Category: ADVERTISING

  • India@Cannes: Shortlist tally in Outdoor at its lowest

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Having amazed the jury members in the initial stages, Leo Burnett and Brand David Communications showed why they were one of the worthy contenders at Cannes as they both bagged the highest number of (shortlist) entries in Outdoor Lions category. With four nominations, both agencies stand a good chance of winning big at the awards.

     

    Leo Burnett was nominated for its entries – Cigarette, Socks, Fish and Eggs for Bajaj Electricals exhaust fans in the Home Appliances, Furnishings, Electronics & Audio Visuals category while Brand David Communications was nominated for their entries – Pig Attack, Buffalo Attack, Deer Attack and Goose Attack for Peptocid Antacid under the Cosmetics & Beauty, Toiletries & Pharmacy category.

     

    Other contenders include Ogilvy & Mather with three shortlists, McCann Worldgroup India that has three shortlists for Western Union & DDB Mudra Group which has three shortlists for Stedfast.

     

    But what is a bit discouraging is the decline that has been witnessed in the overall number of entries from India which has been its lowest ever at 219. For the record, the entries in 2011 stood at 252. It is even more disheartening as India has sent fewer entries despite the overall number of entries in the category seeing an 8 per cent rise compared to the previous year. There are a total of 4,843 entries that have been entered in this category which is led by entries from countries like Brazil which has sent 766, USA that has sent 404, Germany that has sent 322 and UK & Spain that have sent 191 entries each.

     

    Leading the Jury from India is Vikram Gaikwad, Partner & Executive Creative Director, Creativeland Asia. The Outdoor awards too will be held on Tuesday evening at Palais des Festivals.

     

     


  • India@Cannes: Zero shortlists in Mobile Lions

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    New for 2012, the mobile category will reward the best creative work which lives on or is activated by a mobile device, app or mobile web. The judging criteria will be based on creativity and the idea, execution (usability, user experience, craft and design), relevance to the mobile platform and results (level of user engagement and any quantifiable outcomes).

     

    In its first year, the category has received a total of 965 entries from 47 countries. As disappointing as it sounds,India hasn’t received a single shortlist nomination having submitted only 5 entries in the category. This is starkly different from what other countries have submitted including 84 by UK, 83 by Sweden, 63 by Brazil and 62 by Germany.

     

    There is no Indian in the jury for this category which is being headed by Tom Eslinger, Digital Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi. The award ceremony for Mobile Lions will be held on Tuesday evening in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.

     

  • India@Cannes: Leo Burnett, Cheil lead race for Media Lions

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The biggest year by far in terms of the number of entries sent,Indiamanaged to line up an unprecedented 130 entries in Media Lions 2012 compared to 103 entries that it had sent last year. But this number is distant from what the other countries have nominated from their shores:USA- 411,Germany- 272,Brazil- 252 andAustralia- 138. A total of 3,247 entries have been sent from 74 countries compared to 2,895 entries last year – an increase of 12 per cent.

     

    Having widened its scope with the sheer number of entries,Indiashould look at gaining more than 2 wins in this category, a figure which it achieved last year. But whether it will cross 8 metals, which it did in 2009, will be something to be seen at the awards function which will be held on Tuesday evening.

     

    Instituted in 1999 to honour excellence in media strategy, planning and execution and give key players in the media industry an annual meeting point, the jury will be looking not just for brilliant ideas, but moreover, ideas that work. RepresentingIndiaat the Media Lions Jury is Premjeet Sodhi, Chief Operating Officer, Lintas Media Group.

     

    Leo Burnett Mumbai leads the tally with two shortlists including ‘Ink Pad’ forDoorStepSchoolunder the Best Localised Campaign and ‘Happy Sparrows’ for McDonald’s under Best Consumer Engagement. Also having two shortlists is Cheil Worldwide for ‘Minus One Project’ for Samsung under the Best Use of Integrated Media. The entry is also nominated under the Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages category. The other entries include DDB Mudra’s ‘Smokers Balloon’ for CPAA in the Best Use of Ambient Media and OMD India’s ‘Honeymoon Down Under Works Wonders’ for TourismAustraliain the Best Use of Branded Content & Sponsorship.

     

     

  • Wow! Ogilvy Mumbai is Most Effective Agency Office globally as per Effie Index

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s decidedly one of India’s creative agencies and has also been very widely hailed as doing some exceedingly effective work for its clients. It wasn’t much of a surprise hence that when the global results of the Effie Effectiveness Index were released by Effie Worldwide and Warc yesterday, Ogilvy Mumbai was declared the Most Effective Agency Office globally in 2012

     

    The index, launched in 2011, recognizes the architects of the most effective marketing communications ideas from around the world.

     

    Talking about the recognition, Hephzibah Pathak, President, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai, said: “This is brilliant news. A wonderful reward for the champions in Mumbai office and our great client partners and another testimony to the twin peaks of creativity and effectiveness.” Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai is the only Indian agency office to rank in the top 5 agencies globally.

     

    Said Kawal Shoor, Head of Planning – Ogilvy Mumbai: “This recognition makes us even more proud of the stuff we do. We’ve always believed that to be truly effective you need to have an outstandingly creative and insightful piece of communication. This is a vindication of the relentlessness of our people, the confidence of our clients, and the sheer width and variety of the office’s skillsets.”

     

    For the second year in a row, the WPP Group is the Most Effective Advertising holding company while Ogilvy & Mather is the Most Effective Advertising Agency Network.

     

    Ogilvy Mumbai was also declared the Most Effective Individual Agency office in Asia Pacific in the 2011 Effie Effectiveness Index and ranked number 2 worldwide.

     

     

    Meanwhile, Unilever is the most effective advertiser and McDonald’s is the most effective brand, for the second year in a row. McKinney (USA) is the most effective independently held advertising agency.

     

    O&M Mumbai leads in the global individual office ranking. Sancho BBDO from Bogota, Colombia, which led last year, slipped to number 2 followed by Lowe-SSP3 (also from Bogota) and Ogilvy & Mather (New York). The top 20 also includes agencies from countries as diverse as China, Hong Kong, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Egypt, Peru, Ukraine and Israel.

     

     

    WPP leads as the most effective holding company to be followed by Omnicom, IPG, Publicis Groupe and Havas Advertising.

     

     

    While Unilever is the most effective advertiser, Procter & Gamble has lost its top position since last year and slipped to number 2. Nestle is at number 3 followed by McDonald’s at number 4 and Pepsico at number 5 in the list of top 5 most effective advertisers.

     

     

    As for the brand, McDonald’s retains its numero uno position. Surprisingly, a technology company, IBM is the second most effective brand. Coca-Cola is at number 3 followed by Axe at number 4 and Pepsi at number 5.

     

     

    The Index was launched in June last year and is led by Effie Worldwide.  It is said that the Effie Effectiveness Index will become the industry standard. The Effie Effectiveness Index identifies and ranks the marketing communications industry’s most effective agencies, advertisers, and brands by analyzing finalist and winner data from Effie Worldwide competitions. It is the world’s most comprehensive ranking of agency and advertiser performance and a valuable resource for anyone interested in marketing effectiveness.

     

    The 2012 Effie Effectiveness Index is derived from almost 2,000 finalists and winning entries to Effie Award competitions worldwide between June 13, 2011 and June 12, 2012.

     

    The Index is constructed by converting every Effie award and finalist into points – 12 for a Grand Effie, eight for Gold, six for Silver, four for Bronze and two for a finalist (with contributing agencies receiving half these points). In a change from the inaugural year, if several agencies from the same agency network or holding group worked on a campaign, the network and holding group only receives one set of points for each winning effort.

     

     

  • Manas Mishra joins Lintas Initiative as President

    By A Correspondent [updated]

     

    Lintas Media Group has confirmed the  the appointment of Manas Mishra as President of Initiative India. As Lintas Initiative Media CEO Sudha Natarajan moves on, Mr Mishra will helm the agency. Presently Managing Director on the 600 million dollar P&G business at Starcom China, Mr Mishra earlier led Mudra Connext till late last year.

     

    A media and communications professional with 17 years of experience spanning media strategy, revenue growth, successful team leadership, and P&L management, Manas has earlier worked with Mediaedge CIA, and Contract, and also ran the Initiative Mumbai office from 2004 to 2006.

     

    Mr Mishra will be based in Gurgaon, overseeing a national team of 65 people servicing the agency’s blue chip accounts in the country – prominent among them being Maruti Suzuki, Sony Electronics, Voltas, Expedia, 3M, Citizen watches etc.

     

    Speaking on this appointment, Lynn de Souza, Chairman and CEO of Lintas Media Group, to whom Mr Mishra will report, said, “It is wonderful to have Manas back with us. He has grown manifold during the time he has spent with other leading agency networks, while retaining a strong strategic bent of mind. His service on the Technical Committee of the IRS has also been highly appreciated.” Mr Mishra added, “I am looking forward to this new journey with Initiative, building new partnerships with teams and clients.”

     

    Meanwhile, Ms   Natrajan will be leaving the agency at the end of July. “Sudha has been a great asset to Lintas Media Group”, added Ms de Souza. “Her business acumen and affectionate nature have won her long standing relationships in the media industry which will serve her well in future pursuits. We will miss her terribly but respect her desire to try out something new”.

     

  • India@Cannes: Balki & Shekhar Kapur talk of how to do business in India

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Shekhar Kapur

    One of the most exciting sessions on Day 3 of Cannes Lions 2012 – and not just for Indians – was the one by Lowe + Partners titled Global India. Oscar-nominated film director Shekhar Kapur and filmmaker and Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of Lowe Lintas, R Balki were in discussion with Wired editor David Rowan. On the seminar agenda was a look at the creative heritage of India and its influence on global culture and enterprise. This was the first time that Cannes Lions featured a seminar dedicated to Indian creativity and its global influence.

     

    Introducing the speakers, IPG Chairman Michael Roth stated that the session at Cannes was an indication of the importance of India in the global economy. Speaking of the growing importance and the shifting focus to India, Mr Balki said, “What has changed over the years is that earlier, India was judged globally. Today, India is the jury, be it the global products or ideas.” Talking about Indian creatives on a global platform he admitted that a lot of things don’t make any sense to the rest of the world. But he also pointed out that brands who have tried to implement global theory, have messed up in India. He said, “Global brands have to come to India selling like a local brand. Any global thought has to be highly ‘Indianised’ to be implemented in India. And, it’s a difficult job.” Mr Balki added, “If you want to know India, watch ‘The Story of India’ by Michael Woods.”

     

    R Balki

    Furthering Mr Balki’s point of an ‘Indianised’ idea, Mr Kapur remarked that India was a land of imagination. He said, “The West calls us melodramatic, we call it mythical.” He added that any idea to work in India has to be magically ‘Indianised’.

     

    Speaking on the impact of social media, Mr Kapur agreed that social media was set to change the way we live but not advertising. He also agreed that social media holds an opportunity for India and he said that the new real estate is the social media. He said, “Fifteen per cent of the world’s teenage population will live in India. So there will be a large number of consumers on social media. This will make us an influencing economy, if not a dominant economy.”

     

    Discussing his views on social media and its impact, Mr Balki remarked that social media currently in India is a one-sided communication, where we are expressing ourselves but not accepting messages. Talking about the Indian economy, Mr Kapur said that Indians needs to move from being job-makers to job-creators.

     

    Sharing tips for global brands entering India, Mr Balki said, “Stop looking at India as a market and you will succeed. And, let the Indians do the things in India.” Mr Kapur added, “When the West stops looking at India as a market and starts looking at it as a culture, they’ll make it there.”

     

  • Advertisers crib as TRPs fall for Satyamev Jayate

    By Ratna Bhushan

     

    The truth isn’t quite triumphing – not at least in the way some advertisers on Aamir Khan’s hyped debut television reality show Satyamev Jayate thought it would. Television rating points (TRPs) have fallen short of expectations, say at least two marketing heads of associate sponsors, although publicly most advertisers are making the right noises. That, however, hasn’t stopped media buying firms, on behalf of advertisers, from pushing for result and performance-based ad rates on reality shows. They say that TRPs should decide the ad rates of reality shows instead of the channels charging advertisers fixed rates even before the show goes live.

     

    As per rating agency TAM’s data released by Star on June 13, Satyamev Jayate – which is being aired on Sunday mornings across nine channels of the Star Network (as well as on the state-owned Doordarshan) delivered a national TVR of 3.9. That’s lower than the ratings of blockbuster shows of the past like Kaun Banega Crorepati (Sony Entertainment) and Bigg Boss’ debut show (Colors).

     

    Navin Khemka, managing partner of media buying firm ZenithOptimedia, which represents consumer goods major Reckitt Benckiser, one of the associate sponsors of Satyamev Jayate said: “All the risk cannot be passed on to the advertiser. With high entry-level costs on reality shows, it is critical that channels take more accountability on the returns on investment.”

     

    Increasingly, agencies and clients will ask for certain minimum guarantees on programme performance and viewership, he added: “It has to be a win-win for both the brand and the show.”

     

    While Bharti Airtel coughed up a chunky Rs17-20 crore for the presenting sponsor slot, associate sponsors like Axis Bank, Reckitt Benckiser, Skoda, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson paid Rs6-7 crore each for the 13-week show.

     

    Star has charged Rs8-10 lakh per 10 seconds for spot rates for Satyamev Jayate while spot rates for KBC were Rs 3.5-4 lakh per 10 seconds.

     

    According to the marketing head of an associate sponsor who did not wish to be quoted, returns on investment on the show could have been higher. “The way the show was sold to us, we expected higher ratings. It’s disappointing and we hope the ratings increase as the show progresses.”

     

    However, Bharat Bambawale, global brand director at Bharti Airtel, defended the investment: “To view the success of a show based only on television ratings would limit its overall value. The success of a show has to be looked at collectively and in a holistic way… the content of a show will impact ratings.” On whether broadcasters should rationalise ad rates on reality shows, Bambawale said: “It’s a matter of individual judgement for every sponsor.”

     

    Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO of Platinum Media, a division of media buying firm Madison World, which buys media for Bharti Airtel, said: “Advertisers do want accountability and minimum guarantees factored in for reality shows in general, although Satyamev Jayate was not meant to be a mass ratings show.”

     

    On reality shows, deals are structured in a way that they cannot be re-negotiated through the entire program. This is unlike cricket where broadcasters keep at least some ad inventory – like the semi-finals and finals – open to negotiations based on the ratings.

     

    Ajit Varghese, MD, South Asia of Maxus, which is owned by the country’s largest media buying house Group M, said: “While there’s no standardised way of looking at a deal, we all are pushing for deals with a minimum guarantee. Of course, the arrangement should factor in an upside too, but overall ad deals should be linked to a programme’s performance.”

     

    Veteran ad man Santosh Desai is of the view that Satyamev Jayate needs to be evaluated not just by viewership but also for the impact it has. “It’s a difficult show to watch…. Some subjects don’t have a mass audience at all so to be watched week after week by masses will be a challenge.” KBC’s most recent season had opened to a rating of 5.24, and Bigg Boss Season 5 had opened to a TRP of 4.25. The Amitabh Bachchan-hosted KBC had managed ratings of over 4 all through its run.

     

    A Star India spokesperson says the show has delivered a reach of Rs40 crore over the first five episodes (including repeats). The launch episode delivered a TVR of 4.9 in Hindi-speaking markets and a 4.1 TVR all-India. Subsequently, all episodes have consistently delivered a 4+ rating in HSM and 3.5+ ratings at the all-India level.

     

    Kevin Vaz, Star India president, ad sales said: “Satyamev has ranked amongst the top few every week on an all-India level.”

     

     

    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • India@Cannes: Radio bags just two shortlists

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    With just two shortlists, the Radio Lions category may not throw up any special surprises for India. India had sent 55 entries this year compared to 78 entries last year. Last year India had won just 1 metal in this category.

     

    The two entries from India include ‘Delay’ for Plusuer – Plus Condoms by Lasky Herbal which has been presented by McCann Worldgroup India in the Pharmacy category and ‘Punishment’ by Strand Book Stall that has been presented by Leo Burnett in the Retail Stores category.

     

    A total of 1,784 entries have been submitted from 57 countries, an increase of 31 per cent compared to last year. Leading the tally with most number of entries is South Africa with 190, USA with 163, Germany with 149, Brazil with 120 and Chile & Australia with 90 each.

     

    Representing India at the Jury is Rahul Jauhari, National Creative Director, Everest Brand Solutions. The awards ceremony will be held on June 20, in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.

     

  • India@Cannes: DDB Mudra steals limelight with 6 Design shortlists

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    A glimmer of hope for India in Design Lions as eight of its entries have managed to make it to the shortlists. India had sent a total of 134 entries in this category, compared to 139 last year. Last year India had won a total of 5 awards in this category, its best showing so far.

     

    Overall, the category has received 2,182 entries from 62 countries, an increase of 23 per cent compared with 2011. Countries with the most entries include USA at 340, Brazil at 225, Germany at 219,UK at 168 and Japan at 113.

     

    As for the shortlisted entries, the table may well belong to DDB Mudra that has 6 entries against its name. Its entries – Stay Alert New York blackout for GeeBees Beverages and Moustache Gym and Musical Jungle for its client Volkswagen has been nominated in the Illustration category. The Hinglish Project entry for Ministry of Toursim has received two nominations in two categories including Design Typography & Consumer Services.

     

    Other entries include Elephant Combs Logo design for MKV Household Products by TBWA\India Gurgaon in Logo Design category and Chaplin Chapters for its client Movies Now by BBH India in Posters category.

     

    Representing India in the Jury is Abhijit Bansod, Principal Designer & Creative Head, Studio ABD. The awards ceremony will take place on June 20, in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.

     

  • India@Cannes: It’s zilch again for Cyber

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    India will continue its dry run at the Cyber Lions category this year too as none of its entries have been shortlisted. With zero shortlists, it will be the fourth straight year that India will go without any metals in this category. It last won a single metal in this category in 2008.

     

    India had sent a total of 27 entries in 2012 compared to last year’s number of 33. This is way too small compared to what other countries have sent including USA that has sent 609 entries, UK which has sent 186 entries, Germany that has sent 163 entries and Japan that has sent 161 entries. Overall, there have been 2,458 entries from 59 countries, a decrease of 13 per cent compared to last year. But the drop is being attributed due to the introduction of Mobile Lions, entries of which were previously submitted into the Cyber Lions category.

     

    Representing India at the Jury will be Anita Varma, Director, Digital Driftwood. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 20 June, in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.

     

  • Anil Thakraney: The ten commandments of social behaviour

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Tweeters and Facebookers often get into strife, and find themselves with their feet stuck firmly in their mouths. Some have paid a huge price for being Twitter-happy. Relationships have broken down. Posts have been used as evidence in courts. People have lost their jobs. A few like Lalit Modi have turned into fugitives.

     

    Here are my commandments for social media usage. Strictly obey them so that you can have fun, make new pals and remain trouble free.

    1. Thou shall think before posting. The problem with social media is that there’s no editor whetting your content, you are on your own. Instant accessibility and the urge to be the ‘first out there’ is too strong to curb. And this can lead to trouble. I suggest you delay your post/tweet by at least 10 minutes. That will give you a little margin of safety. Mama said ‘look before you leap’. In today’s context that reads ‘look before you tweet’.

     

    2. Thou shall try to familiarize yourself with the basic laws of the land. Social media is a public platform, it’s not your private spittoon. No defaming people, no communal slurs, no porn stuff and definitely no negative comments on Mamata Didi.

     

    3. Thou shall NOT post pictures of you partying wildly with buddies from the opposite sex (or the same sex if you are gay). This can and will be used against you at an appropriate time.

     

    4. Thou shall not befriend colleagues from your organization on Facebook. Some of them will use your posts at the opportune time to stab you in the back.

     

    5. Thou shall not post boring tweets. If you aren’t born witty, steal someone else’s updates. Or quote Abraham Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa or Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Always works.

     

    6. Thou shall not beg movie stars to retweet your garbage. That’s like admitting to lakhs of people what a dull and desperate moron you are.

     

    7. Thou shall not post cho-chweet utterances and playful deeds of your little kids. Remember, just as in real life, only you find your bachchas cute. Deal with it.

     

    8. Thou shall promote your work. But only once a month. If you do it every hour, you will find yourself sad and lonely in the virtual world. Unless you look like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie.

     

    9. Thou shall not post holiday albums. No one wants to spend time watching 1000 pictures of you and your family posing near a little waterfall at Khandala. Unless you are wearing really skimpy clothes, of course.

     

    10. Thou shall not troll anyone on Twitter. It’s the most offensive form of social behavior. (PS: An exception can be made for Mr Chetan Bhagat. Go after him!)

     

  • Mindshare launches CORE

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare, the global media network, together with a roster of best in class technology and data partners has created CORE – a first of its kind user-centric and open source data-driven marketing intelligence platform that empowers both analysts and non-technical users to make informed marketing spend, audience targeting and creative optimisation decisions across all touch points in real-time.

     

    Nick Emery, CEO, Mindshare Worldwide said: “We have invested heavily in developing CORE because we believe it is the future of marketing. We are bringing together state of the art technology providers to truly deliver real time business and media data.  Everyone claims this with some empty dashboard, we are doing it. It’s a step change for our industry and I’m proud that we are leading the charge.”

     

    CORE enables marketers to mix their business intelligence (CRM, sales and supply chain) data with an integrated single source of marketing intelligence. This single source contains media channel spend and performance data; social data; paid and owned media audience data; in-stream data; third party (household expenditure / demographic/online behaviours and so on) data and real-time trading data. When mixed with the business intelligence, this reveals consumer actions and insight at a granular level, eradicating the guesswork, latency and siloed nature of marketing-spend decision making.

     

    Steve Plimsoll, CTO, Mindshare Worldwide and CORE project leader said: “By leveraging insight and requirements from across Mindshare’s global network and client base in the design and the cherry picking the global best in class technology and data providers for the development we’ve been able to create an enviable solution that delivers institutional marketing intelligence across all aspects of the marketing ecosystem, be they above or below the line, product or consumer centric. Gone are the traditional data silos / black boxes and the need for complicated coding or middle men (IT) historically needed for marketing professionals to access or ask questions of the data. Data now truly is at their fingertips.”

     

    CORE’s single source data stream is created by bringing together all the media data and consumer insight capabilities of Mindshare and the leading global third party data enhancement services, to create an always-on data resource, which when mixed with brand held data, delivers actionable insights to marketers in real-time.

     

    Sandeep Pandey, Principal Partner, Consulting, Analytics & Intelligence, Mindshare India said: “Data analytics have assumed the status of a strategic tool over the last few years and a meaningful analytics exercise involves the generation of insights through data modeling. To me, half the battle is won if you have robust consumer knowledge from disparate sources of data and CORE is built to facilitate exactly that for our clients. Indian businesses are increasingly adopting analytics in their processes to improve efficiency and profits and we believe CORE would help us achieve that.”

     

    Having already proved itself in initial client testing CORE is now ready for deployment to Mindshare clients across the world.