MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • The latest campaign highlights the progressive mindset of the modern Indian woman

    Titan Raga upholds the choice of motherhood

     

     

    Titan Raga has unveiled a brand campaign that conveys a strong message on the choice of motherhood. Reaffirming the campaign message of ‘Khud Se NayaRishta’, the TVC emphasizss that motherhood is a desired choice and not a sacrifice. Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the ad film has been directed by Vinil Mathew of ­­­­Breathless films.

     

    The TVC is set at a beautiful baby shower. We see a young mother-to-be speak from her heart about the kind of mother she aspires to be. She starts off with the traditional things she will not follow, often defined by society as traits of a good mother. Rather, she appreciates her own mother for being unconventional – a woman who did not give up on her life, aspirations and passions. And for that very reason, her mother is her role model, teaching her to love her life as much as she will love her newborn baby.

     

    Said Sirish Chandrashekar, Marketing Head, Titan Watches: “Titan Raga’s brand films have always reflected the Modern Indian woman’s progressive views through contexts that are relevant to her life. In this film, we explored the evolving codes of motherhood. It is about living your life fully, without being judged and knowing that being a mother is not a sacrifice, but a choice.”

     

    Added Azazul Haque, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather: “In the new campaign, the Raga woman questions the established definitions of motherhood. We wanted to pick an insight, a subject of conversation that’s relevant to majority of modern Indian woman. The story of a young mother, inspired by her own mother who has redefined motherhood looked emotional, touching and yet an extremely strong narrative to communicate what Titan Raga stands for.”

     

  • This partnership will put in place, a much needed formal mechanism to monitor and curtail misleading advertisements in the AYUSH sector

    Ayush ministry partners ASCI to co-regulate misleading ads

     

     

    Progressing with the impetus towards supporting co-regulation in advertising, the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) has signed anMoU partnering with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). Addressing the cases of misleading advertisements with respect to Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy Medicines, treatment and related services, ASCI will comprehensively monitor these advertisements across print and electronic media. ASCI has been given a self-monitoring mandate by the Ministry of AYUSH to identify potentially misleading advertisement in the AYUSH sector and process complaints through its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC). The Ministry of AYUSH will also redirect complaints against misleading advertisements they receive to ASCI, which will be reviewed using ASCI’s code and guidelines. The MoU also requires ASCI to report to the Ministry of AYUSH, advertisements in potential violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder as well as non-compliance of ASCI’s CCC recommendations for the Ministry of AYUSH to take further action.

     

    This partnership will put in place, a much-needed formal mechanism to monitor and curtail misleading advertisements in the AYUSH sector and will lead to effective implementation though strong support locally from the State Licencing Authorities as well as Centrally through the Ministry of AYUSH.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Ajit M. Sharan, Secretary,  Ministry of AYUSH said: “We are happy to announce this partnership with the ASCI. It is yet another important step taken by the AYUSH ministry to ensure that Indian consumers have access to safe and effective medicine. The arrangement would also ensure that any advertisement making claims for diseases and disorders, in violation of the notification issued by our ministry for indications that have been prohibited from claiming, are immediately brought to our attention. We have entered into anMoU with ASCI to effectively weed out such advertisements so that consumers are protected from unscrupulous manufacturers selling products making false claims. This is vital for the propagation of AYUSH system of medicine within India and beyond.”

     

    Added Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman, ASCI: “At ASCI, we have been relentlessly working to encourage self-regulation in advertising content and ensuring the protection of the interests of the consumers. AYUSH is among top three sectors where we find a high incidence of misleading advertisements and some of the advertisements in the AYUSH sector claiming treatment of certain diseases in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Regulations have been a cause of concern. ASCI’s partnership with the Ministry of AYUSH will provide the necessary support to our efforts in effectively curtailing misleading advertisements in this sector.”

     

     

  • Venkat, who has spent over 16 years in the creative and digital advertising industry, will be based in Mumbai

    VML appointsVenkatagiri Rao as Creative Head

     

     

    Global digital marketing agency VML has announced the appointment of Venkatagiri Rao as Creative Head – India, as part of a significant step to solidify its creative capabilities. In his new role, Venkat will spearhead the office’s creative practice, which continues to form the foundation for the agency’s growth.

     

    Based in Mumbai, Venkat will report directly to TriptiLochan, CEO – VML Southeast & India.

     

    “With the digital marketing landscape evolving rapidly over the years, we remain firmly committed to pushing the boundaries of technology and expanding our creative offering to serve brands with brilliant ideas,” said TriptiLochan, CEO – VML Southeast & India. “We are delighted to have Venkat on board, and are confident that his passion for innovation will drive the change brands need, and take our creative offerings a notch higher.”

     

    Venkat brings with him over 16 years of industry experience across agencies, most recently at DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai, where he served as Executive Creative Director for a period of five years. There, he handled notable companies and brands including Emirates, Volkswagen, Economic Times, Femina, Kalpataru Developers, Lonely Planet, Top Gear and Arshiya Logistics.

     

    Prior to DDB Mudra, Venkat held stints at Ogilvy, Ambience Publicis, Alok Nanda & Company and Fisheye Creative Solutions.

     

  • He joined Hindustan Unilever in 1975 stayed on at HUL for 25 years, retiring from the FMCG major in 2000 as vice president and head of corporate communications

    Veteran communications prof & journalist Irfan Khan passes away

     

     

    Veteran communications professional and former journalist Irfan Khan passed away in Mumbai on Sunday (Jan 22). Khan, 76, worked with several publications and news agency Press Trust of India before moving to corporate communications in 1975 at Hindustan Unilever. He stayed on at HUL for 25 years and retired from the FMCG major in 2000 as vice president and head of corporate communications. He later worked with Coca-Cola and was also invited as an advisor to several large organisations and consultancies. A few years back, for instance, when there were concerns about the safety of the Tata Nano, the Tata Motors top deck asked Khan for his advice.

     

  • Ashish Bhasin to head jury for the inaugural edition

    Social Samosa announces first edition of Best Social Media Brand Awards

     

     

    Leading social and digital media news website Social Samosa has announced the first edition of its Best Social Media Brand Awards.

     

    Conceptualised with the thought of promoting best practices benchmarking in the industry, #BestSoMeBrands will facilitate a platform to adjudge a brand’s performance amongst peers on a relative scale. Brands can submit awards across 16 categories which include Automobile, Cement, B2B, Beauty, BFSI, eCommerce, Education, FMCG, Food & Beverage, Healthcare, Media, Real Estate, Retail, Tourism & Hospitality, Technology, and Telecom categories.

     

    The jury panel which is headed by Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network, Chairman Posterscope and MKTG Asia Pacific.

     

    Speaking on the same, Hitesh Rajwani, Head-Social Samosa said, “The Indian social media industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the past five years. Hence to cherish this diligence, we have initiated the Best Social Media Brand Awards. Looking back at the growth of this medium involving real-time conversations and live feeds of things that happen around us, we can safely infer that Brands have played a major role in the making of this industry.”

     

    Said Jury Chair Ashish Bhasin: “I think with growing importance of digital as medium, its time it got its due and spotlight and so events like Best Social Media Brands are extremely important. It helps digital practitioners showcase their work better.”

     

  • The novel titled 'Journeys Never End’ exchanges hands through the film

    Harper Collins celebrates25 yrs in India with Dentsu

     

     

    Harper Collins India celebrates 25 years in India through a film that celebrates books. The campaign consists of a film that shows the journey of a novel. The novel titled ‘Journeys Never End’ exchanges hands through the film.

     

    The film starts with an old man holding the novel whilst traveling in a bus. As the bus stops at a church, he forgets the novel behind. A young man notices the book and picks it up to give it to him but the bus leaves. We see a young woman board the same bus and take the seat adjacent to the young man. She notices the book in the young man’s hands. Seeing her interested in the book, the young man hands it to her and leaves as his stop comes.

     

    What she finds written on the first page of the novel gives the film an unexpected twist. The film ends with supers,“Stories create books. Books create stories”and the HarperCollins India logo.

     

    The campaign was launched at the Jaipur Literature Festival, 2017.

    Said AnanthPadmanabhan, CEO HarperCollins India: “We made this short film to celebrate our lifelong passion for storytelling. Something that simply reaffirmed the power of stories and the fact that books open up a world of unimaginable possibilities. And in Dentsu One we found the perfect partner. Narayan’s love for the written word and Titus’ spontaneous creative impulse were the perfect combination. We all have a story and we love stories – and we thought that this was a great way to say it!”

     

    “In the advertising business, we keep talking about how we are all storytellers. Here was an intriguing brief that had us create a story about stories, without the storyteller intruding. When we asked Ananth ‘What do you want to happen as a result of this?’ he said, “The outcome I want is for the viewer to say ‘I want to pick up a book now!’ after seeing the film.” The insight was—in retrospect—very simple. Each of us is a story-creator, sometimes not knowing that’s what we are, mostly not knowing what triggers await us around the corner. That’s the basic reason books appeal to us: they tell the stories we believe we could have created. After all, our lives are a series of stories,” said Narayan Devanathan, group executive and strategy officer, Dentsu India.

     

    “HarperCollins is such an iconic brand with about 200 years of history. It was a great experience to work on this brand. Ananth’s brief took me back to my literature days. Books contain stories. But I thought there are stories that exist outside the books as well. That’s how the line came up. Books create stories. Several stories emerged from this line. We just decided to break the campaign with the Firozaone,”said Titus Upputuru, NCD, Dentsu One.

     

     

  • In its first full year of operations, Mobile 10X has incubated 35 startups at its hub in Bengaluru and five startups at its hub in Hyderabad

    IAMAI incubated start-ups raise Rs9 crore

     

     

    Six of the apps startups incubated at the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)-sponsored Mobile10X Apps Hub in Bengaluru has raised Rs 9 crore of seed fund in the last 10 months. The six startups are: Highway Delite – founded by Rajesh G, who is an engineer and an MBA, is working to bring in the concept of cashless highway trip; Zoyo – founded by Jeeves Warni, a graduate and DOEACC (A Level) certified professional, is building digitalised parking across Indian cities; SpotPlay – founded by Santosh Kumar, who is an MBA in Finance, allows passengers watch videos without internet connection using its Patent Pending technology; Townista – founded by Paras Jain, an IIT Bombay alumnus, are changing the short trip segment by providing all-inclusive standardised experiential package; MyOfficeCab – founded by Prashanth Y, who is a B.E. in Computer Science, is a technology driven eco transportation solution; Adcamie: Founded by DilipVamanan, a B.Tech from NIT Calicut and Alumnus, IIMB, is a SaaS product designed to help simplify and streamline all media buys under one convenient platform.

     

    In its first full year of operations, Mobile 10X has incubated 35 startups at its hub in Bengaluru and five startups at its hub in Hyderabad. Mobile10X aims to augment India’s developer base, quality and market by 10 times by 2019. This is being achieved by intervening at different stages and levels of Apps developers. Intervention of development is on 4Es – Educate; Engage; Evangelize and Enable, catering to Students, Beginner/Directionless Developers, Focused/Serious Apps Developers and funded/established developers.

     

    The Government of Karnataka, T-Hub, Hyderabad, Google India, Paytm, VMAX and Facebook are the current patrons of Mobile10X.

     

     

  • Change in name and positioning marks its 20thyear

    Integral PR to be rechristened Integral

    By A Correspondent

     

    Emphasising its expansive range of services, Integral PR Services Pvt Ltd will now be known as Integral- a multi-industry, integrated communications advisory firm.  With the depth of services, experience and capability, the firm wishes to reflect what it does – provide solutions, strategies and counsel that is not just executed by its team across five cities but also drives value for a client.

     

    The consultancy has also turned 20 as of January 21, 2017. Having started its journey two decades ago out of a single office in Delhi, the firm has grown into an award-winning consultancy in the past few years, with offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. “Our journey of two decades has seen us expand our services, playing a greater role for businesses in India. As public affairs, advocacy and digital continue to grow for us, our depth of experience, we felt, is now underlined by how we engage with multi-constituencies. Hence, we wish to be known as an ‘Integrated Communications Advisory’,” said Sujay Mehdudia, CEO, Integral.

     

  • The jv stays but MediaCom India will integrate further into the GroupM fold with this development

    GroupM acquires majority stake in MediaCom India

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    At mid-morning on Tuesday, Sam Balsara tweeted a clip from The Economic Times of last week where Madison Media had announced a tie-up with Bangladesh’s independent media agency Mediacom. Mediacom, the report noted, is part of Bangladesh’s industrial conglomerate Square Group and handles media planning and buying for Perfetti Van Melle, Asian Paints, Ispahani Group, Singer and some products categories of the parent company. As a part of the deal, Mediacom will have access to Madison Media’s tools and operating software.

     

    Less than 10 hours after this tweet, came in this missive from the GroupM headquarters in north-west Mumbai: The media services network had announced that it will be acquiring a majority stake in MediaCom India, a joint venture between GroupM India and Sam Balsara, the principal shareholder of the Madison Media group. While MediaCom India will continue operating as an independent brand, the agency will have the advantage of access to GroupM’s global infrastructure. This acquisition continues WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growth markets, new media and digital. The news on the Bangladesh tie-up and what happened closer home had of course no connection. Except the timing of Balsara’s tweet.

     

    “The majority acquisition of MediaCom in India represents a significant evolution in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. As India becomes a very attractive business hub for global clients, we are confident our talented team in India will deliver exemplary growth and results for all stakeholders.” said, Stephen Allan, CEO, MediaCom Worldwide.

     

    Speaking on the acquisition, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “MediaCom India has won several prestigious clients, developed a strong digital presence and has delivered award-winning campaigns for clients. As a network, we have taken giant strides globally and in India towards a more Data and Tech-led core to our business. MediaCom India can harness our world-class media infrastructure to provide more value to its clients and people.”Interestingly, the Mediacom Bangaladeshtieup allows that agency to dig into Madison’s tools and infra.

     

    Flashback to April 2008 when Balsara announced with much fanfare that he had acquired 51 per cent stake in MediaCom India. And also the coveted P&G business. Over the last eight years, MediaCom India has established itself as one of the Top 5 media agencies in terms of marketshare (Source: RECMA ratings 2015). In 2016, WARC ranked MediaCom India’s Mumbai office as one of the top 10 media agencies in the world based on performance in effectiveness and strategy impact for its clients.Its client roster includes Proctor & Gamble, Tata DoCoMo, Future Group Retail, Shell, Dell, Makemytrip.com, SAB Miller, Subway, Bose,Vespa and Urban Ladder amongst others.

     

    Industry observers meanwhile don’t read too much into the development. Although Mediacom may technically have been owned by a majority by GroupM, over the last few years, GroupM is said to be representing its interests very actively. And while MediaCom India ought to be part of the Madison Media, the two agencies have fought pitches including recently for Coca-Cola India.

     

  • GroupM exercised its right to acquire majority stake after eight years of the 2008 jv deal

    Exclusive: Sam Balsara on GroupM acquiring 76% in MediaCom India: In today’s world, you can be a partner and competitor to the same entity…

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sam Balsara

    In today’s world, you can be a partner and competitor to the same entity. That’s how MadisonWorld founder and chairman Sam Balsara sums up the new arrangement in the joint venture with GroupM on media agency MediaCom’s India operations.

     

    As per the original agreement, WPP’s GroupM reportedly had the right to acquire a majority stake after a period of eight years, which they just did.

     

    Earlier, Madison owned 51 per cent and GroupM 49 per cent. Now, GroupM has bought 25 per cent, making its total stake to 76 per cent. For Balsara and team, it’s matter of great pride that the jv was a success for the last eight years.

     

    And does this mean anything at all on possible ownership of mother ship Madison? “There’s no connection whatsoever,” Balsara laughed it off underscoring that this was a completely independent transaction.

    ~~

     

    At mid-morning on Tuesday, Balsara tweeted a clip from The Economic Times of last week where Madison Media had announced a tie-up with Bangladesh’s independent media agency Mediacom. Mediacom, the report noted, is part of Bangladesh’s industrial conglomerate Square Group and handles media planning and buying for Perfetti Van Melle, Asian Paints, Ispahani Group, Singer and some products categories of the parent company. As a part of the deal, Mediacom will have access to Madison Media’s tools and operating software.

     

    Less than 10 hours after this tweet, came in this missive from the GroupM headquarters in north-west Mumbai: The media services network had announced that it will be acquiring a majority stake in MediaCom India.

     

    While MediaCom India will continue operating as an independent brand, the agency will have the advantage of access to GroupM’s global infrastructure. This acquisition continues WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growth markets, new media and digital, notes a commuique. The news on the Bangladesh tie-up and what happened closer home had of course no connection. Except the timing of Balsara’s tweet.

     

    Stephen Allan

    “The majority acquisition of MediaCom in India represents a significant evolution in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. As India becomes a very attractive business hub for global clients, we are confident our talented team in India will deliver exemplary growth and results for all stakeholders.” said, Stephen Allan, CEO, MediaCom Worldwide.

     

     

     

    CVL Srinivas

    Speaking on the acquisition, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “MediaCom India has won several prestigious clients, developed a strong digital presence and has delivered award-winning campaigns for clients. As a network, we have taken giant strides globally and in India towards a more Data and Tech-led core to our business. MediaCom India can harness our world-class media infrastructure to provide more value to its clients and people.”Interestingly, the Mediacom Bangaladesh tieup allows that agency to dig into Madison’s tools and infra.

     

    Flashback to April 2008 when Balsara announced with much fanfare that he had acquired 51 per cent stake in MediaCom India. And also the coveted P&G business. Over the last eight years, MediaCom India has established itself as one of the Top 5 media agencies in terms of market share (Source: RECMA ratings 2015). In 2016, WARC ranked MediaCom India’s Mumbai office as one of the top 10 media agencies in the world based on performance in effectiveness and strategy impact for its clients.Its client roster includes Proctor & Gamble, Tata DoCoMo, Future Group Retail, Shell, Dell, Makemytrip.com, SAB Miller, Subway, Bose,Vespa and Urban Ladder amongst others.

     

    Industry observers meanwhile don’t read too much into the development. Although Mediacom may technically have been owned by a majority by GroupM, over the last few years, GroupM is said to be representing its interests very actively. A scenario which Balsara says was fine given that it was all for the good of MediaCom.

     

  • Publicis Media also won multi-agency pitches to retain its two key accounts, Micromax and Sun Pharma

    Publicis Media wins over Rs 100 cr biz over 9 months

    By A Correspondent

     

    The last nine months have been action-packed for Publicis Media India which has added over Rs1000 crore in billings, according to a communique. Publicis Media India through its brands Starcom, Zenith, Performics.Resultrix and Performics.Convonix will now handle a number of new accounts which includes Parle Products, Mars, Fiat Chrysler, Citibank, OnePlus, Singapore Tourism Board, Fox Media amongst others. Publicis Media also won multi-agency pitches to retain its two key accounts, Micromax and Sun Pharma. Sun Pharma has in fact, added to the mandate, digital duties as well.

     

    Said Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO of Publicis Media India: “It‘s a great beginning for the Publicis Media proposition in India.  Under the new structure, we have a great team of very energetic and highly talented leaders that run very motivated teams. We have been able to also focus our product and services to better serve our clients’ requirements and priorities. Our refreshed narrative on scale and added synergies on best in class data, tools and insights have all been well received by our clients. And I believe that these account wins are also a testimony tothe same. As we move ahead in 2017, our focus will be on scale, and future ready services like Performance marketing, Data and Analytics, Content, that provide business transforming solutions. We are already some of these services to markets like the US and the UK and this international hub helps us to scale up talent in these areas quite quickly.”

     

  • McCann Worldgroup, FP7/DXB Dubai, and Mastercard score #1 in the various Midas Rankings

    Midas Touch: Pi Communications wins gold & silver for Aditya Birla Financial Services

    By A Correspondent

    Mumbai-based marketing services agency Pi Communications has bagged a gold and silver award at the coveted 2016 Midas Awards, regarded the Oscars for financial services advertising. Both awards have been won for Aditya Birla Financial Services Group. The two metals bagged by Pi and ABFSG are the only metals won by India at the 2016 Midas Awards.

    While the Gold Midas has been bagged for Aditya Birla Housing Finance Limited for ‘The Incomplete Nameplate’ in the Use of Medium competition under the Direct Mail/Collateral category, the Silver Midas has gone to Birla Sun Life Insurance for ‘Salary Slip of 1985’ also in the Use of Medium competition under the Direct Mail/Collateral category.

    Rakhshin Patel
    Ajay Kakar

    Said Rakhshin Patel, Managing Director, Pi Communications: “We have had a fairly consistent track record at winning in the Midas Awards.Our clients at Aditya Birla Financial Services have always been encouraging and supportive of great traditional Direct Marketing ideas that deliver excellent results and ROI.What makes this win even more special is that this is our first Midas win since our name change to Pi Communications and the fact that we reign as leaders in the world in Direct Mail communication.”

    Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group was delighted with the news. “Across our Aditya Birla Financial Services Group businesses we aspire to do work that wins recognition of the industry and business.We are indeed humbled to have won consistently at the Midas Awards, New York. These awards are special because they are compared and rated against the best of best from within the financial services industry, from across the world,” he said adding: “This year having won a Gold and Silver, as also, being the only winners from India, is indeed recognition that makes us extremely proud. I am thankful to Pi Communications for bringing us this enviable recognition and for making us so proud.”

    Meanwhile, FP7 / DXB (a part of McCann Worldgroup) and MediaVest Spark earned the Midas Award for Innovation for “The AC Vests” for client Emirates NBD. This award honors the highest scoring entry that showcases a leading-edge idea or execution.McCann Worldgroup earned the number one ranking in the first annual Midas Network Report, cumulatively achieving the most points in this year’s competition. Publicis Worldwide, earned the number two slot, followed by R/GA, Wunderman and Havas Worldwide.

    Agencies from around the world competed for top spots in this year’s Midas Awards Agency Report; FP7/DXB Dubai (Part of McCann Worldgroup) was in the spotlight, ranking number one on the Midas Agency Report with a robust 190 points. McCann New York ranked number two this year with 90 points and the Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) Johannesburg earned the number three spot with 86 points.

    Also, for the third year running, Mastercard scored first place with a staggering total 229 points in the Midas Brand Rankings due to the combined creative efforts of the following global agencies: FP7/DXB; McCann Canada, McCann XBC, McCann Worldgroup. Absa/ Barclays ranked second place for the third year in a row, they received 89 points for their innovative work created by Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) Johannesburg.  Emirates NBD, whose award-winning campaigns were created by FP7/DXB (Part of McCann Worldgroup), ranked third place for third consecutive year.

    Founded in 2001, the Midas Awards recognises excellence in financial advertising and marketing on a global scale. Indian entrants have a good run in the awards except last year when they drew a blank.