MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • After all the news reports and interviews, we spoke to co-chair of the Abby Governing Council for an analysis

    No golds in digital and print was shocking: Ajay Chandwani

     

    [updated]

    Okay, you’ve read the interviews and reports after Goafest concluded. We spoke to Ajay Chandwani, veteran adperson and also Co-Chair of Abby Awards Governing Council for an analysis of the Abby Awards

    What’s the #1 takeaway for you from the Abby Awards 2017?

    Overall, I got a sense that entries have dramatically improved is execution. Finesse and execution, presentation of the ideas, execution in illustration, photography, typography, the craft has really moved up a notch in terms of the quality of entries. Whereas the ideas are almost static.

    But why no Grand Prix?

    For precisely this reason. Grand Prix or Best of Category comes in if the ideas have dramatically changed.

    So do you mean there’s no dramatic entry this year?

    Frankly if you ask me, there were. But juries feel when they start giving a Grand Prix they are in D&AD, you have to almost remind them that this is a desi Award. You’re not sitting in the Riveira…

    Juries appear to be functioning too independently. Shouldn’t they be given a directive to look at…

    The only guideline, not even a directive we give them is this. In the past we had a few years in which a lot of metals were given. We formed this rule of not more than four metals per sub-category unless the jury votes. So, for example, four metals means you can have 1 bronze, 2 silvers, 1 Gold or 1 bronze, 3 silvers, and if it requires more than 4, then the jury must decide, 5 or 6 or 7 or even 8. It’s being followed. But in most last two years my observation has been very few sub-categories actually have more than four medals.

    Why no Grand Prix? Is it that people are too strict?

    Grand Prix means it must change the way the category has been looked at. That it is a very strong differentiator.

    An example is an Adidas…

    Yes, could have deserved one. A Grand Prix has to be completely breakthrough… I feel that people feel a Grand Prix is too much of a spotlight. If most judges haven’t won it themselves for a long time, they don’t feel…

    So, dirty tricks?

    I don’t think so. I’ll give you an example. The last Grand Prix was won by Lintas for DaburVatika. That work was a unanimous Grand Prix. Even today, people remember that changed the category. It took a bald woman, one suffering from cancer to sell a shampoo which talks about a lush growth of hair. That is dramatically changing the way you look at the category. It answered that.

     

    You have a new #1…

    In terms of the number of Golds, yes., I don’t how you look at #1. Total metals, Golds. We don’t rank.

     

    Open Strategy and Design has 4 Golds

    Famous has got 13 metals with 3 Golds. Then there is Star India with 13 metals including 3 Golds. Star is of course not an agency.

     

    And you wouldn’t recommend comparing media houses..

    You see this is a new trend. Lots of media companies are entering into creative and they are winning also…Maxus, MindShare and companies. And did you see how many bronzes Marico got

     

    So takeways….

    I wonder how it has slipped your attention. Digital got the highest number of entries and has zero gold.

     

    That’s huge. Tell me, this whole thing of some juries being more liberal than other. I remember this an observation made last year too.

    Yes it was..

     

    Consequently, you have some agencies who are winning more golds. For example, the Design category has a lot of wins…

    Yes

     

    So you could see them far ahead of the regular creative agencies

    In fact if Open had entered those ideas in the advertising categories, they would’ve had a different score. Like Autumn Winter is in design and advertising.

     

    We’ve seen a fantastic rise of The Social Street. Taproot has done well, but it was #2 last year too.

    Yes, just in the second year of its existence.

     

    Do you think a Social Street has benefitted due to some liberal juries?

    No, no. A single agency can’t benefit. I will tell you why a single agency can’t benefit… because every jury is so diverse that the only way you can win a metal is if your competition votes you. There is no other way. Many people ask meif it is possible that a group of six people are friends with an agency. No it just cannot happen. That has been my biggest endeavor… not to create gangs. It’s a very difficult thing to do.

     

    Tell me now that the jury process has been streamlined…what will it take an Ogilvy and the others to participate?

    First and foremost, there are three things they must do to even consider this serious. Today, some of them are staying away for a combination of either budgets or…McCain clearly mentioned this… Contract clearly mentioned this…infact we thought Contract & Mudra are the agencies that have promoted the Abbys…forget about, whereas Ogilvy and others of the last 5 years have not entered…so I don’t expect Ogilvy & McCain to go out of the way. But, let’s say…there are 2 or 3 agencies …Ogilvy, Leo Burnett I don’t have their view, BDDO they have mentioned that if we did a fewer judges judging everything, they might look at it. However it’s not practical, it’s a D&AD model…works on fewer entries. This is what Kyoorious does… it’s like the Critics Award… Abby is like Cannes…like Cannes has so many jurors…same model…specialist jury…for example, a digital entry can’t be judged by a bunch of advertising people…they’ll be throttled…they will stop entering…one year I had an agency person in the jury, they revolted…they said if you are going to do this next year, we are not going to take part…because if it for Filmcraft by Filmcraft then don’t impose agency people. Likewise design this year look at the design jury. Take design for example, almost every jury member is from design not from advertising even Alok Nanda. Now more than 60% work is from design… in fact his growth is in design.

     

    And?

    I think this digital observation. If the ideas had been stronger, we would have had a Grand Prix. Golds and Silvers have gone up that’s because of execution. Earlier what would happen is ideas would falter in execution. That’s why silvers and golds were less. Now at least they have cracked that..

     

    Hypothetically, if Ogilvy and Lowe had participated, would the results have been different?

    Very hard to say. I cannot believe that some of the entries which won Goldswouldn’t have been Golds if others were there. None of the golds were by default. May be in one of two verticals.Take, for example, PR has had so many Golds. But these companies that you mentioned hardly have participate in PR and design. They are not big participants in digital also. For instance, they may have changed print. Because print hasn’t got a single gold. That was shocking.

     

    In print..

    In print craft there is, but not in print.

     

    So basically, two categories that have not got gold are print and digital.

    Yes, shocking

     

    But Print Craft has…

    This, by the way, is the trend abroad too, in Cannes for instance.Indian entries winning in craft, and technical aspects rather than ideation..

     

    That’s not a good commentary for our advertising.

    Yes, not a good comment.

     

     

  • The mandate has started this month (April) and was finalised following a multi-agency pitch earlier this year

    It’s official. Dentsu Media is Maruti’s media AOR

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s been two months since this has been known, but now it’s official. That Dentsu Media has been awarded the media planning and buying for the entire portfolio of brands for Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL).  The mandate has started this month (April) and was finalised following a multi-agency pitch earlier this year.

     

    Dentsu Media will handle all media duties for Maruti Suzuki Corporate, Existing Channel and Nexa brands. A  team comprising existing Dentsu Media members and handpicked experienced talent has been put together to handle this massive mandate. The scope of this mandate is a holistic integrated media and platform agnostic communications approach.

     

    Dentsu Impact and Isobar, the other arms of the Dentsu Aegis Network already handle parts of the creative, digital and CRM business.

     

    Sanjeev Handa

    Speaking on the development, Sanjeev Handa, Vice President, Marketing Maruti Suzuki India, said: “Our partnership with Dentsu Aegis Network is a strategic one. We wanted to have an integrated and synergistic approach for our business to improve productivity and overall effectiveness.  And with alignment of media services to Dentsu Aegis Network, we are looking forward to improving our overall marketing efficiencies”.

     

     

    Divya Karani

    On the win, Divya Karani, CEO, Dentsu Media, said: “We are delighted and honoured to be chosen as the preferred media partners for MSIL, a clear market leader in the category and one of the most exciting and innovative marketers in the country.  We have put together a very experienced and balanced team of media, advertising and marketing professionals who will leverage our global capabilities, tools and resources to help MSIL further enhance its market leadership.”

     

  • In its tenth year now, the South-Asia Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2015-16 is being organised in association with International Advertising Association (IAA)

    IAA joins hands with Laadli to take Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity across South Asia

    By A Correspondent

     

    The International Advertising Association (IAA) is supporting the Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity to take the national awards across South Asia.

     

    In its tenth year now, the South Asia Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2015-16 is being organised in association with International Advertising Association (IAA). The event will be held at National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai, India on May 12, 2017.

     

    The awards are supported by UNFPA and this year, Colors is associated as the cause partner.

    Said Srinivasan K Swamy Senior Vice President IAA Global and Chairman RK Swamy BBDO:  “The IAA India Chapter has had a long association with Laadli and the subject of gender sensitivity, so supporting their Media Awards in the South Asia region seemed a natural corollary. This not just showcases the IAA’s keen interest in such activities, but also its ability to spread a good message across boundaries.

     

    Added Ramesh Narayan Vice President IAA: “We are very happy to lend our support to this meaningful award. Our Chapters and Associates in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nepal and Bangladesh are working on selecting one journalist in each country who has done wonderful work in the area of gender sensitivity and that person will be nominated to receive the special IAA Laadli South Asia Media Award.

     

    Said Dr A. Sharada, CEO, Laadli: “The objective of The Laadli Media Awards is to draw the attention of the public to the positive efforts in the media with regard to gender sensitive reportage and provide a platform for showcasing such efforts. It does not focus on visible achievers but on media persons who are reporting from the field level – analyzing laws, policies, programmes, events and incidents using a gender lens.  Every year entries are sought from all over India. More than 1500 entries are received each year from across the nation from print, electronic and web media. Around 80 awards are given under 13 languages across the country, in each of the rounds.”

     

  • Plans to expand nationally as an entertainment and hospitality brand

    Wonderla Invites India to get closer

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a bid to ramp up the fun factor, Wonderla Holidays has announced a comprehensive repositioning strategy with a new brand identity. Speaking at the unveiling of the Brand Refresh, Arun K Chittilappilly, Managing Director, Wonderla Holidays Limited said, “Over the last decade, Wonderla has gone from strength to strength. Our existing properties in Kochi and Bengaluru including our newly opened park in Hyderabad are immensely popular with a very strong customer equity. We are one of the best performing companies in our segment not only in India but also globally. We are very proud of what we have achieved so far. But, we have bigger ambitions – to make Wonderla a national hospitality and entertainment brand to reckon with. The idea behind the change is therefore set the Wonderla brand up for these bigger ambitions.”

     

    Said Saswata Das, Partner & Executive Director, WOW Design, the agency responsible for developing the new logo explained: “We had to rev-up the Identity of an extremely successful brand with a very well recognised logo to increase its relevance in current times. The primary challenge was to resonate with an audience of age bracket as diverse as 5 to 45 years. What we did was to crack an overarching theme for the Brand which laid the foundations of the Design Strategy. Then we recreated the logo for Wonderla to generate an engaging experience. I am sure the new brand positioning and refreshed look is going to create a lot of pull for the Brand in future.”

     

    In keeping with the new positioning, Wonderla will also be rolling out a new brand campaign and a theme song that will be going on air from 6th April. Happy mcgarrybowen, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has developed this new campaign.

     

    Speaking about the new campaign; Kartik Iyer, CEO, Happy mcgarrybowen said, “Wonderla is an iconic name for anyone who has lived in South India. The theme park has been a favoured destination in Kochi and Bengaluru for families and tourists alike. With the opening of a new park in Hyderabad, this was the perfect opportunity for a Brand refresh. Out with a spanking new identity and keeping Wonderla’s aspirations of becoming a national brand name, the teams worked together to come up with a positioning and brand idea that delivers on a simple insight that people get closer when they have fun together. A lot of effort has gone into capturing the essence of the Wonderla experience. The new campaign is only a first step to all the exciting things planned for the brand.”​

     

  • Shot in two solo parts, one film features Rohit Sharma, where the ace cricketer talks about how his journey to success was not at all easy

    Rohit Sharma & Ashwin endorse brand campaign for Aristocrat

    By A Correspondent

     

    Aristocrat has unveiled its latest campaign featuring recently appointed brand ambassadors Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin. Themed on Aristocrat’s new tag line, ‘Unpack Your Dreams’, the cricketers will be seen in the brand’s philosophy films portraying their stories of hardship and struggle turning their dreams to reality.

     

    Commenting on the outcome of the campaign, Sudip Ghose, Vice President-Sales and Marketing, V.I.P Industries said:  “The philosophy films have compelling stories of two great Indian cricketers who have proved that dreams can be achieved. Through this marketing campaign, we wanted to make the brand more relatable to our target audience who, like these stars, dream of making it big through sheer hard work. The campaign also showcases the new range of stylish, spacious and durable collection of backpacks and strolley bags which is sure to become a huge hit across the country.”The campaign has been rolled out on all social media platforms of Aristocrat.

     

  • Harish Bahl & Manish Vij exit SVG Media, sell stake to Dentsu Aegis Network which launches Columbus in India

    Win-win for Dentsu & Smile co-founders as…

    L-R: Chirag Shah, Deven Dharamdasani, Ashish Bhasin, Anurag Gupta and Ashwani Mehta

     

    By A Correspondent

    This news could be looked at from two ends. That the Dentsu Aegis Network has completed yet another acquisition and become really big in digital. Or fro the Smile Group point of view, where the co-promoters Harish Bahl and Manish Vij have hit the jackpot yet again after selling Quasar to WPP in 2008. According to some industry estimates, the deal size is in the region of Rs 750 crore.

    So let’s hear it from the DAN pov first:

    Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the acquisition of SVG Media Private Limited, one of the largest independent digital agencies in India. SVG Media will join the network’s Asia Pacific digital marketingagency Columbus and will become SVGColumbus.

     

    Manish Vij (L) Harish Bahl (R)

    Dentsu Aegis Network claims to be currently Google’s largest search partner in India, and the addition of SVG Media will further strengthen the Group’s leading search position in the market. This acquisition will also support Columbus’expansion in Asia Pacific – now in nine markets across the region.

    SVG Media includes the flagship brands DGM, Komli and Seventynine. Founded in 2006, SVG Media comprises over 280 specialists across four major Indian cities Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. It offers diverse digital media competencies including online performance marketing, mobile app distribution, representations, social and web services through its flagship brands. The group has one of the largest client bases in the Indian digital media sector with over 700 monthly active advertiser campaigns locally, as well as international clients in Dubai, Indonesia and China.

    Anurag Gupta,CEO of SVG Columbus & DGM, will report to Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia. Anurag Gupta, CEO of SVG Columbus & DGM, Chirag Shah,CEO of SVG Media Mobile & Seventynine, Deven Dharamdasani,COO of SVG Media Mobile & Seventynine, Akshay Mathur, Business Head of Komli, and Ashwani Mehta,Finance Controller,will join the SVG Columbus Managing Board, which will be chaired by Vivek Bhargava, CEO of Performance, Dentsu Aegis Network India.

    Harish Bahl and Manish Vij, founder and co-founder of the Smile Group, will continue to focus on investments through the Smile Group and will no longer act as directors of SVG Media. It has also been agreed that the Smile Group will retain the TyrooTechlabs business.

    Said Ashish Bhasin,Chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia: “India is a significant market with rapid growth potential in its mobile and performance marketing business, and Dentsu Aegis Network India has a strong track record in the search and performance space to deliver this. Given its capabilities in data led search, performance marketing and mobile,SVG Columbus is ideally positioned to capture the fragmented long tail publisher market in India using technology and data. As a Group we have leading position in digital in India, particularly in search and performance and this gives us a clear leadership position in this area. We will now have over 1,300 digital professionals, accounting for over 35% of our revenues, well ahead of our competitors.”

    On behalf of SVG Columbus management, Anurag Gupta, CEO of SVG Columbus,,said: “We started out as a digital media group more than a decade ago, and for us to join forces with a clear market leader in digital, that is Dentsu Aegis Network, makes perfect sense. Their priority in placing digital at the forefront of their strategy and goals align perfectly with ours. We will continue to scale our offering in performance marketing and serving clients through the network and other agency networks. We are assured of their strong growth momentum, which will enable us to further enhance our scale as a business operationally and geographically. Their unique one P&L model also allows us to be part of that shared vision towards a digital world which will provide us with access to the latest industry technology and talent to deliver the best solutions for our clients.”

    Meanwhile, this is what Messrs Vij and Bahl have to say:

    Manish Vij Co-Founder Smile Group: “We built SVG Media with the philosophy of profitable growth and market leadership. This philosophy is not the most popular in digital industry but has been very gratifying for SVG Media founders and key leadership. We understand that media consumptions habits are changing rapidly therefore will now focus on building the TyrooTech business and other media incubations.”

    Harish Bahl, Founder at Smile Group:“At Smile we are proud to have continuously built successful JV partnerships or exits with large global firms as, Airbnb, Yahoo, WPP Digital, Scan Group-Africa etc. SVG’s market leadership and exit to DAN is another feather in the cap for Smile.  Our strategy of Investing, Building and JVs through one common platform, is uniquely attractive to global unicorns and entrepreneurs and has evolved over years of learnings.  We hope to share few more exciting announcements in 2017.”

     

  • The TVC has been crafted by Curry Nation, RK Swamy is the media agency and Tonic is the digital agency with research by Ormax and overall strategy by Intradia

    Dinshaw unveils new look & campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nagpur-based Dinshaw’s Dairy Foods has unveiled a new brand architecture for all its products as well as an all-new campaign. Intradia World and Lokus Design have worked on the brand architecture for all products and the new packaging is based on research conducted by Ormax.

     

    Said Zervin Rana and Jamashp Bapuna of Dinshaw’s Dairy Foods: “The pre-packed cone format is one of the largest contributing formats in ice-creams and we selected brand ‘Dil-Hi-Toh’ as our offering in the segment to spearhead our consumer communication. The packaging re-design banked on interesting insight delivered by Ormax (Mumbai) and creative strategy came by triangulating mother Brand Dinshaw’s long-term vision, Brand Dil-Hi-Toh format specific consumer insights and the real-time consumer expectations.”

     

    Speaking on the strategy, Sanjeev Kotnala, founder, Intradia World said, “While developing their Summer 2017 strategy for ice-creams, Dinshaw’s looked at getting back to consumer celebration of togetherness moments with ice cream and to basics of ice-cream fundamentals. We decided to stay away from over-saturated use of seduction, overt enacted happiness and took on ‘Heartfelt Togetherness’ as the foundation. We were cautious of the fact that the name may overtly suggest romance, which is not the intention and hence believe that the creative agency, Curry Nation has done a great job”.

     

    Said Priti Nair, founder, Curry Nation: “We were very happy to get a decently focused brief that was not another ice-cream seduction or happiness approach. It allowed us to connect the brand in the real terms and work with the youth segment and connect with them in an emotional & engaging manner. The tag line ‘Dil Ki Dosti Pighalti Nahi’ works at multiple levels. Truly, truly happy to be associated with a brand that has been so much a part of our growing years. I still hum the Dinshaw’s ice cream yum yum…”

     

    RK Swamy is entrusted with the traditional media planning and buying focusing in it core markets of Maharashtra, Madhya Paradesh, Chattisgarh and AP / Telengana, where the brand enjoys high emotional connect and preference. Tonic Media is implementing the digital part of the activity

     

  • Instead of a regular retainer model, the services are offered in a menu format, with each service having a card rate

    Pick and choose service as FCB Ulka sets up Bushfire for startups

    By A Correspondent

     

    Team Bushfire- (L-R) Pradeep Saini, Garima Chandelkar, Disha Bhattacharya, Romit Nair, Noor Mohd. Sana, Surjo Dutt and Rohit Ohri.

    Leading agency network FCB Ulkahas announced the launch of a highly-hybridized service Bushfire, billed as a one-stop shop for start-ups.

     

    The premise: With the emergence of start-ups, there cropped up the need of a specialized agency model to comply to their needs. Since these set- ups require select services, the need to break the conventional organization structures complimented with agility formed the premise of the prototype - Bushfire. epic shit. without bullshit.

     

    So instead of a regular retainer fee model, the services are offered in a menu format, with each service having a card rate. The Bushfire team includes a mix of profesionals from across departments ranging from art, crafting, planning, film making and execution without the conventional shackles of three vendor quotes or the likes akin the ‘Shapeshifters’.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman and CEO of FCB India, said: “Startups are looking for ways to prove traction to investors and are generally operating on borrowed capital with a short runway – time is always of the essence and results are imperative for their survival. They are looking for an agency with a different mindset.”

     

    Surjo Dutt, NCD, FCB Ulka, doubles up as the NCD for Bushfire and will be closely working with Romit Nair, Creative Head, Bushfire. In his role, Nair will report to Dutt.Bushfire’s CRM division will be managed by Satish Ramachandran.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Surjo Dutt, National Creative Director, FCB Ulka and Bushfire says, “While the re-energised and rebooted FCB ULKA charges forward with its agenda for clutter breaking, market moving work on its massive brands, the need for another offering with a different set of objectives and offerings has become more and more apparent. Which is why Bushfire. A small, agile, multi-skilled and deeply hybridized team of creative strategists, put together to partner startups primarily and clients looking for mould breaking solutions as projects, secondarily.”

     

    Operations for Bushfire have commenced.

     

  • Half a decade since its expansion, Happy Finish India’s marketplace is entirely for and of pure Indian business

    Happy Finish completes 5 years in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Creative production house Happy Finish has completed five years in India. Headquartered in London, the agency branched out to Mumbai with a studio of eight people, mainly with an intention to provide support to international clientele of Happy Finish. Today, the team has grown into a business of 30 artists in interactive mediums of media serving colients.

     

    Happy Finish India started as an outsourcing agency with 95 per cent of its clientele coming in from the global markets. The business was majorly execution-oriented and handled by a team of producers and artists trained in UK. Later, the focus was to localize talent and align expectations to special needs of the unique Indian market. Subsequently, the man force which was entirely locally-sourced accounted for the biggest milestone for Happy Finish India in terms of business and scale of operations, thus reducing its dependence on off-shore creative mandates.

     

    Remarking at the announcement, Ashish Limaye, CEO APAC, Happy Finish said, “Market for creative duties have exponentially multiplied. And brands constantly seek newer ways to engage their audience. In India, marketers are gradually learning of interactive media and the increasing impact of creative post production. Technology has enabled a forward-push in thinking as well as computing power. Creating digital assets such as CGI and image retouching for brands has become far more important today than earlier. Nowadays, even short form content utilizes 360° formats for brand engagement.”

     

    Founder and Global CEO, Stuart Waplington commented further on the successful milestone, saying, “When home-grown talent grows out of sheer dedication, it amazes me how it becomes one with its environment. Happy Finish India has become that very fabric of the environment. The entire man force in India is locally employed and we are seeing a certain rise in preference for our innovative uses of technology.”

     

    Happy Finish India has worked with clients like Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Renault, Maruti Suzuki NEXA, Nissan, Nike, Vogue India, Smirnoff, Nokia, Ferrari, Bulgari, Jaguar Land Rover, Mother Dairy, ITC, Bisleri, Baskin Robbins, and L’Oreal to name a few.

     

  • The brand creates unique, live half-autobiographies; inspiring women entrepreneurs to follow and fulfil their dream

    Season 3 of Inorbit Pink Power launched

    By A Correspondent

     

    Inorbit Mall and DDB Mudra West have come together to unveil Inorbit Pink Power, a chance for 15 small women entrepreneurs to launch their start-up with free retail space at Inorbit malls across the country.

     

    The initiative was launched through a web film in which three budding women entrepreneurs were called for what they believed was a TV interview. To their surprise, their stories were transcribed in real time and made into their half-autobiographies. It was a call to them and all the other women entrepreneurs out there to write their next chapters with Inorbit Pink Power.

     

    In addition to retail space, winners will be offered a starter-pack that’s every businesswomen’s dream. Tie-ups with banks for loans at just a 3 per cent interest rate. Mentorship by India’s top retail gurus. And a chance to partner with some of Inorbit’s biggest brands.

     

    According to Puneet Verma, AVP – Marketing & Corporate Communications, Inorbit Malls, “Pink Power Season 3 has arrived! It is time to salute the spirit of womanhood. Every woman has an entrepreneur in her, it is just that she needs a platform for growing her business. Pink Power season 3 has much more to offer in addition to free retail space for the winners.”

     

    Speaking on the initiative, Rahul Mathew, Creative Head, DDB Mudra West said: “It’s no secret that women are the more enterprising gender. And yet, we don’t hear of enough women entrepreneurs. But that’s not because they aren’t out there. There are many women entrepreneurs, running businesses of various kinds. However, they themselves don’t believe that these small businesses hold the potential to be anything bigger. Through Pink Power, we wanted to help them believe that these businesses are just one chapter of their entrepreneurial stories. That they have the potential to add many more chapters to their story. And Inorbit would help them do that, with not just retail space but business acumen as well.”

     

  • JWT, Publicis Communications and Mindshare have bagged two shorlists each and Sapient Razorfish has bagged one

    BBDO’s Dads #ShareTheLoad for P&G wins 6 Tangrams Effectiveness shortlists

    By A Correspondent

     

    BBDO India’s Dads #ShareTheLoad for Procter & Gamble bagged six shortlists at the Tangrame Effectiveness Awards that are scheduled for late September 2017. Thirteen Indian entries find their way among the 259 that have made it through to the shortlist for Tangrams Effectiveness Awards.

     

    A panel of regional marketers and agency heads has reviewed all submissions to select the best in marketing effectiveness. The following number of entries have been shortlisted in each awards section:

     

    Effectiveness 100

    Media Strategy 53

    Digital Strategy 70

    Data & Analytics 22

    e-Commerce 14

     

    “As the quality of work increases year on year, the achievement of the shortlisted entries is all the more impressive and we would like to congratulate the finalists who have clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of their work.” says Andrea Hayes, Festivals Director.

     

    Other than BBDO for P&G, JWT bagged two shortlists for Godrej’s Good Knight, as did Publicis for Ambuja Cements and Mindshare for Hindustan Unilver. Sapient Razorfish has also bagged one shortlist for work done for Sapient Nitro.

     

    The winners will be announced at the Tangrams Awards ceremony held on the first evening of Spikes Asia Festival, Wednesday September 27, 2017. The Tangrams programme will also expand to includea two-day focus on marketing effectiveness at Spikes Asia on September 28 and 29.

     

  • Of the 1876 complaints received,1225 complaints were upheld by self-regular Advertising Standards Council of India

    The ASCI Jan-Dec 2016 Complaints Roster

     

    The Advertising Standards Council of India has been on overdrive over the last few years. At MxMIndia, we compiled the various communiques we receive from ASCI on the decisions taken by the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) for the months of January to December 2016. The last of these was received in end-March 2017.

    This report carries summaries of the monthly CCC communiques, a table compiling the key numbers and an interview with veteran adperson and ASCI President Srinivasan K Swamy.

    Together healthcare and personal care contribute to more than a third of the complaints upheld. Education is second, with the number of complaints upheld nearly 50 per cent of the complaints upheld in August and September 2016. Read on… the interview and the numbers….

     

    We have seen a steady rise of complaints against healthcare and personal care advertisements being upheld. Would you be able to attribute any reasons for this?

    ASCI started their suo moto surveillance through the National Advertising Monitoring System (NAMS) in 2012. Every month on an average 1600 TV and 45000 print advertisements are monitored to track down advertisements making misleading, false and unsubstantiated claims. Among complaints against misleading advertisements, most are from Education sector and Healthcare Products and Services, hence you see this rise in the trend of the complaints on an annual basis. Complaints against Personal Care product ads are relatively less.

     

    Both education and healthcare-personal care complaints to a greater malaise that afflicts our society. Advertising making false claims and also playing with the lives of individuals and families. Do you think the government must do more to check these?

    Government regulators including The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Ministry of AYUSH have partnered with ASCI to address all misleading advertisements in their respective sectors. These regulators take appropriate action when non-compliances of CCC recommendations are reported to them by ASCI.

     

    Are there any trends that you would like to highlight that need highlight from the various complaints received and acted upon in 2016.

    The growing rate of digitalisation of media in our country has had critical impact on consumers and their behaviour. At ASCI, in comparison to the other platforms to lodge your complaints, the WhatsApp number alone contributes to approximately 15% of the total number of advertisements complained against by consumers. Besides the traditional medium of Print and TV advertisements, Digital advertisements going live on Websites, Mobile Apps, Social Media Ads, etc. are getting more and more attention of consumers as well and their share in the complained advertisements has increased from 11% to 14%.

    This year,we also saw an increase in the number advertisements complained against in new sectors such as E-Commerce. This digital shift has clearly been a highlight for ASCI too. Self-regulation of advertising content as per ASCI code for direct or indirect (e.g. paid blogs) advertisements in online digital channels/sites by both advertiser and media is a need of the hour.

     

     

     

    January 2016:In January 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 51 out of 102 advertisements. Out of 51 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 13 belonged to the Education category, 12 to the Food & Beverages category, followed by 11 in the Healthcare category, 6 in the E-commerce category and 9 advertisements from other categories.

     

    February 2016:

    In February 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 80 out of 133 advertisements. Out of 80 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 48 belonged to the Education category, 13 in the Healthcare category, followed by 5 in the Food & Beverages category and 14 advertisements from other categories.

     

    March 2016:

    In March 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 90 out of 156 advertisements. Out of 90 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 32 belonged to the Education category, 30 in the Healthcare & Personal Care category, followed by 10 in the Food & Beverages category and 18 advertisements from other categories.

     

    April 2016:

    In April 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 67 out of 141 advertisements. Out of 67 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 27 belonged to the Healthcare & Personal Care category, 10 in the Food & Beverages category, 7 in the E-commerce Category, 4 depicting Automotives, followed by 4 in the Education category and 15 advertisements from other categories

     

    May 2016:

    In May 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 109 out of 155 advertisements. Out of 109 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 41 belonged to the Healthcare & Personal Care category, 23 to the Education category, followed by 12 in the Food & Beverages category, 9 in the E-commerce Category, 9 in Consumer Durables Category and 15 advertisements from other categories.

     

    June 2016:

    In June 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 98 out of 159 advertisements. Out of 98 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 39 belonged to the Education category, 25 in the Healthcare & Personal Care category, followed by 11 in the Food & Beverages category, 6 in Ecommerce category and 17 advertisements from other categories.

    July 2016:

    In July 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 134 out of 183 advertisements. Out of 134 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 44 belonged to the Healthcare category, 44 to the Education category, followed by 24 in the Food & Beverages category, 8 in Personal Care Category and 14 advertisements from other categories.

     

    August 2016:

    In August 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 152 out of 209 advertisements. Out of 152 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 27 belonged to the Healthcare category, 66 to the Education category, followed by 17 in the Food & Beverages category, 10 in Personal Care Category, 5 in clothing and accessories category and 27 advertisements from other categories.

     

    September 2016:

    In September 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 151 out of 199 advertisements. Out of 151 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 39 belonged to the Healthcare category, 75 to the Education category, followed by 10 in the Food & Beverages category, 8 in Personal Care Category and 19 advertisements from other categories.

     

    October 2016:

    In October 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 98 out of 162 advertisements. Out of 98 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 37 belonged to the Healthcare category, 31 to the Education category, followed by 6 in the Food & Beverages category, 5 in Personal Care Category and 19 advertisements from other categories.

     

    November 2016:

    In November 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 100 out of 152 advertisements. Out of 100 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 43 belonged to the Healthcare category, 17 to the Education category, followed by 11 in Personal Care Category, 7 in the Food & Beverages category, 6 in the E-Commerce Category and 16 advertisements from other categories.

     

    December 2016:

    In December 2016, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 95 out of 125 advertisements. Out of 95 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 58 belonged to the Healthcare category, 10 in the Food & Beverages category, followed by 9 in Personal Care Category, 4 to the Education category, and 14 advertisements from other categories.