MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • From the Cinthol Lime days to all-night presentation preps – old-timers look back at Madison with affection and respect

    Old-timers Prabha Prabhu, Veena Gidwani, Neelkamal Sharma, Basabdutta Chowdhury, Dipankar Sanyal & Nagaraj Krishnamurthy on Madison@25

    Prabha Prabhu, CEO, BMB Madison

    Madison feels like my own agency. You are given complete freedom to run the business your way within some broad parameters discussed at regular Management meets where strategies are discussed and finalized. The focus also is more on work than financials.

     

    Another very important aspect is that there is no office politics despite the fact that it is now 25 years old. Whilst it is extremely professional in the way it operates, there is tremendous bonding between the employees. Madison is not too strict about work timings, yet employees themselves make sure that they finish the work on time. Also it’s not work, work, work all the time. There is enough room for FUN too.

     

    No wonder, then that even if people quit Madison, many of them return.

     

    Having been part of the entire Madison journey, I have many fond memories. The first one that comes to mind, of course is, the way we started Madison itself. We started off with Godrej Cinthol and Tata’s Nelco TVs. We had to start work on both the accounts immediately and since our office was still undergoing renovation even most of the routine meetings were held at Yacht Club, to make sure work did not suffer.

     

    There was great excitement on Cinthol from Day 1. The first new launch was of the variant Cinthol Lime. We had the film shot and ready but the launch was delayed for several reasons. And one Sunday evening, just 2 days before launch of the film we saw the old Liril film interspersed with shots of our Cinthol Lime film. The first thing that we did was to incorporate the message COMING SOON in our film and aired it immediately. Then Sam and me rushed to Delhi, met up the DD officials and noticed that the Liril film script was approved just two days before release. DD stopped airing HLL’s Liril ad. Sam also spoke to journalists about this and the news was all over. Cinthol Lime galloped in Market share and overtook Liril.

     

    Another very interesting milestone was when P&G and Godrej came together to form PGG and that’s when we started working with P&G on Cinthol. The then CEO of P&G David Thomas was happy with us and wanted us to handle P&G brands. And as you know for that we had to be one of their Network Agencies. And David mooted the conversation between us and one of their roster agencies DMB&B. We started work on the two flagship accounts of P&G, Whisper and Vicks. And soon we made Whisper the market leader.

     

    P&G asked all their creative agencies to pitch for their AOR business. All of us, Grey, Leo Burnet, Mudra, Saatchi & Saatchi and Madison pitched for the account. We were the smallest and newest agency of P&G and yet we won the Media AOR account and thus became the first media AOR in the country.

     

    Shanti, was the first long running afternoon serial on DD and getting the slot from DD, getting producers to bid for it was part of the exciting journey of Indian Television.

     

    The stories of course are never ending.

     

    Veena Gidwani, Former CEO, Madison PR

    My friendship with Sam goes back many years before I became a part of Madison. My twelve and a half year journey at Madison PR was exciting, challenging, fun -filled and satisfying. Working closely with Sam on building Madison PR from scratch into an agency recognized for its Brand PR having a strong, motivated and committed team and a blue chip client roster was hugely enriching .

     

    As an organisation, Madison is professional, transparent , progressive and ethical, always putting client delight as the focus and every Madisonite feels a deep sense of pride being a part of the team. As a boss, Sam was easy to work with, trusting, appreciative and non interfering … always receptive to new ideas…. spotting opportunities and willing to invest for the future. He was sharp and incisive, able to get to the crux of any issue in no time.

     

    Sam has another rare quality of making team members of all ages and at all levels feel absolutely at ease. He has a special soft corner for the young PR team and had on several occasions expressed that when it came to energy and ideas to let one’s hair down, the PR team beat all other teams at Madison hands down. At our annual off sites, he contributed greatly during the business sessions in the day in helping us crunch ideas and numbers and in the evenings bonding with the team by sometimes walking the ramp in style for a beach fashion show or uninihibitedly answering personal questions on “Vodka with Veena” or helping to build a raft out of worn out tyre tubes, bamboo and rope and then participating in a river rafting race!

     

    I have always admired Sam’s zest for work and his boundless energy (he can be engaged in a serious discussion even at midnight after a long, hard day and still come up with fresh, exciting ideas!) and have never ceased to be surprised by his constant desire to learn new things from people in varied spheres.

     

    On this momentous and special occasion my heartiest congratulations to Sam, Lara and the entire Madison team and best wishes for more milestones and Bigger Celebrations!

    Neelkamal Sharma, COO Buying, Madison Media Group

    Madison has grown along with its clients’ businesses, and is competitive enough to handle all existing small & large national and multi-national blue-chip clients. It is able to develop tools locally to help meet clients’ advertising & marketing related challenges. It is honest and transparent enough to retain its clients and talent over years who believe in similar values in today’s cutthroat competitive environment.

     

    While HR takes care of many fun-filled events across the year, the real fun lies with people here who are a bunch of enthusiastic youngsters, and passionate enough to work hard to provide best media solutions for their clients. In all this, we work closely with our Media partners, and are able to work on win-win partnerships, delighting both media partners and clients.

     

    Working in Madison, I have learnt that client interest comes first, ahead of Madison’s interest and my own personal interest. It is wonderful that Madison has grown over the years, and yet retained its work culture and values.

     

    Sam is really a wonderful person to work with, one gets to learn a lot from. I can’t think of another organization that can offer me a combination of such leadership and values.
    When I look back, there are many fond memories and moments of pride during my last 15 years at Madison and some of those are “imitating Sam in his peculiar style” which you will find many Madisonites doing in the corridor or at many Madison get-togethers. Madison bagging so many awards and accolades, of course, is the pride of every Madisonite.

     

    Basabdutta Chowdhury CEO, Platinum Media

    I joined Madison when it was 21 years old. I have grown as Madison has grown. It has given me freedom and opportunities to fulfil my career ambitions. I am where I am today thanks to Madison. I could not have been more privileged than to work with Sam.

     

    The hierarchy in Madison, though it exists, is pretty flat – learning and growth opportunities are unlimited. It provides a great platform for young professionals who have the inclination.

     

    Madison’s vision, values, integrity have taught and inspired me to be the kind of professional I am today.

     

    My fondest memories in Madison revolve around Sam’s ability to defuse a difficult negotiation process with simple, real-life situations in a light-hearted manner. Every time I look back, these incidents bring a smile on my face. And I am sure many more such memories are still in store for me.

     

    Dipankar Sanyal, COO, Madison MoMs

    Madison is unique. It is thoroughly professional and at the same time there is a great bonding. Here one gets the freedom to speak his or her mind, express onself freely. This helps in solving issues/ problems far more easily. Even the junior members feel comfortable to bring up their ideas and thoughts without any hesitation. Our business is all about ideas and people, and when there is an atmosphere which allows free flow of thoughts and ideas among its people you are able to add immense value to your clients because you are always creating and adding on to a great product.

     

    It has been eight years that I have been with Madison in the current stint. Two major aspects that have always held me back are: people and the management. I have a bunch of brilliant people who have time and again proven that they are the best. On the management front I have always been allowed to express myself freely, act like an entrepreneur within the management guidelines. Personally that has helped me develop as a professional and an individual. Most importantly, I would not have got Sam Balsara anywhere else. It is an honor and privilege to be part of his team.

     

    An interesting incident comes to mind, that shows how seamless the organization is, when I first joined Madison in 1998, I was a junior client servicing executive. I remember Coca Cola had given us mandate to handle their OOH activities. We had to make an important presentation to them. The day before the presentation, Sam sat with me from evening to night correcting and guiding me through the presentation. I can never forget that evening as that was a huge lesson for me on many accounts in my life.

     

    Nagaraj Krishnamurthy, Senior Vice President, Madison Business Analytics

    As freshers from college, three of us (Santosh, Deepak and Myself) developed Adwise, the much acclaimed system of Madison way back in 1998. The system was so good that it was peerless for that time and remains so even today. As youngsters, three of us worked as if we were on a mission from God. In hindsight, very surprised that three freshers from college could accomplish so much in such a short period with so little resources. Easily, Adwise development is one of the most productive phase of my life.

     

    I and many like me, are a part of Madison even after years is in itself a proof that Madison is special in more ways than one. Entrepreneur culture at Madison and of course Charisma of Sam Balsara makes one stay in Madison for really long durations.

     

    This quote of Sam captures it all: ‘We believe that our client’s problems are our problems and we do go the extra mile. I hope to sort of try and partner the client genuinely without looking at Madison’s stream of resources or profitability. Do whatever to make the client succeed.”

     

    Sam does believe in every word of that statement and has ensured it is in the DNA of Madison.

     

    Interviewed by Ritu Midha

     

     

     

  • Industry honchos and rivals – past and present – are all praise for Madison and Sam Balsara

    Madison@25: Andre Nair, Ashutosh Srivastava,Vikram Sakhuja, Shashi Sinha, Lynn de Souza, Ambika Srivastava & Divya Gupta on the formidable frenemy

    Madison and Sam Balsara are so close to each other’s identity that while talking of one, people start talking of the other. The same happened in the case of these honchos. It is almost as much a tribute to 25 years of Sam Balsara in the industry as it is for Madison World.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Andre Nair, (Former CEO GroupM South Asia), Chief Operating Officer, DatVietVAC Group Holdings

    For me, Sam Balsara & Madison represent two aspects; each the maker of the other.

     

    Madison: Joyously Indian to its core, they’re a competitor to be reckoned with. They jealously retain their clients and pitch clever, selectively & aggressively; no secret to their success & expansion over 25 years. And, through its history, Madison has grown & given opportunity for new bold leaders, like CVL Srinivas & Punitha Arumugam, to rise.

     

    Sam: Outside the competitive arena, as a key industry leader, he lives up to that old Ogilvy aphorism – a gentleman with brains, who works tirelessly with other leaders for the general betterment of the industry.

     

    Here’s to Madison and their next thriving 25 years!

     

     

     

    Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman & CEO, Global Emerging Markets, Mindshare Worldwide

    My first encounter with Sam was years ago when I used to run Fulcrum (Unilever’s media AoR@HTA ,now JWT), prior to setting up of Mindshare in India – when Sam was looking for a person to replace Sriram who had moved to Singapore with Starcom. Sam was by then a charismatic industry leader with high credibility among clients, and Madison was seen by the advertising firms as an upstart, disrupting the establishment and breaking up the full service agency model.

     

    While I did not end up joining him in Madison, I did end up joining that industry. That one conversation with him really deepened my resolve to do what I could, along with other like minded colleagues, to get WPP to bring Mindshare & Maxus (Maximize in those days) to India. The rest, as they say, is history! Personally speaking, it certainly inspired me to get to where I am today, and I hold Sam in the highest regard as a pioneer in the market, who showed us the way. Even after WPP set up GroupM and carved out a dominant share in the market, we always saw Sam and Madison as a worthy ‘frenemy’ in the market. ‘Frenemy’, because they had similar values as us, they were a worthy competitor in pitches who always had good talent, had trusted relationships with their clients and for a long time, were very careful about who they chose to work with – Sam is always a man of his word, and was extremely careful not to overcommit to new clients without first making sure his existing clients got the highest value out of their relationship with Madison. So bitter competitors in pitching for new business, but similar views and vision on what would grow and strengthen the media agency sector. And eventually as frenemies, we ended up doing a JV together, to set up an independent Mediacom in India !

     

    Congratulations and best wishes for your 25th!

     

    Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, Maxus Worldwide

    I’ve known Sam for 20 of the 25 years Madison has been in existence. It dates back to 1993 when in P&G I took on the Media Manager role. In those days Media planning and buying were managed through full service agencies, and I introduced the notion of a consolidated Buying AOR (subsequently both Planning and Buying). Madison won the pitch, and Sam’s personal entrepreneurial style had a lot to do with it. With Sam’s support we pioneered the afternoon slot / as well as India’s first daily strip – Shanti on DD. And that was a start of a very productive relationship that continued when I moved to Coca-Cola and held a Media pitch there. Sam’s greatness lies in his high client orientation, his indefatigable energy, his deal making angles and in those days an ability to get quality talent like D Sriram, CVL Srinivas, Ajit Varghese and Lakshmi Narsimhan into Madison to work on our business.

     

    Even as a competitor it is a pleasure to work alongside Sam. He is a true statesman and puts industry interests above own. He continues to have an amazing eye for detail, and is practical to boot. For me, Madison and Sam are inextricable. I have learnt a lot of the Media I know from him, and he continues to inspire. I wish both him and Madison warmly on this milestone.

     

    Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Media Brands

    I have immense regard for Sam as an individual. At the time when media was not much recognized by the industry, he came to the forefront and provided industry the needed pedigree. It was largely his efforts that brought credibility to media buying business,

     

    Madison has definitely grown a lot – and created many milestones. Challenge now is to scale up and keep the momentum going. Organisation is built on culture and systems – and I am sure focus is on the side now – Sam whenever he decides to leave, would leave a legacy. Challenge is to take it up from there.

     

    Lynn de Souza

    Madison and Sam have always fascinated me. A true blue Indian story of guts and glory, innovation, ambition and perseverance. And often a bit of healthy jugaard!

     

    They believe in the strength of long term relationships, and are not afraid to ask for what they deserve. Sam’s energy is legendary and he built a successful empire largely on his ability to drive himself, and build lasting relationships with key team players and clients.

     

    I wish them 25 more years of pathbreaking game-changing success.

     

    Ambika Srivastava, Chairperson Vivaki Exchange India, Vivaki

    I have always admired and respected Sam. There are two things that I would love to mention – one, that Madison has provided very good talent to industry in leadership roles – CVL Srinivas, Ajit Varghese, Punitha Arumugam. It is just amazing. It is a place from where leaders have emerged – it is Madison’s great contribution to the industry, and a tribute to Sam’s leadership.

     

    Second, Madison has always been very tough competition. When you win against Madison – the win is far sweeter, because the competition one knows is formidable. It is not that every pitch we competed has converted into a win for us – but whenever it has happened, it has been exciting.

     

    I admire Sam for his energy and that he finds time to do so much for the industry as well.

     

    Really very good people.

     

    Divya Gupta, CEO, Dentsu Media

    My full salute to Sam and his team

     

    Madison’s client roster, the deep relationship and tenure it enjoys with these clients, speaks volumes.

     

    Just when you think you have managed to get a lead on Madison, Sam pulls out a rabbit from nowhere! By far one of the toughest competitors to go up against in a business pitch… I have had the misfortune of learning it the hard way!

     

    Sam’s passion, drive, tenacity is legendary. Madison stands testimony to this.

     

    I wish Madison and Sam an equally dynamic and successful future.

     

    Interviewed by Ritu Midha

     


  • CVL Srinivas fondly remembers his stint with Madison, and the 'huge bonus' of working with Sam Balsara

    Vision, values and never-say-die spirit work for Madison@25: CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM

    CVL Srinivas, now CEO, Group M, South Asia spent five years (1998-2003) at Madison Media. His second job post his PGDBM – the first being a four year stint with Fulcrum (JWT) as Media Head, Foods & Personal Products, Unilver AC.

     

    Srinivas (Srini as he is known properly as) has, covered many a mile and crossed many milestones post his Madison stint, and is today the most powerful man at the helm of the largest media entity in the country.

     

    In this short conversation with Ritu  Midha of MxM India, he fondly remembers his stint with Madison, his learnings from there, and adds that working with Sam was a huge bonus.

     

    What do you think has been the key factor behind Madison’s stupendous success?

    Madison has been successful due to Sam’s leadership and vision. Additionally, the never-say-die spirit, the vision and values have held it on good stead for all these years.

     

    You were a part of Madison in its early days. How was the experience working in a ‘David’ agency with mammoth dreams?

    For me, Madison was terrific learning. I was young, restless and wanting to explore unchartered territory. Madison provided me a perfect platform to hone my skills. Working with Sam was a huge bonus.

     

    Any interesting incidents/fond memories you can share with us?

    I have many fond memories. I (finally) got married around the time I joined Madison, so in that sense it proved lucky!!! We had a small, well-knit team and I enjoyed working with people like Ajit Varghese, Sudipto Roy and so many others. Madison also made me shift base to Delhi, a city I wasn’t very sure of, but grew to like and ended up living in for 14 years.

     

    What is your take on Madison as competition?

    Madison is a highly respected brand in the media space. We treat all competition with the same seriousness. To Madison’s credit they have remained consistent.

     

    Do you believe Madison success story can be repeated by another standalone media agency?

    Nothing is impossible, although it is very difficult to build an empire like Sam has, being a standalone agency.

     

    What are your views on Sam, the person, the boss and the competitor? Any key learnings from him that have guided you?

    I have the highest regard for Sam as a person, boss and competitor. Despite the legendary status he has achieved he remains a very humble person. His attention to detail, passion for his client’s business and ability to engage with people at all levels make him very special.

     


  • The enduring story of Madison World, through the eyes of Time

    Madison@25: Timeline… from 1988 to 2013

     

    1988

    March 21: Began with Godrej and Nelco accounts

     

    1989

    Launched Cinthol Lime which made a phenomenal impact in marketplace with 5.3% market share in premium market in first month.

     

    1993

    Grew steadily, increasing seven-fold billings in 5 years.

     

    1994

    Tied up with DMB&B Added P&G brands Vicks & Whisper. Moved Whisper’s share from 27% to 47% despite premium pricing, making it market leader.

     

    1995

    Added Philips DAP account;
    March: Won Buying AOR of P&G

     

    1996

    Adopted Concept of Unitisation.
    March: Won Buying AOR of Tata Tea
    October: Won Coke Buying AOR

     

    1997

    Won Buying AOR of Godrej

     

    1998

    January: Madison Media opens in Delhi
    March: Outdoor company called Out- Sel started
    April: Rural unit, Anugrah Madison begun
    August: Madison Media opens in Bangalore with BPL Group AOR

     

    1999

    January: Split media into two with CVL Srinivas as COO of North & South and Punitha Arumugam as COO of West
    March: Retained Coke AOR in pitch and won planning
    April: Lost Cinthol creative account
    July: Parted company with DMB&B
    July: Vicks & Whisper accounts moved out because of parting with DMB&B

     

    2000

    January: Retained P&G Buying AOR
    March: ADNOVA commences operations
    April: PR Unit starts independent operations
    May: Won Maruti (TV) AOR & Perfetti van Melle AOR
    June: Won Kinetic AOR, Godrej planning AOR
    August: Madison Media Research Centre starts operations

     

    2001

    May: New Outdoor unit – MOMS commences operations as independent company. Wins ZEE TV, VIP, Delsey and HBO
    September:     Madison Creative commences operations in Delhi
    September: Mothballed ADNOVA
    2001-02: PR wins Sify, TBZ, Swagelok accounts among others; PR network expanded to Indore, Chandigarh, Pune; Anugrah Madison wins ACC

     

    2002

    January: Lost Tata Tea AOR because of Tata Group consolidation
    February: Won ESSEL/ Playwin /Zee AOR
    April: Merchandising unit (MMS) commences operations as independent company. Wins business of Airtel, Samsung & Shaw Wallace

     

    2003

    Madison Creative wins Red Bull account,
    Madison Media wins Kotak Mahindra, Asian Paints, Cadbury AOR
    Anugrah Madison wins Sky Insurance and Water Base (Shrimp Farm)
    MOMS wins Skoda, Kotak and Godrej Tea

     

    2004

    Jan: Madison Media wins Hyundai AOR
    April: Brand Equity ranks Madison Media as the second best Media Planning and Buying agency
    June: Media wins Airtel AOR
    July: MOMS wins Times TV Zoom account
    Anugrah opens office in Mumbai
    Aug: Madison Dream Year launched
    New in-film unit (MATES) starts operations
    Merchandising unit re-branded as Madison Retail Paradigm

     

    2005

    Jan-Apr: Madison Media wins TVS, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals media AOR.
    Madison Media launches 2 sub-brands: Madison Media Plus, Madison Media Infinity
    May: Madison Media becomes India’s Most Admired Media Agency, according to the Brand Equity Ad Agency Reckoner 2005.
    June: Sam Balsara nominated on Media Jury at International Advertising Festival, Cannes 2005.
    September: Madison launches Think Pink Year.
    Madison Media wins the coveted General Motors Account
    Oct – Dec: MATES starts celebrity management division, sign on Akshay Kumar
    Madison PR starts Media Training Capsule and Design Cell

     

    2006

    June: Madison Media becomes the first Media agency to bring home not one but two Cannes Media Lions Awards for work done on Cadbury and P&G.
    October: Madison Media evolves into 4 sub brands – Madison Media Alpha, Madison Media Plus, Madison Media Infinity and Madison Media Sigma
    November: Madison starts Shopper Marketing Consultancy Unit – MASH
    December: Events take Madison International; Madison invests in Thai Events Company Penada

     

    2007

    January: Madison stars BTL unit, Out-Sel Promotions in Bangalore and second Outdoor Agency Platinum Outdoor
    April: Madison ties up with Philippine based company Xurpas to launch Madison Xurpas Mobile Service to enter the mobile space
    August: Madison Creative re-brands itself as mc2
    October: Madison acquires a stake in Professional Management Group, India ‘s first Sports Marketing Company founded by Sunil Gavaskar and marks an entry into the Sports Management
    November: Madison Media ranked No. 1 Media Agency by Brand Equity Ad Agency Reckoner 2007 Again!

     

    2008

    March: Madison Media starts operations in Sri Lanka and wins Airtel and Britannia accounts
    April: Sam Balsara acquires a majority stake in WPP’s Mediacom operations in India
    April: Madison – Mediacom combine wins P&G’s media planning and buying business in a Pitch
    July: Madison announces the launch of second Media Agency Platinum Media; to commence in last quarter of 2008 in October 2008
    August: Madison Media wins Rs. 325 crores worth of new business – clients include Indian Oil, Max New York Life Insurance, SpiceJet, Bharti AXA Mutual Fund, Bharti AXA General Insurance, Bharti Retail, Airtel Digital TV and Levis
    September: Madison World wins first integrated account of Levis and to offer Levis its Media, PR, Outdoor and Entertainment services through an integrated service

     

    2009

    Feb: Madison World announces the launch of Platinum PR

    April: Madison World wins 2 awards at Festival of Media Awards, Valencia – Madison Media wins Best Communication Strategy for BBC World Service Trust, Condoms Campaign and Mediacom wins People’s Choice Award for Gillette.
    June: Mediacom wins 1 Gold and 1 Silver at Cannes Media Lion for Gillette – India Votes to Shave or not to Shave under Best Use of Mixed Media and Best Innovation in FMCG category respectively
    Madison Media wins 1 Bronze Media Lion Award at Cannes for BBC World Service Trust, Condoms Campaign under Best Use of Mixed Media
    July: Madison Media wins coveted Britannia Media AOR.
    Platinum Outdoor launches Activation and Design services

     

    2010

    Madison Media retains Airtel and General Motors account in a multi agency pitch, but looses Coke.
    Madison World brings Trevor Beattie to India, launches a 50-50 JV with Trevor Beattie’s BMB to launch BMB in India
    MOMS launches IES – Integrated Experiential Solutions
    Madison World launches new media brand Crest to handle ITC media planning and buying AOR
    Madison World launches Madison Business Analytics and Madison Digital

     

    2011

    Madison Media wins Pidilite Media AOR.
    PMG signs up Abhinav  Bindra for Sports Celebrity Management and Mates signs up John Abraham.
    Madison Media wins 10 awards at Emvies 2011 including 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 7 Bronze.
    Madison Media announces the launch of Pinnacle, a dedicated unit exclusively to handle the Kraft AOR
    Media Infinity II in Bangalore  renamed Madison Media Omega
    Madison Media launches new positioning of iEngine.
    Madison World  evolves a 4 pillar strategy  of:  Automation, Ideation, Digitilization, Diversity
    Madison Media  announces several senior level additions to its  Leadership Team. Anugrah Madison celebrates its 25th Anniversary and launches AMRA – Anugrah Madison Rural Academy

     

    2012

    Gautam Kiyawat joins Madison Media Group as CEO

    Madison Media wins Crompton Greaves, Dixcy Textiles, Enamor, GO, Glenmark, Radikal Rice and Café Coffee Day Media accounts

    Paresh Chaudhry joins Madison PR as CEO; Veena Gidwani retires after twelve years of driving growth at Madison PR

    Raj Nair joins BMB as Chief Creative Officer

    Madison Media wins Grand Emvie, Media Client of the Year for Cadbury and 8 Golds , 5 Silvers and 2 Bronze

    Madison PR wins Glaxo Smith Kline, Games 24X7.com, Garuda Food, Hilton, Hygienic Research Institute and Star CJ, Sketchers, Grover Wines accounts

    Madison PR starts office in Hyderabad

     

    2013

    Madison World starts The Football Edge, a jv with Noomi Mehta and Baichung Bhutia.

    Madison Media win Max India corporate account, Ruchi Soya and MagicBricks.com

    Sam Balsara wins Media Agency Head of the Year at the IAA Leadership Awards.

     


  • Madison World has won the McCain Foods account, which will be handled by Platinum Media in Delhi. The account was previously handled by Zenith Optimedia

    Madison Media wins McCain Foods AOR

    By A Correspondent

     

    As Madison World celebrated its 25th anniversary, it received a gift with a difference – the win of the McCain Foods account. The account will be handled by Platinum Media in Delhi. McCain plans to substantially increase its spends in the coming year. The account was previously handled by Zenith Optimedia.

     

    McCain has a range of ready-to-cook frozen products including French fries, aloo tikki, idli sambar combo and cheese appetizers.

     

    This adds to Madison Media’s account-winning spree of Ruchi Soya, Max India’s corporate account, Cafe Coffee Day, Radikal Rice and Crompton Greaves.

     

    Gautam Kiyawat

    Gautam Kiyawat, Group CEO, Madison Media, said, “McCain as a brand has tremendous potential in the Indian market and I am excited to have them on board as our client. We are confident of helping them achieve their rightful dominant share.”

     

    Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO, Platinum Media, said, “We are absolutely delighted with this new win. What makes this win even more special is that it comes on our 25th anniversary.”

     

     

    Basabdatta Chowdhury

    Vikas Mittal, Managing Director, McCain Foods India Pvt Ltd, said, “We have a line-up of new business strategies and accompanying communication initiatives. Today, we are looking at increasing our media presence across all touch points.”

     

    Gunjan Pandey, General Manager-Marketing, McCain Foods India, added, “We wanted to take on board an agency that complimented our brand communication strategies. We look forward to create a more distinct market space for McCain.”

     

  • The MEC-Meritus forecast averages the IPL TV rating to be 3.9, a 2.6 % increase over 2012

    IPL ratings will look up: MEC forecast

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media buying and planning agency MEC, a founding partner of GroupM, has announced the findings of its IPL TV Rating Estimation Study, now in its fifth edition.

     

    A combination of primary research and high-end analytics, the study has achieved 100 percent accuracy in the past, including last year. The research was conducted in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. As in previous years, the study has been carried out in association with Meritus, WPP’s analytics company.

     

    Key findings of the study are:

    Average TV rating for the league stage is expected to go up from 3.8 last year to 3.9 – an increase of 2.6% (15+ years, Male/Female, SEC ABC)

    MI (4.5), KKR (4.2) and CSK (4.1) games to have the highest ratings

    Home team (84%), favorite team (79%) and Indian stars (64%) continue to be deciding factors to watch a match. Time of the match (49%) is also gaining importance.

    MI (23%), Chennai (19%) and KKR (14%) are the most popular teams. Support for Hyderabad has gone up by 200% (2% to 6%), Bangalore has dropped by 50% (12% to 8%)

    Sachin Tendulkar (80), MS Dhoni (79), Yuvraj Singh (76), Virat Kohli (74) and Virender Sehwag (73) are the most popular Indian players in the League; Chris Gayle (60), Ricky Ponting (55), Brett Lee (51) and Kevin Pietersen (50) are most popular foreign players

     

    T Gangadhar

    T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC India, said, “Our study suggests that IPL seems to have matured as a property. The study clearly establishes that ratings in the first phase (first 18 games) impact the fate of the entire league. With Pepsi activating their title sponsorship in a big way, the BCCI launching the IPL Fantasy League and India’s strong performance against Australia, the first stage of the league could get further momentum. We expect the IPL Fantasy League to become a key part of the live broadcast experience and as a result, social chatter around IPL could grow significantly,” he added.

     

    Sunder Muthuraman, Managing Partner, Meritus Analytics, also believes that the IPL brand is reflecting the behaviour of a typical mature consumer product. “Our proprietary survey, that is integral to the forecast, shows that there is a segment of audience who will watch more than last year (say, the loyalists) and another segment who will watch lesser (say, the rejecters). Given that the former segment is larger than the latter, the ratings are likely to be marginally higher than in 2012. Given our past successes, we hope our pioneering rating forecast methodology will be adopted by all broadcasters and advertisers,” Mr Sunder concluded.

     

  • The International Advertising Association, India, has collaborated with the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations this time for the IAA Olive Crown Awards

    It’s for real. IAA’s Olive Crown Awards on April 1

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) will present the IAA Olive Crown Awards on April 1 at the Shangri-la Hotel, Parel, Mumbai. Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel will be the chief guest.

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    IAA President Srinivasan Swamy said, “These are India’s first and only awards that salute excellence in communicating sustainability. They are now acquiring the stature of a cause and I am very happy with the great acceptance they have received from all sections of the industry specially advertisers. You can expect to see many senior advertisers at the event.”

     

     

     

    MG Parameswaran

    Awards committee chairman MG Parameswaran said, “The number of entries have registered a very satisfying increase, and the eminent jury were more than happy with their quality. We have received entries from across the Asian region and in fact some senior professionals based abroad will be flying into Mumbai to attend this prestigious awards function.”

     

     

    IAA Vice-Chairman (Asia-Pacific region) Pradeep Guha said he was very happy that for the first time the IAA had collaborated with the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) in an event like this. “Such regional cooperation is the shape of things to come in the future and it is admirable that the Olive Crowns have gone pan-Asian in their third year itself.”

    Pradeep Guha

     

    The event is presented by 9X Media and the green partners for the awards are Hungama.com, Rajasthan Patrika and Panasonic India.

     

    More information is available at www.iaaindiachapter.org.

     

  • R Jagannathan will lead Moneycontrol.com, Firstpost.com, Forbes India and Network18 Publishing

    R Jagannathan is Network18’s ed-in-chief for web & print

    By A Correspondent

     

    Network18 group has strengthened the editorial structure at its web and publishing arms by elevating veteran journalist R Jagannathan (“Jaggi”) as Editor-In-Chief. Mr Jagannathan will be responsible for leading editorial strategy and driving content synergies across a bouquet comprising some of the country’s leading news and special interest brands. This is part of the group’s progression towards an integrated publishing and digital editorial operation.

     

    This mandate includes Moneycontrol.com and Firstpost.com, Forbes India and Network18 Publishing, which spans a portfolio of 18 B2C and B2B titles such as Overdrive, Better Photography, Chip, T3, Entrepreneur, Search and Auto Monitor.

     

    Mr Jagannathan had taken charge of Moneycontrol.com and Firstpost.com at the time of joining Network18 in 2011. In this expanded role, he will be additionally responsible for Forbes India and Network18 Publishing. Editors at each of these brands will now report to him with immediate effect.

     

    With a career spanning over 36 years, Mr Jagannathan has been the editor of several print and digital publications across the general and business news space. Prior to joining Network18 Group in 2011, he was the Executive Editor at DNA. Earlier, he was the Executive Editor at Business Standard and he has also been the Editor at Financial Express, Indian Management and Business World. He was the founding Executive Editor of Business Today in the early 1990s and Business Editor of India Today before that. His first foray into the digital world came when he became Editor at Myiris.com at the height of the first dotcom boom.

     

    Raghav Bahl, Founder and Editor, Network18 said, “Platform neutrality in publishing is almost a truism now and as one of the country’s largest news and digital players, we’re best placed to lead this broadening trend. It’s critical that our brands access the best expertise across the group while they continue to fulfil their distinct content mandates and they do so through a structure which mirrors the new digital reality. We have entrusted the task of leading this effort in the able hands of Jaggi.”

     

    B Sai Kumar, Group CEO, Network18 said, “In Jaggi, we have one of the finest editorial minds in the industry with an unmatched breadth of experience and a proven track record, which includes the stellar performance of our digital brands under his command, Moneycontrol and Firstpost. We’re confident that in this expanded mandate, he will help us further enhance our editorial product and deepen audience engagement and market leadership.”

     

    Mr Jagannathan remarked, “Network18 has some of the country’s most loved brands which enjoy the highest levels of trust and credibility with audiences and each represents a unique editorial voice. I look forward to working with the teams to ensure that we strengthen our proposition across platforms.”

     

  • The digital assets of Nestle India for brands such as Nescafe, Maggi and Milkmaid, which were being managed by multiple agencies, have now been consolidated with Maxus Digital

    Nestle consolidates digital & social wt Maxus Digital

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nestle India has been successfully executing various digital initiatives on brand websites, social media and mobile across brands. Nescafe, Maggi and Milkmaid among others are some of the largest Facebook communities in their respective businesses. These digital assets of Nestle India that were being managed by multiple agencies have now been consolidated with Maxus Digital.

     

    Nestle India has recently established a comprehensive digital hub at its Head office in Gurgaon that will enable its marketing teams to listen to digital consumers and engage in meaningful conversation. Maxus Digital will work closely with the company and also help manage the Digital Acceleration and Services Hub ‘Dassh’. Maxus has dedicated a team for Nestle India with skills in social media platforms, measurements and creative and some of these team members will be operating from Dash in the Nestle head office.

     

    “We are very proud to be a part of Nestle’s digital journey. In a digitally connected world, reaching and engaging consumers requires expertise and understanding in diverse areas of Creative, content, technology, media and the ability to measure,” said Unny Radhakrishnan, Head of Digital Maxus South Asia.

     

    Ajit Varghese

    Ajit Varghese, Maxus MD, South Asia said, “We are excited to partner Nestle India and at being able to set up the first of its kind digital team for them. Nestle has already developed some good digital assets and we will work closely with the Nestle team to mesh them with mainstream marketing.”

     

  • The Big Tent Activate Summit yesterday hosted discussions on the impact of technology and internet in India

    Industry, guardians & gurus discuss Net impact @ Google summit

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    It is not every day that one witnesses a high-power conference like this; in fact it was being held in India for the very first time. The one-day Big Tent Activate Summit, organized by Google in association with The Guardian and MediaGuru saw Indian and international thought leaders focussed on issues relating to the Internet and its impact on economy, politics, culture and society in India.

     

    Kapil Sibal: Committed to Freedom of Expression

    While delivering the keynote address at the Google Big Tent Activate Summit, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Communications and IT made it a point to highlight that the government is committed to the cause of freedom of expression. “There should be no doubt that we are wedded to the freedom of expression,” he said. He underlined that the Internet is the most important and transformative forum as there are no borders on the net, he stated, “we must move slowly but surely towards making internet the equinet.”

    He underlined the three important points for making the internet a truly empowering, transformational and inclusive force. He said that from the point of view of the State, “we must have an enabling framework – rules and regulations must not come in the way of the growth of the net. Secondly, networks in terms of fibre-optics and also wireless must be developed to facilitate access to the net. Thirdly, affordable access devices are needed for a true inclusive transformational internet revolution.” Mr Sibal also said that it will be truly transformative, if through the internet, “we can reach people in their traditional languages.”

     

    Haves and Have-nots

    Deep Kalra, Founder & CEO, MakeMyTrip.com spoke about how according to a recent study “SME’s who invested in internet presence have grown by 10% and those who did not, have not grown by that much.” Giving the example of China-based e-Commerce giant Alibaba, he said that a single website has helped the entire economy by hand-holding the SMEs. Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, Director, Economist Intelligence Unit, reasoned, “Why don’t we have Indian Google or Indian Apple? Apart from talent probably, it is also about regulation. In our research, we have found that within Asia there are many challenges facing the SME and thus, global frontier is not a focus for them. They do not know what regulations are applicable to their internet presence, there of lack of clarity about content and third-party content services and policing of content.”

     

    Even as India witnesses increasing internet penetration, Anu Madgavkar, Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute stated, “The urban and rural penetration ratio stand at 20:2 percent. Rural ecosystem will flourish provided there is equality.”

     

    The very Social media

    It is a fact that many big ticket announcements, and now even political statements, are made on social media platforms. Stephanie Cutter, Political Consultant, who was also the Deputy Campaign Manager for Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, spoke about how investing in social media helped them to communicate outside of the media filter, helped them to generate donations and organise online with offline actions. While saying that he is not a big fan of Section 66A, Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for HRD stated that social media is usually used to create brand identity for the person. Even as Ms Cutter said that all US politicians are on social media, Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir said, “Social media is now taken more seriously. And hence, I have to be more careful. I am reluctant on social media because it is now taken as statement of record.” Mr Tharoor concurred.

     

    On the question of media restriction in volatile J&K, Mr Abdullah said, “What we say on social media is picked by traditional media. People ask me that what they say on social media is deleted or blocked, and what I say is not. What I need them to know is that what I say on social media will not get people killed.”

     

    Narendra Modi, Chief Minister,Gujarat, joined in the Big Tent summit via Google Hangout. He said, “The internet has therefore truly empowered the citizen. It has forced the politician to perform, not just promise.” He focussed on how the internet has been a gamechanger in the realm of information-based decision making and has transformed the policy making process. He concluded, “Technology in itself is neither good nor bad. That depends on how it is harnessed. While technology in politics plays a crucial role, it would do us great good to stay away from letting politics into technology.”

     

    Google’s play

    Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google shared a fireside with Alan Rusbridger, Editor, The Guardian at the summit. Mr Schmidt began by saying that there are 600 million mobile phone users in India, 130 million Internet users and only about 20 million broadband users. “India is under-penetrated. Many of the next five billion users of internet will come from India, of course in many more languages.” Talking of non-English users, he said, “You want entrepreneurs to take risk but definitely not go to jail for it in India. Fearing the outcome, many Indians might not join the Internet.” He said that interconnectivity might help the telcos and intermediaries like Google to help the entrepreneurs. Talking about privacy issues on internet, he said, “We need to fight for our privacy. As technology becomes pervasive in Indian society, privacy issues need to be considered.”

     

    On Mr Rusbridger comment that Google is talking about privacy, Mr Schmidt said, “If Google was not even present, the privacy issues would still be there. There is no delete button on the internet. But of I would still say that the despite the negative like privacy issues, value of internet is profoundly positive.” Talking about how mobile can adapt to a profitable business model, Mr Schmidt said, “Mobileads need to be more valuable since it is more personal. Mobilegives more info where the consumer is, what is the consumer doing unlike other screens.” In the end, being asked about India and China, he said, “In short span, China gets all the attention, but the math favours India.”

     

    View from the industry

    Jeff Jarvis, Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism; Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18; Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu and Sanjay Salil, Managing Director, MediaGuru discussed how traditional media is adapting to online media and if online is proving to be a challenge to traditional media.

     

    Mr Jarvis said, “It is of course challenging to cannibalise yourself to new media.” Mr Varadarajan said that while print media in India is dependent on advertisements to get revenues, online media cannot yet capitalise of ads for revenues and neither would the readers pay more for online version of news. Mr Bahl said that while India did leapfrog the disruption, “as internet infrastructure catches on, the transition is going to be very fast,” even while adding later that India been a subject of bad regulation, especially internet.

     

    The panellists agreed that news has become platform-agnostic as Mr Jarvis argued “we should be seen as a service industry.”

     

    As Mr Bahl said that TV has made an easier migration to internet, compared to print media, Mr Varadarajan said, “Even today, when there is a breaking news situation, one turns to TV since it is centrally-curated product.” However, he insisted that The Hindu is getting ready for internet, “We ask our journalists to file two reports: one for print and one for internet. The only challenge is how to integrate different forms of narration: reading, listening and watching. No one has industrialised or scaled it.”

     

    Photograph: video grab from an NDTV.com webcast of the Q&A that Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger had with Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google

     

  • The system will be able to detect those MSOs which do not carry the mandated encrypted signals

    MIB to launch Centralised Monitoring System for encrypted signals

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a major initiative to monitor the progress of digitization and to ensure the mandatory adherence of transmitting digital encrypted signals by Multi System Operators (MSOs), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is in the process of installing a Centralised Monitoring System to keep a tab on the encryption of channels by MSOs. The Centralised Monitoring System will be able to detect those MSOs which do not carry the mandated encrypted signals. MSOs are required to carry encrypted signals of TV channels in areas where digitization has been implemented as mandated by Section 4A of Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. Transmission or re-transmission of unencrypted signals would amount to violation of the terms and conditions.

     

    For the above purpose, a web based pilot project for the DAS monitoring system installed at Bangalore is undergoing field trials. Once implemented, it will enable the ministry to keep a watch on the implementation of DAS by all the MSO licensees through this system. To start with, this system will help the users to centrally acquire, log, analyze and prepare reports on the status of DAS parameters like total number/name of channels, encryption status etc of cable TV signals of head end of each registered MSO across the country in real time. This system can be augmented in future for content monitoring of the cable TV channels at local levels. It is expected that the system will also evolve as an alternative indicator of television viewing by consumers.

     

  • Minister Manish Tewari said that the potential was tremendous as these agencies facilitated information flow at the sub regional, regional and national level

    Need for more wire news agencies: I&B Minister

    By A Correspondent

     

    Manish Tewari

    Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari has said that taking into account the potential of the growing media sector and the flow of information in the news segment, there existed a case for more wire news agencies being established across the media landscape in the country.

     

    The potential was tremendous as these agencies facilitated information flow at the sub regional, regional and national level he said. The increase in number of news agencies would not only enable local based news being highlighted at the national level, it would also enable such agencies to balance news dissemination at the national and local level. Taking into account the diversity of information dissemination, such mechanisms would enable local issues to be highlighted as prominently as those at the national level. The minister was speaking at the 52nd anniversary celebrations of United News of India.

     

    Elaborating further, Mr Tewari said that there was an urgent need to outline sustainable revenue models. Quoting the instance of the digitization process the minister said it was an attempt to bring about transparency and a long-term sustainable process in the broadcasting sector which would help all stakeholders. The revenue models would also have to take into account the parameters that were addressing different audiences with the emergence of new media platforms and instant communication mechanisms.