MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • His experience spreads across categories like FMCG, Food, Beverages, Personal Care, OTC products and Automobiles

    Rediff appoints Siddhant Lahiri as Head – Strategic Planning in Mumbai

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rediffusion Y&R has appointed Siddhant Lahiri as Head – Strategic Planning in Mumbai. Lahiri will be based out of their Mumbai office and report to their Chief Strategy Officer – Navonil Chatterjee.

     

    Said Dhunji S Wadia, CEO, Rediff Y&R:  ‘We are delighted to have Siddhant with us. He brings with him a lot of passion, energy and bright thinking. We want to work with the best and Siddhant is a great addition to our team. Looking forward to many more winning stories together in the near future’

     

    Added Lahiri: “Rediffusion Y&R is writing a new story for itself – and I’m honoured to have the opportunity to contribute a chapter. It is a place teeming with possibility and energy and I cannot wait to see what the future here brings. This also gives me an exciting opportunity to lead the team here and I look forward to creating many compelling brand narratives with them.”

     

  • Helps brands and agencies to produce and distribute content that drives engagement

    Yahoo expands Content Marketing offerings in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Yahoo India has announced the launch of Yahoo Storytellers, a content marketing solution for brands and agencies that leverages Yahoo’s editorial expertise, extensive data, and native advertising through Yahoo Gemini. Now marketers in India can leverage Yahoo Storytellers to successfully develop, distribute and measure premium branded content that meets consumers’ high expectations and drives engagement.

     

    “A successful content marketing campaign equates to how well you understand your consumers. With Yahoo Storytellers, we’re offering a better way for brands to create powerful content that’s informed by data and engages the right audience,” said Gurmit Singh, Vice President and Managing Director, Yahoo India. He added, “The promise of using data to make content marketing effective is hyper-personalisation at work, making sure that content is valuable to both brands and users.”

     

    In India, Yahoo has partnered with multiple brands to help them create successful campaigns, including Accenture, Amazon, Madhya Pradesh Tourism and Tourism Australia among others.

     

  • The Report Establishes a Need for Digital Business Leaders in the Country

    Bad digital experience impacts loyalty, notes SAP study

    By A Correspondent

     

    SAP SE unveiled the India Digital Experience Report, which revealed how India’s best known brands can jeopardise customer loyalty over an unsatisfied digital experience. The report states that only eight per cent of customers unsatisfied with their digital experience would continue to remain loyal to the brand.

     

    SAP’s India Digital Experience Report highlights how some of the country’s largest brands perform in delivering digital experiences to their customers.

     

    Digital experiences can make or break a brand in today’s era and a strong digital infrastructure is imperative for any brand to remain relevant for its audience. The report further finds how a significant digital gap exists between the best and worst performing brands across all markets in Asia Pacific Japan.

     

    Industry reports state that India’s economy is expected to grow from USD 2 trillion to USD 10 trillion by the year 2030. “Digital transformation will be crucial for accelerating the growth of India’s economy,” said Deb Deep Sengupta, President and Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent. “The report corroborates the need for the industry to identify ‘Digital Business Leaders’ who can address the digital experience that businesses provide to their customers. SAP feels proud to be associated with these ‘Digital Winners’ who have embraced a digital mindset and a will to succeed in this digital economy.”

     

  • Since leaving Google in 2007, he has founded (and sold) his own startup, Chai Labs, led ad-product strategy at Facebook

    C1X brings Gokul Rajaram on its Advisory board

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gokul Rajaram

    Silicon Valley based advertising and marketing technology (AMT) leader- C1X (Class One Exchange) has roped in Gokul Rajaram as its advisor. Since leaving Google in 2007, Rajaram has founded (and sold) his own startup, Chai Labs, led ad-product strategy at Facebook and, joined Square to help the San Francisco-based company revolutionize the world of commerce.

     

    Commenting on the news, Mukundu Kumaran, Founder and CEO C1X said, “Super excited to have Gokul join C1X advisor board. This validates our vision and differentiation in adtech and martech eco-system. Gokul is Adsense “Godfather”. His inputs and guidance will make our product offerings much stronger, and his in-depth knowledge in adtech will help us to create unique offering with much higher value creation. His connection will help us to expand globally and get us to a multi-billion dollar company much faster.”

     

    On the occasion, Rajaram said: “I’m very excited to help the C1X team build an impactful product and company that transforms the world of advertising. I love C1X’s mission to reduce waste and inefficiency from the entire advertising process. The integrated platform is a huge step towards that, and I’d like to constantly push C1X towards keeping the inspiring mission top of mind in every product and business decision.”

     

  • To focus on storytelling as a new approach to brand building in the category

    DigitalF5 acquires the digital mandate for Livpure

    By A Correspondent

     

    DigitalF5 has bagged the digital mandate for Livpure, a leading water and air purifier solution providers for commercial and home applications. DigitalF5 will now manage the digital brand building activities of Livpure including website, search marketing, social content and mobile solutions. The marketing mandate was won as part of the multi-agency pitch which saw participation from other leading digital marketing agencies.

     

    Commenting on DigitalF5’s selection, Sushil Matey, Director  Livpure said: “Team DigitalF5 has a unique ability to differentiate between conversations with their category context. The organization has a proven track record of intensely mapping the consumer journey and then precisely utilizing the right opportunity with the most appropriate communication peg. We are happy to join hands with DigitalF5 and are confident that it will help us in creating a truly unique brand image of Livpure.”

     

    Added Barin Mukherjee Co-Founder & CEO, DigitalF5: “Livpure is already a well-established player in its segment with a strong brand identity. However, like many other players in the category of water and air purifiers, it has so far focused on performance-oriented marketing operations. However, the target going forward is to focus on digital initiatives in enhancing its brand engagement and this is where our expertise comes in. We look forward to assisting Livpure in its goal of truly connecting with and educating its customers.” The business would be managed by digitalF5 Delhi office.

     

  • This upgrade will allow for a high quality user experience

    Voot partners Google to launch VoD progressive web app

    By A Correspondent

     

    Voot, Viacom18’s ad-supported video-on-demand OTT service, has turned its mobile website into a Progressive Web App (PWA) using features such as ‘add to home-screen’and a service worker. PWA allows reliable, fast, and engaging experience for users on mobile web, notes a communique.

     

    Commented Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “In this business both content and technology have equal equity in realizing the potential of our Consumer Proposition. While content is our domain expertise, to push the envelope in terms of technology, we continuously work with partners from around the world. We are delighted to work closely with Google to launch VOOT on the PWA platform. This launch significantly enhances the experience for all VOOT users on mobile browsers and we believe this is a big step where users can have an equally rich experience of our service without downloading the app.”

     

    “We have moved the needle very significantly when it comes to user experience on the Mobile Web by adopting PWA,” said Rajneel Kumar, Head, Product and Technology, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, adding: “All the time and effort we’ve spent on technology and UI changes as well as optimisations seem to be showing very positive results. We are going to continue to refine this further and we are confident that we will continue to see significant consumer lift.”

     

    “We are delighted with the Voot implementation of a Progressive Web App. PWAs are well suited for India, where the mobile web allows publishers to reach a large audience across a highly diverse set of devices and bandwidth.  The early numbers on performance are very encouraging, and demonstrate the potential of mobile web media distribution” said John Pallett, Product Manager at Google.

     

  • Refresh offers a more unified experience across Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Cricket and Yahoo Lifestyle

    Yahoo India homepage gets a new look

    By A Correspondent

     

    Yahoo has announced its new homepage along with updates to Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Cricket and Yahoo Lifestyle for users in India. These changes attempt to provide a more unified experience across our homepage and core properties, offering a better way to consume, engage, and discover the quality content our users have come to expect.

     

    The new Yahoo homepage makes it easier to get all latest news and content, in less time, notes a communique, adding:Users no longer need to open individual articles in multiple browser tabs; instead, they can simply scroll through related stories inline.

     

  • Unique innovation carried out for Maggi

    Zenith turns Google search into voting engine

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a first-of-its kind creative association, the Google search results page for “Meri Maggi” was transformed into an innovative branding medium – one that registers live votes from consumers ahead of product launch. Zenith, part of Publicis Media India, conceived this campaign for Maggi and brought it alive in a unique creative association with Google.

     

    A search for ‘Meri Maggi’ on Google displays eight potential new flavours for users. The new product-line comes with names that are intrinsically Indian;  AmritsariAchari, Bengali Jhaal, Gujarati Khaman, Kashmiri Dum, Kochi Malabari, Mumbai Chatak to name a few. Of these, the user has to accurately guess the four flavours that Maggi will end up launching. Users could vote every day till midnight on Friday, April 21. Post voting, the user was diverted to the Paytm Maggi page for registration https://paytm.com/maggi and could avail a Maggi Goodie bag.

     

    Said Tanmay Mohanty, Group CEO, Zenith India: “Zenith develops brand experiences that maximise the value of the opportunity and builds rewarding relationships with valuable customers. This is an innovative campaign in which search has been transformed into a unique ‘Voting Engine’ and this initiative only harnesses the passion of Maggi loyalists. The preview on the new flavours adds to the buzz and anticipation among Indian consumers. Over the past 33 years, Maggi has become one of the most trusted brands in India. It has done this by keeping up with the changing Indian palette. ‘Maggi Masalas of India’ is a step in the same direction and we are pleased to engage with them on the same.”

     

  • Televisory also adopts a comprehensive approach by providing key operational insights across the globe

    Concept-One wins digital mandate of Televisory

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following a month-long multi-agency pitch, self-funded startup Televisory India has mandated Concept-One to handle its digital mandate.

     

    Shiv Dave

    Announcing the mandate, Shiv Dave, founder, Televisory Global said: “As we are a self-funded startup, we wanted to be extra careful about our return on investments and the Concept-One pitch fitted the bill. It is with excitement and anticipation that we welcome Concept-One as our extended team. Concept-One has already started working in our target markets. As a strategy, we are starting with the US, Poland and Brazil and we hope to extend our coverage to other parts of the world in the near term.”

     

     

    Pradeep Iyengar

    Added Pradeep Iyengar, Vice President, Marketing: “There are many features of Televisory’s benchmarking platform which are totally unique and adding value to our target customer’s business. A month ago, we had invited a selection of prominent digital agencies in India, to bring their best thinking to Televisory. The idea was to brainstorm so that we can reach out to our customers in most effective manner. We were open to all ideas! As it turned out, Concept-One suggested the most relevant approach and we decided to take it ahead.”

     

     

    Abhishek Razdan

    Said Abhishek Razdan, CEO, Concept-One: “Televisory’s products are one of a kind catering to the financial and operational needs of key decision makers. We are thrilled to win this mandate and look forward to a long-term and a mutually beneficial relationship. We are all set to launch Televisory’s innovative products in the key markets of US, Poland and Brazil.”

     

  • Sushanto Biswas will will replace Niti as the head of MediaCom Delhi

    MediaCom strengthens leadership team

     

     

    MediaCom has announced few significant changes and additions to its leadership team in India. Niti Kumar moves from the Delhi office head role to a national role in which she will lead strategy and insights and new business for MediaCom India.

     

    Sushanto Biswas will will replace her as the head of MediaCom Delhi. Biswas moves to MediaCom from Mindshare, where he used to lead the Ford business. He has over 19 years of experience across agencies and media houses. He will be based in Gurgaon and will oversee all the day to day operations and key client relationships based out of Delhi.

     

    Said Debraj Tripathy, Managing Director, MediaCom on the developments: “Niti and Sushanto, both come with a vast amount of professional expertise. I am delighted to see Niti grow and take on a larger role within the company and am excited to have Sushanto join our leadership team. Their individual knowledge and experience will add to our team’s strength. I am confident that both of them will shine in their new roles.”

     

  • No Indian media company in Zenith's Top 30, but Google & Facebook now control 20% of global adspend

    Google, Facebook top media owners

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Google and Facebook together accounted for 20% of global advertising expenditure across all media in 2016, up from 11% in 2012, according to the new edition of Zenith’s Top Thirty Global Media Owners, published today (May 8).These two companies captured 64% of all the growth in global adspend between 2012 and 2016.

     

    The Top Thirty Global Media Owners report is Zenith’s ranking of the world’s largest media companies, and has been published since 2007. For this edition there’s an updated methodology and focus purely on media owners’ revenues from advertising, excluding revenues from all other activities, which gives the true measure of their status in the global advertising market.

     

    Google (under its holding company Alphabet) is by some distance the largest media owner in the world, attracting US$79.4bn in ad revenue in 2016, three times more than the second-largest – Facebook – which attracted US$26.9bn. The largest traditional media owner is Comcast, which takes third place in our ranking, with US$12.9bn in ad revenue.

     

    As stated in Zenith’s quarterly Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, internet advertising has overtaken television to become the world’s largest advertising medium this year. Accordingly, digital platforms that are funded by internet advertising dominate the top 30 ranking. As well as Alphabet and Facebook, there are five more pure-internet media owners in the top 30: Baidu, Microsoft, Yahoo, Verizon and Twitter. Between them, the seven digital platforms generated US$132.8bn in internet ad revenue in 2016 – that’s 73% of all internet adspend, and 24% of global adspend across all media.

     

    Verizon became a media owner in 2015 when it bought AOL, and if all goes to plan will become a much larger one when it acquires Yahoo later this year. Verizon takes 21st place in the current ranking; adding Yahoo to AOL would boost it to sixth.

     

    The fastest-growing media owner in Zenith’s list is Twitter, which increased its ad revenues by 734% between 2012 and 2016. Tencent is second, having grown by 697% over this period, and Facebook is third, with 528% growth. Two other media owners have more than doubled in size between 2012 and 2016: Baidu, which grew 190%, and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which grew 171%.

     

    Most of the media owners in the ranking – 20 out of 30 – are based in the US. The US dominates for several reasons: the US has the biggest ad market, US companies have invested the most in extending their reach abroad, and Silicon Valley innovation has powered the growth of internet advertising. China and Germany each have three media owners in the ranking (Baidu, Tencent and CCTV for China, and Bertelsmann, ProSiebenSat.1 and Axel Springer for Germany). Then there are four countries with one media owners each: France (JCDecaux), Brazil (GrupoGlobo), Italy (Mediaset) and the UK (ITV).

     

    “The scale of the biggest platforms highlights the importance of building strong partnerships between agencies and media owners,” said Vittorio Bonori, Zenith’s Global Brand President. “Brands need to deal with these platforms to communicate with consumers effectively and efficiently, and agencies need to ensure they do so on the best terms available.”

     

    “Zenith’s new ranking demonstrates just how much the internet advertising platforms are setting the pace for global adspend growth,” said Jonathan Barnard, Head of Forecasting at Zenith. “Google and Facebook alone have accounted for almost two thirds of global adspend growth since 2012.”

     

    Ranking of Top 30 Global Media Owners 2017

    Rank Media owner Rank Media owner
    1 Alphabet 16 Advance Publications
    2 Facebook 17 JCDecaux
    3 Comcast 18 News Corporation
    4 Baidu 19 GrupoGlobo
    5 The Walt Disney Company 20 CCTV
    6 21st Century Fox 21 Verizon
    7 CBS Corporation 22 Mediaset
    8 iHeartMedia Inc. 23 Discovery Communications
    9 Microsoft 24 TEGNA
    10 Bertelsmann 25 ITV
    11 Viacom 26 ProSiebenSat.1 Group
    12 Time Warner 27 Sinclair Broadcasting Group
    13 Yahoo 28 Axel Springer
    14 Tencent 29 Scripps Networks Interactive
    15 Hearst 30 Twitter

     

    Advertising Revenues in US$ million
    Share of Global Advertising Expenditure (%)
  • Appointment for the leading watch manufacturer spans 32 international markets

    Isobar bags global digital mandate for Titan

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar India has been appointed as the global digital partner for Titan Company Ltd. As part of the new mandate, Isobar will handle the brand’s creative, social and media duties to strengthen its presence across 32 international markets. The account will be managed out of Isobar’s Bangalore office.

     

    The countries covered under the mandate for Titan’s International Business Division include USA, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, Qatar, Vietnam & Bangladesh, to name a few.

     

    Speaking on the appointment, Vijesh Rajan, Business Head, TCL – International Business, said: “In today’s fast evolving, challenging times, consumer businesses like ours see an opportunity to enhance the impact of our marketing monies through the unlimited potential of digital. We are happy to partner with Isobar in this regard, since their global footprint in this specialist domain is a good fit with our growth aspirations in international markets.”

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director of Isobar India, added: “We are honoured to have been entrusted by Titan Company Limited, a renowned Indian brand, to help them expand their global presence. It is a tremendous responsibility and we are looking forward to working closely with our Isobar offices around the world to deliver transformational business results through the creative use of digital for Titan.”