MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • Positioned to unlock new revenue streams for marketers through unique combination of cognitive algorithms, data intelligence and machine learning

    Razorfish unveils COSMOS – data intelligence platform

    By A Correspondent

     

    Razorfish has launched a new data intelligence platform, COSMOSâ„¢. COSMOS is the first-of-its-kind offering that combines cognitive algorithms, data intelligence and machine learning to create timely, relevant and seamless brand experiences across all touch points.

     

    The platform was debuted during Razorfish’s main stage seminar, titled “Cracking the Code of Creativity,” at the 2016 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Monday, June 20. In partnership with Contagious Communications, the agency was given exclusive access to a 15-year archive of Cannes Lions awards submission data, which they analyzed using COSMOS to devise a formula for creativity and demystify commonalities in award-winning work.

     

    Powered by patent-pending artificial intelligence algorithms, COSMOS solves the challenge of fragmented audiences, disparate customer data sources and siloed brand experiences. By mining behavioral data, and in turn predicting the needs, wants, and motivations across the entire customer journey, marketers are able to unlock new streams of revenue and create business impact.

     

    “New business models are changing old paradigms and companies must now adapt to connect with consumers who are more empowered than previous generations, with more touch points than ever before,” said Shannon Denton, chief executive officer, Razorfish. “With COSMOS, we can now harness intelligence from online and offline data to create a single view of the customer, while at the same time creating experiences that will not only disrupt and drive growth for businesses but also improve the lives of their customers.”

     

    COSMOS is modular, allowing organizations to either deploy the platform at scale or purchase need-based solutions that can be integrated with existing marketing and technology platforms. COSMOS learns, reasons and activates deep customer insights by introducing cognitive optimizations that drive loyalty, customer retention and experiences in a never-before-seen level of personalization.

     

    “Relevance has always been key in marketing. The opportunities to be highly relevant have increased tremendously with the omniscience of mobile and programmatic media. By the same token, the difficulty in finding the right moment of interaction has also increased. Our digitally connected economy is forcing brands to fundamentally redefine the way in which they interact with consumers, ” said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief strategist, Publicis Groupe. “COSMOS helps solve this problem, unlocking moment marketing opportunities by quickly delivering data and insights that can be activated in real time across channels.”

     

    The COSMOS intellectual property was developed and is led by Razorfish Chief Intelligence Officer Samih Fadli and is fueled by more than 1,500 data consultants and 6,000 delivery resources across 21 countries globally.

     

  • Mallikarjun Das & Tanmay Mohanty to be Group CEOs of Starcom India & Zenith. Hari Krishnan quits, Hanley King moves to global position

    Publicis Media restructures ops, top deck

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Publicis Media has announced the appointments of Group CEOs for its two key constituents in operation in India: Zenith and Starcom. Mallikarjun Das will head Starcom India and Tanmay Mohanty will head Zenith.

     

    Meanwhile, Starcom Chairman Hanley King has moved to a global role within Publicis Media. His role is taken over by Das. Zenith Managing Director Hari Krishnan is moving on from the organisation.

     

    Announcing the new structure and leadership announcements, Publicis Media CEO Anupriya Acharya said:  “One of the greatest strengths of our new organisation in India is its team of leaders, all of whom have proven track record within our system, ” adding: “The new structure is a fresh opportunity to simplify our organisation, invent more modern approaches to gain effectiveness and efficiency, introduce structures for greater collaboration, and drive new levels of client value and delight”.

     

    Publicis Media India will consolidate its agency brands: Starcom Mediavest, Zenith Optimedia, Equinox, Performics, Convonix, Resultrix, Ninah, Newcast into four agency brands that are in line with the global structure, namely: Starcom, Zenith, Mediavest | Spark and Optimedia | Blue 449.

     

    In this new model, the agency network names of Starcom Mediavest Group and ZenithOptimedia Group are retired to better enable a flatter organisational structure. VivaKi capabilities will be fully integrated into Publicis Media’s Global Practice model. Performics will remain Publicis Media’s global performance marketing brand and scale within all agency brands.

     

    The key appointments announced are:

    Reporting to Das are Sarfaraz Khimani and Pallav Jain, Co-CEO Performics.Convonix and Basabdatta Chowdhuri who takes on the role of National COO, Starcom India.  Mayoori Kango will be MD Performics.Resultrix, reporting to Mohanty.

     

    Meanwhile, some centralised functions have been outlined: Dnyanada Chaudhari will lead Publicis Media Exchange,  Santosh Ghosh will lead Data, Technology and Innovation, Aarti Bharadwaj will lead Analytics, Research and Insight, Gautham Pingali will lead Business Transformation and Content Communications will be led by Anushree Chandran.

     

    At a Publicis Media India level, Rajesh Viswanathan is appointed Chief Financial Officer, Saswati Sinha is appointed Chief Talent Officer.

     

  • For the record, it was a direct pitch

    Oxemberg appoints Isobar as its digital agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    Oxemberg, a brand from the house of Siyaram’s, has appointed Isobar India as their digital agency of record. The mandate is for the full service digital business of Oxemberg and will see Isobar India handling all digital creative, social and media for the brand. For the record, it was a direct pitch.

     

    Gaurav Poddar
    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Confirming the news, Gaurav Poddar, President & Executive Director, Siyaram Silk Mills said, “The digital medium has acquired critical importance given the rapidly changing media consumption patterns. Social media has today become the de facto medium for interacting with the consumers and getting real time feedback. The digital platforms are today’s media vehicles for engagement and interactivity. We are delighted to have Isobar as our online agency. Their understanding of the digital ecosystem and their in-depth digital knowledge will help us to achieve our media and business objectives.”

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director, Isobar India said: “Oxemberg is really poised to have a great impact in the fashion space. Isobar is very happy to partner Oxemberg on this journey to really make a mark and help Oxemberg use digital to achieve business success. We are very excited with the opportunity that Oxemberg has given us.”

     

  • Prior to joining Razorfish, she was Group Head-Digital Business at Pulp Strategy

    Razorfish India appoints Mitika Malhotra to head biz dev in north

    By A Correspondent

     

    Razorfish has announced the appointment of Mitika Malhotra as the Head of Business Development for North, based out of Razorfish India’s Gurgaon office.

     

    Prior to joining Razorfish, she was Group Head-Digital Business at Pulp Strategy (an Integrated Marketing Communications Agency) where she acquired as well as grew accounts of Michelin, Rolls Royce, Yamaha Music India, SRS group and other SMEs. Her focus was sharply on strategizing brand and business transformation solutions as she comprehends that seamless convergence of consumer behavior across channels is now the future.

     

    Said Malhotra: “Razorfish’s philosophy of innovation resonates with the quote I live by: ‘Most people get ahead during the time others waste’. I am excited to be part of the story that the team here is crafting to set up new milestones.”

     

    Said Charulata, Ravi Kumar, CEO Razorfish India on the appointment, “We are constantly seeking highly curious people who have the energy and a razorsharp mind to persistently look for lateral solutions for the clients we partner. When I met Mitika, that’s just what I saw in her. She is able to cut through the many layers and get to the core of a business need. She will be a key member of our Business Transformation Advisory team that partners new clients to set them off on the digital path.”

     

  • Dentsu Creative Impact, which won creative duties for a range of Maruti Suzuki brands, has bagged the digital mandate for Maruti Suzuki along its digital partner agency IsobarIndia

    Dentsu Aegis Network bags Maruti Suzuki’s Rs 100cr digital mandate

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Creative Impact, which won creative duties for a range of Maruti Suzuki brands, has bagged the digital mandate for Maruti Suzuki along its digital partner agency IsobarIndia. A multi-agency pitch that was held earlier this year.  According to industry estimates, the account is sized at Rs 100 crore.

     

    Sanjeev Handa

    The Dentsu Aegis Network teams will now handle digital creative, social and media duties for Maruti Suzuki corporate and all model brands other than the Nexa portfolio. A team comprising specialists across digital verticals has been put together to handle this massive mandate.

     

    Speaking on the development, Sanjeev Handa, Vice President, Marketing Maruti Suzuki India said, “Our partnership with Dentsu Aegis Network on digital mandate is a strategic one. We wanted to have an integrated and synergistic approach to our digital mandate also. We feel having Dentsu Aegis Network as our creative partners in offline, the idea is to have a coherent communication to be more productive and efficient.”

     

    Amit Wadhwa

    Speaking on the win, Amit Wadhwa,President, Dentsu Creative Impact, said, “It’s great to see that our partnership with Maruti Suzuki is going from strength to strength. What is even more heartening is to see that a leader like Maruti Suzuki is truly looking at an integrated approach. In today’s day and age a uniform approach is what is going to deliver in the market place and when brands like Maruti Suzuki demonstrate it, it forms a great example for others to follow. Look forward to an interesting journey ahead.”

     

  • The five new EVPs and Cluster Heads appointed are: Abhik Santara, Ajay Menon, Hitesh Patel, Prakash Nair and VR Rajesh

    Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai Announces new management structure

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ogilvy &Mather is pleased to announce a new management structure for its flagship office – Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai, billed to be the  single largest advertising office in South Asia.

     

    Effective today (July 7), Ogilvy & Mather announced the following changes in the Mumbai Office Management Structure:

    • All Ogilvy Mumbai’s businesses and account management resources will be brought together under five clusters, each headed by an Executive Vice President & Cluster Head.
    • The five new EVPs and Cluster Heads are:
      Abhik Santara, Ajay Menon, Hitesh Patel, Prakash Nair and VR Rajesh.
    • These EVPs and Cluster Heads will form the core business leadership team for Ogilvy Mumbai. They will work with Kunal Jeswani, who is both CEO of Ogilvy India as well as the Head of Office for Ogilvy Mumbai, to drive Ogilvy’s flagship Mumbai office.

     

    Said Jeswani:  “Like any great team, we need to put the right people in the right roles; we need to work harder and train harder than the competition; and we need to play to win. Ogilvy Mumbai is a great team. And we’re playing to win. Abhik, Ajay, Hitesh, Prakash and Rajesh are our best young business leaders and we are empowering them to shape this agency. We are building for the future and this is only the beginning.”

     

  • Kyve is a platform for brands and advertisers to track online video viewership

    Mindshare partners with Vidooly to launch video analytics tool ‘Kyve’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media services major Mindshare has partnered exclusively with video analytics startup Vidooly to cocreate and launch ‘Kyve’ in India, a platform for brands and advertisers to track online video viewership. The ‘Kyve’ tool will be part of the core Mindshare planning framework in India.

     

    The ‘Kyve tool created by Mindshare and Vidooly is part of Mindshare’s ‘Content+’ division spearheaded by Devendra Deshpande.

     

    “Mindshare’s prime focus remains our commitment to our client brands, and to help create top of mind recall in our messaging, we are working with Vidooly, a leading player in the video analytics space. Millennials in India have transitioned from watching traditional TV to online videos, and consume content anytime, anywhere. Video platforms have been major driving forces behind the rise in original online video programming”, said Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia, adding: “In an adaptive world it is important to track genres of content that is popular with users. The ‘Kyve’ tool is the first of its kind to track the user journey of online viewership and develop a video strategy that is weaved into the consumer conversation.”

     

    Subrat Kar, CEO and co-founder of Vidooly, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Mindshare, one the most well-known media agencies, to introduce Kyve to the Indian market. Kyve is a joint effort combining Vidooly’s video analytics technology along with Mindshare’s expertise of new and emerging media. With this platform, our aim is to be the go to tool for any brand or advertiser who wants to execute an online video campaign effectively and yield an optimal ROI. We believe Kyve will be a game changer in digital video marketing.”

     

    According to a 2015 Nielsen report approximately 78% of regular internet users in India watch or download digital content such as videos, television shows, or movies online. India’s online video viewership has doubled since 2011. With the rapid rise of smartphones and internet penetration in India, the demand for online video will only grow further. Viewership of online content on mobile devices is already on the rise, especially amongst Millennials.

     

  • Swamy is the Chairman of R K Swamy Hansa, a prominent and well diversified marketing communications group

    Srinivasan K Swamy to be conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2016

    By A Correspondent

     

    Srinivasan K. Swamy

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) announced the recipient of this year’s AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award – Srinivasan K Swamy, popularly known as Sundar Swamy. This Award is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the advertising Industry. This award was instituted in 1988 by AAAI and so far 23 persons have been bestowed with this award earlier.

     

    Swamy is the Chairman of R K Swamy Hansa, a prominent and well diversified marketing communications group. Swamy has been active in various industry bodies working towards the growth and development of the advertising industry. He was President of AAAI for three consecutive terms (2004 – 2007) and continues to take active interest in the activities of AAAI. He is the Vice Chairman of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and a Board Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations. Swamy was also President of All India Management Association during 2008-09. He was the President of The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (2008-10), Madras Management Association (2001-02) and the Advertising Club, Madras (1988-89).

     

    He is serving his fourth term as the President of the India Chapter of International Advertising Association and was recently elected as Senior Vice President of International Advertising Association, the global body. Swamy is Vice Chairman of Asian Federation of Advertising Associations. Earlier he was Chairman of Confederation of Asian Advertising Agency Associations during 2008-10.

     

    In addition, Swamy is actively involved with socially relevant institutions for the improvement of society viz.  220 bed, multi-discipline tertiary care, Hindu Mission Hospital at Chennai catering to the urban poor and the surrounding rural areas; Chairman of Valluvar Gurukulam School Society which runs a school for 2800 poor students, primarily girls and Vice President of National Boys and Girls Education Society, a premium education institution in Central Chennai which runs three reputed schools. He is also Chairman of Vidyadhanam and Annadhanam Trust, a Vedic Padasala of Sri Ahobila Mutt and Trustee in the Consumers Association of India and Concert.

     

    M G Parameswaran

    Making the announcement, Dr M G Parameswaran, President, AAAI, stated that “If there is one person who has tirelessly worked for the advertising industry, for over two decades, in various industry bodies, it is Sundar Swamy. So in a sense it was an easy choice this year. We are hopeful that AAAI and its member agencies will have his continued involvement and inputs as we navigate the ever changing terrain of advertising business.”

     

    The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has been a practitioner of advertising for twenty-five years and had been in the top management position; has been or continues to be an active participant in industry bodies and or made significant contributions in shaping the industry priorities which enabled the advertising industry to grow, prosper and  become more professionalized;  individual  known for his integrity, ethical practice and leadership qualities;  contributed to his Company/Companies growth by innovative thinking and taking them in newer directions; involved in projects of social consequence which is seen as a role model for the industry at large and had been an industry veteran.

     

    The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Swamy on 29th July 2016 in Mumbai.

     

  • In addition to this, the agency will also help NRHM manage real-time online interactions and queries from the public

    National Rural Health Mission Kerala appoints FCB Ulka for ‘Arogya Keralam’

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a multi-round, multi-agency pitch, FCB Ulka has been awarded the digital duties of Arogya Keralam, an initiative under the auspices of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The agency has been chosen for its precise understanding of the Kerala digital audience as well as its unique communication strategy which, when rolled out, would be educational, fun and share-worthy.

     

    Nitin Karkare

    Nitin Karkare, CEO, FCB Ulka said, “Kerala has peculiar issues in healthcare sector. Though the state scores very high nationally in terms of critical health indicators, it faces problems quite unique to itself such as high incidence of lifestyle-induced diseases, problems related to an ageing population as well as re-emergence of certain communicable diseases”.

     

    The mandate given to FCB Ulka is to reach and connect with the increasingly digital-savvy audience of the state and create awareness of such diseases as well as the various initiatives and activities undertaken NRHM. The agency will utilize all of NRHM’s social media properties as well as other digital platforms to achieve its communications objectives.

     

    In addition to this, the agency will also help NRHM manage real-time online interactions and queries from the public, which will be supported by an expert panel of doctors.

     

  • The exercise was to showcase a service allowing prospective couples to share a list of desired wedding gifts with their guests and receive the gifts they truly need

    What’s Your Problem creates activation-cum-digital film for Wedding Wishlist

    By A Correspondent

     

    Wedding Wishlist along with its creative agency WYP Brand Solutions launched its first digital film and content created out of an activation programme-cum-social experiment. It allows prospective couples to share a list of desired wedding gifts with their guests and receive the gifts they truly need.

     

    The concept evolved when Kanika Subbiah, CEO and Founder of Wedding Wishlist was conversing with one of her friends who was irritated with the pile of useless gifts she got at her wedding.“Every day in India, thousands of married couples receive unnecessary gifts at their nuptials. Most of these gifts join the recycle pile that every Indian home has or lie unused at the back of someone’s closet”, said Subbiah. To find a solution to this problem and bridge the gift divide, she launched the web portal Wedding Wishlist in February 2016.

     

    The social experiment that was carried out was a few scanner machines were placed at select weddings. At the entrance of the wedding venue, a security person requested guests to place their gifts in a ‘Wedding gift scanner’. These scanners were x-ray machines, the kind you see at airport security. These were manned by ‘Wedding Gift Inspectors’ who checked the quality of each gift and marked the gifts against the entering guests. When guests understood that their gifts were actually being checked for quality they were shocked. Some resisted the checking, most were surprised but relented, some found it rude. At which point the ‘Wedding Gift Inspectors’ revealed that this was all a joke, that they were actors and that there were hidden cameras capturing it all. They took the opportunity to explain to the guests that ‘Wedding Gift Scanners’ and ‘Gift Inspectors’ weren’t obviously the solution but ‘Wedding Wishlist’, which allowed couples to make a list of gifts that they needed and shared with their friends was great way out. This way guests could give couples gifts they actually needed and cherished. These reactions were captured on hidden cameras.A two and a half-minute film was made from the footage and released on social media. The film ending with the message and hashtag – There’s an easier way to avoid useless wedding gifts – #AvoidUselessWeddingGifts

     

    “This is not a typical ad film, it’s a social experiment and activation which doubles up as content and a digital video. And it makes the point in a very real yet entertaining way. Obviously, couples can’t employ ‘Gift Inspectors’ at their weddings to keep useless gifts away but they surely can register their wedding on wedding wishlist, select the gifts they want and share it with their friends. The wedding wishlist is a new but much needed concept in India. And therefore it was important that we introduced it in an attention grabbing way,” explained Amit Akali, Managing Director and Creative Head, What’s Your Problem in a press release.

     

  • The agency's mandate would be to provide strategic digital recommendations in order to increase the sales and augment brand awareness

    Krispy Kreme hands over digital mandate to Langoor

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital marketing agency, Langoor has been assigned the digital mandate for Krispy Kreme (India, South and West Region) – the American global doughnut chain. The account was presented to Langoor following a multi-agency pitch. The agency’s mandate would be to provide strategic digital recommendations in order to increase the sales and augment brand awareness.

     

    The aim is to strengthen Krispy Kreme’s brand positioning in South and West India and accelerate brand consciousness among its target audience in the digital space. Commenting on the account win, Madappa KA, Vice President, Citymax Hotels Pvt Ltd and Business Head, Krispy Kreme India said, “As we plan to increase our brand awareness, it was found necessary to have a agency that can handle the digital advertising needs of our business. After a detailed evaluation process, we decided to award Langoor Digital the creative mandate”.

     

    Elaborating further he states, “The decision was based on the strong point of understanding our business needs, and articulation of a digital communication strategy on the way ahead. Langoor came in with deep consumer insights and a creative edge that is required to address the brand objectives through digital campaigns and more importantly presented a clear ROI based model”.

     

    Commenting on the new win Venugopal Ganganna, Chief Executive Officer, Langoor Digital adds, “We are delighted to win the digital mandate for Krispy Kreme South and West India. The food and beverage space is a super exciting industry and gives numerous opportunities to provide the digital transformation solution.”

     

  • The survey, carried out across all regions in April 2016, has highlighted some clear differences between advertisers' and publishers' expectations

    Publicitas study highlights key trends between advertisers & publishers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Publicitas has carried out its first annual survey to review industry priorities. This included finding out what advertisers, agencies and publishers are expecting from the future, and what they believe the next big technology leaps should be.

     

    The survey, carried out across all regions in April 2016, has highlighted some clear differences between advertisers’ and publishers’ expectations. Overall, industry executives across all businesses highlighted content marketing as the number one focus, ranking this above anything else.

     

    From here, advertisers and publishers differ on what should be the secondary priority. Advertisers are valuing content quality and relevance next, while media owners are not deeming this important enough to even include it within their top 10; they focus more on delivering creative ad formats in a personalised way according to the survey.

     

    Interestingly, even though ad-blocking is still appearing as a topic in the media almost daily, it is not a main concern for the industry. Global marketers across all sectors believe that making content more insightful and relevant will help dilute the ad-blocking trend. In total, 81 per cent of global marketers agree that ‘Relevant content and environment helps prevent ad blocking’.

     

    Mike Jeanes, Global Head of Insight at Publicitas, said: “The Publicitas Marketing Priorities survey has shown some interesting differences and significant gaps in the way publishers and advertisers are prioritising their business. The findings in this research clearly show that content is very high on the agenda for client-side marketers as they get more and more involved in the production and delivery of their own content.”

     

    Almost all 672 participants agreed that developments in mobile technology, and the power of mobile devices especially, will most likely influence their business in the next 12 months.

     

    There is interest in immersive technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality technology, and a clear feeling that these will impact their business in the immediate future. In fact, 70 per cent agree that virtual reality will drive the next technology revolution.

     

    With over 80 per cent of advertiser and agency executives expecting to increase spend on mobile and an array of digital formats in the next 12 months, and consumers adopting new technologies at a faster rate than ever before, global marketers will need to step it up to keep up with demand.

     

    Andy Vogel, Global Head of Digital Product, Publicitas, comments: Consumers are adopting new technologies at a faster rate than ever before, and these trends will become quickly realised if the application and monetisation models are in place to move these mainstream. It will be interesting to carry out this survey in another year, compare the priorities and industry problems and see if by using engaging content and the latest technologies, we are any closer to aligning businesses with consumer expectations and needs.