The Forum Mall Bangalore, part of Prestige Group, has awarded its creative duties to TBWA\India.
The Forum mall is one of Bangalore’s most prominent landmarks and a destination for shoppers in Bangalore. The business was awarded to TBWA following a multi-agency pitch.
Rama Raju, General Manager, The Forum Mall, said, “What impressed us was TBWA\India’s ability to think out of the box, their disruptive approach and most importantly, brand ownership, which convinced us to partner with TBWA.”
Commenting on the win, Nirmalya Sen, Managing Director at TBWA India said, “Only the most mature marketers pick their communications partner on the basis of their credentials. We are delighted to partner one such company in the Prestige Group and we are looking forward to co-creating The Forum brand with them.”
Arindam Sengupta, Vice President-South, TBWA India, added, “We are delighted to work with a client who shares similar ideologies and understands our approach to communication. It is indeed a challenge and an honour for TBWA to build such an iconic brand. We look forward, in all enthusiasm, to create some unconventional and fresh advertising for them, with them.”
Dainik Bhaskar celebrated two years in Jharkhand, which it had entered with the launch of the Ranchi edition in August 2010, followed by the Jamshedpur and Dhanbad editions in December 2010 and April 2011 respectively.
Dainik Bhaskar offers its readers a tailor-made newspaper as per their needs and expectations. It is a voice of the area with a deep sense of reader connect and quality, unbiased news reporting – and that has lead to its tremendous success across editions.
As part of the celebration, a special 16-page issue was released along with the main newspaper. Dainik Bhaskar in Jharkhand has been a voice raising citizens’ concerns on infrastructural development and progress. Last year on the first anniversary the special issue had spoken about the thought of “Badlav Miljulkar”- collective change. This year the special issue highlighted the socio-economic changes witnessed by the state in the last few years, taking it that much closer to achieving dream state status.
Draftfcb Ulka has announced the appointment of Naresh Kumar as Vice President, Planning for its Delhi operations. Prior to this, Mr Kumar has worked at Momentum Strategy (Bengaluru), Avalon Consulting (Delhi) and Law & Kenneth (Delhi) as well as an independent consultant in his career spanning 16 years.
Having done engineering from BITS, Mesra and his PG in Advertising & Communications Management from NMIMS in 1997, Mr Kumar has gained a wealth of experience across consulting, market research and planning, across successful brands like Bharat Petroleum (Pure for Sure), MTR Foods re-positioning, Lakme, Tata Steel, Big Bazaar, GMR Infrastructure, ITC and Onida.
Sanjay Tandon, COO Draftfcb Ulka Delhi said, “As a key player in the Delhi team, Naresh will help us sustain and strengthen our strategic credentials that are the building blocks of creating brandwealth for our clients.”
Mr Kumar said, “Draftfcb Ulka has an amazing reputation as a strategic brand-building partner to clients. The quality and testimony of their client relationships, and their senior management personnel is ample proof of that. Joining Draftfcb Ulka is like coming home, and I look forward to a long and fulfilling innings here.”
Aegis Media’s Vizeum India has announced their appointment as media AoR for Prism TV Private Limited to handle the 5 ETV regional channels namely ETV Marathi, Bangla, Kannada, Gujarati & Oriya.
As ETV Network gears up for a refreshed strategy, Vizeum as the Media AoR has been appointed to play a pivotal role in the next phase of growth for the network.
Confirming the same an official spokesperson from Prism TV said, “We are delighted to partner with Vizeum in our attempt to redefine the next phase for ETV channels. Building a brand around the network can present a lot of interesting challenges and we look forward to work with team Vizeum in getting people hooked to our regional channels.”
Commenting on the win, S Yesudas, Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum said “All I would say with pride is, our dream of attracting clients and talent to Vizeum automatically in our 4th year of operation, rather than us having to go out, is becoming a reality. I take this opportunity to welcome ETV Network into the Vizeum family. We are thankful to the client management for considering us worthy.”
Vizeum successfully operates in 55 countries with a philosophy of in-depth understanding of the co existence of lives, brands and media in the actual world, through its process – motivation to media.
Genesis Burson-Marsteller, which specialises in public relations, public affairs and digital marketing services, has announced new business wins across key business sectors including e-commerce, manufacturing, customer loyalty and fashion retail, marking strong momentum as it enters the second half of 2012. Genesis Burson-Marsteller is pleased to be working with such respected brands and companies including Flipkart, Loyalty One, and GAS.
“GAS works with a philosophy of being simple and authentic. We were looking at working with an agency that shares similar values and represents GAS the best possible way. We are very happy to be partnering with Genesis Burson-Marsteller as our Public Relations agency and looking forward to a successful association ahead,” stated Amit Dhanjani, Head of Marketing and Communications for GAS.
Genesis Burson-Marsteller is celebrating its 20th year as a communications leader in India. “We are proud of the clients we have represented these last 20 years and in 2012 we continue work with great brands,” stated Prema Sagar, Founder and Principal. “As a firm that specialises in integrated communications, the range of businesses represented by these recent wins also demonstrates our ability to work with clients in all industries, helping them achieve their communications objectives.”
Flipkart went live in 2007 with the objective of making books easily available to anyone who had internet access. Today, they are present across various categories including movies, music, games, mobiles, cameras, computers, healthcare and personal products, home appliances and electronics, stationery, perfumes, toys. They’re present in 37 cities, with over 11.5 million book titles, 14 different categories, more than 3 million registered users and sale of 30000 items a day; they are one of the leading e-commerce players in the country.
GAS is a premium jeans wear brand with an international feel fueled by the idea of fashionable – yet functional and practical – clothes for intelligent, discerning and cosmopolitan people who look to clothing to express their own personality for every occasion. Today Grotto S.p.A. is a global, international company determined to continue to reinforce its presence abroad, with a particular focus on Europe and the Far East.
Loyalty One is a global provider of customer insight and strategy, marketing and loyalty programs and customer experience management. Our roster of clients includes Fortune 1000 companies across the globe. Loyalty One’s industry-leading associates, practical experience and proven capabilities set the benchmark of thought leadership in the loyalty marketplace.
In my recent interview with Prasoon Joshi of McCann for mxmindia, we discussed the key problems the ad world faces today. According to Joshi, it’s time the clause on ‘Intellectual Property Rights’ is enshrined in contracts with clients. So that the ad agency is adequately compensated for its idea, and doesn’t lose revenues after the client changes his agency while continuing to use the original idea in the brand communication. It’s a good suggestion, it makes a lot of sense, but I can assure you nothing will happen in this matter. As nothing ever does happen on all the problems that dog the desi ad world.
In fact, each agency chairman states his/her own area of concern when I meet him/her for an interview. Piyush Pandey is very unhappy with the current agency remuneration structure. Balki continues to have serious issues with the way awards are given in the ad world. All these problems remain unresolved.
What’s the reason for this inaction? It’s simple, and most industry leaders will agree with this view: There is disunity in the ad business. These guys will never come together and sort out their issues. Perhaps it has to do with fat egos. Or perhaps it has to do with some degree of immaturity. Or both. The disconnect cannot be because of intense rivalry, that happens in other industries as well. But their leaders do come together now and then to debate common issues, and, in fact, they sometimes form those nefarious cartels!
I think all it takes is for one large-hearted agency chief to stand up, make some calls, and get everyone together under one roof. I am certain a number of issues will get sorted out in time if they put their heads together. It needs just one individual to bell the fat cats.
Having said the above, let me hasten to add that some amount of bitchiness, mud-slinging and jealousy in a creative industry is fine. That happens in Bollywood as well. In fact, it can be fun at times. But if it’s coming in the way of solving pressing industry issues, then that’s not healthy at all.
Grab some beers, people. At least break the ice. Cheers!
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PS: Haha. What a kickass warning sign! If this doesn’t prevent you from fingering around with switches in public places, nothing will!
Dhara, which has in the past come up with successful taglines including ‘Dhara Dhara Shudh Dhara’ and ‘My Daddy Strongest’, has now after a gap of almost six years come out with a new campaign.
India Ka Tadka is how Dhara has positioned itself in its current communication, which is about celebrating the fondness of food that Indians are known for and various emotions that come with food. Â It also talks of the role that edible oil plays in daily Indian cooking, which also involve frying. Hence, Dhara offering guilt-free consumption of all things that are seen as sinful by switching to the brand that offers healthy variants of oil to choose from, thus also championing the rotating of different oils which is seen as a healthy choice.
Offering an insight into the reason for the six-year gap before this campaign, Amit Kumar Taneja, Senior Brand Manager, Dhara, Mother Dairy, said, “In the year 2009, we revamped the entire packaging for the brand and then post that we have been doing a lot of work like creating a new brand identity based on its equity and heritage, introducing new variants and simultaneously focusing on distribution in regions with tactical media exposure. Taking a step ahead we thought that it is the right time to also introduce a national campaign now. Incidentally, Dhara has just entered its 25th year too.”
The campaign tries to bring about an emotional connect, along with being relevant, to the consumers. Mr Taneja explained, “Edible oil is like salt which is a necessary ingredient for the everyday kitchen. Now there are certain reserves regarding consuming oil. So what we are essentially saying that research recommends changing oil variants frequently for healthy lifestyle, and we have taken the responsible route and provide those variants under the Dhara umbrella thus providing consumers reassurance that we are taking care of their health needs.”
He added, “The message is being reinforced on Dhara packaging as well, which reads as ‘For optimum health benefits Dhara recommends consumption of more than one variant to get balanced quantity of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) along with a variety of micro nutrients present in different oils’. ”
India ka Tadka essentially means that we have grown up hearing the crackling sound of tadka, and whenever we hear it, subconsciously we know that food is going to be served. Tadka is that wafting aroma of spices in oil which turns an ordinary meal into the most exquisite treat. It’s also a metaphor for the joie de vivre, the spice of life. The positioning tries to capture the significance of food even in our smallest of celebrations.
The campaign is developed by DDB Mudra and shot by Thumbnail Pictures. It’s been launched pan-India with Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali edits. The OOH too is being tapped in different cities across India.
Commenting on the TVC, Vandana Das, President, DDB Mudra, said, “We take a lot of pride in this campaign and our association with Dhara for so many years. With past campaigns like ‘Jalebi’ and ‘My Daddy Strongest’ done for Dhara, the benchmark was already set very high. What’s great and delights us is that we managed to partner the client in creating yet another campaign that not just breaks the category clutter but also captures a strong insight. India ka Tadka for sure depicts each one of us in some way or the other.”
Some create to sell. Some create to keep. Why would an entrepreneur who has created, built up and nurtured a company, wish to sell it? And given that the reasons are good, what then is a good time for this sell-out?
PV Sahad, Editor of VCCircle, a news website dedicated to covering private equity, venture capital investments and M&A in India, said, “The right time to sell a business depends entirely on the objective of the management or the entrepreneur.”
Mr Sahad added, “Usually, the companies are sold off when the markets are high or if there are suitable buyers for the company. The suitable buyers knock on the doors when the company is at the peak performance stage. This is when a buyer looks at the company and makes a good offer.”
Prof Kavil Ramachandran of ISB Hyderabad opined, “There are various reasons why a company sells out. One, when the entrepreneur gets excited by something more challenging and wishes to move away from something he has established and toiled over. The entrepreneur and/or management might wish to sell out when the Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Time and Investment (ROTI) for the effort put in seem good in terms of the valuation.”
One more reason could be that the management of the company feels that the pressures of growing the company further are beyond their current means, and the entrepreneur starts to feel that someone else might be able to do a better job, added Prof Ramachandran.
Mahendra Swarup
Mahendra Swarup, President, Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (IVCA), said that the reason to sell out depends vastly on the outlook of the entrepreneur. “If one’s company is heavily invested or has raised money through IPO, then the compulsion to exit the business is much more.” According to him little or less equity rights with the entrepreneur is also one reason when the companies prefer to sell out.
The companies usually try and scale up their business with the money that an investor (for a stake sale) brings in, or it the entrepreneur wishes to exit the business altogether.
Mr Swarup added that a good time to sell company is also dependent on the entrepreneur. “They can sell when the company is doing well, or is actually not doing well. But usually, companies are sold when the entrepreneur has an alternative scheme of things that can be a new investment horizon or venture.”
Sanjeev Bhikchandani
Sanjeev Bhikchandani, founder and executive vice-chairman of Naukri.com, said, “There are no general answers to when is a good time to sell a company. The motive to sell depends solely on the goals and objectives of the entrepreneur. If they wish to make a quick buck, they might scale up and sell. If they wish to create a huge company, they might not. The time is decided by the motive of the entrepreneur.”
Ordinarily, I would envy Aggie and Paddy. They have landed up with mind-numbing sums in their savings bank accounts following the acquisition by Dentsu. In fact, I don’t even want to hear the numbers… that would make me feel like a very small man. Am certain this must be the feeling inside every single creative director’s heart in the Indian ad world, even if they don’t admit to it. And most importantly, Taproot has pulled off this financial coup within just three years of starting out. This is beyond dreams coming true.
However, instead of feeling jealous, I actually feel very happy for them. I have never met Paddy, but Aggie I have, on more than one occasion, and I can tell you I am yet to meet a more simple, down-to-earth creative director. He is the kind of bloke who you want should win. His success will inspire a whole generation of advertising people, and not just a few eager hot shops.
It’s a win-win marriage. Dentsu, which is not a name one usually associates with sparkling creative work, has bought itself a nice creative powerhouse. They must be elated. Taproot gets the scale, the logistics and the bucks they need, so they must be obviously thrilled. And for sure the Dentsu suits will leave Aggie and Paddy alone to do their own thingy. Only a silly parent would meddle with a brilliant child. So all is well, as they say.
The only area of concern is this: What happens when Aggie and Paddy decide to offload their shares and retire to a beach house? There must definitely be a lock-in period of at least five years, I suppose. But what happens after that? Will Taproot be the same agency minus the two Big Brains? This is the only thing Dentsu must keep a sharp eye on. Remember, Taproot is a baby agency, it has no legacy. And if Aggie and Paddy don’t create their clones in the agency, if they don’t cultivate talent that is equally bright and hungry for success, five years down the line this acquisition may not look as rosy to Dentsu.
For now, dear Aggie, bring out the bubbly. And please hire a bubbly secretary for yourself. No need to figure out airline tickets on your own anymore. You can afford her now.
PS: This is the last TVC directed by Tony Scott, the ace Hollywood movie director who recently killed himself. Incidentally, Scott directed many commercials in his career. Nothing special about this one, it’s typical soft drink trash. Only, it’s difficult to imagine suicide was on Scott’s mind while he was working on such lively stuff. Complex and unpredictable is the human mind.
Japanese advertising behemoth Dentsu has acquired a 51% stake in Taproot, arguably the most creative among the Indian independent advertising agencies.
Taproot's Agnello Dias (left) and Santosh Padhi (right) with Rohit Ohri of Dentsu (centre)
With several of the most popular recent campaigns like ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai’ and ‘Joh Tera Hai Woh Mera Hai’ for Airtel and ‘Change the Game’ for Pepsi under its belt, the five year old agency has seen a meteoric rise. It’s also won critical acclaim; the most recent being a Gold Lion at Cannes along with Ramesh Deo Productions for the ‘I Am Mumbai’ film for Mumbai Mirror, a newspaper from the Times Group, which also publishes The Economic Time
The managements at both Dentsu and Taproot declined to discuss the financial aspects of the arrangement. Industry observers estimate the initial upfront payout at Rs 60 crore with another Rs 80 crore expected in future earn-outs
In a global deal in July, Dentsu had paid $4.9 billion for British media buying group Aegis, valuing the company at 12 times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation.
The Economic Times had reported in June that Dentsu among other agency groups was speaking to Taproot about a possible acquisition. Says Rohit Ohri, executive chairman, Dentsu India group, who has previously worked with one of Taproot’s founders Agnello Dias at JWT: “They (Taproot’s co-founders & chief creative officers, Dias and Santosh Padhi) could have chosen anyone. What convinced them about Dentsu is that we are very entrepreneurial and evolving; and more willing to look at out of the box ways of working.”
Adds Dias: “We felt it was the right thing to do. Of all the conversations we had, we felt most comfortable with the equation we were sharing with Dentsu. Another reason cited is Dentsu’s global strengths in the digital medium and that it is currently the leading network in Asia.
Taproot will retain its identity and won’t be rebranded. Although Dentsu is a majority owner, management control of the agency continues to rest with Dias and Padhi. Dias says, “In terms of changes, there’s nothing in the pipeline. I think even Dentsu is saying ‘why should we upset a system that’s doing so well’?”
What the arrangement brings Taproot is integrated communication, superior execution abilities and a national network. As far as Dentsu is concerned, Taproot, says Ohri, “is really the creative firepower we needed in the group.” However, the firepower is not likely to be immediately applied to any of Dentsu’s current client relationships.
Both partners believe that Taproot will step in only when needed “on a case by case basis” according to Padhi. Interestingly enough, two of Taproot’s most productive client relationships have been with Airtel and Pepsi, brands that Ohri worked on in a previous stint at JWT. Ohri regards this as “a great bonus”, but he cites the talent of the two principals at Taproot and the chemistry with senior management at Dentsu as the main reasons for the merger.
Among a spate of recently launched creative-led independent agencies which include Creativeland Asia and Scarecrow Communications, Taproot has arguably been the most successful with several marquee campaigns to its name for Airtel, Pepsi and The Times Group.
The agency was founded in 2008 when Dias (then national creative director at JWT) decided to join forces with former colleague Santosh Padhi (executive creative director at Leo Burnett at the time). The 33 person strong agency has been particularly successful in wresting business from Dias’ former employer JWT, landing prestigious assignments from Pepsi and Airtel.
In 2011, when Taproot snatched two big-ticket assignments, PepsiCo and Airtel – both JWT clients – the joke was that JWTstood for Just Went to Taproot.
Now JWT may just have to be shuffled around to become TJW – or Taproot Just Went – now that a clutch of global ad networks are in hectic parleys with the founders of the five-year-old independent Indian agency. Those in the fray, said a person familiar with the negotiations, include the Omnicom group, Publicis and Dentsu.
Agnello Dias, chairman and co-founder, Taproot India, said: “There are three or four groups talking to us and Dentsu is one of them. It doesn’t have any head start and we are no closer to signing a dotted line (with Dentsu than with any other network).”
A Dentsu spokesperson was unavailable for comment. Nakul Chopra, CEO, Publicis South Asia, said: “We don’t comment on acquisitions of any nature.”
Taproot’s co-founders Dias and Santosh Padhi are clearly testing the market and checking out valuations, said an agency insider. But this may not tantamount to an immediate sale.
“The global groups are speaking not just to Taproot but also to other independent agencies like Creativeland Asia. We are open to talking to anybody but at the end of the day it may not be Dentsu, Omnicom or anybody. We would just like to get an idea of how much we are worth and valued at,” is how the insider who requested anonymity put it.
The agency, which had a slow beginning in 2007, eventually moved on to big clients. Campaigns such as ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai’ (HFZ) and ‘Change the Game’ for Pepsi got popular acclaim as well as industry  accolades with HFZ winning seven medals at Goafest this year.
At Goafest, considered the premier local ad festival in India, Taproot was runner-up to Ogilvy India, clinching 34 metals and beating top agencies such as Leo Burnett, DDB Mudra, Grey and JWT. Besides this, the agency had won the Grand Effie award last year for the ‘Change the Game’ campaign.
In its fifth year, the agency runs a tight ship with 35 people on board. A senior official at a leading ad agency says that Taproot has had to turn down a lot of projects in the past year.
“Funding via a sale of equity will help them increase their capabilities,” he said. For now though, a more interesting game is afoot with Dias and Padhi playing their cards very close to their chest.
In my interview with Taproot’s Agnello Dias for MxMIndia, the creative director made a stunning forecast for the future. He feels the typical ad agency will only consist of thinkers and strategizers. And that all creative work will have to be outsourced. This will mean specialized press ad shops, film script shops, digital design shops, and so on. And what he says makes a lot of sense. Here’s why.
In the good old days, advertisers would use only press and TV as the key media, and the rest would consist of ‘supplementary’ stuff. And this resulted in ad agencies hiring copywriters and art directors. Writers would write storyboards and press ad copy, and the art directors would design the ads and other packaging material. So that was fine.
However, in the last decade, the media has boomed big-time, and now clients look for special effort for a multitude of media platforms. Digital work, for instance, is being outsourced. Because agency’s creative personnel don’t get this space. As time goes by, and as technology unleashes more platforms, there will be serious pressure on ad agencies to find the right talent. And the agency shall not be in a position to hire all the staffers on its payroll; it would go bankrupt in months. The digital outsourcing will have a backlash on the traditional agency. It will mean that one day ALL work will have to be done by outsiders. In fact, radio, an old medium, has been crying out for specialists for decades. With the unbundling, we would see specialized radio script shops, and the quality of the creative work will dramatically improve.
And most importantly, it will allow creative people to focus on their core competencies. It serves little purpose for a JJ Arts School grad to be breaking his head over internet videos. Likewise for fine English prose writers battling with Hindi television ad scripts. Specialization makes enormous sense.
Yep, I hope Aggie is a good crystal ball gazer, and that what he predicts will come true. Personally speaking, I am all ready for the future. I have decided to start a specialized scam ads shop. Which to me sounds like a really lucrative business. 🙂
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PS: A horrifying window display. Shocking is too mild a word. But it makes a strong case for stopping cruelty against animals. And hats off to the woman who volunteered for this campaign.
Dainik Bhaskar celebrated two years in Jharkhand, which it had entered with the launch of the Ranchi edition in August 2010, followed by the Jamshedpur and Dhanbad editions in December 2010 and April 2011 respectively.
By Anil Thakraney
PS: Haha. What a kickass warning sign! If this doesn’t prevent you from fingering around with switches in public places, nothing will!
Dhara, which has in the past come up with successful taglines including ‘Dhara Dhara Shudh Dhara’ and ‘My Daddy Strongest’, has now after a gap of almost six years come out with a new campaign.
