you. I am grateful and proud to be part of the GroupM network that has given me growth opportunities across multiple agencies and geographic remits spanning global, regional and markets while supporting flexibility and personal priorities. I am super excited for the next chapter for GroupM India.”

     

  • To kickstart a health movement in India

    Leo Burnett bags Goqii digital healthcare biz

    By Our Staff

     

    Fitness technology company Goqii has mandated Leo Burnett India to handle its strategic and creative mandate. The account will be handled by the agency’s Mumbai office.

     

    Vishal Gondal
    Vishal Gondal

    Speaking about the appointment, Goqii founder Vishal Gondal said: “Goqii is committed to making the world a healthier and happier place. Our mission is to build the largest tech enabled healthcare platform to empower and motivate consumers to #BeTheForce. Given our proposition and our dynamic industry we were looking for a partner who emulated our new age thinking and goals with creativity and strong digital DNA. We were impressed with Leo Burnett’s understanding of the preventive healthcare mindset; a data first strategic thinking and a fresh creative approach. We are looking forward to working together.”

     

    Dheeraj Sinha
    Dheeraj Sinha

    Added Dheeraj Sinha, CEO & Chief Strategy Officer –  South Asia, Leo Burnett: “India needs a health movement. We need to put as much accent on living a better, healthier life than on post-disease healthcare. Goqii’s worldview and its suite of services is about helping you live longer, better, more fulfilled life. The brand delivers this through multiple services, tie ups with brands, nutrition advisory, health advisory, content around mental well-being going all the way to insurance solutions. We are indeed looking forward to partnering with Goqii to bringing access to a better life through better health for larger India.”

     

     

  • Delhi and Gurugram are one of the largest business units of Havas Media Group India

    Havas Media announces key elevations for senior management

    By Our Staff

     

    Havas Media Group India has announced elevations and promotions with immediate effect.

     

    Given that Delhi and Gurugram are one of the largest business units of Havas Media Group India with clients ranging from auto, consumer durables, real-estate to fashion, F&B and hospitality sectors among others, the North operations have been consolidated under two unit heads – Roopali Sharma, who completes eight years and Harbir Singh, who completes six years. They have been promoted as Managing Partners – Delhi. Chandradeep Kumar completes five years and has been promoted to Senior Vice President (Delhi).

     

    The Mumbai office will be led by Manish Sharma (previously Vice President -Delhi) as Executive Vice President and Head – Mumbai. He has been with the organisation for over five years. Both North and West continue to report to Uday Mohan, President – North & West India.

     

    In Bengaluru, which has clients like Swiggy, Gamezy, MyGate and the recent win of Ola, the office will continue to be led by Saurabh Jain. He has been with the agency for over six years and has been promoted as Managing Partner – South.

     

    Meanwhile, Rohan Chincholi has been elevated to Head of Digital to oversee and consolidate the overall digital business/services across markets, as the agency strengthens its digital footprint in the region through its new Mx methodology that combines both consumer insight and data. This is Chincholi’s second stint at Havas Media. He rejoined the agency in 2017.  Jain and Chincholi will continue reporting to Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Group India.

     

    Commenting on the re-organisation, Joshi said: “Continuing to invest in people as we reaffirm our focus on Mx operating system and 4Ps – Product, People, Pitches and Passion, I am excited to announce the promotions for these deserving leaders. They have been with us for a long time, tireless with their efforts and commitment in what has been one of the toughest years to help Havas Media reach greater heights. We are confident that going forward this team of emerging leaders will continue to help us become a more agile and robust media group.”