MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • China Air breaks category templates in its communication, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Expect the Unexpected, the China Air way

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    In India, China Airline has a biweekly service between Delhi and Taipei. It accounts for some 0.1% of the total international air traffic in and out of India. Most likely that I would have missed seeing this brilliant communication from the airline, thanks for one of the updates from Campaign magazine.

    Brands usually associate with advantages, opportunities and positivity in life. They want the target audience to link these with their usage. They want to engage and involve the target audience, mostly good things. Many times all the brands start getting guided with the same category ethos and promises.

    It is no different in the case of airlines. Safety, Luxury, taste, entertainment systems, the gourmet serving, comfort and pleasing smile of the in-flight crew are hygiene for airline brands. It has long been so. Earlier in the year 1995 or even 2010, China Air spoke a language deeply soaked in category clues.

    Fortunately, China Air has moved on. It has broken free of the category expectations, the constraints and the blinkers.  Thankfully, unlike KLM, it is not another purpose-led #FlyResponsibly Campaign.

    China Air Is Seriously Taking On The Unexpected.

    Getting married or even pregnant, injured or cursed, love and hate- everything is an unexpected possibility. Flying takes you to different cities and countries, creating that window of uncertainty when you are in a new place and meet new people. China Airline “What Travel brings you,” Campaign is a beautifully crafted disruptive work by the agency Leo Burnett Taiwan that speaks to the new tribe of travellers.

    “What Travel brings you” is the celebration of the unexpected.  It is an insightful and engaging campaign. It speaks the language of a traveller and connects at multiple levels.

    Travel adds to the life of a traveller. With every journey, a traveller becomes richer with the knowledge and experience after every travel. Some of these are planned and expected, some really unexpected. Each of these experiences impacts the way the traveller shapes future decisions. Travel impacts our lives. Trust me, it is the unexpected that makes the journey worthwhile.

    A for the unexpected, “You never know what travel will bring into your life…. Let’s go find out”, is a powerful summation of the thought and an invitation to travel.

    The Unexpected – Unexpected China Air.

    The team has thoughtfully picked up brilliant examples of the unexpected. A campaign like this can remain as fresh as the list of unexpected consequences. As every city, community, tribe, nature and geography has something unique, the campaign also boosts the traveller seeking more than mere physical experience. I have a huge expectation from the unexpected. And wish that the China Air brand association with the thought were a lot stronger. Till now it seems to work for travel promotion, not necessary China Air promotion.

    It is a bold campaign. You do end up watching it a few times. It breaks free of the stereotyped over-exploited category clues and charts a new territory that the audience relates to. Here are some of the unexpected you encounter in the China Air campaign. Plastic surgery from Seoul, and now her face does not match the ID. The marriage certificate signed at Las Vegas’ instantaneous no-question asked weddings. The injuries one got at the Ski trip. Surprises win at a casino in Macao. The extra inches at the waist after the Bangkok trip. A tattoo that is no longer wanted. A statue that is spooky from Edinburgh. And even the unexpected pregnancy a souvenir from a Gold Coast trip.

    On first viewing, it seems the airline has purposely picked up the bad experiences. Slowly when you start looking back at your own experiences, you start appreciating the campaign more. It does add a smile to your face.

    On the side.

    I don’t know, but there are reports that China Air invited 60 women with an unexpected pregnancy and discussed the geographical origin of the pregnancy, ultimately awarding one of them with a three-week stay to revisit the destination.

    …………………………………….

    China Air’s earlier campaigns

    It is not that China Airline always talked this language.  This particular ad made me check and see their earlier communication “The Trip You Have Promised,” Wow, another gem. The guilt of postponing promised trips.  It was a great way to remind a large section of potential travellers of their own bucket list and promises.

    And way back in 1995, you really did not expect anyone breaking the category code. The campaign “We Blossom Every Day”.

    Earlier like everyone else in the 1980s, they were also busy Cherishing Every Encounter.

    ………………………………………………….

    PS.: AIR CHINA Vs. CHINA AIR. Air China (CA) was founded relatively recently in 1988 and is the national airline of China. It became a member of Star Alliance in December 2007. China Airlines (CI) was founded in 1959 and is both the flag carrier and the largest airline of Taiwan.

     

  • It was conceptualised and distributed by digital communications agency BoringBrands

    ‘Pledge to Recycle’ draws encouraging response from users

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mobile device sale website 91mobiles rounded up its ‘Pledge to Recycle’ campaign last week with over 10,000 pledges. Focusing on creating nationwide awareness about phone recycling, the campaign was launched in May this year in partnership with organisations such as Karo Sambhav, Cashify, Noise, Oppo, Qualcomm and Zest Money. It was conceptualised and distributed by BoringBrands, the digital communications agency. The campaign kicked off with a survey to understand smartphone users’ inclination for e-waste recycling.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Nitin Mathur, Co-founder & CEO, 91Mobiles.com said: “The problem of electronic waste is a global debate today, and a lot of brands have taken up the responsibility to spread awareness about the cause within their ecosystems. Our campaign Pledge to Recycle was focused at reaching out to smartphone users in the country, and build awareness for e-recycling. We would like to thank all partners for joining hands with us. This campaign has been a great success, and we would like to take up such causes more often in the near future.”

     

    Added Aakriti Bhargava, Co-Founder and CEO of BoringBrands: “Having worked with the startup and investor ecosystem for more than nine years now, we understand the need to constantly innovate and create exciting campaigns for brands.”

     

     

  • The last date for submitting entries is July 28. There will be no extension of deadline, and there’s no entry fee

    Arun Iyer, Raj Nair & Navin Talreja to evaluate work for IAA Rotary Campaign For Good

    By A Correspondent

     

    A jury consisting of Arun Iyer co-founder and creative partner Spring Marketing Capital (former Chairman and CCO Mullen Lintas), Raj Nair CCO Madison BMB and Navin Talreja co-founder The Womb will evaluate entries received for the International Advertising Association (IAA) and Rotary District Campaign For Good.

     

    Said Abhishek Karnani Chairman IndIAA Awards: “We are expecting some great creative work from young professionals on the simple brief that elders really want just time from young adults.Getting such an illustrious jury to evaluate the work shows the commitment our senior creative people have towards good causes”.

     

    The winning integrated campaign would be awarded on the prestigious IndIAA Awards stage on August 26 and run across media. The last date for submitting entries is July 28. There will be no extension of deadline, and there’s no entry fee

     

    Entries can be sent to http://campaignforgood.in/

     

     

  • Mx capitalises upon the most Meaningful Media to build more Meaningful Brands, notes a communique

    Havas Media unveils new Mx methodology

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media Group has unveiled Mx, short for Media Experience, which is being billed as a new global operating system.

     

    Said Greg James, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Havas Media Group: “The recent past shows media planning and buying as overly fixated on ‘platforms,’ ‘data,’ and ‘ad tech.’ These elements, while vital to success, must remain anchored in those truths that lie deep in the human language of consumers.”

     

    Added Peter Mears, Global CEO of Havas Media Group: “Brands today face enormous pressure to deliver growth. Mx allows us to drive effectiveness for our clients around the world by building meaningful connections creatively – and at scale,”

     

     

  • With an assertive narrative and bold design, Ipsos highlights its true understanding of society, markets and people

    Ipsos unveils new identity

    By A Correspondent

     

    Market and opinion research company Ipsos revealed a new brand identity and campaign that focuses on the companies and organisations’ need for reliable data and knowledge-based decision-making.

     

    Said Didier Truchot, Ipsos Chairman and CEO: “In our world of rapid change, the need for reliable information to make confident decisions has never been greater. At Ipsos we believe our clients need more than a data supplier, they need a partner who can produce accurate and relevant information and turn it into actionable truth. This is why our passionately curious experts not only provide the most precise measurement, but shape it to provide true understanding of society, markets and people. To do this we use the best of science, technology and know-how and apply the principles of security, simplicity, speed and substance to everything we do. So that our clients can act faster, smarter and bolder.”

     

     

  • Marketing functions risk lagging the digital race as ‘transformation and innovation’ continue to be ranked among the least important roles for today’s marketing function as CMOs globally are stretched to deliver short-term results

    Dentsu evaluates role of global marketers through latest survey

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network’s 2019 global survey of 1000 CMOs and senior-level marketers in 10 markets – including Australia, China, and Japan in Asia Pacific – highlights a growing challenge for marketing leaders, as they seek to move beyond optimisation and drive business transformation through digital.

     

    Globally, eight out of 10 surveyed recognise the imperative to transform the business in the face of digital disruption, as well as taking more responsibility for product and service innovation over the next 2-3 years. China, in particular, comes out leading this trend with 98 and 96 per cent of respondents respectively prioritising these areas as key elements of the marketing function.

     

    However, global CMOs are finding it difficult to achieve this vision with ‘Business Transformation’ and ‘Disruptive Innovation’ at the bottom of the list for the second year running in terms of functional priorities, and current capabilities beginning to lag behind future needs as short-term metrics dominate their focus.

     

    Within APAC, CMOs are beginning to lead a shift away from this trend, with China, Japan and Australia ranking Business Transformation within the top three priorities for the marketing function today, as well as over the next three years. CMOs in China and Japan also notably outperform global counterparts in their expectations for Disruptive Innovation to rise among marketers’ top 3 priorities in the next three years, at 61 per cent and 47 per cent respectively, well above the global average of 36 per cent.

     

    Marketing functions risk lagging the digital race as performance gaps emerge

     

    Across a spectrum of marketing capabilities, CMOs were asked what they believe to be important to future success, versus their current ability to execute.

     

    Said Takaki Hibino, APAC Executive Chairman, Dentsu Aegis Network:

    “Brands globally have invested heavily in digital but have yet to reap the rewards as short-term metrics rather than driving digital transformation continues to dominate the marketing function’s focus and priorities.

     

    In Asia Pacific however, CMOs are leading the curve with business transformation now firmly positioned as function’s top 3 priorities, and CMOs in the region being more likely to plan their marketing strategies over the long term. This creates a real opportunity for CMOs in this region to truly embed the digital transformation agenda and drive the future capabilities the region depends on for growth.”

     

    We hope India will be included in the next edition of the survey.

     

     

  • Gupte will be located at Wavemaker Delhi office

    Wavemaker appoints Ajay Gupte as COO, South Asia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ajay Gupte

    Wavemaker has announced the appointment of Ajay Gupte as the Chief Operating Officer for Wavemaker, South Asia. In his new role, Gupte will be located at Wavemaker Delhi office and will report into Kartik Sharma, CEO – Wavemaker, South Asia.

     

    Gupte moves from Wavemaker Indonesia where he was Managing Director of the agency. He led the MEC-Maxus merger in Indonesia. Under his stewardship, Wavemaker Indonesia won several blue-chip clients and many global and local accolades for the agency.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Kartik Sharma, CEO – Wavemaker, South Asia said: “It is an absolute pleasure to have Ajay back in India. Under his leadership as MD of Indonesia since 2011, Wavemaker (erstwhile MEC) has grown exponentially and is now ranked as Top 3 agency in the country. I am confident with his strong experience of agency and client domain, Ajay will be will be able to grow Wavemaker further as an agency of the future.”

     

    Commenting on his new role, Gupte said: “I am very excited to be back in India. The media scene in India is vibrant and offers unlimited opportunity for marketeers. With our future-focused offering around Media, Content, and Technology, Wavemaker is uniquely positioned to deliver maximum impact for our clients. I am delighted that the next lap of my journey continues with Wavemaker where I can contribute to delivering this promise.”

     

     

  • An integrated campaign that focusses on the key moments in life that we often miss-out on due to poor muscle health

    Protinex launches #DontMissOut ad campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Protinex launched its new integrated campaign – #DontMissOut with the aim to drive protein-led conversations.

     

    Said Deepali Agarwal, Director Marketing, Danone India: “In today’s fast-paced life with multiple responsibilities and sedentary lifestyle, health and nutrition often takes a back-seat. Poor muscle health driven by protein deficiency in daily diets is a growing concern in India. Atleast six out of 10 Indians suffer from poor muscle health and low protein scores. With Protinex #DontMissOut campaign, our endeavour is to create awareness of poor Muscle Health among Indian consumers and how small things like including Protinex in our daily diet can help improve the same so that we stay actively present for all key moments with our loved ones. So, #DontMissOut anymore.”

     

     

  • GroupM and Lifesight guide brands on how to set standards and benchmarks for success in omnichannel marketing

    GroupM & Lifesight launch online-to-offline attribution playbook

    By A Correspondent

     

    GroupM India and Lifesight, a Bengaluru-based location intelligence platform and data company, have co-created a playbook answering key questions advertising clients have on online to offline attribution and outlining ways in which marketers can use intelligence on consumers’ online behaviors to impact offline sales. This, claims a communique, is the first-of-its-kind attribution study in India with examining the conversion of online ads into offline sales.

     

    Said Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “The importance of omnichannel strategies has grown exponentially, and the lines between online and offline have begun to blur. Given that the consumer journey between online and offline is becoming seamless, it is critical to have the right technology to manage location data and location-based attribution models to provide better insights to clients. For a marketer to understand what’s working in their campaigns, it is important to attribute the right conversion to its apt source. At GroupM, we understand the constant need to create, invent and reinvent the right measurement frameworks to help our clients address their business problems.”

     

    In 300+ campaigns run through Lifesight, with over 200 brands, there were some interesting insights discovered:

     

    1} The average costs to drive in consumer footfall is the most for Consumer Durables and the Auto sector and the least for Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and Fashion.

    2} Offline attribution works best for Auto and QSR since most people would visit a physical store

    3} The Retail sector takes the least time (2-3 days) to drive a walk-in from exposure. On average, it takes approximately 6-9 days across verticals to drive store walk-ins

    4} 70% of the initial walk-ins to physical stores happens within the first 8 exposures. Retail takes the least number of exposures while fashion requires the most.

     

    Added Tobin Thomas, Co-founder and CEO of Lifesight: “Marketers today have unlimited options for building, targeting, and delivering a campaign. But even with all these options, one question remains- is my advertising working? With a large number of channels to choose from, it’s imperative to understand how each campaign component performed comparatively. As a result, location attribution has emerged as a powerful solution to stitch together channel, audience, and platform signals to understand reactions to online advertising in the real world.

     

    “Lifesight is leading efforts to take campaign success metrics beyond the click. We are excited that leading a marketing powerhouse like GroupM have joined us at the forefront of online-to-offline attribution.” Tobin Added

     

     

  • The announcement was made at the AAAI Annual General Body Meeting

    Ashish Bhasin re-elected President of AAAI

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Ashish Bhasin, CEO – Greater South, Dentsu Aegis Network and Chairman & CEO India, has been re-elected as President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2019-20. The announcement was made at the AAAI Annual General Body Meeting held last week.  Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Media India, has been re-elected as Vice-President of the Association.

     

    Other elected members of the Executive Committee include: Anand Bhadkamkar, Dentsu Aegis Network; Kalyan Sarkar, Standard Publicity; Kunal Lalani, Crayons Advertising, Prasanth Kumar, Group M Media India, Srinivasan K Swamy; RK Swamy BBDO; Vivek Srivastava, Innocean Worldwide Communication. Immediate Past President, Nakul Chopra will be the ex-officio member of the new AAAI Executive Committee.

     

    Said Bhasin: “I thank the members of the AAAI for reposing their faith in me by electing me for another term as the president of this illustrious organisation.  Along with my colleagues in the Executive Committee, I had set out on a mission to make the association more inclusive, diverse and future-ready. While we have made significant progress in some areas, there are many areas which require more work to be done.  I am honoured to be selected for the second term, which will allow the Executive Committee and me to complete the unfinished tasks. The tremendous support and unity that the members of AAAI have shown, makes me proud of our association!”

     

     

  • IAA Leadership Awards inducts Kaushik Roy into the IAA Hall of Fame and recongises industry leaders and CMOs

    IAA India conducts leadership awards

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India chapter of the International Advertising Association inducted veteran mediaperson Kaushik Roy into the IAA Hall of Fame. Roy was recognised at the sevent edition of the annual IAA Leadership Awards held in Mumbai on Friday.

     

    Other awards presented were Media Agency Leader of the Year to Prasanth Kumar, GroupM; IAA TV Anchor of the Year to Rahul Kanwal of the India Today Group, IAA Media Person of the Year to Sanjay Gupta, Star India and IAA Media Game Changer of the Year to Virendra Gupta  and Umang Bedi of  Dailyhunt.

     

    Also recognised in the evening were a variety of industry leaders. See List below

     

    Said Punit Goenka, President, IAA India, MD & CEO, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd: “The IAA India Chapter has been working relentlessly to enhance the stature of our marquee properties to enrich them with engaging and thought provoking conversations, and celebrate the commendable work being done by leaders across sectors. The 7th  edition of the IAA Leadership Awards was one such exceptional evening that celebrated and applauded true leaders who have positively contributed to the economy, changed the landscape of the M&E industry and created global brands. The support received from the guests present at the event reinforces our commitment to keep working towards creating initiatives that benefit the M&E industry.”

     

    Added Dr Bhaskar Das, Group President, Republic TV, Co-Chairperson of IAA Leadership Awards: “ IAA Leadership Awards is a humble attempt to honour industry doyens in the fields of Marketing, Advertising and Media, who have made enormous professional contributions and delivered business success to their companies. Because only we know the challenges, the hardships, the dilemma of ethics, the sacrifices and the tough decisions that go into making a leader – to stand tall, to stand true.”

     

    A panel discussion was moderated by CVL Srinivas, Country Manager-WPP India, on “Platform is critical. Content be dammed” with panellists from across the media ecosystem: Punit Misra, CEO- Domestic Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., Sameer Nair, CEO-Applause Entertainment, Nandini Dias, CEO-Lodestar UM, and  Pooja Jauhari, CEO –The Glitch. The panelists discussed how content, platform and the consumer are interlinked and how content and platform is a function of time and how data driven insights are helpful in generating timely content.

     

    Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman and World President IAA, who was also present on the occasion, said: “We can now trace the progress of Chapters geographically”. The second being to promote education across.

     

    In his acceptance speech, Kaushik Roy who is President Brand Strategy & Marketing Communication at Reliance Industries Limited, said: “It is a great honour that doesn’t come easy, especially from IAA that has been a global body for 80 years. One must keep the fire in the belly alive: To Grow – Stay Hungry”.

     


    Winner List – 7th Edition of the IAA Leadership Awards 2019

  • The former Mindshare and GroupM big boss will join as CEO at Aqilliz in October and drive blockchain in digital marketing 

    G’man goes Big on Blockchain

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gowthaman Ragothaman, the former Global Client Lead at WPP and popularly known in the industry as G’Man, has announced the launch of Aqilliz, a blockchain solutions provider.

     

    Notes a communique: “Aqilliz is created in collaboration with Zilliqa, a high-throughput public blockchain, which will provide the infrastructure for secure and scalable futuristic solutions for enterprise clients. Spearheaded by a team of industry experts and experienced blockchain engineers, Aqilliz is uniquely equipped with technical capabilities, direct industry connections, and an academia-corporate understanding.”

     

    Said Gowthaman Ragothaman who will join as Chief Executive Officer at Aqilliz in October: “In today’s platform economy, tech solutions are trying to address the needs of either the brands, platforms or the consumers, and not the entire platform economy as a whole. With the help of blockchain, we can address these needs equitably and in turn, unify all players in the digital marketing landscape. We’re excited to be at the forefront of this change, as we set a new industry standard that champions greater transparency, cost-efficiency, and trust. As we work together with Zilliqa, we will continue to build on the promising results seen on Project Proton,”

     

    Added Amrit Kumar, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Zilliqa: “Businesses often struggle with moving from awareness to implementation. Aqilliz fills the knowledge gap, identifying key areas where blockchain is well-positioned to offer far-reaching solutions that will benefit all participants of the digital marketing ecosystem. Now that Zilliqa is open-for-business, we are excited to embark on a new venture that will allow our platform to be mobilized as the entry point for enterprise adoption,”

     

    The communique shared with MxMIndia further notes: “Incubated and taken to market by Anquan, the Singapore-based technology group, Aqilliz equally benefits from its strong understanding of all the participants across the value chain. Aqilliz will actively collaborate with various partners in the advertising, data, marketing, technology, and analytics industries, and will be onboarding clients by the end of the year.”

     

    Said Max Kantelia, Co-Founder of Zilliqa and Anquan: “From technical milestones backed by cutting-edge research to a diverse array of promising partnerships, we are very proud of what has been achieved by Zilliqa over the past two years. By marrying technical strength and industry know-how, the collaboration with Aqilliz is poised to accelerate the mass-adoption of Zilliqa.”