MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • The new integrated campaign will have a multi-pronged approach, with reach on TV, in-store and across digital and social platforms

    Burger King launches inaugural campaign for Wooper, er, Hopper, erWhopper

    By A Correspondent

     

    Burger King India has launched its first ever TVC, with an aim to establish its signature product, the Whopper as the leader in the market. The campaign conceptualised by Lowe Lintas Mumbai and the film, directed by Kishore Iyer of Nirvana Productions, is primarily targeted to India’s millennial generation, and will aim to strengthen brand awareness.

     

    The integrated campaign will have a multi-pronged approach, with reach on TV, in-store and across digital and social platforms.

     

    Said Raj Varman, Chief Executive Officer, Burger King India: “The Whopper is inimitable and bigger than a quintessential burger in both flavour and size. This is exactly what we wanted to impress upon in this campaign. Our guests absolutely love the Whopper and give us credit for offering a big product at an affordable price. This commercial is a great combination of a real consumer insight and a powerful product differentiator.”

     

    Added Arun Iyer, Chairman & CCO Lowe Lintas: “Whopper is the flagship product of Burger King, globally. The brief was to launch this flagship product in India by telling the millennials this truth “It’s not a burger, it’s a whopper” while keeping it in sync with the brand philosophy of “your way”. However the challenge for us from the India context was two fold – “Whopper”, the word, is not used enough plus we needed to bring alive the brand philosophy (of Your Way) for the Indian millennial. That’s when we noticed the Indian truth for the Whopper- it was mispronounced a lot thanks to the way the spelling reads. We felt this ‘mispronunciation’ was an opportunity to leverage wherein the brand accepts millennials as they are and also demonstrates its ability to laugh at its own reality of people mispronouncing the whopper, hence the idea of “call it whatever, never a burger”. This not only landed the brand philosophy but also delivered on the core attribute of ‘authenticity’ that the brand has at its core.

     

  • Mullen Lintas was chosen after a multi-agency pitch that saw the participation of six agencies across India

    Mullen Lintas wins integrated mandate of Too Yumm!

    By A Correspondent

     

    The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group recently announced its foray into the FMCG space with Guiltfree Industries Ltd. The launch has been kicked off with the unveiling of its packaged foods brand – Too Yumm! for which Guiltfree Industries Ltd has appointed Mullen Lintas Mumbai as its creative agency. Mullen Lintas was chosen after a multi-agency pitch that saw the participation of six agencies across India.

     

    The Too Yumm! mandate includes strategic and creative duties for a high impact launch across markets for digital and mainline. Interestingly, the brand name Too Yumm! was proposed by the agency. Though not a part of the pitch brief, the agency presented the name as part of the pitch deck and that found unanimous appeal with the team at the client’s end.

     

    On appointing Mullen Lintas as the creative agency, Suhail Sameer, President Business Development & Growth, Guiltfree Industries said: “We met multiple big creative marketing agencies to help us in our brand and product launches. While all of them had their strengths, we loved the creative and strategic thinking which Mullen Lintas brought to the table. Also their solution orientation and proactive approach, critical for the tight timelines we are working under stood apart. We are extremely happy with their support on Too Yumm! so far.”

     

    Commenting on the win, Amer Jaleel, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Mullen Lintas said: “It’s an exciting win for Mullen Lintas. It’s not often, especially in FMCG that one gets to work with a client right from the formation of a company on its very first brand- a brand we have literally birthed from the name itself. It’s been wonderful working closely with Sanjiv Goenka and the leadership team in bringing this brand to life.”

     

    Said Virat Tandon, Chief Executive Officer, Mullen Lintas: “Too Yumm! from RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group is a very special win for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they are a very ambitious client and that puts good pressure on all of us to do some really stand-out work. Secondly, they are very open to experimentation and that’s always such a welcome thing for agencies. Last but not the least, this is an integrated mandate for us. This close partnership amongst creative, media, PR and activation is really important at this early stage of brand creation as we try to define what this brand is and how it engages with its audience.”

     

  • Every year, 15 future leaders from all over the world are chosen to be part of this programme

    Ogilvy’s Sakshi Choudhary only Indian to make it to Cannes 2017 ‘See It Be It’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sakshi Choudhary

    In 2014, Cannes Lions launched ‘See It Be It’. A programme that responded to the gender imbalance in the advertising industry – only 25 per cent of agency creatives are women, and just 11 per cent reach creative director level. The stats for India, being woefully lower.

     

    Every year, 15 future leaders from all over the world are chosen to be part of this programme. And this year, Sakshi Choudhary from OgilvyOne, Mumbai has made it as India’s sole representative.

     

    Following a series of written submissions and a rigorous interview, Choudhary secured her place from among hundreds of entrants across the globe. Said Vikram Menon, President OgilvyOne Worldwide: “This is truly wonderful news. It is a proud moment for all of us at Ogilvy. Sakshi has been a stand-out performer ever since she became part of the Ogilvy family and this is just reward for years of commitment to her craft. Hopefully, this inspires many more women to push for leadership positions in the coming years.”

     

    Choudhary is currently Creative Supervisor at OgilvyOne Mumbai where she manages some of the agency’s brands including Dove and Coca-Cola. Outside her day job, Sakshi is the founder of The Seesaw Project – an initiative that seeks to simplify the complex issues of gender bias, using art.

     

  • It will manage the account from its Bengaluru office

    Isobar India bags mandate for Duroflex

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar India has been appointed as the digital partner for Duroflex. Headquartered in Alleppey, Duroflex is India’s leading manufacturer of rubberised coir mattresses.

     

    As part of the mandate, Isobar India will now handle the digital and social media duties for the brand. It will manage the account from its Bengaluru office.

     

    Mathew Joseph

    Speaking on the appointment, Mathew Joseph, Director, Duroflex said: “We are going through an exciting phase now. In this fast growing economy, more and more consumers are getting digitally savvy. Consequently, a lot of content is consumed on the go. It is vital that we also bring our marketing efforts online to address our target audience in this platform. I am certain that partnering with Isobar India will help us create stronger engagements with our consumers.”

     

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Added Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director, Isobar India:  “We’ve had a fantastic start to 2017. We are delighted to partner with Duroflex It is an interesting an unexplored category that makes our task both exciting and challenging. Our efforts will focus on revolutionising the purchase process and steering the brand towards becoming an indomitable player in the category since there is huge opportunity to create great brand narratives through digital for Duroflex Mattress.  The team is looking forward to create amazing work with our newest client on board.’’

     

  • Sengupta will be playing a pivotal role at DDB MudraMax by putting digital and tech at the heart of each campaign

    DDB MudraMax appoints Sommnath Sengupta to drive tech innovations

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sommnath Sengupta

    To strengthen the multi-specialty expertise of the agency and help build brands in this age of data-digital, driven convergence and complex consumer dynamics, DDB MudraMax has roped in SommnathSengupta as Head-Tech Innovations, OOH & Experiential.

     

    With the DDB Mudra Group moving towards digital driven transformation, Sengupta would be playing a pivotal role at DDB MudraMax by putting digital and tech at the heart of each campaign.

     

    At DDB MudraMax, he will be based out of Mumbai and will be working closely with Sanjay Shukla, President, DDB MudraMax (OOH, Events & Experiential).

     

    Speaking on his association with DDB MudraMax, Sengupta said: “I am looking forward for an innovative association with DDB MudraMax. When we integrate technology with storytelling experience, we will be able to gather ‘data’ which is an integral part of any campaign.  We will be providing in-house, end to end technology solution from Concept – Design – Execution for our clients.”

     

    Gour Gupta

    Speaking on the  appointment, Gour Gupta, Executive Director, DDB Mudra Group and CEO, DDB MudraMax (OOH, Events & Experiential) said: “Somm’s restless passion for technology’s integration in storytelling and interaction delighted me. He is the right fit to drive our tech integration and content. Since technology is our ally in storytelling experience, we will be offering our clients a bouquet of tech innovations and content creations with the integration of Social media and Data.”

     

  • Prior to iProspect India, he was Director, Media Engagement & Technology at W20 Group, New York

    iProspect India appoints Srikar Nagubandi as SVP – Operations

    By A Correspondent

     

    Srikar Nagubandi

    iProspect India has hired Srikar Nagubandi as Senior Vice President – Operations. Prior to iProspect, he was Director, Media Engagement & Technology at W20 Group, New York.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India said “We are elated to welcome Srikar on board the iProspect team. He brings immense value to the company’s capabilities with his extensive experience in global markets. We want to increasingly bring on board senior talent who can carry forward the learnings of developed and evolved markets to our clients, providing them with innovative and effective business solutions and helping them stay ahead of the curve. I’m positive Srikar will drive higher RoI and propose effective digital solutions to our existing and potential set of clients.”

     

    Rubeena Singh

    Speaking about the new role, Nagubandi said: “In my experience in working with some of the best brands in the world, I have come to believe that it’s crucial to make the complex simple and the simple understandable and actionable for the client. Digital is only growing in complexity and the agency of the future needs to harness deep learning to innovate relentlessly and delight our clients. I am thrilled to be starting a new chapter with my role at iProspect India, and be a part of this ongoing evaluation in not only the fastest growing economy in the world, but an economy where digital advertising spend is experiencing double digit growth.”

     

  • Motion will invest and partner with the world's leading talent, producers and distributors to fund, develop, produce and distribute premium content

    GroupM unveils content investment and rights management company, Motion

    By A Correspondent

     

    GroupM has announced the launch of Motion Content Group (Motion), a new global content investment and rights management company, to meet the ever-growing market demand for new economic models for premium content across the entertainment and media marketplace.

     

    Motion will invest and partner with the world’s leading talent, producers and distributors to fund, develop, produce and distribute premium content. It will also consolidate and diversify GroupM’s content investments and operations to-date, as well as utilise GroupM’s & WPP’s global network of relationships and content expertise for scale and competitive advantage.

     

    Richard Foster, currently the head of GroupM Entertainment, has been appointed CEO of Motion Content Group, which will be headquartered in London and Los Angeles.

     

    Said Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP in a statement: “With new content companies such as Netflix and Amazon growing rapidly, the competition for premium content is heating up across the globe. WPP is investing in Motion Content Group to strengthen our content creation and distribution capabilities, to help meet evolving viewer needs, and to help advertisers continue to reach consumers in high qualitycontent environments.”

     

    Added Kelly Clark, GroupM CEO: “We have always used our global scale and reach to find innovative approaches that strengthen the media ecosystem for advertisers and media partners alike. Motion is a major commitment by GroupM to expand on these efforts.”

     

    And this is what Richard Foster, CEO, Motion Content Group had to say: “Our objective is to help create and support editorially and commercially vibrant premium content for the benefit of our content partners and advertisers. We will achieve this by continuing to invest into the content industry and lead the development of new models, commercial content structures and partnerships with media networks, platforms, talent, producers, and distributors.”

     

  • Prodigious India will offer its services across all Publicis Communications agencies including The Leo Burnett Group, Publicis Worldwide (including Marcel), Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi and MSLGroup

    Publicis Communications launches Prodigious in India

    By A Correspondent

     

     

    Publicis Communications has launched Prodigious, Publicis Groupe’s specialist production company that produces and delivers video, digital and print-led branded content, in India. Prodigious India will offer its services across all Publicis Communications agencies including The Leo Burnett Group, Publicis Worldwide (including Marcel), Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi and MSLGroup.

     

    Speaking about the launch of Prodigious, Saurabh Varma, CEO, Publicis Communications India said, “There has never been a better time to announce the launch of our own specialist production division. We hope to make Prodigious a major player inproduction in India in the next three years. To that end, we have made deep investments and put together a team of the best talent, technology and equipment to deliver world-class quality content for our clients. I am confident with Prodigious we have the most progressive content production company in India.”

     

    Added Loris Nold, Global COO of Publicis Communications: “Launching Prodigious in India was incredibly important to add to our existing footprint in the region, including China, Singapore and Australia. It’s exciting news for our clients and agencies.”

     

    Said Jean-François Valent, CEO, Prodigious Worldwide: “With the launch of Prodigious not only are we capable ofoffering our global clients with valuable local capabilities, but we are also opening new doors to local clients as we provide the support of our 3,000-people and 37-location strong network to Prodigious India.”

     

    Prodigious’ first initiative in India is the introduction of its video content stream, to be spearheaded by VandanaWatsa.Speaking about her new role and her vision for Prodigious, Watsa said, “We have huge ambition for video production at Prodigious, and it is backed by the work we have done for some of the country’s biggest brands–Thums Up, Bajaj V, McDonald’s, Jeep, Amazon –over the past year. The team of executive producers, directors, line producers and editors is hand-picked by us, and it is only going scale up in the months to come. I am excited to be a part of the global roadmap and Saurabh’s vision for Prodigious. I am confident of making it a reality.”

     

  • #FastFreshness campaign highlights the brand proposition of instant freshness in a tongue-in cheek manner

    Kara brings forth the freshness of Bahamas through latest summer campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kara Wipes, a Future Consumer Limited brand, has launchedthe #FastFreshness campaign this summer. Conceptualised and created by Basecamp India, the  #FastFreshness campaign highlights the brand proposition of instant freshness in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

     

    Speaking about the campaign,Rahul Kansal, Head – Business Strategy and Marketing, Future Consumer Limited said:  “In this season with soaring temperatures all one needs is fast freshness and this is exactly what just one wipe of Kara can instantly provide. The campaign is simple, quirky and at the same time effectively communicates our key message of staying fresh while you are on the go.”

     

    Commenting on the creative of the campaign, Anil Bhardwaj, Director, Basecamp India added: “Kara as a brand is extremely popular in its category. Through this campaign we wanted the ad to showcase the hustle and discomfort that people go through while travelling in the heat and advocate the use of Kara to stay fresh and cool. We hope that the campaign is successful in connecting with the audience.”

     

  • Industrypersons believe the decision is regressive and could set the advertising clock back for news channels irreparably

    Future Shock?! Channels opting out of BARC could lose ad revenue

     

    By A Correspondent [updated thrice, last update: Saturday, May 20]

    The decision of certain English news channels to opt out of BARC measurement could lead to a huge negative fall-out. The channels which do it stand a chance of advertisers renegotiating their deals and even stopping advertising forthwith.

    MxMIndia spoke to a cross-section of the community, and they believe the decision is regressive and could set the advertising clock back for news channels irreparably. Earlier in the week, News Broadcasting Association (NBA) complained to the TRAI about Republic TV’s alleged usage of multiple LCNs for distribution. It later appealed to BARC, urging it to not release data for English news channels pending the verdict from TRAI. And when BARC chose to release the data yesterday (Thursday), the association secretary general sent a mail to BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta as per an Economic Times report. The mail noted: “Given your indifference to the serious situation at hand, we are left with no option but to advise some of our aggrieved members to opt out of BARC’s watermarking system with immediate effect until there is appropriate redressal of our grievance.“

    A reference was made to how print advertising has gone down in the absence of a currency (IRS) over the last two years. “While the advertising for English nosedived, regional is still holding fort,” a senior industryperson told MxM, hours after the news of the NBA’s surprise mail to BARC was shared with select media.

    Shashi Sinha, CEO of IPG Mediabrands and Chairman of the BARC technical committee, was visibly upset with the development. “I don’t know what the hoopla is all about,” he said, adding: “Everyone has done it on different occasions – around their launch or on special days. If at all anyone has not done it, it’s NDTV,” he said.

    Another senior industryperson told MxMIndia that if the English news channels were so aggrieved, they should have opted out of BARC measurement before the data was released. “Now the world knows that Republic TV is ahead of all others, and there has been enough noise about it on the channel and in terms of advertising on other media,” she said.

    And how will media agencies react to the decision? A senior buyer who requested on anonymity as he is not authorised to speak said that if it’s a one- or two-day gimmick, it’s fine. But if it continues, there’s a problem as there is a lot of accountability in terms of deliverables. So if there is no viewership data, advertising may exit from channels who are not able to supply data.

    Industry captains we spoke with also dismiss the decision to look at multiple distribution points (LCNs) as a marketing tactic around launches or induce sampling. “After a few days or weeks, the real picture shows up, and this is what the aggrieved channels ought to have done.”

    Meanwhile, from the BARC India point of view, it has a steady policy on the matter, we were told. And this has been displayed on the measurement body’s website.
    http://www.barcindia.co.in/resources/pdf/Policy%20for%20Measuring%20Viewership%20of%20Channels%20Available%20on%
    20Multiple%20Frequencies-%20Sept%202016.pdf

    On previous occasions too – when a channel has relaunched, or done a special campaign around the UP elections or around the Union Budget, BARC has reported the data in its entirety. However many be the distribution points.

    BARC has been consistent, a senior industryperson told us. But networks haven’t been so. For instance, while a leading business news channel chose the multiple LCN route around the Union Budget this year, it has now opted out of BARC ratings for its general news channel. A case of double standards, perhaps.

    Meanwhile, BARC has issued a statement (Friday, May 20, 5.20pm). Here goes:

    “BARC India was set up with the mandate to measure What India Watches, and our measurement system delivers exactly that.

    We have a transparent policy on the matter of measuring channels, (which is available on our website http://bit.ly/2dllmIp). This policy has been consistently applied to all channels who subscribe to our measurement.

    The fact is that this is a common distribution strategy among various TV channels, particularly News Broadcasters, to place their channels on multiple LCNs and across genres in the past, and they continue to do so even now.

    Based on information collected from various monitoring agencies we have seen that multiple English news channels on different occasions have placed themselves on multiple LCNs viz across 64 distribution networks during rebranding/revamp, across 16 networks during budget coverage, across 12 networks during UP elections etc. It has become a usual practice.

    We are clear about our position – we measure viewership of channels basis their unique Watermark ID, irrespective of the platform the channel is available on or the number of instances within the platform. For channels having same watermark on more than one LCN, viewership gets aggregated and reported as a single channel and not multiple channels. BARC India neither monitors channel placements across the various DTH platforms/cable head-ends in the country, nor does it have the mandate to do so.

    In the past, we have measured multiple LCN instances of channels as per our policy, and reported them as one channel and the same principle has been applied to our data released yesterday. BARC India is not the regulatory body for resolving issues concerning multiplicity of LCNs for a channel.

    Ideally these issues should be sorted among broadcasters themselves rather than dragging BARC India into these.

    BARC India will continue to measure what India watches.”

    MxMIndia also spoke with Nakul Chopra, senior industryperson and President of the Advertising Association Agencies of India, the apex body of advertising agencies in the country, and this is what he said: “It’s one industry. Differences will always be there. It’s better to let things settle down, take a deep break and let sanity prevail. Having said that we are a 100% behind BARC and what  BARC has said in its statement.”  When asked on what the AAAI advice would be to member-agencies on the decision to advertise on channels that have pulled out of BARC measurement, Chopra said: “We are discussing amongst ourselves and with the ISA (the Indian Society of Advertisers) and will give our formal response very soon.” Any timeframe, we asked. “Next week,” he said.

    And this is what Sunil Kataria, President, Indian Society of Advertisers, the apex body of advertisers: “Any advertiser wants to put money behind TV media which delivers audience viewership and that metric is available through TV ratings. Hence TV ratings are the sole metric for making advertising spend decisions. BARC has already issued a statement on their policy of measuring what India watches and  hence measuring the viewership as per their stated policy. We are closely monitoring the situation and hope the issue gets resolved. In the meanwhile, we are also in talks with AAAI and would come with our formal statement next week .”

     

     

  • Gowthaman Ragothaman moves to the role of Global Chief Strategy Officer for FAST from his current Mindshare APAC Chief Operating Officer

    G-Man goes Fast Forward in a global strategy role

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gowthaman Ragothaman

    In all the hullabaloo of the news channels taking on BARC, we didn’t flash this news early enough (note: we’ve resisted playing with the word Fast so far), but it does gladden our hearts to note that our man G-Man is going places. The Mindshare APAC Chief Operating Officer now assumes the role of Global Chief Strategy Officer for FAST. G-Man for those who don’t know is short for Gowthaman Ragothaman, the affable former chief of Mindshare India (until end-2011).

     

    Mindshare, the global media agency that is part of WPP, is placing its FAST (short for Future Adaptive Specialist Team) integrated performance unitat the heart of its business as part of an ongoing transformation programme evolving the agency into an Adaptive Marketing organisation…to help clients do the same.

     

    Norm Johnston

    Norm Johnston, formerly Mindshare Global Chief Strategy and Digital Officer, assumes the dual role of Global Chief Digital Officer Mindshare and Global CEO of FAST as part of the move.

     

    Other appointments to the FAST leadership team include: Gowthaman Ragothaman of course,Barry Lee, currently head of the London-based Mindshare Worldwide FAST Hub, who adds the additional role of Chief Product Officer for FAST; Tom Johnson, currently Performance Marketing Director at Mindshare Worldwide, who takes the role of Chief Client Officer for FAST; Adam Ray, formerly Global Head of Programmatic at Mindshare Worldwide, who assumes the role of Chief Innovation Officer for FAST.

     

    The global FAST team will be supported by the regional FAST Hub leaders: Robin Wong (APAC), Matias Galimberti (LATAM) andBrian Decicco (NA).

     

    Said Nick Emery, Mindshare Global CEO: “Clients need us to marry our abilities in brand building and outcome based performance marketing. FAST has been a key part of our overall integrated offer to clients and with Norm’s leadership team we are looking forward to helping our clients achieve greater success. There is much more to come on our transformation journey.”

     

    Added Norm Johnston, Mindshare Worldwide Chief Digital Officer and CEO of FAST: “We believe that modern Adaptive Marketers need to be experts in both brand and performance marketing and that only by offering an integrated approach will we truly achieve success for our clients, making their messaging relevant, timely and targeted whether it is brand or demand in nature. That is why FAST sits at the heart of an integrated Mindshare offering, not as an external agency.”

     

  • With a focus to empower underprivileged children across the country, this year's 'Tools For School' project centred its efforts on education

    Dentsu Aegis Network reaches out to 2,000 kids on ‘One Day For Change’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network’s CSR initiative ‘One Day For Change’, witnessed 1,750 employees engage with 2,000 children to execute the project, ‘Tools For School’. Now in its fourth edition, the CSR initiative was conducted across all Dentsu Aegis Network offices in India including Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Kochi.

     

    One Day For Change is an annual social commitment by the Dentsu Aegis Network, where employees from each of the countries are encouraged to go out and volunteer on the same day. Incidentally, Dentsu Aegis Network recently launched its CSR advisory, Indeed, to facilitate corporate investments by companies in Corporate Social Responsibly, through insights and a brand-led approach.

     

    Commenting on the initiative, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO, South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, said: “A significant number of children in the primary years drop out of school and the chief reasons for this are poverty and accessibility. Therefore, this year for our One Day For Change, we decided to focus on education. After all, no country can move forward unless it is 100% literate. We partnered with Bitgiving to raise funds to utilise for our project, Tools For School”

     

    Last year, over 1500 employees volunteered in India, contributing 6,000 staff hours. While the final numbers are still trickling in, it is estimated that in 2017 in India 1750 employees volunteered over 5,000 staff hours for the ODFC initiative.