MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • Dating app launches an ad film for the women, by the women

    TrulyMadly advocates #BoyBrowsing in new campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    TrulyMadly has unveiled a fun new film that can be viewed online and on TV and is part of the ongoing Bestie campaign, which highlights how the dating app is available round the clock. In fact it is like a girl’s bestie, to point out all suitable boys for dating.

     

    The street casted film features real girls in real life situations – from college classrooms to office meeting rooms, at a house party, in a mall, even at home peering at a male visitor through a window. From high-fiving each other when a look is returned, to hiding in the balcony lest the guy might see them checking him out, the film captures every fun and light-hearted nuance of checking out boys with your bestie in situations every single girl can relate to.

     

    Conceptualized by Contract India, this is a film made by a team of girls, for the girls. Acclaimed filmmaker Shirsha Guha Thakurta of Oink Films has directed the film, while Delhi-based sisters and music composers Kavya and Khyati Trehan have written and sung the jingle for the film.

     

    Sachin Bhatia, CEO and Co-Founder of TrulyMadly said, “Girls love checking out boys with their besties, so we thought of finally giving this behavior an appropriate name – ‘Boy browsing’ – with our first TV and online film. Made by a gang of girls, the film has scenes so relatable that we expect it to make boy browsing a part of pop culture lexicon and a topic of everyday conversations.”

     

    “Just like your friend never lets a good-looking guy pass by unnoticed, TrulyMadly is your new bestie that will never let a great potential match pass by,” Sachin added.

     

  • Truecaller is transforming the phonebook to make it more intelligent and useful

    ZenithOptimedia wins media mandate of Truecaller

    By A Correspondent

     

    ZenithOptimedia has won the media mandate for Truecaller after a selection process that involved multiple agencies. This mandate covers all aspects of the company’s media planning & buying, and will include Digital and OOH duties as well.

     

    Truecaller is transforming the phonebook to make it more intelligent and useful. The app allows users to know who is calling them even if the person has not been listed in their contacts. Truecaller has grown phenomenally in India. Currently, at 80 million users in the country, the Indian user base comprises more than half the total global users.

     

    Kari Krishnamurthy, Vice President, Growth and Partnerships, Asia & Country Manager, India, said, “Truecaller has witnessed an accelerated growth in India, especially in the tier I markets. We were looking for media partners who have a deep understanding of the Consumer Internet space to help us establish strong media touchpoints in the tier II and III markets. ZenithOptimedia impressed us with their strategic framework and ability to execute with speed and accuracy.”

     

    Commenting on the win Hari Krishnan, Managing Director, ZenithOptimedia, said “This is a significant win for ZO in a sector that is fast growing and future facing. It is indeed a matter of pride for us to be partnering with Truecaller.”

     

  • Goyal is currently scouting for a name and a head for the new company that will focus on programmatic advertising, or automated media management

    Former Dentsu India chief Sandeep Goyal to launch equal JV with Zeotap

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    Former Dentsu India chairman Sandeep Goyal is launching an equal joint venture with German startup Zeotap that will provide a platform for advertisers to buy media space on mobile platforms through real time bidding, based on browsing history of individuals. Goyal is currently scouting for a name and a head for the new company that will focus on programmatic advertising, or automated media management. The venture will be operational within the next 4-6 weeks, he said.

     

    His company Mogae Media has signed a memorandum of understanding with Zeotap to float a 50:50 joint venture in India. Goyal, whose non-compete clause with Dentsu is ending this year, said financial structures of the new entity are being worked out.

     

    In India, programmatic buying is usually used for the digital platform. But the Mogae-Zeotap venture is looking to do it on smart phones and smart devices. “This company is primarily targeted to programmatic advertising on the mobile, both WAP and inapp”, said Goyal.

     

    “The new company has four parts – a data management platform, an ad exchange that enables real time bidding (RTB), a supply side platform (SSP) that brings publishers together, and a demand side platform (DSP) that aggregates demand from advertisers,” he said.

     

    Zeotap was launched in November 2014 by a team with extensive experience at Vodafone, IBM and Fyber (RNTS Media) as a data platform for leveraging the real time bidding (RTB) advertising ecosystem.

     

    It recently raised series A funding of $6.4 million, or about Rs 42 crore, from Capnamic Ventures, Iris Capital (backed by advertising conglomerate Publicis and telecoms giant Orange) and prominent business angels including former executives at Nokia and Yahoo.

     

    Daniel Heer, cofounder and CEO of Zeotap, had said that the new investment “will be employed towards Zeotap’s international expansion as well as to substantially grow our global technology centre in Bengaluru”.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

  • The survey received 1,368 responses from 86 Indian cities and towns

    Hansa Cequity’s omni-channel shopper study throws up interesting findings

    By A Correspondent

     

    Customer marketing company Hansa Cequity released its first omni-channel shopper study to understand customer behaviour and how India shops. The survey received 1,368 responses from 86 Indian cities and towns.

     

    The report, launched in association with the Retailers Association of India (RAI) during the ‘Cequity Conclave: Data Driven CMO’, revealed that with increased choices, higher disposable incomes and exposure to global shopping formats, the Indian shopper is changing. The findings highlight in detail why data will drive the decisions of the future CMOs.

     

    According to the study, 74 per cent respondents’ exhibit omni-channel behaviour (they have shopped in all formats -local retailer, large department and online). The research further reveals that around 40 per cent of the urban Indian shoppers’ shop regularly using modern trade, the numbers have more than doubled as compared to 2012.

     

    The study also revealed that the level of penetration of omni-channel behaviour in the next multi-billion Rupee markets – small towns – is sluggish. However, optimistic signals with some retailers already taking measures to address this latent need of shoppers both by trying to extend the omni-channel experience and by increasing service levels was also observed.

     

    Commenting on the report Ajay Kelkar, Co-founder and COO, Hansa Cequity said, “The Indian shopper has changed. She is as comfortable haggling with the local vegetable seller as much as she is tapping open apps on her smartphone to scour ecommerce stores for the best deals. As consumers embrace new technologies, the shopping experience has become increasingly sophisticated, enabling new ways for leading retailers to reach their audience. By integrating and aligning channels – stores, e-stores, mobile apps and social media – omni-channel retailing provides a flexible and seamless shopping experience to customers.”

     

    “With multi-channel shopping interfaces: physical stores, malls, e-commerce platforms, social-enabled shopping experiences, and smartphone app based services consumers have so many ways to discover and buy the things they want to. Our first omni-channel retail study has been aimed at understanding the customer behaviour and tries to capture in the way Indians shop,” said S Swaminathan, Co-founder and CEO, Hansa Cequity.

     

    Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, Retailers Association of India added, “RAI is the unified voice of retailers in India and works towards continuous updating of modern retail trade practices in the country. We recognise that today’s customers have multiple channel options to buy and this report reemphasised the need for retailers to adopt an omni-channel approach to interacting with consumers. A nation of shopkeepers, India has been on the high-growth trajectory, and retail in India has seen generational shifts as it modernises and shifts gears. We are glad to be associated with the first research report on the omni-channel retail in India.”

     

  • Publicis' latest campaign for HDFC Mutual Funds highlights the how and why of investing

    Publicis imparts education on Mutual Funds for HDFC

    By A Correspondent

     

    The penetration of Mutual Funds in the country is very low and one of the biggest reasons for that is the low awareness of the products and the benefits of investing in them. With the objective of demystifying mutual fund investment, Publicis leverages storytelling to achieve their goal in a very simple yet profound manner. The creative shop has crafted a series of TVCs for HDFC Mutual Fund capturing distinctive situations that interestingly inform people about investing in mutual funds through simple life analogies that are seen through the lens of a little girl.

     

    In one of the commercials, we see a girl wearing a saree confidently. But later we find that she’s made a mess of it as she doesn’t really know how to wear it and looks up to her mother for help thereby highlighting the importance of taking expert advice before investing in mutual funds. In another commercial, we see the girl swimming like a fish while an older lady hesitates to even put one foot in the pool, which goes on to explain the benefit of starting early when it comes to investing in mutual funds. In yet another commercial, we see the same girl greeting an angry old uncle everyday who eventually melts and reciprocates her actions which further goes on to explain the benefit of regular investments. There are a couple more films on the same line that will run on the digital medium.

     

    Commenting on the uniqueness of the campaign, Bobby Pawar, Managing Director, CCO, Publicis South Asia says “Most people are scared of thinking about investments, because they feel it is way too complicated for them to understand. So the problem was how do you get them to listen and more importantly learn? We turned to a technique that great teachers employ i.e. make the lesson interesting and fun. From here, we drew parallels between the things life teaches us as we are growing up and the principles of investing in mutual funds. To underscore that these lessons are simple, we told stories through the experiences of a little girl.”

     

  • The account was won by Rediffusion Y&R following a multi agency pitch

    Rediff bags creative duties of Hamdard

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rediffusion Y&R will be the new creative agency of Hamdard Laboratories, a Unani and Ayurvedic pharmaceutical company which had put its flagship brand Safi and traditional medicine on pitch recently . The flagship brands like Safi, Roohafza, Sualin, Joshina will be handled out of the Rediffusion Y&R’s Delhi office. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Hamdard Laboratories operates in the category of health and wellness, and was set up in 1906 in Delhi. It is one of the major players in the OTC healthcare sector with more than 600 OTC and ethical products, including popular household brands like Safi, Roohafza , Joshina, Sualin – these brands have a role to play in our lives .They have dominated the shelves in our homes forever and in many cases , been a part of growing up years.

     

    Mansoor Ali

    Mansoor Ali, Chief Marketing Officer , Hamdard said this about the pitch:

    “ We’ve been through an intense evaluation process and have decided to award a significant part of the business to Rediffusion Y&R, on the strength of understanding our business, and having the right direction on concepts and strategy. We have decided to partner with Rediffusion Y&R on Rooh Afza and its extensions (being the big one),Safi, Sualin and Joshina.”

     

    Dhunji Wadia

    On winning the account, Group President Rediffusion Y&R, Dhunji Wadia, says, “It’s an honour to be associated with Hamdard and the wonderful brands that they have assigned us. We look forward to creating great work together.”

     

  • A special feature of this agreement is that the advertiser will not be allowed to shift their business to another agency until dues of the earlier agency are cleared.

    AAAI, IOAA sign agreement for better OOH business

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) have signed a joint agreement for the first time, AAAI President MG Parameswaran and IOAA Chairman N D Mehta announced recently.

     

    The overall objective of coming together is to help the outdoor advertising industry in India grow in an organised and regulated fashion, to ensure that proper systems and processes are followed and timelines adhered to, as well as commitments honoured on both sides, Parameswaran said. He added that a suitable mechanism will also be set up to penalise defaulters, with a view to preventing future defaults and bringing everybody in line with policies and good practices. Alongside all this the agreement will also focus on regulating and disciplining advertiser behaviour in matters concerning outdoor trade, agency remuneration, corporate governance and adherence to payment deadlines.

     

    A special feature of this agreement is that the advertiser will not be allowed to shift their business to another agency until dues of the earlier agency are cleared. Mehta mentioned that IOAA, on its part, has also embarked on an ambitious project to conduct viewership studies on OOH, initially in the major cities. Further, it will ensure 100 per cent listing of all sites with a unique ID number, in a scientific manner, for the benefit of all concerned. The AAAI is the official, national body of advertising agencies, which protects their interests by promoting professionalism and sound business practices between advertisers, agencies and various media.

     

    The IOAA, registered as a not-for-profit company, has been actively promoting legal media and ethical, best practices among outdoor media owners.

     

  • Rajan Narayan is known by industry peers for his quick turnarounds and is a part of several growth stories

    Thoughtblurb appoints Rajan Narayan as CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    thought blurb, a Mumbai-based full service design and advertising agency appointed Rajan Narayan as its Chief Executive Officer. Rajan Narayan is an experienced communications professional and has worked on several national and global brands at FCB Ulka, McCann Erickson, Young & Rubicam, Lintas, Ogilvy & Matter and Business India Group at leadership positions for over 20 years. He was the President and CEO for Quadrant before taking over the mantle at thought blurb.

     

    Rajan Narayan’s appointment marks a new phase of accelerated growth at thought blurb. The agency steered by Vinod Kunj has been associated with an impressive portfolio brands including Reliance Industries Ltd, Godrej & Boyce, Morarka Organics, Abad Group, Synthite Industries, LG Mobiles, Huawei India, MTS, Viacom 18, Union KBC, ICICI Prudential, Baskin Robbins, Kelachandra Group, etc. in the last eight years since it was established. The agency has created a niche for itself in strategy and design led communications.

     

    Commenting on his appointment at thought blurb, Rajan Narayan said, “It is exciting to drive the growth of thought blurb. I believe that it is an opportune time for us at thought blurb as we have proved our strengths. My mandate to take thought blurb to its next level of growth trajectory will also be aided by the growing awareness on the importance of strategy and design among the marketers. The team at thought blurb is hungry to do much more”.

     

    Rajan Narayan is known by industry peers for his quick turnarounds and is a part of several growth stories. Besides, he is an Electrical Engineering graduate from Manipal Institute who has written a novel – The Lonely Cloud which is based on a love story.

     

    Announcing the appointment, Vinod Kunj, Managing Partner, thought blurb said, “Author, App developer, advertising man. An extremely interesting person with a well rounded approach to work and life, Rajan is just the kind of guy to lead a bunch of interesting, quirky, creative minds at thought blurb. I know Rajan from the days we worked together at Lintas more than 15 years ago. Then as now, he is an exacting professional with an intuitive knowledge of communication and brands. With his experience and expertise, Rajan will work closely with the various branches and divisions to usher in the next level of growth for thought blurb”.

     

  • Based out of Singapore, Rose will be responsible for ensuring that the client’s experience is world class

    Rose Huskey joins Maxus as APAC Client Leadership Head

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ajit Varghese, Regional CEO Maxus Asia-Pacific, has announced that Rose Huskey has joined the Maxus Regional team as Maxus APAC Client Leadership Head. Prior to this, Rose spent four years as the Maxus Vietnam Managing Director.

     

    Based out of Singapore, Rose will be responsible for ensuring that the client’s experience is world class, integrated product and thinking into brand marketing as its leans into change in the ever evolving world.

     

    Rose is an advertising executive with 18 years of experience at some of the largest and most successful agencies in the world, specializing in developing solutions to client’s challenges and bringing them to life in the online and offline world. Before joining Maxus, GroupM Rose held positions at OMD in Vancouver, Canada and Future Shop where she was responsible for conceiving, managing and developing advertising and communication solutions.

     

    Rose Huskey

    Huskey said: “The media industry has never been more exciting and interesting. The convergence of online and offline experiences means that people now have more choice than ever before on how, when and where they access the media they want. Maxus helps our clients leverage a wide spectrum of media opportunities to seize opportunities and fight off competitive threats. ”

     

     

    Ajit Varghese

    In announcing Rose’s appointment, Ajit Varghese, CEO, Maxus Asia Pacific, states “We are very excited to have Rose join our Regional leadership team. Given all her extensive experience in managing clients, building high performance teams and leading growth in one of our highest performing countries, she’s absolutely the right person to drive central leadership for our network clients and lead our teams to flawlessly execute across multi markets. At Maxus, we always aim to provide successful career options within the group for star performers and Rose certainly meets that criteria”

     

  • BARC data shows how the ratings of channels & shows is impacted when star presenters are absent… Goswami included

    There Is No Alternative to Arnab!

     

    We don’t know whether you would consider this news good or bad.

     

    But here’s a fact: despite all that some of us may say about the Arnabification of television news, he rules the English news space.  He dominates cooler conversation and college canteen chatter. His Newshour clearly sets the agenda for what India chats about the night and morning after.

     

    The other day, one overheard this conversation between two professionals on a Mumbai-Bhubaneswar flight. “Arnab dekha. Kya chutney banaya woh guest ka!”

     

    We now have data to prove that when there’s no Arnab Goswami on Times Now, viewers go elsewhere.

     

    We also requested BARC on looking at how other English news channels fare when Arnab is also absent. Interestingly viewers do move to other channels, though that’s not the case in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space where the absence of Kapil Sharma may have impacted Colors, but didn’t see other GEC ratings leapfrog.

     

    Go through the slide show.  And, yes, Times Now may as well call itself ‘Arnab Now’.

     

  • IAA India President Srinivasan K Swamy speaks on the industry association and the Summit starting tomorrow

    No usual suspects at IAA Silver Jubilee Summit

     

    President Srinivasan Swamy talks about the IAA India Silver Jubilee Summit coming up in Kochi from September 3-5 with a handpicked line-up of speakers and experts from around the globe, and the soon-to-be-held IndIAA Awards. Excerpts from an interview with Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Twenty-five years of IAA India and we didn’t really know about it. A silver jubilee is a huge milestone for any industry body.

    IAA is 25 from when we incorporated ourselves as a company. But technically, IAA was formed 10 years earlier, in 1981, so we’re actually 35. The early stages are not very well-recorded. So we celebrate 25 years as a company, taking it from 1991. But it has been an amazing journey. We are the only organisation which is truly international, and we’ve had all the big leaders passing through the IAA platform, both in India and globally.

     

    Does an industry like advertising need so many associations? There are quite a few already.

    Actually, there are specific associations for specific lobbies. We have an ISA for advertisers, INS for the print media, IBF for television broadcasters and the AAAI for the agency’s interests. It is the interest of advertising which is at the heart, for us, not lobbying. Therein lies a big difference.

     

    So it’s more of a club then, right?

    We don’t see ourselves as a club but as an international body which used to be involved in important aspects of advertising. The records will show that we were behind the formation of the Advertising Standard Council of India. We are actually focused on issues which are taken care of, not just by private agencies, advertisers or media, but all of them together, and make sure advertising is protected and nurtured.

     

    What is it that gets IAA to be so active and the others are not?

    I think it is probably in my DNA. In whichever body I’ve been involved in, I try and give my best. I can’t see the reason why anybody else can’t do it. It’s just that they are not passionate about doing what is required to be done on these jobs.

     

    Coming to the Silver Jubilee summit, which is obviously a big landmark. You say it’s in the same league as Ad Asia…

    It is. I don’t think we’ve seen a line-up of speakers of the kind we have [for the summit]. The president of the Global IAA, Faris Abouhamad, is coming down — not just for the inauguration, on September 3, but for all three days of the summit. The Kerala tourism minister will be there at the inauguration, as well as Amitabh Kant, who was behind the God’s Own Country, Incredible India and Make in India campaigns. He will deliver the keynote address. We have a lot of international speakers as well.

     

    You also have people like Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan and Jaggi Vasudev to provide colour…

    Sachin has been a brand ambassador and advertising icon. He is not there as a cricketer. We also have Arnab Goswami, who is another brand. We find today that at any conference, a spiritual leader connects very well with the audience. Jaggi Vasudev is going to talk about the miracle of being a good human.

     

    Are you happy with the line-up?

    We avoided the usual suspects. We could’ve approached the Chairman of IPG, Omnicom or WPP, but those are easy options to chase. The names we have are actually going to talk about newer things. Our theme is ‘What’s coming next?’ We have Cindy Gallop, founder of BBH in the US, who has done some excellent work with the websites ‘If We Ran The World’ and ‘Make love not Porn’. She is also Cannes Chairman of the Jury for The Glass Lion. We have Paul McCarthy, who has written a book called ‘Online Gravity’, a runaway success about how online impacts different aspects of our lives. Jeffery Cole will speak about the future of digital, while mobile expert Ralph Simon will talk about how mobile is going to transform the world. You won’t get these perspectives from the usual suspects.

     

    Are you going to use your popular debate format here?

    No, we will have only keynote sessions because we find people don’t come prepared for panel discussions. They answer questions put to them, which is not a structured way of taking you through your problem. So we have 18 keynote sessions and only two subjects which will have a discussion – the first, with Prasoon Joshi, after Sachin makes his presentation, and one with Sam Balsara after Darshanbhai Patel makes his opening remarks. All the presentations are of 25 minutes by the keynote speaker, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A.

     

    Since this is a large-format event, it is obviously well sponsored…

    It is sponsored. We are on track to fulfilling our obligations in terms of money. Our friends from various media support us. And we have got all the support from Kerala, like from Mathrubhumi, a Kerala publication. Different TV channels from across India are also supporting us.

     

    Your tickets are priced very low. Would people in India value an event with low-priced compared to one that has higher priced tickets?

    We deliberately kept it low because we want more people to come. For members it is Rs 4,500 while non-members pay Rs 9,000. I also want members to come with their spouses, who comes for free. Non-members pay an additional Rs 4,500 rupees for an accompanying person. I think Rs 9,000 is not low. Attendees also have to spend on air travel and hotel stay.

     

    Kochi is an unusual venue. These events are mostly held in Goa, Delhi or Mumbai.

    IAA is an unusual institution. With programmes in Bombay and Delhi, people come for one session, leave for meetings and come back for cocktails and dinner. In Kochi, there’ll be very little of such distraction, so one can focus on the content and observe as much one can. Delhi, Mumbai and Goa have been done to death.

     

    A part of this interview first appeared in dna of brands dated August 31, 2015

     

    See also on Zee Business at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Y054u7t50

     

     

  • Harsh began his career with Tata Infomedia about two decades ago

    Mullen Lowe Lintas Group hires Sriharsh Grandhe to head LinEngage

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sriharsh Grandhe

    LinEngage, the experiential marketing & activation arm of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group has announced the appointment of Sriharsh Grandhe (Harsh) as Executive Vice President based in Mumbai. He would be reporting to Vikas Mehta, CMO | President – Group Marketing Services, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group.

     

    Prior to joining LinEngage, Harsh was with the WPP firm, POSSIBLE Worldwide Singapore as the Engagement Director. At POSSIBLE, Harsh was managing the global rollout of Standard Chartered’s Responsive Website, a first in the Banking domain across 55 countries in APAC, EMEA & Americas. Prior to POSSIBLE, Harsh was an AVP & Practice Head at Wipro where he was responsible for rolling out Marketing as a Process for several global businesses from Europe, US & Australia.

     

    Harsh began his career with Tata Infomedia about two decades ago and has navigated an illustrious journey spanning Advertising, Consumer Engagement, Publishing& Retail. Harsh is an experienced professional across the marketing continuum with a pronounced focus on digital and activation. Throughout his professional journey, he has driven various marketing programs for Standard Chartered, P&G, J&J, a global major in Big Data & Cloud Computing, Large Australian Telco, a Financial Services Major in US and more such global businesses across the markets of US, APAC and Europe.

     

    Speaking of his appointment, Vikas Mehta said, “Our ambition for LinEngage is to make consumer engagement an essential part of a brand’s narrative. A lot more innovation is possible in the area of creating meaningful consumer experiences. Under Harsh’s leadership, we are keen to make strides in strengthening this practice in an industry that’s largely driven by tactical activations.”

     

    LinEngage offers specialist brand engagement expertise to a host of clients in India. Apart from its focus on the urban pockets, LinEngage boasts of a bespoke rural offering – LinTerland. The motive is to help clients capitalize on the consumer-engagement opportunities in heartland India. Both the urban and rural offerings of LinEngage have been growing steadily over the past few months with host of new business wins. Notable clients include Johnson & Johnson, Franke Faber, Bayer, UltraTech, Castrol, ICICI Prudential and Byju’s  to name a few. Harsh’s remit will be to evangelise the experiential marketing practice for the group and further expand the portfolio.

     

    Commenting on his role at LinEngage, Harsh said, “The strong lineage of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group is no secret. India is at an exciting phase of development and the agency is experiencing both momentum and growth. LinEngage is in a sweet spot right now with only one direction to go – upwards”

     

    Harsh has been the recipient of awards at DMA for world-class marketing & activation programs for brands like Visa, Madura Garments etc. A familiar face in advertising he has also worked in agencies such as iContract, Rediffusion Y&R and JWT.