MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • Prior to joining Lodestar UM, Mookerjee was the Managing Director of Mediacom Indonesia

    Lodestar UM appoints Anita Mookerjeeto head South India ops

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lodestar UM has announced the appointment of Anita Devraj Mookerjee as Head South.

     

    Mookerjee will lead the entire South India operations of LUM, including the agency’s Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi operations. Mookerjee will lead the agency’s continued focus on strategic media planning, technology, data, content and ROI driven solutions.

     

    Prior to joining Lodestar UM, Mookerjee was Managing Director of Mediacom Indonesia.

     

    “Our success as a network has been driven by the strength of our people, product and leadership. A comprehensive search for the right leader, led us to Anita, who is the perfect candidate to spearhead the next phase of development in these critical markets,” said Nandini Dias, CEO, Lodestar UM.

     

    Talking about her new role, Mookerjee said: “I spent my formative years in media in Lintas Media Group (now Initiative) where I used to handle ITC. So this is a homecoming for me.Lodestar UM as an agency has always focussed extensively on its product and people. I am excited and looking forward to reflecting on all my learnings and experiences in India and South East Asia. And of course collaborating with some of the sharpest minds in the business is an added privilege.”

     

     

  • The ad film is part of a larger transformation drive conceptualized by Hyper Collective

    Hyper Collective renders a moving Father’s Day film for Building Blocks Group

    By A Correspondent

     

    A father chooses his daughter’s education over their marriage and decides to empower his daughters to pursue their dreams. This is the plot of the latest short film produced by Building Blocks Group on eve of Father’s Day.

     

    The ad film is part of a larger transformation drive conceptualised by KV ‘Pops’ Sridhar’s Hyper Collective.

     

    On his thought process and vision for the campaign, Pops said: “At the heart of Building Blocks Group are core values of Transparency, Integrity, Growth, Unity, and Excellence. We created a vision and purpose that would reflect exactly that. Your true wealth is not your money. Your true wealth is the happiness and growth of your children. With the context of Father’s Day, the film not only shows a father choosing to empower his daughters. But also where the new India is heading. Progress and change are the long term dreams of not just Building Blocks but all of India.”  The ad film is directed by Nitesh Tiwari.

     

    Added Mallikarjun Reddy, Chairman & Managing Director of Building Blocks Group: “We are not in the business of selling land, we are in the business of helping people progress. We want to be people’s financial progress partners and the brand philosophy Your True Wealth stems from the same belief system. In a world driven by materialism, we want to emphasize the importance of investing in true wealth and that is your children’s future. This campaign will strengthen our vision as a brand and a company even more. I’m delighted to have Nitesh and Pops’ team create this iconic film for us.”

     

     

  • The agency is tasked to create a multimedia campaign to increase the brand awareness of Dekalb

    Bang in the Middle to handle creative mandate of Dekalb

    By A Correspondent

     

    Monsanto has awarded the advertising mandate duties for its hybrid corn seed brand Dekalb, to Bang in the Middle. The agency is tasked to create a multimedia campaign to increase the brand awareness of Dekalb.

    Commenting on the win, Govind Agarwal, Branch Head, BITM, said: “It is very satisfying to win the communication mandate of Monsanto, coming from a young office and even younger team. We are very excited to partner Monsanto. Its our fresh insightful approach that made the communication solution liked by the client”

    Added ECD Bhushan Pandit: “Working for a brand that works with farmers is not the easiest thing to do. We spent many hours chatting with them, and I am very excited to become a part time farmer with the consumers of Dekalb. We hope to break the campaign soon”

     

  • In the April-May period, of the total TV viewership coming from Out of Home, sports accounted for 70 per cent of viewership

    BARC India’s OOH viewership measurement shows affinity towards sports genre

    By A Correspondent

     

    BARC India that recently launched Out of Home (OOH) viewership measurement has come out with some interesting television viewing trends.

     

    In the April-May period, of the total TV viewership coming from Out of Home, sports accounted for 70 per cent of viewership. This was followed by movies with 10 per cent and music with 8 per cent viewership. The trend is in line with the fact that these were sports heavy weeks and thus saw many restaurants/pubs/lounges showcasing channels that were airing the matches. Data also shows that the viewership for Sports genre was driven by channels on which IPL was aired.

     

    Said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India:“Our aim is to measure different screens and pipes and OOH is an extension of that commitment. There is a large population that consumes content on TV which is outside the bounds of home. We realised that it was important to capture those viewers as well. Before we launched rural viewership, there was blind targeting. But, inclusion of rural TV viewership helped advertisers uncover the potential of these areas. We are hoping that OOH viewership will help give better insights to advertisers and provide new opportunities.”

     

    BARC’s OOH measurement tracks viewing of individuals who are aged 15 years and above across 900+ establishments in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, using 1500+ meters. A total of 44 million people, in this TG, viewed TV in pubs/lounges/restaurants etc in the three cities during April-May. Of this, 33.3 million viewers watched Live IPL matches.

     

    Live telecast of the just concluded Indian Premiere League garnered 23.7 million impressions from OOH viewing. An increment of 8 per cent over the viewership generated from TV homes in these markets, in the 15+ TG.

     

    BARC India leveraged its Audio Watermarking technology and proven measurement capabilities to expand TV viewership measurement to OOH. This pre-subscribed service is a game changer for the industry as it uncovers a significant share of TV viewership which wasn’t being measured until now.

     

     

  • He will continue to be Managing Director of Magna

    Arun Sharma is now COO, Initiative

    By A Correspondent

     

    The IPG Mediabrands-owned full-service media agency Initiative has announced the elevation of Arun Sharma to the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Delhi.  Prior to this, as Senior Partner of Initiative, Sharma played a pivotal role in spearheading the Reckitt Benckiser account. Last year, Sharma was also given the additional mandate of IPG Mediabrand’s newly launched unit Magna and was named Managing Director of the division.

     

    Said Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative: “We couldn’t have found a better person for this position as he is one of our own and has been leading the RB business for the last 4 years with many industry and RB India firsts. Also, Initiative as an agency believes in growing brands through culture, something that Arun has led from the front with creating a successful asset as Banega Swachh India for Dettol.”

     

    Talking about the new role, Sharma said: “Indian media industry is going through very exciting times. Initiative with its strong brand equity, perfect mix of large and reputed global and local clients, cutting edge tools and techniques, strong product offerings, talented and driven bunch of people is best poised to serve its client in this dynamic market scenario. In my new dual roles as COO Initiative Delhi and MD of Magna, my key priority would be to help our clients grow their business by leveraging our expertise, strategic use of our tools, by implementing our global learning and dominant scale in media. I am extremely excited and looking forward to the bigger challenge that I have been given, supported by a great team on ground.”

     

    An alumni of MICA, Sharma started his career with Madison in 1998 as Strategic Planning Supervisor for the Coke Business. In 1999, he moved to Universal McCann as Associate Media Director and handled businesses like Nestle, L’Oreal and Gillette. In 2003, he had a brief stint with Mediacom following which Sharma moved to the client’s side and joined Bharti Airtel as DGM Marketing. Following a stint of 11 years, in 2014, Sharma quit Bharti Airtel as VP Marketing – Head Media (All Business, South Asia) and moved to Initiative as Vice President – Reckitt Benckiser Business Head.

     

     

  • The ‘Blink to Speak’ campaign bagged a Grand Prix for Good along with a host of other awards at Cannes Lions 2018

    Grand Prix for TBWA heralds Good News on Day 2 @ Cannes

     

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    TBWA\India ‘Blink to Speak’ campaign bagged a Grand Prix for Good for the second consecutive year for India on Day 2 of the Cannes Lions festival for creativity.

     

    Blink to Speak has been created by TBWA\India for the Asha Ek Hope Foundation and the Neuro Gen Brain & Spine Institute. Said TBWA India CEO Govind Pandey to The Economic Times: “We believe in the power of disruptively simple ideas to make a difference to humanity. This was not done for awards. This was a heartfelt intervention from a team that genuinely wanted to help and make a difference.”  (Link: https://tbwacannes.com/blink-to-speak-asha-ek-hope-foundation-and-neurogen-brain-spine-institute-tbwaindia)

     

    Meanwhile, India had a fair day with awards. TBWA also bagged a Gold in Pharma. Meanwhile, DDB Mudra and Grey bagged Silvers fro Stayfree and Mahindra Rise and McCann Health bagged a Bronze for Kwality.

     

    Last year, McCann had bagged the Healthcare Grand Prix for Good for “Immunity Charm” for the Ministry of Public Health, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

     

    India has sent a total of 979 entries this year. Last year, the number of entries was 1227, which if one excludes entries from the Publicis Group and those categories that been deleted/ merged is 953.

     

     

  • J Walter Thompson Kolkata has been entrusted by UNICEF West Bengal to develop a 360 degree campaign on behavioural change

    JWT wins Unicef contract for Mission Nirmal Bangla

    By A Correspondent

     

    J Walter Thompson Kolkata has been entrusted by UNICEF West Bengal to develop a 360 degree campaign on behavioural change that will promote toilet-use as a natural and daily habit among the target audiences.

     

    Said Vijay Jacob, Senior, VP & Managing Partner JWT Kolkata: “We have been partnering with UNICEF for creating socially relevant campaigns for many a worthy cause. We welcome the opportunity yet again and  look forward to doing some great impactful work together.”

     

    Added Pragyan Bharati, WASH Specialist, UNICEF Kolkata: “ After reviewing pitches by several agencies, we were happy to zero in on JWT for their strategic understanding and creative expression.”

     

     

  • @CannesLions2018: Think like a Toddler

     

    At the Cannes Lions 2018 yesterday, Sarah Hofstetter, Chairwoman, 360i and Jason Levine, CMO – North America, Mondelez conducted a session title Think Like A Toddler. Rather than bring you a report, we thought will bring you the session video. Here goes:

     
  • Carat, Posterscope team up to create buzz around FIFA World Cup 2018

    Adidas wakes up an entire neighbourhood to celebrate football

    By A Correspondent

     

    Carat has partnered with Posterscope to launch a campaign for the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018.

     

    The core objective of the campaign was to build awareness about TelStar – the official football that is being used in FIFA world cup and to celebrate the pure joy of football as well as its fans. The one-month-long campaign is aimed at reaching out to people who are enthusiastic about football – both players and fans – across various age groups.

     

    Said Sean Van Wyk, Senior Marketing Director, Adidas India: “The love for football is growing massively in India with each passing year and we wanted to kickstart the celebration of the World Cup in an impactful way. The idea of this innovative billboard was to celebrate and reward the spirit of coming together as a team. The pure joy on their faces to kick the official World Cup football around the field was an amazing sight! Sport really does have the power to change lives.”

     

    Added Rajni Menon, CEO, Carat India: “This is yet another example of media convergence in planning where a superb activation on outdoors is working in tandem with digital. The objective was to drive innovation at local level with a scaled outreach to a larger online audience. It was a great way to celebrate the growing euphoria around FIFA in a way that brings out the pure joy of football.”

     

     

  • The Lux soap advertisement showcased the glamour of the female star in Indian cinema. But whose soap is it now, ask Prabhakar Mundkur

    The Lux-Santoor Melodrama

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    A week ago, The Times of India flashed a provocative headline “Has Santoor overtaken Lux as India’s No 2 brand?”. At first, I couldn’t make sense of it.  Because of the sentence construction. I thought to myself while reading it “Has Santoor overtaken Lux as India’s No 1 brand?” would have been a clearer headline making the point definitively that Santoor is the largest soap brand now in the country (for whatever reason).  The same article later on went on to say that according to Nielsen data for the quarter Jan-March 2018 Lux has a value market share of 13.4 % while Santoor has a market share of 9%.

     

    That to me sounded like it was inconsistent with the misleading headline which was perhaps put there for some sensational reporting on the soap market.

     

    Admittedly, Lux may have suffered losses in market share because I handled the brand in India in the 90s and its market share was around 19-20%. The market was around 400,000 tonnesaround at that time. Now it is expected to be closer to 600,000 tonnes. Which means that Lux has declined in a market that has grown over the last 25 years or so. However, whether Santoor is bigger than Lux, was a fact not adequately supported in The Times of India article.

     

    In any case, more than the Times of India article it was a celebration on social media from the people who belonged to the ad agency (FCB-Ulka) that had handled it for the longest period of time of about 25 years.  The tragic part of the entire mass media and social media sensationalism was that Santoor is not handled by FCB-Ulka anymore. In fact, the account is handled by ADK Fortune.  And kudos to ADK Fortune for being the agency when Santoor reached this historic milestone, that is if it did.

     

    As far as Lux is concerned, it is a well-known fact that the brand has historically been milked by Unilever in every part of the world.  In a book by John Philip Jones called “Does it pay to Advertise?”, Professor Jones had lamented on the decline of this great brand called Lux from a global market share of 33% once upon a time to under double-digit share in most markets at the time of his writing the book.

     

    The Star Relationship Programme on Lux

    In many ways, India was perhaps the last bastion of Lux.  Once upon a time, before we knew words like ‘relationship management’ and ‘direct marketing’ in the 1980s, the team on Lux would handle a regular relationship building program with about 200 film stars in the country.  The team handling the brand would be in regular touch with the stars, sending them birthday cards and flowers on their birthdays and arranging for photo sessions with the late photographer of repute, Gautam Rajyadhaksha who once said that every Lux campaign was Unilever acknowledging that you had become a star and the star in turn saying a thank you to Lux.

     

    An outside consultant who had spent his entire career in the film industry and had an excellent relationship with Hollywood stars would make regular visits to meet them. He was the chief of PR with stars. As a result, most stars considered it a privilege to be featured in a Lux print ad or film and would do it for free or perhaps sometimes for just a nominal fee. These were the golden days of Lux. They thought of Lux as furthering their image and publicity in the media and therefore a step up the Bollywood ladder of fame. So, it was truly the soap of the stars, rather than the soap of Kareena Kapoor for just a year which is where the brand is now.  In fact, the Lux teams used to shoot at least 12 Lux films a year with a dozen different stars, many of them regional stars. Lux had a deep and enduring relationship with every female star. The recent Deepika commercial was pretty much made with the classical values that Lux has always been known for.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3cZ-Rc5-p8

     

    One of the tricks of handling the star portfolio for Lux was to catch them young. The moment an upcoming star made her appearance in Bollywood the Lux team was there to make friends with her and promote her image in the local film magazines of the day.

     

    Lux was glamour personified. Lux was about the private moments of the star. The ‘star on a pedestal’ image.  Distant but alluring. Not the film star putting her head out of a car to scream at someone littering the road. That was never Lux. The Lux soap advertisement  showcased the glamour of the female star in Indian cinema.  And gave the consumer a peek into her life.

     

    Lux was about the glamourous world of the star and her inner sanctum sanctorum with Lux where she spoilt herself with a luxury bath with Lux. That is what made it the soap of the stars.

     

    But whose soap is it now?

     

    Prabhakar Mundkur is a veteran advertising agency captain who is now a strategy consultant, educator and a prolific writer. The views here are personal

     

  • The agency has been the Media AOR for Policybazaar.com since 2011

    Wavemaker retains media mandate for Policybazaar & Paisabazaar

    By A Correspondent

     

    GroupM agency Wavemaker has retained the media mandate for Policybazaar.com and Paisabazaar.com. Wavemaker has been media AOR for Policybazaar.com since 2011.

     

    Speaking on the successful retention, Kartik Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Wavemaker – South Asia said: “We are delighted to continue our association with Policybazaar.com and Paisabazaar.com. Working with India’s largest Insuretech and Fintech brands for close to 7 years now, has been an extremely interesting and fulfilling experience for the team. By connecting our pillars of media, content and technology, I am confident we can demonstrate our understanding of consumer journey and help the brand achieve their business objectives efficiently.”

     

    Added Navin Khemka, Managing Partner, Wavemaker India: “It has been a very exciting journey. Our focus has always been on achieving client’s business objectives of building a new category in India. We have demonstrated unmatched media value and innovative media approaches for business results.”

     

     

  • Out of the total 191 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 114 belonged to the healthcare sector, 24 to the education sector, 35 to the food & beverages category,seven to the personal care and 11 were from others category

    ASCI upholds complaints against 191 erring ads

    By A Correspondent

     

    In March 2018, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 191 advertisements out of the total of 269 advertisements that were evaluated by the CCC.

     

    Of the total 191 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 114 belonged to the healthcare sector, 24 to the education sector, 35 to the food and beverages category,seven to the personal care and 11 were from others category. A total of 183 advertisements were picked up by ASCI’s suo moto surveillance and objections against 165 advertisements were upheld.

     

    Of the 86 advertisements complained against by the general public or by industry members, complaints against 26 advertisements were upheld by the CCC. Exaggeration of product efficacy was the number one reason for upholding complaints. The other reasons included exploiting consumers’ lack of knowledge, providing facts and figures which were inadequately substantiated to support claims and delivering advertisements which were misleading by ambiguity or by implication. This was followed by violations of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act (DMR Act) and the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Rules and advertisements which contravened various ASCI guidelines.

     

    Among the various complaints against advertisements featuring celebrities, the CCC observed that an advertisement for an innerwear brand featuring a popular superstar was found to misguide the consumers, by trying to get them to think that superstars in the film industry wear this brand. A celebrity was seen endorsing a cream to clear dark spots, whose efficacy was not substantiated and was misleading. Likewise, an advertisement featuring a celebrity promoting excessive consumption of a snacking product was considered to be in contravention of the ASCI Guidelines for celebrities in Advertising.

     

    Said Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chairman, ASCI: “Grievances against brands from various segments have been upheld for not abiding by the Self-Regulation code and guidelines put forth by ASCI. It is ASCI’s ongoing mission to maintain and enhance the public’s confidence in advertising and ensure that consumers stay protected from misleading information in the advertisements.”