MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • The one-day conference, to be attended by the stalwarts of media industry, will be organised by Odiya daily Sambad

    Media biggies in Odisha tomorrow for M&E conclave

    By A Correspondent

     

    All roads (or air routes) lead to Bhubaneshwar as leading Odiya daily Sambad is  set to present a one-day national conclave on media and entertainment in the Odisha capital tomorrow (Feb 22).

     

    The media conference will be inaugurated by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. The guest of honour is Arun Kumar Sahu, Odisha Minister for Energy, Information and Public.  Aritra Sarkar, VP-Strategy, ABP; K.Z. Magdoom Mohamed, Managing Director WAN – IFRA South Asia; K K Goenka, Managing Director NPHL (Prabhat Khabar); and Srimoy Kar, Resident Editor, The New Indian Express will debate on ‘How does print media tackle low readership among current generation’.

     

    Prashant Pandey, Chief Executive Officer, ENIL-Radio Mirchi; Nisha Narayanan, Senior Vice President, Programming and Projects, Red FM and Susmit Chandra, Cluster Head East, Reliance Broadcast Network will discuss ‘Expansion of FM radio in Small Cities’. ‘TV as a medium will be relevant only for demonstration Purposes’ will see Rajiv Mishra, Chief Executive, Lok Sabha TV; Paritosh Joshi, India TV, Strategist; Sampad Mohapatra, Journalist, NDTV and Jajati Karan, Chief of Bureau, CNN-IBN debating the issue.

     

    The panel on social media comprises  Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands India; Srinivas K Swamy, Chairman & MD, RK Swamy BBDO, and Ravi Kiran, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Friends of Ambition. Ameve Sharma, President, Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan; Nalin Sood, EVP, Indian Snack Category, Pepsico India and Madan Mohan Mohapatra Head – Media & Marketing, Future Group would reason why ‘Today, Brands are created to be sold’.

     

    Sambad, from the house of Eastern Media Ltd, is Odisha’s widely read and circulated daily. Other media brands from the group include Radio Chokolate, Kanak TV, Manjari TV, Eastern Media Entertainment and Sambad School of Media and Culture.

     

    Monica Nayyarr Patnaik

    Monica Nayyarr Patnaik, JMD, Eastern Media Ltd, said, “Odisha as a market is expanding exponentially. The idea stemmed from the fact that nothing has happened in Eastern India per se, so the idea was to get the people here to tell them what Odisha is all about. The idea was to get all the people under one roof for all the verticals that we have. There have been conclaves before, but a national conference on this has never happened in Odisha. The conferences keep happening in metros, so i wanted to get panelists here in Odisha.” According to her, the attendees would gain insight from panel discussions and their insights about various verticals.

     

  • Every brand is faced with tackling the digital conundrum. Some tips on how India can keep pace globally, from Gruner + Jahr's Stefan Gneuss

    IMC 2013: E-commerce, the way to meet digital challenge

    By A Correspondent

     

    Presenting a case study on ‘What India Can Learn From The World’ on the second day of the Indian Magazine Congress, Stefan Gneuss, COO of Gruner + Jahr International, said e-commerce is one key way for brands to meet the digital challenge. Paid offerings and paid content is most important, he said, as a means to give readers value added content, services and products.

     

    Media consumption is inevitably shifting to digital, Mr Gneuss said, and print is shrinking. He observed that the erosion of print had first happened in the 1980s, when print consumption dropped due to television. It has happened again from the late 1990s, with the advent of digital. The most important trend is social media, which brands cannot afford to take lightly. He said brands should be active on social networks, and should offer more to the user leveraging on the strengths of the medium. “Offer videos as an advertising format, for example,” he advised, citing figures to show that time spent on online video consumption is on the rise. Similarly, mobile content should be offered for mobile consumers. E-commerce should be utilized from lead generation to the full-value chain.

     

    Moreover, as users become even more involved with the content they consume, brands must go with the trend and use social networks to create communities of interest and encourage user-generated content. “Own your segment,” he said, giving the example of brands in Europe which do this.

     

    Learnings

    Mr Gneuss highlighted takeaways from the changing publishing scenario.

    – Decreasing ad spends in the magazine business are a given.

    – Cost discipline is necessary for sustainable profitable business.

    – Brands must identify key assets for digital.

    – Develop additional business models.

    – Anticipate the consequences of mobile.

     

    5 theses for India

    – Your brands are king.

    – Work on costs and overflows for a sustainable profitable business.

    – Develop towards being a multi-channel content provider with technology as the basis.

    – ‘Online first’ was yesterday’s priority. Today, it is ‘mobile first’.

    – Attract talent. You can only survive if you have the best people on board.

     

  • Up-close with the vice chair and country head – discovery and planning, elevated to be Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide Board

    Basics don’t change for Madhukar Sabnavis

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    This Valentine’s Day would have been especially sweet for Ogilvy & Mather India. Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman and Country Head, Discovery and Planning, O&M India, was one of the 12 new members appointed to the O&M Worldwide Board. Having spent 25 years at Ogilvy, Mr Sabnavis is only the second Indian after Piyush Pandey to become a part of the board. (More here: http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/02/madhukar-sabnavis-on-oms-worldwide-board/)

     

    “At a personal level I am delighted! It’s clearly a reflection of the growing emergence of India in the network. It’s a recognition of Ogilvy India’s performance on the twin peaks of creativity and effectiveness. And the agency’s sustained strong performance over the years,” is how Mr Sabnavis summarised his reaction to the news.

     

    The news has humbled the disciplined man even further. He remarked, “My twenty-five years in Ogilvy have been a continuous journey; it’s a continuous attempt to keep up the excellence the company has achieved and keep pushing the bar up in terms of quality of work.” How does he manage to do this? “The basics don’t change – continue to find communication solutions for client problems. However, it needs to be done in a new environment and new media that makes it both challenging and exciting.”

     

     

    Future Ogilvy India bossman?

    Many in the industry who track Ogilvy believe there is a larger role in the Ogilvy India fold that is possibly being written for Mr Sabnavis. “Experience within our set-up and age are on his side,” one senior executive told MxMIndia on conditions of anonymity. A former O&M executive remarked that there are three clear pillars of the agency in India– Piyush Pandey (executive chairman), SN Rane (co-executive chairman) and Madhukar Sabnavis (vice-chairman). “Madhukar is a suit, but not the client servicing person in the traditional mould,” said the senior Ogilvy exec. “Being a planning whiz and his understanding of brands makes him a key constituent of the succession plan.”

     

    It’s early days yet, but, in the meantime, it’s business as usual.

    – MxM Bureau

    A graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (1983-85), Mr Sabnavis has been writing for various publications as well. In a yearender article in 2012, he remarked that it was a quiet, uneventful and forgettable year for the A&M industry. However, despite a slowdown in the overall economy, he reviews 2012 as a challenging year for the industry. He said, “We saw a slowdown in the overall economy that put pressure on marketing; but the industry responded quite well. While there were quite a few interesting campaigns, what stood out for me was the interesting use of digital power – whether it was on the internet through social media or otherwise, or whether it was on-ground activation or the DTH platform.”

     

    “Attempts were made to break the mould that portends a trend for the future. A commercial had its soundtrack debuted on the net before going on the tube; the makings of commercials were showcased on the DTH platform – and even in traditional media, a move was made towards longer duration to break the mould. Clearly marketing and advertising is rethinking paradigms and we hopefully should see more of it this year and in the years to come,” he added.

     

    According to Mr Sabnavis, the biggest challenge the industry currently faces is ‘talent’. “That’s something one would like to focus on a little more and work harder at attracting new talent and keeping the best within the industry fold,” he said.

     

    And has Ogilvy fared well? He definitely thinks so. According to him, Ogilvy India has been built on the two pillars of creativity and effectiveness and “we have been doing pretty well on those two pillars in the last few years. The task to keep this momentum going remains. In the last two years our global Marketing Services Center in Bengaluru has strengthened and shown strong growth. That’s the third pillar we want to grow as we go into the future. It has a strong delivery arm and a strong data analytics wing that caters to clients across the globe.” For him and Ogilvy, the way forward remains focusing, strengthening and growing the three pillars – creativity, effectiveness and delivery.

     

    Having spent nearly 28 years in advertising, Mr Sabnavis thinks he is fortunate that the right things have happened to him at the right time. “I have had the chance of working on some of the best clients at the right time in the ’80s and ’90s (and this continued into the new millennium when I moved into planning) when the market was opening up and brands began attempting to establish themselves, and this was very enriching. I have had the opportunity of setting up a second agency for Ogilvy – RMG David – which was a very liberating experience and then in the last decade the opportunity to set up and drive Planning in Ogilvy. During this journey I have worked with some great seniors, each of them having contributed their bit in shaping my thinking and approach to advertising and business,” he said.

     

    The biggest influencers on Mr Sabnavis, as he says, have been the teamwork and clients. “The Teamwork – I have worked with over the years; the creative people I have worked with – and have been fortunate to work with many stars – have helped me learn the importance of ‘magic’ alongside ‘logic’ – the importance of iteration as part of the process of creation and the joy of seeing yourself as co creator rather than just the brief giver. Second, the clients who over the years I have seen as partners in this process and equal contributors to the process; so the best work comes from the quartet of client, creative, servicing and planning. And in the last decade, the planning and servicing people I have worked with have been stimulating. The Ogilvy planning team has been quite inspirational with the diversity of ways in which they approach problems and the breadth of understanding they bring. Much of what I achieved as a servicing guy in the ’80s and ’90s was enabled by wonderful servicing partners who worked seamlessly with me,” he said.

     

    “However, in planning in the last 10 years, I have learnt how strong servicing people can provide a bedrock for others to drive and deliver great thinking and work. Simply put, the Ogilvy teamwork has been perhaps the biggest influence – the biggest glue for me to the agency,” concluded Mr Sabnavis.

     

  • Second edition of Praxis summit for PR and corporate communications professionals to be held at Lavasa near Pune from September 27to 29

    Praxis 2013 announced,to be held in Lavasa fm Sept 27-29

    By A Correspondent

     

    The PRomise Foundation for Public Relations, a non-profit organization with a goal of doing PR for Public Relations, has announced the second edition of its flagship event PRAXIS 2013. Billed as India’s foremost weekend summit for Public Relations and Corporate Communications professionals, PRAXIS 2013 will be held at the International Convention Centre at Lavasa between September 27 and 29, 2013. The summit will bring together students, professionals: young and mid-level and veterans of the Public Relations business under one roof to discuss various aspects that impact the profession (*See Disclosure)

     

    The inaugural summit was held in November 2012 at Pondicherry and was a resounding success. The summit in 2013 will see over 300 professionals in attendance. The keynote address is to be delivered by Lord Peter Chadlington, Chief Executive Officer at Huntsworth PLC and the founder of Shandwick.

     

    There will be two other keynote speeches, three power panels and three workshops in break-out groups. There will be two gala evenings including a live concert. The event sponsors will be some of the leading public relations firms, a media measurement company and an academic institute among others. The Holmes Report will be the international media partner. MxMIndia will be the online media partner. Participants may register by accessing the microsite at www.praxis2013.in

     

    The pricing will be uniform for all age groups with reduced rates for early birds. Participants have more than seven months to plan and prepare for the event to be held in the picturesque hill city of Lavasa which is an hour away from Pune and three hours away from Mumbai.

     

    The PRomise Foundation was created in 2012 for the purpose of organizing events for the professional community among other things. The Foundation has a Board of Advisors consisting of senior professionals from academics, media, corporate communications, marketing and business. A Board of Mentors comprises country heads of the leading Public Relations firms. The younger professionals consist of Supporters and Friends who contribute time and ideas to the smooth running of the various initiatives.

     

    Another initiative that is the outcome of the first summit is PRonto Рinformal and quick evening gatherings in the key metros once a quarter with the third Thursday dedicated to this get-together with no specific agenda. The first one will be held at The Media Caf̩ in Gurgaon on the evening of February 21 followed by one in Mumbai in March and in Bengaluru in April.

     

    Liza Saha and Umesh Nair – both of whom work full-time with leading Public Relations firms are summit co-chairs and are putting together PRAXIS 2013 in their spare time with the help of like-minded professionals from 15 other organisations who are all trying to create a platform for the profession on a voluntary basis.

     

    According to the summit co-chairs, “PRAXIS 2013 promises to be a weekend where the best in the business come together to learn and bond. After a very positive response to the inaugural summit we are convinced that events such as this are the need of the hour.. This is a humble effort by few of us volunteers to give back to the profession and pay it forward. We are looking forward to the months ahead in planning what we believe will become the ‘Go To’ event year-on-year”

     

    * Disclosure: MxMIndia is a media partner of PRAXIS 2013 and Pronto.

     

  • Sony has roped in Katrina Kaif to join mobile ad battle

    Sony ropes in Katrina to join smartphone war

    By Writankar Mukherjee

     

    Sony has roped in actress Katrina Kaif to launch its first made-in-India advertisement campaign for mobile phones next month and join the smartphone marketing war triggered by Apple iPhone.

     

    The Japanese electronics major has more than tripled cellphone marketing budget to Rs 300 crore in 2013-14 besides signing Kaif for two years in a bid to aggressively push its Xperia range to take on the likes of Samsung Galaxy, iPhone, Nokia Lumia and BlackBerry in India’s booming smartphone market.

     

    “Next fiscal, we will spend much more on promoting smartphones in India than we would do for Bravia televisions. It will be one of the biggest campaign ever for Sony India,” Tadato Kimura, marketing head at Sony India, said. He said the company wants to drive the business at a scale similar to its flagship television business. “Smartphones has been identified as one of the core areas of growth.”

     

    The campaign, being executed by Hakuhodo Percept, will break next month along with the launch of new Xperia models.

     

    It was Apple that triggered a marketing war in the Indian smartphone market by launching an EMI scheme for iPhone backed by an aggressive advertising blitzkrieg, which helped it double its monthly sales. And, according to IDC data, Apple increased its value share in the Indian smartphone market rapidly to 15.6% in the quarter ended December from 3.9% in the preceding quarter. Its share in shipments too jumped to 4.7% from 1.3%.

     

    This prompted market leader Samsung to launch a mega advertisement campaign and reintroduce EMI scheme for its high-end Galaxy range of phones this week.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Dentsu Creative Impact has won the creative mandate of Max Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare services

    Dentsu Creative Impact bags Max Healthcare’s creative duties

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Creative Impact has won the creative mandate of Max Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare services. The account win was the outcome of a pitch process held by Max Healthcare for a creative partner who would help them strengthen the brand in the country.

     

    Rohit Ohri

    Commenting on winning the account, Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman, Dentsu India Group said, “It speaks volumes of the trust that an enterprise like Max India has in Dentsu’s capabilities. This is the third Max India business we have won in the last six months. We are very excited to work on this challenging category and believe that there is scope to do some great work.”

     

    Many reputed agencies participated in the competitive pitch. Speaking on the strategy behind the pitch, Mr Ohri said, “Our passion and our understanding of the healthcare industry, with all its complexities, helped us develop great, relevant and impactful work for the pitch. This was greatly appreciated by the client. We look forward to partnering Max Healthcare in devising integrated communication solutions that are in line with the brand’s marketing strategy.”

     

    Elaborating on Dentsu being awarded the mandate, Anil Vinayak, Director, Sales & Marketing, Max Healthcare, said, “At Max Healthcare, we are committed to making available the highest standards of medical care and service excellence to patients. This drives all our endeavours including our brand communication. The team at Dentsu displayed a good appreciation of the healthcare consumer and our brand. This gave us the confidence that they were the right partners for us.”

     

    The account will be driven from Delhi under the leadership of Amit Wadhwa, Senior Vice President, Dentsu Creative Impact.

     

  • Meridian Communication has been merged with Soho Square, a growing international network present in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. The network will deliver cross-disciplinary work spanning a full spectrum of marketing communications

    Meridian is now Soho Square

    By A Correspondent

     

    Meridian Communication has been merged with Soho Square, a growing international network present in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. The network will deliver cross-disciplinary work spanning a full spectrum of marketing communications including brand development, brand identity, strategic planning and integrated creative solutions in India.

     

    Soho Square currently has three boutique agencies operating independently in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Given the complex nature of the Indian market and its geography, the Soho Square approach in India will be to establish itself as a standalone in each city rather than a nationally integrated network. The India plans attempt to have Soho Square in many more cities in the near future.

     

    While the individual operations will share the same philosophy and principles as the international network, in India, for the purpose of business, the three city agencies will operate independent of each other.

     

    Some of Soho Square Mumbai’s clients include ITC’s personal care products, Perfetti’s Stop Not, Piaggio’s Vespa, Bisleri, Pidilite’s Raincoat, Hungama.com, Oberoi Realty, Nutrela Soya, H&R Johnson and Hockey India. In Delhi, the client list reads Honda Cars India Ltd. (formerly Honda Siel Cars India Ltd.), Godfrey Phillips India Ltd., HTC Ltd, HDFC Ltd and Voltas Ltd. And in Bangalore, the clients of Soho Square include Himalaya Healthcare’s Consumer Products Division (Purifying Neem Face Wash, Clarifying Fairness Face Wash, Toothpastes, Face packs, Shampoos), Himalaya Asia Pac, The Bengaluru International Airport, GKB Opticals, iGate etc.

     

    The team in Mumbai comprises Samrat Bedi – Head of Office, Soho Square Mumbai, Anuraag Khandelwal & Satish deSa, Executive Creative Directors & Creative Heads, Mohit Ahuja – VP, Account Management and Shashank Lanjekar – Sr. VP, Planning. In Bangalore, Soho Square’s core team comprises Shenaz Bapooji – Head of Office, Soho Square Bangalore and C Ravikumar & Manoj Jacob – Creative Directors.

     

  • Bakul Gala has joined as Director, Aarif Malik takes over as Chief Operating Officer, and Sandeep Sarkar has been appointed Group Account Director

    Metigon ropes in 3 senior PRofessionals

    By A Correspondent

     

    Metigon Enterprises, the youngest entrant to specialised Public Relations and Public Affairs industry, has roped in three senior communications professionals. Bakul Gala, Aarif Malik and Sandeep Sarkar have taken office at Metigon in the last week in various senior capacities. The Mumbai-based communications firm already has a roster of several senior professionals heading its regional operations in India, including VK Cherian and Chiranjit Chakraborty in the northern markets, and Jashoda Madhavji in the western markets.

     

    Bakul Gala joins Metigon’s board as Director and will spearhead the Public Affairs business of the company. With over two decades experience in journalism and public relations, Mr Gala comes with an experience that spans multiple sectors and geographies, having been involved with providing senior consultancy to companies, several of them blue chip conglomerates, in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. He specializes in cross-border communications, market entry strategy, crisis communications, stock markets, fund launches and stakeholder relations.

     

    Aarif Malik takes over as Chief Operating Officer and will head the Public Relations business of Metigon. A PR professional of 18 years, Mr Malik’s career spans long stints in the country’s leading PR agencies, including Sampark PR, Perfect Relations and Madison PR. Best known for his trouble-shooting capabilities and crisis management, he has undertaken operational lead roles in his last two stints – those at Madison and Sampark PR – where he headed the agency’s operations and helped set up practices. Having executed campaigns for leading political parties and government administrative bodies, he is also known for his political PR and developmental capabilities.

     

    Sandeep Sarkar joins Metigon from Reliance Industries as Group Account Director and will head the agency’s Corporate practice. With over 18 years in media and public relations, Mr Sarkar is a rare professional to have made a mark in both the fields of communication. His 14 years of journalism were spent in some of the leading media houses such as The Indian Express, The Statesman, The Telegraph and Mumbai Mirror. His career in public relations has taken him to some of the best communications firms in India, including Sampark PR and Vaishnavi. His stint at Reliance Industries had him executing communication strategies for the Group’s corporate communication and that of its retail business.

     

    Says Nikhil Gerard, Managing Director, Metigon Enterprises, “Metigon’s growth path is defined by its positioning, that of a boutique, integrated communications firm. And that is where communication stalwarts like Bakul, Aarif and Sandeep fit in. With their rich and wide-ranging experience in public relations and public affairs, they will help drive the firm on the growth path it has charted for itself. We truly believe that we’re in the middle of some very exciting times. After two decades of existence the communications industry is poised at taking a major leap in the near future. With the core leadership team in place, we will be leading the change in India.”

     

  • Max Bupa Health Insurance, one of India's leading Health Insurance companies has appointed Lowe Lintas and Partners as their brand communication partner after a multi-agency pitch

    Lowe bags creative mandate for Max Bupa Health Insurance

    By A Correspondent

     

    Max Bupa Health Insurance, one of India’s leading Health Insurance companies has appointed Lowe Lintas and Partners as their brand communication partner after a multi-agency pitch.

     

    The agency has already executed a multi-media campaign for Family First, a unique family health insurance plan that can cover upto five generations and 13 relationships in one single policy.

     

    The business will be handled out of the Lowe Lintas Delhi office. Commenting on the win, Naveen Gaur, Executive Director, Lowe Lintas said, “With more and more Indians realizing and accepting how important health insurance is for them, advertising will play a very prominent role to expand the category and the brand.”

     

    Sevantika Bhandari, Director- Marketing, Max Bupa, said, ‘”We are happy to be associated with Lowe Lintas who will partner us in our journey ahead. Lowe Lintas has a great track record in building iconic brands and I am looking forward to some great work and a long relationship with them.”

     

  • In a recent study conducted by media & entertainment research firm Ormax Media, Salman Khan's initiative Being Human scored high on awareness amongst consumers in Mumbai

    Brand ‘Being Human’ has high awareness: Ormax study

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a recent study conducted by media & entertainment research firm Ormax Media, Salman Khan’s initiative Being Human scored high on awareness amongst consumers in Mumbai. The research was conducted to understand the awareness of the newly opened Being Human store in Mumbai.

     

    Of the respondents, 72 percent were aware of the initiative called Being Human. Almost all of them (92 percent) could associate Being Human with Salman Khan. Amongst those aware of Being Human, there was a high awareness (51 percent) that Being Human has opened a store in Mumbai, with about two-thirds of this section being able to even name the actual location of the store (Linking Road).

     

    Speaking about the results, Gautam Jain, Research Head – Films, Ormax Media, said, “Salman Khan’s popularity has increased consistently since the release of Dabangg in 2010. In January 2013, his share on our star popularity-tracking tool Stars India Loves was his highest till date. The high awareness of the launch of the Being Human store is a testimony to the star’s equity.”

     

    The research was conducted amongst movie viewers in the age group 15-34 years (SEC AB) in Mumbai city.

     

  • The outlook for global marketers continues to improve, according to the latest data from Warc's Global Marketing Index

    Marketing budgets, staffing see positive leap: Warc data

    By A Correspondent

     

    The outlook for global marketers continues to improve, according to the latest data from Warc’s Global Marketing Index. The headline GMI, a metric which combines trends observed in marketing budgets, trading conditions and staffing levels, registered a reading of 56.2 in February, it noted.

     

    According to the data, the index has recorded month-on-month improvement for three successive months. Marketers in Asia Pacific registered the strongest improvement in outlook, with the headline GMI rising from 53.8 last month to 56.2. The Americas continues to be the most positive region, with its headline GMI showing a strong reading of 59.5, up 1.5 points from January. The headline GMI for Europe also shows continued improvement, reaching 53.1 in February, albeit remaining slightly less optimistic than the other measured regions.

     

    The GMI provides a unique monthly indicator of the state of the global marketing industry, by tracking current conditions among marketers. A GMI reading of 50 indicates no change, and a reading of over 60 indicates rapid growth.

     

    The index for global trading conditions indicates rapid improvement for February and now stands at 59.4 (up 1.5 points from January). This is the index’s highest reading since April 2012. The outlook for trading conditions remains most positive in the Americas on 60.9, followed by Asia Pacific (59.7) and Europe (57.4).

     

    The index of global marketing budgets registered further growth in February (51.7). Marketers in the Asia Pacific region registered an increase for the first time in four months. The index rose by 2.2 points compared with last month to record a marginal net expansion on 50.3. Marketers in the Americas continue to display the greatest confidence (55.5). Marketing budgets continue to be cut across Europe, but the European index recorded a value of 48.8 in February, an increase of 2.6 points compared with January.

     

    The global index of staffing levels – the third component of headline GMI – registered further improvement in February (57.6). Staffing levels continue to rise in all global regions, with the Americas on 62.1, Asia Pacific on 58.5 and Europe on 53.2.

     

    Suzy Young, Data and Journals Director at Warc, commented, “The continued upward trajectory in headline GMI is encouraging. The outlook for global marketing budgets has improved since the start of the year with both the Americas and Asia Pacific recording positive growth.”

     

  • The story from Day 1 @ ad:tech: Digital is becoming a platform for storytelling and brand conversations

    Creating stories digitally for marketing success

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital media is becoming an integral part of brand communication and journey. The content, connected consumers and convergence is only fuelling the digital marketing. From Coca-cola to SMEs in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk are exploring this medium to connect with consumers. There is close to 72 hours of content that is generated every minute of every day from around the world. Most of it is being consumed in real-time. Digital is growing exponentially, and brands not taking advantage of it might just face tougher time engaging with the consumers.

     

    Speaking at ad:tech 2013, the premier digital marketing event held in Gurgaon every year, Wendy Clark, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing Communications and Capabilities, The Coca Cola Company, stressed on the need to create more stories that are share-worthy instead of typical advertisements. Sharing the digital campaigns by Coca-Cola, she deliberated on the concept of Liquid & Linked Marketing. “There are eight learnings so far on this journey,” she shared, “be share-worthy by creating content that is interesting and compelling; embrace the new salesforce which are consumers willing to carry brand messages ahead; listen and then engage; test, fail, learn, and then scale; speed trumps perfection so be ‘flawsome’; disrupt yourself or be disrupted by the market; do not accept the status quo; and, play well on a behavioural level to manage increasingly complicated campaigns.”

     

    Ms Clark was of the view that storytelling could happen on digital, or any other traditional media, “It is only storytelling of different durations,” she maintained. Focusing on the three areas of stories, spread and value, she cited the example of the ‘Hug Machine’ set up by Coca Cola in National University of Singapore, which would offer a free can of Coke if you hugged the machine. Even though the campaign ran only inSingapore, it became viral globally and generated over 10 million views in theUSitself.

     

    Katharyn White, Vice President Marketing, IBM Global Business Services delved into how the changing consumer is also resulting in the changing role of marketers. She emphasized on the three imperatives for marketing professionals: understanding the customer as an individual; creating a system of engagement that maximizes value creation at every touch; and designing culture and brand so that they are authentically one.

     

    Technology, according to marketers is increasingly becoming an enabler that is helping brands create emotionally connected brand stories. Sanjay Tripathy, Executive VP – Marketing, Product and Direct Sales Channels, HDFC Life, spoke about how his company thought of engaging consumers by creating themes around insurance and thus, creating conversations. Nikhil Rungta, Country Marketing Head, Google India, cautioned, “Technology can be intimidating,” but that did not stop Google from creating conversations around real people and real stories, such as the Thanjavur painting. Technology helped the brand marketers to not only create stories but make conversations out of it.

     

    Mr Rungta also shared how AT&T created a series of 5 webisodes to connect with the consumer, instead of TVCs. The power of videos also enable to consumers to share it, co-create it, become a part of it and, in the long run evangelize the brand.

     

    Rajesh Chakrabarti, CMO and Chief Innovation Officer, Reliance Commercial Finance and Reliance Home Finance said that while internet penetration and usage is growing multi-fold inIndia, “it is still difficult to sell insurance online.” Reliance used the ground (offline) to get the customers to the web and today, the number of policies sold online has grown from 10,000 to 70,000 policies every month even though he emphasised that it is not easy to engage consumer on the internet. To attract the consumers to online insurance, Reliance kept the interface simple and managed to increase its online revenues by 83 percent in the Commercial Finance and Home Finance domain.

     

    K Ramakrishnan, President – Marketing, Cafe Coffee Day, stated that offline and online channels are merging. “The brands need to communicate to consumer has changed to ‘how to make consumers communicate on brands’ behalf’. With creating right conversations, consumers do indulge in brand evangelism. Being open to social media also implies that you will get negative feedback. It is an opportunity for brands in this case to look for opportunity here, brand should be able to listen and reward people for it. There needs to be courage to take risks.” Sanjeev Kapur, CMO, Citi (India) talked about delivering customized experiences to consumer according to their preferences.

     

    Harneet Singh, VP-Marketing, Domino’s Pizza India shared how Domino’s replicated its offline 30-minute delivery challenge online. And today, “eCommerce contributes 15 percent of delivery sales. With native Apps, we have introduced advanced analytical re-marketing strategy. The mobile ordering app has results in 10 percent of our total digital sales.”

     

    Marketers are also sure that going forward, digital marketing investments will significantly outpace the traditional media investments.

     

    With the changing media matrix, the role of media agencies is also changing. Speaking to MxM India, Mr Chakrabarti said that with digital becoming an integral part of any marketers’ plan, the need arises for specialised agencies which can provide specific solutions and plans. Ruth Stubbs, CEO, iProspect and Digital Media – Aegis Media APAC said, “Digital technology is creating more media. With more and more business being done online, we need to reinvent the roles we play. It is important to know how we can reset our approach to reinvent the way brands are built in this 24×7 connected environment. It becomes our massive responsibility to guide the brands through the massive digital chaos.”

     

    Digital chaos it may be, but it sure is throwing up some great stories and conversations!