MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • MxMIndia will bring you livetweets of the all-important Maurice Levy press conference from 3.50pm (1550 HRS India)

    LiveTweets of Maurice Levy presser from 3.50pm @mxmindia

    As Maurice Levy gets set to say “Bonjour” to mediapersons at a presser today (Thursday, December 19), there has been much speculation on his visit.

     

    Will it mean the announcement of an acquisition of Sam Balsara’s Madison World? Or a smaller agency… Law & Kenneth? Or is it just a coffee-and-cookies meet-the-press our friends in Mr Levy’s PR agency MSLGroup say it is?

     

    We spoke to a few Publicis Groupe captains and they said Mr Levy is in Mumbai and Delhi purely for reviews and meeting with major clients.

     

    Perhaps. But it’s not always that the bossman of one of the world’s largest advertising conglomerates comes calling to India. It’s not one of the various Exchange4media group conferences.  It’s not for a Storyboad special interview session. And there’s no FICCI/CII/IAA conclave at this time.

     

    Whatever be the reason, we’ll bring you a ringside view. No breaking news mailers, until there’s something major. You know we don’t like to intrude into your all-important moments at work.

     

    Follow our livetweets at @mxmindia from 1550 HRS. We’ll bring you text and pictures. All the khabar in under 140 characters.

     

    Until then, go and watch this gathering some people around you. Ensure you have a machine with a working webcam: http://www.publicisgroupewishes2014.com/

     

    And, yes, it takes 1487 balloons to cover Monsieur Lévy.

     

  • The Kala Ghoda festival, which has been a property The Times of India has supported for the last 8 years, will now bear the Hindustan Times name on its title

    HT gets aggressive in Mumbai, replaces TOI as Kala Ghoda festival partner

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Hindustan Times is finally exerting itself in Mumbai via various city-linked activities. First it was promoting the various editorial features on improving Mumbai’s infrastructure. Then it was the awards for public-spirited citizens and organizations. And, now, there’s partnering the Kala Ghoda festival which has been a property The Times of India has supported for the last 8 years.

     

    The festival will now be titled ‘Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival’.  The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Momentum’ and the festival will also have a new section on Urban Design and Architecture.

     

    Speaking on the collaboration with Hindustan Times, Maneck Davar, Chairperson of the Kala Ghoda Association, said: ” Starting with its 16th edition in Feb 2014, the Kala Ghoda Association is proud to be associated with HT. In the period that it has been in Mumbai, HT has been aware of the aspirations of citizens and has instituted many campaigns that reflect the needs of the city.”

     

    Commenting on the collaboration, Nitin Chaudhry, Business Head, HT Mumbai said, “It is a great moment for Hindustan Times to be hosting one of the biggest traditions in Mumbai city. It reiterates our belief in the city and gives us a great opportunity to offer more to the city.”

     

    Speaking on the Kala Ghoda Festival’s role in building the HT brand in Mumbai, Shantanu Bhanja, VP Marketing said: “The true goal for us in Mumbai is to bring meaningful change in the city – change that is socio-economic, infrastructural and cultural. Hosting Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is a significant step in that direction since it integrates us with the arts and culture of the city.”

     

    The Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (HTKGAF) will be held over nine days from Feb 1- 9, with 450 programmes conducted across 15 venues in South Mumbai.

     

  • As per TRAI regulations, digital TV subscribers will get monthly bills from their cable operators, notes an MSO Alliance communique

    Digital cable subscribers to get monthly bills

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital Cable TV subscribers will now get monthly bills from their cable operators. The new facility, which has been introduced as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulations, will usher in greater transparency in billing, notes a communiqué from the MSO Alliance

     

    Beginning December 2013, subscribers will get a bill for their cable TV every month starting with that of November 2013.  Commenting on the introduction of monthly billing, S N Sharma, Secretary, MSO Alliance and CEO, DEN Networks said: “This move is important as it will ensure that there are no additional or random charges levied on the subscribers. Our viewers will thus pay only for what they watch and they must insist on a bill from their local cable operator or multiple system operator at the time of monthly payment.”

     

    The MSO Alliance has also launched an advertisement campaign through print media and cable television channels to spread awareness about the monthly billing system.

     

    As per the TRAI regulations, subscribers will get a time period of 15 days from the date of the bill to make their payment. In case the subscriber fails to make the payment after the expiry of the due date of payment, the MSO or the affiliate LCO (local cable operator) has the right to charge interest on the outstanding amount.

     

    The MSO Alliance comprises the major digital TV platforms of the country including DEN Networks, Hathway, SITI Digital Cable Television and Incablenet. Digital cable currently has over 19 million subscribers in the 41 cities covered under Phases 1 and 2 of digitization.

     

  • The rural marketing services provider will be WPP's 12th acquisition in India in nine years

    Grey to acquire a majority stake in RC&M

    By A Correspondent

     

    WPP announces that its wholly owned operating company, Grey, the advertising network of Grey Group, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in RC&M, one of the country’s largest rural communications and marketing services firm.

     

    Founded in 1990, RC&M has been delivering integrated activation solutions, encompassing creative designing to production and implementation. With a formidable reach across 400,000 Indian villages and 5,000 towns, the company is a leader in the organized rural/semi-urban activation market. RC&M is headquartered in Delhi, with offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru. And its unaudited revenues for the year ending March 31, 2013 were approximately Rs 36 crore. The company employs more than 320 people and services clients in the automotive, industrial automation, FMCG and durable sectors.

     

    RC&M marks WPP’s 12th acquisition in India in the last nine years.

     

  • Guest speakers included Kirthiga Reddy, Guneet Singh, Mukesh Bansal, Miss Malini and Gabbar Singh at Ogilvy Techtonic in Mumbai held on Thursday

    Ogilvy shows off its digital power with ‘Techtonic’

    By A Correspondent

     

    The agency’s dominance in the traditional creative advertising has been so major that one doesn’t really associated Ogilvy with the digital media.

     

    But over the past few years, OgilvyOne has grown to become India’s largest, most awarded full-service digital agency. But there is more to this story than just growth and fame. It’s built specialist capabilities, completed digital acquisitions and now has over 400 digital resources across Ogilvy India.

     

    On Thursday, the agency organized Ogilvy Techtonic in Mumbai with an attempt to bring to its clients a series of relevant, usable conversations around the shifting digital landscape. Perspectives from industry leaders from Facebook, Google, Myntra, social influencers Miss Malini and Gabbar Singh and Ogilvy’s own digital leaders from across the country. The venue was the Bluefrog nightspot in Central Mumbai… we aren’t like some of those newspapers which only carry the venue name if it’s paid for.

     

    Guest speakers included Kirthiga Reddy, Guneet Singh, Mukesh Bansal, Miss Malini and Gabbar Singh and the Ogilvy speakers were Abhijit Avasthi, Vikram Menon, Karthik Srinivasan, Sanjay Ramakrishnan, Shivakumar Viswanathan, Nalini Guhesh, Anand Morzaria, Upasana Roy, Dharam Valia and Kunal Jeswani. And we even spotted bossman Piyush Pandey also in the house.

     

  • The Yahoo Big Idea Chair 2013 awards saw 137 brands represented through 426 entries from 61 agencies

    IBS continues winning spree with Tata Docomo, wins Yahoo Big Idea Chair 2013

    By A Correspondent [updated]

     

    The Blue Frog venue in central Mumbai played host to the fourth independently held Yahoo Big Idea Chair India Awards 2013. The flagship Big Idea Chair was awarded to IBS Unified for conceptualizing ‘Hyper Personalization – the world’s first CRM powered Display campaign’ for Tata Docomo. Meanwhile, GroupM agencies won the highest number of awards at the Yahoo! Big Chair Awards 2013.  The awards this year saw 426 entries from 61 agencies representing work for 137 brands and recognized creativity, innovation and imagination displayed in digital media.

     

    This year, the award invited entries across nine categories: Display Advertising, Online Video Advertising, Social Media, Technology (best use), Mobile Advertising, Search, Digital 360 degree, Content Marketing and the Flagship Yahoo Big Idea Chair.  A 11- member jury judged the entries that represented work for 137 brands

     

    On winning the award, Sabyasachi Mitter, Managing Director, IBS Unified said “We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded the prestigious Yahoo Big Idea Chair. Clearly, digital has tremendous potential for innovation, and we are excited about setting the bar high.”

     

    Nitin Mathur

    Nitin Mathur, Senior Director & Head of Marketing, India & South-east Asia, Yahoo said “Yahoo Big Idea Chair India Awards has become an important annual milestone for the industry. It always throws up highly creative and impactful work, where agencies and brands are breaking grounds with newer possibilities in digital advertising.”

    Speaking on the GroupM wins, Tushar Vyas, Managing Partner- South Asia, GroupM Interaction said, “Over the last year, the digital teams across the GroupM agencies have been winning an award every other day, a testament to the great work and innovations the teams are churning out for our clients. It is great to end the year with six more awards to add to our tally of 204.”

    GroupM Interaction won the Gold for Best Use of Technology for the Heineken Inner Voice Campaign.  Maxus India won four awards including three Silvers and one Bronze. The Silvers were won in the following categories, Best Content Marketing Award for the Mentos Riddle campaign, Best Use of Display for Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd and Best Use of Mobile Advertising for the Tata Sky campaign. MEC Global took home one Bronze for the Colgate Mahakumbh Mela activity.  Added Unny Radhakrishnan, Head of Digital, Maxus, “We are happy for the continuing recognition of our work  and also that these awards span different verticals in digital as well as a wide range of brands.”

    In other categories, Viacom 18 won the Digital 360 degree award for ‘MTV India Roadies X’ campaign; Ogilvy & Mather walked away with the Gold for their campaign ‘Blood Search Made Easy’ for Red Cross; PHD took home the Gold for Best Content Marketing for the ‘Ramp Ready Hair’ campaign for Hindustan Lever Limited while the Best Use of Mobile Advertising was clinched by Indigo Consulting & Leo Burnett  for the ‘Donate your Caller Tune’ campaign for World Health Organization; IBS won the Gold for Best Use of Display Advertising for ‘Hyper Personalization’ campaign for Tata Docomo; Ogilvy & Mather took home the Silver in Video Advertising Category for Cadbury Bourneville and IProspect Communicate2 walked away with the Gold for Best with Best Use of Search.

     

  • The fifth edition of the India Pride Awards, instituted by Dainik Bhaskar Group to acknowledge excellence in public sector units (PSUs), was held in Delhi last week

    Dainik Bhaskar hosts India Pride Awards 2013-14

    By A Correspondent

     

    Punjab National Bank CMD K R Kamath felicitated by Union HRD Minister Dr M Mangapati Pallam Raju as Dainik Bhaskar group chairman Ramesh Agarwal (left) looks on

    The fifth edition of the India Pride Awards, instituted by Dainik Bhaskar Group in 2009 to acknowledge excellence in public sector units (PSUs), was held in Delhi last week (December19).

     

    Dr. M. Mangapati Pallam Raju,  Union Minister for Human Resource Development was the Chief Guest, Dr. Harak Singh Rawat, Minister of Agriculture, Medical Education & Soldier Welfare in Uttarakhand, was the Guest of Honour and Dr. Charan Das Mahant, Minister of State of Agriculture and  Rajeev Shukla, Minister of State Planning and Parliamentary Affairs, were special guests at the event.

     

    The award, which is highly regarded, was judged by meticulous evaluation by jury supported by analysis by ICRA  as Knowledge Partners.

     

    In his address Dr. M. Mangapati Pallam Raju emphasised ,”PSUs play a vital role in the making of the nation. Where everything in the nation is affected by what happens in another part of the world, PSUs have been playing a stabilising role.”

     

    Said Ramesh Chandra Agarwal, Chairman, Dainik Bhaskar Group in his address: “Ours is a large nation- whatever is happening- whatever  changes are happening – are more apparent in the Tier-II and Tier-III towns. PSU have a lot role to play in the stability of these markets as they are the prime employment provider in these markets. These towns and changes therein define the country.”

     

    The highlight of evening was the felicitation of K R Kamath, CMD, Punjab National Bank with the Lifetime achievement award.

     

  • Aidem Ventures is appointed National Sales Representative for Janta TV

    Aidem to rep Janta TV sales

    By A Correspondent

     

    Janta TV has handed over its ad sales mandate to Aidem Ventures.

     

    Launched in 2011, by Gurbinder Singh, Janta TV is known to provide more local news than any other news channel in the PHCHP region. According to a communique, it is also the only regional news channel to dedicate 20 % of content towards public opinion shows (Bol Janta Bol & Bol Free) and has four fresh interactive bulletins that receive thousands of call-ins daily. The channel enjoys a strong presence and viewership in the PHCHP market and is also distributed in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and New Delhi.

     

    “The Aidem team possesses a great amount of business appetite as also a thorough understanding of the broadcast media and of the Indian advertising market. We are looking forward to the team’s industry knowledge and their national coverage to cover advertising opportunities across the country,” said Gurbinder Singh, Vice President, Janta TV.

     

    “It isn’t very often in this economic climate and media landscape that an independent news channel such as Janta TV gets off the ground and marks its spot in the Top 5 in its genre. It truly is exciting to be part of the channel’s expansion quest. The team is geared to get their feet on the street to help Janta TV maximize their revenue potential.” added Alok Rakshit, Senior Vice President – Regional Bouquet, Aidem Ventures.

     

    “We, at Aidem, aim at making life simpler for media owners, media agencies, advertisers and our sales staff. Bagging Janta TV is a big step towards our goal to build a more robust News media cluster thus easing the media buying process,” added Shailendra Shetty, Senior Vice President at Aidem.

     

  • Merry X’mas. No edition days on Dec 25 and Jan 1

    It’s Christmas tomorrow and we wish our readers a Very Happy and Merry Christmas.

     

    Our offices will be closed and there will be no edition tomorrow (Dec 25).

     

    Btw, in order that you can plan your December 31 evening better and so that you don’t have to worry about getting up early to check out MxM, may we alert you that there will also be no edition next Wednesday (Jan 1) too.

     

    Cheers!

     

    PS: Party responsibly

     

  • Beginning next year, Indian boxing champ Mary Kom will become the global brand ambassador for British multinational telecom company Vodafone

    Boxing champ Mary Kom is Vodafone’s global brand ambassador

    By John Sarkar

     

    Beginning next year, Indian boxing champ Mary Kom will become the global brand ambassador for British multinational telecom company Vodafone.

     

    The London Olympic bronze medallist from Manipur has not only knocked out other Asian contenders for the role, but she has also dealt a severe body blow to the widespread Indian prejudice that fails to look beyond cricket for multi-crore celebrity-endorsements.

     

    According to people familiar with the development, the diminutive Kom, a five-time World Boxing champion and mother of two, has been shortlisted from a group of at least 25 other Asian athletes for Vodafone’s new social media-led brand engagement strategy ‘Vodafone Firsts’ that will be activated across up to 30 countries. When asked about the details of the relationship, a Vodafone spokeswoman from London refused to comment. “We will share more information closer to the launch,” she said.

     

    In what may come across as a strange turn of fate, Vodafone will activate its first ‘First’ services in London early next year, the city where Kom won her first Olympic medal. “At the launch, Vodafone will help create the world’s first multi-sensory fireworks display, in partnership with the mayor of London and food scientists Bompas & Parr,” the telecom giant said in a statement. “Meanwhile, a free Vodafone augmented reality smartphone app will enable millions more to join in the experience, wherever they are.”

     

    According to Vodafone Group brand director Barbara Haase, the ‘Firsts’ concept is simple. “We know that our technology can enable and inspire people to do something amazing for the first time, from making their first call to sharing their first video. Firsts is designed to reflect that sense of empowerment by using our technology and connectivity to enable a diverse range of people to achieve their remarkable ambitions.”

     

    “Vodafone has made a good choice. Many people, even those who don’t follow boxing, will identify with the Mary Kom story,” says Santosh Desai, brand expert and CEO & MD of Futurebrands India. “In a sport with no money, she has shown a lot of grit. Despite being a mother of two and coming from a so-called backward part of the country, she has shown class at the highest level.”

     

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The year would best be remembered for the wrong reasons. In Part 1 of the 'Year of Shame' presenting

    2013: Year of Shame (Part 1)

     

    If the adspend numbers that have been published by leading media agencies are to believed, India didn’t do all that badly in the media and entertainment sector in 2013.

     

    Loads of milestones: 175 years of The Times of India, 90 years of Hindustan Times, 25 years of NDTV, 5 years of Colors… the list could go on.

     

    There were some other interesting, or shall we say heartening, developments. Various constituents of broadcast got to blows many times over but settled down eventually. Indians continued their march to adopt global or regional roles. Entertainment television saw a new superstar in Kapil Sharma, the fast-talking funnyman.

     

    However, Twenty-thirteen has been a year that would be best remembered for the wrong reasons. And that’s why we’ve called it the Year of Shame.

     

    In the first of our year-end reviews, we bring you our overall view of the year that’s going to down shutter soon. Presenting: The Year of Shame – Part 1

     

    All love lost:

    The three key industry components of the broadcast sector fought as if there’s no tomorrow. And there’s no doubting the fact that they need to co-exist in the often-adverse business conditions. Digitization and the adding on of LC1 markets for TV viewership measured led to mayhem. Numbers of some channels zoomed up and many others dropped. Then there was a debate on the way billings were done by ad agencies.

     

    Later, there was a standoff on TAM with the broadcasters’ body ending their subscriptions to the measurement company. In retaliation for taking what they termed was a unilateral decision, many advertisers and their agencies adopted a tough stand and pulled out their advertising from channels who ended their TAM subscription. All in all, an avoidable fight.

     

    The Shabby Abbies

    The Creative Abby organised by the Advertising Club saw crises that threatens its very existence. At first the issue was the non-participation by Ogilvy. NCD Abhijit Avasthi told us that the Abby didn’t energise his team.

     

    But even as the industry reconciled itself to an awards minus Ogilvy and Lowe (“the show must go on” was the refrain), a huge scam surfaced one of the biggest players in adland. A JWT creative for Ford was entered for the Abby with due clearance from Ford. The ad brought embarassment to Ford globally which could’ve cause problems for a billion-plus-dollar contract between the auto giant, and WPP, JWT’s holding company.

     

    JWT chief creative officer Bobby Pawar quit owning up for someone in his team who he didn’t know and so did a senior Ford marketing manager. The auto firm didn’t name the executive though some publications put out his name. We felt that Bobby Pawar and the Ford marketing manager shouldn’t have been the only ones to lose their jobs. JWT CEO Colvyn Harris should’ve stepped down too, but that didn’t happen.

     

    Later, the Abby got into crazier controversies. A Leo Burnett ad for Tata Chemicals was found to have been entered without client approvals. It required some activisty zeal for Tata Chemicals to be made aware of the issue and Leo Burnett pulling out its awardwinning entry. There was also a controversy over ads found to have striking similarities with international ads. A superjury was formed to look into plagiarism charges. The superjury in its wisdom chose to not change any of the winnings. While there is calm before the storm, a statement from Mr Avasthi last week that Ogilvy will participate only if the changes it demanded are effected left one wondering whether Abby 2014 will see the normally-in-black Ogilvy creatives in attendance. Also, other than Lowe and Ogilvy, could there be others who may want to opt out?

     

    On Thursday (Dec 26):

    Concluding Part of Year of Shame::

    Radio – waiting for Phase 3 and news:

    Journalism – Charu Deshpande, Hindu… and more

     

  • Volatile market conditions, demanding stakeholders and in some cases, poor performance, force CEO churn in consumer-facing companies

    The Great CEO Churn: 16 CEOs from FMCG, auto & telcos switched jobs in 2013!

    By Kala Vijayaraghavan, Lijee Philip & Deepali Gupta

     

    At least 16 high profile CEOs from three consumer facing industries – FMCG, automotive and telecom – switched jobs in 2013. Volatile market conditions, demanding stakeholders and in some cases, poor performance, led to the unprecedented churn at the top, say industry leaders and top officials at executive search firms. “Companies doing badly tend to rope in a new CEO hoping for a turnaround from somebody with a fresh perspective,” says RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki. A few changes though were also routine rotations made by multinational companies.

     

    Many other changes in the FMCG sector, executive search firms say, have been almost incestuous, with companies tapping a very limited pool of tried and tested CEO talent. For instance, when Anand Kripalu moved from Mondelez India to Diageo, former Pepsi CEO Manu Anand moved in as Mondelez CEO and former Nokia India MD D Shivakumar filled the vacancy Anand left at Pepsi.

     

    “Three CEO changes can lead to CEO changes in 10 other companies,” says Navnit Singh, Managing Director-India Korn/Ferry International. “Usually, only a few known faces are part of this merry go round. We have been advising companies to ensure that there is a strong succession pipeline within.” The same trend was also partly visible in the automotive sector, where Maruti Suzuki, Volkswagen, Toyota Kirloskar, Ford, Skoda and Fiat and Chrysler all saw new CEOs this year.

     

    A shallow talent pool, particularly of senior managers, is providing top executives opportunities to move across companies. These external CEO replacements are a reflection of the senior-level gaps in organisations, says RR Nair, ex-HR head of HUL and a CEO coach and advisor. “Organisations also opted for talent with an outsider perspective to drive change at a faster rate,” he adds.

     

    Several other consumer-facing companies also had new CEOs – Sanjiv Mehta at HUL, Gopal Vittal at Bharti Airtel, Varun Berry at Britannia, and Vivek Gambhir at Godrej Consumer Products. Nestle India predictably placed another expat Etienne Benet as the MD. He took over from Antonio Helio Waszyk, another expat.

     

    Britannia CEO Berry attributes the big changes to “very tough economic conditions and intense competition that have forced consumer goods companies to fight for a share of meagre growth”. For example, Indian subsidiaries of Volkswagen and Toyota Kirloskar have initiated major reshuffles in the top management as the two car makers take fresh guard to tackle the slowdown.

     

    Uncertainty and slow growth which marred the business environment during the past six months to a year could be one reason behind the churn, adds Sunil Goel, MD, GlobalHunt. Mahesh Kodumudi, president and MD of Volkswagen India, has just taken on additional responsibilities at Volkswagen Group after Gerasimos Dorizas, the chief representative of Volkswagen Group India, left citing personal reasons. The changes are coming when the group’s mass market brands have seen a decline in sales. “There is a lot of pressure to generate and sustain revenues. Organisations expect leadership to be innovative,” says Global-Hunt’s Mr Goel.

     

    Toyota Kirloskar MD Hiroshi Nakagawa is moving back to Japan and is expected to be replaced by Yoshimasa Ishii. And at Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest car maker, Kenichi Ayukawa succeeded Shinzo Nakanishi as the new MD this May. At Ford India, Joginder Singh succeeded Michael Boneham about a year ago. Fiat and Chrysler appointed Nagesh A Basavanhalli as president and managing director.

     

    2013 was a forgettable year for consumer-facing companies, says Sunil K Alagh, chairman of SK Advisors. “There were arrogant innovations and a lack of communication with consumers. New CEOs have to quickly understand consumer needs and work out a refreshing growth strategy,” he says.

     

    In the telecom sector, a different set of dynamics was at play, causing CEO-level churn. Except for Airtel and Jio Infocomm, all other CEO changes in this sector have been through internal promotions as companies deal with regulatory uncertainties and an urgent need to arrest losses.

     

    Russia’s Sistema, which operates under the MTS brand, replaced CEO Vsevolod Rozanov with Dmitry Shukov. The change of guard was on account of Rozanov being promoted to group CFO. In Rozanov’s words: “I came here because I wanted a challenge. Now, I need a new challenge and Dmitry is here.” Yogesh Malik, the India head of Norway-based Telenor’s Indian arm, quit only five months after taking charge. Asia head Sigve Brekke is stand-in chief for now.

     

    Most of Aircel’s top management quit over the last two years, and stand in chief Kaizad Heerjee, was promoted from COO to CEO after a year’s trial and achieving operational breakeven.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish