MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Programs include brand building, reputation management, financial communications, corporate social responsibility (CSR); and crisis and issues management

    MSLGroup bags multiple client wins

    By a correspondent

     

    MSLGROUP has announced a series of recent new business wins for April and May 2014. MCX, PNB Metlife Insurance, and Steelcase have all chosen MSLGROUP as their partner for strategic advisory and creative unbound communications and engagement solutions in India.

     

    Programs include brand building, reputation management, financial communications, corporate social responsibility (CSR); and crisis and issues management.

     

    Jaideep Shergill

    Commenting on the new business wins, Jaideep Shergill, CEO India, MSLGROUP, said: “With rapidly evolving media landscape and emergence of new media tools, especially in India, clients require consultancy firms to add value to brands through selecting ways of engagement which are not only ‘now’ but also ‘next’. This makes agencies like MSLGROUP more relevant than ever, and these wins clearly show that more and more clients trust us to help them stay ahead of this ever-changing landscape to provide real impact on their business.”

     

    MCX is India’s first and largest commodity exchange in India. The company has entrusted MSLGROUP with strategic advisory for corporate reputation management encompassing influencer engagement, crisis communication and corporate responsibility responsibilities.

     

    PNB MetLife brings together the financial strength of one of the world’s leading life insurance providers, MetLife, Inc., and the credibility and reliability of Punjab National Bank, one of India’s oldest and leading nationalized banks. MSLGROUP has been assigned the duties for developing and implementing an integrated marketing program, as well as providing strategic consultancy when required.

     

    Steelcase is a global leader in the office furniture industry, which helps to create great experiences for the world’s leading organizations. MSLGROUP is working closely with Steelcase to provide creative solutions with an integrated communications approach. Being a technology leader and pioneer in innovations, MSLGROUP in India is helping Steelcase to raise awareness through traditional media relations, social media and influencer outreach.

     

  • The Dentsu Aegis Network Digital Council believes that this is a game changing move for the digital agencies in India and will permanently change the digital landscape

    Dentsu Aegis Network Digital Council to raise digital communication standards

    By a correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the formation of Digital Council with CEO’s of iProspectCommunicate2, Isobar and Webchutney. The move aims to revolutionize digital communications in India.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network has emerged as the fastest growing agency group in the digital arena in India, with 500 digital professionals across their three digital specialist companies, Isobar, Webchutney and iProspectCommunicate2, spread across five cities.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network is a leading international group in India that has market leading tools, skill sets and technology in every aspect of the digital space. iProspect is a leader in Search & Performance, not only in India, but globally too. In India, iProspect acquired Communicate 2 to form iProspectCommunicate2. Isobar is a leading, full-service digital agency in India and part of the global Isobar Network. Webchutney is the most prominent and successful Digital agency in India.

     

    Commenting on the formation of the Dentsu Aegis Network Digital Council, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, said “With Vivek Bhargava, MD – iProspectCommunicate2, Shamsuddin Jasani, MD – Isobar India and Sidharth Rao, CEO & Co-Founder – Webchutney, coming together on the Dentsu Aegis Network Digital Council, we have the country’s best digital leadership, with a proven track record, driving our digital vision. Dentsu Aegis Network has always been a leader in the digital space globally and now we have replicated the same success in India. With 500 digital specialists and the three leading Digital Specialist Companies in India as a part of our group, we are well ahead of the competition in providing world class, comprehensive digital services in India.”

     

    The Dentsu Aegis Network Digital Council believes that this is a game changing move for the digital agencies in India and will permanently change the digital landscape. The Council is committed to raising the Digital Communication standards in India.

     

     

  • The programme will be conducted by Dr. Kallol Das, Associate Professor in the Marketing Department and Chairperson of the Research Committee at MICA

    MICA to host seminar on ‘Building High-Performing Service Businesses’ seminar

    MICA is organising a three-day residential MDP on “Building High-Performing Service Businesses” from 20 – 22 August, 2014 at its Ahmedabad campus. The programme will be conducted by Dr. Kallol Das, Associate Professor in the Marketing Department and Chairperson of the Research Committee at MICA.

     

    Aimed at enabling participants to learn the art and science of building, sustaining and growing a service business, this MDP would help participants transform their ventures into high-performing service businesses.

     

    Commenting on the programme, Professor Das, informed, “It has been designed to support participants in learning the relevant knowledge frameworks essential for building a successful service business, while enhancing their leadership and team-working skills essential to delivering high customer satisfaction and simultaneously helping them develop a service attitude, which is the key to success in this sector.”

     

    The programme is meant for participants from marketing, operations and human resource departments in companies dealing with consumer services such as hotels, airlines, telecom, health and wellness, financial services, travel and hospitality, retail, etc.

     

    While this MDP is most suitable for senior and middle-level managers from service organisations across departments, it would also be immensely valuable to manufacturers of consumer durables as they have significant revenues coming from services.

     

  • The agency will manage the campaigns across TV, Print, Radio and Digital

    Thoughtshop bags creative mandate of Quick Heal

    Thoughtshop Advertising has won the creative mandate for the leading IT security solutions company, Quick Heal Technologies Pvt. Ltd. With this win, Thoughtshop’s mandate will include reaching out to consumers across multiple touch points and highlight the technical benefits of the product.

     

    The agency will work in sync with the company at every stage including planning, strategy and execution. Subsequent to the win, the agency will execute the first 360 degree campaign for the brand that commences with a TVC, followed by print and radio simultaneously.

     

    Commenting on the recent win, Vipin Dhyani, Founder and Chief Creative Director, Thoughtshop Advertising & Film Production said, “We are extremely proud to partner with a company that prides itself with a lineage of over 20 years. This new business will provide us with some exciting opportunities and shall hopefully result in effective branding and communication. Quick Heal has a wide array of security solutions which are distinctively customer centric and adds value to the core purpose of communication. We look forward to jointly work with them and convey it to our consumers.”

     

    Kailash Katkar, MD & CEO, Quick Heal noted, “We were looking for an agency with proven background, and who has the capability and capacity to support our extensive and integrated needs. In ‘Thoughtshop’ we found that creative partner who can value add to our brand persona and can further augment it. We are looking forward to work in this partnership and add new dimensions to our brand”.

     

  • The combination of RMW – PFL and Academy Award winning Double Negative, led by Matt Holben and Alex Hope, creates the world's largest and the most integrated media services group

    Reliance Group, Prime Focus announce formation of new entity

    Reliance Group has announced the combination of the global film & media services business of Reliance MediaWorks’ (RMW) with Prime Focus Ltd.

     

    The combination of RMW – PFL and Academy Award winning Double Negative, led by Matt Holben and Alex Hope, creates the world’s largest and the most integrated media services group with over 5500 people present across 20 locations offering visual effects, stereo 3D conversion, animation, and cloud-based digital media solutions that transcend the film, advertising and television industries. The combination brings instant benefits to global clients, with new levels of creativity, technology innovation, truly integrated Digital Media Services, unmatched scale, financial stability and sustainability.

     

    The combined group will also have the world’s first hybrid cloud-enabled Media ERP platform. The platform virtualizes the content supply chain and helps broadcasters, studios, brands, sports and digital businesses manage their business of content, by driving creative enablement, enhancing ecosystem efficiencies and sustainability, reducing costs and realizing new monetization opportunities.

     

    Namit Malhotra will be the Executive Chairman and Global CEO of Prime Focus Ltd.

     

    “We are hugely excited about the transformational growth opportunity created by the powerful combination of the global film and media services business of Reliance MediaWorks and Prime Focus,” said Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, Group Managing Director, Reliance Group. “Namit is an enormously passionate leader, who has created and run a highly successful global media services business. We are delighted to have the opportunity to support PFL as the Company moves to the next orbit of growth under Namit’s dynamic and ‘turbo-charged’ leadership”, he added.

     

    The body of work handled by the new entity includes worldwide blockbusters and critically acclaimed films, such as The Dark Knight Trilogy, Transformers 4, Inception, Gravity, Harry Potter, and Avatar, to name a few. Equally within India, the PFL and RMW combination brings integrated services to the Bollywood industry from equipment rental, and shooting stages up to final digital distribution – a true one stop service.

     

  • … and India has emerged in Top 5 destinations for M&E cos to diversify

    M&E firms more confident in economy than ever before: EY report

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    India has emerged as one of the Top 5 destinations where Media & Entertainment companies would like to diversify.  This has emerged in the 10th edition of the Confidence Barometer: Media & Entertainment. report released by Ernst & Young (now known as EY). M&E companies are more confident in the global economy than ever before, according to the survey of senior executives conducted by the report. “The benefit of an emerging market including access to a growing middle income population is primarily responsible for India becoming attractive to foreign media players,” said Ajay Shah, EY India’s Media & Entertainment Transaction Advisory Services Leader. Adds Atul Mehta, EY India’s Media & Entertainment Financial Diligence Leader: “The benefits far outweigh the challenges such as political risk, slowing of economic growth and currency risk”.

     

    The report shows 64% of executives believe the state of the global economy is improving, compared with 59% a year ago. Executives are more confident in the likelihood of closing deals (33% compared with 23% a year ago), and coupled with a narrowing valuation gap, this is creating momentum to get deals done.

     

    The report is a survey of senior executives from large media and entertainment companies around the world that gauges corporate confidence in the economy, identifies boardroom trends and provides insight into companies’ capital agenda.

     

    Respondents’ confidence in the availability of credit and financing is at its highest level in five years, which provides a solid platform for deal-making and has resulted in media and entertainment companies significantly increasing their borrowing from the previous year. Eighty-five percent of respondents believe credit availability is either stable or improving, and 52% of respondents indicate it is improving, compared with 36% one year ago. Thirty-five percent of executives indicated they have debt-to-capital ratios greater than 50%, which is up from 17% the year before, which shows a dramatic increase in borrowing. Perhaps the greatest indicator of the industry’s confidence in credit and financing availability is that 51% of executives plan to use debt as their primary source of deal financing during the next year, compared with only 21% one year ago.

     

    “Media and entertainment companies have significantly increased their borrowing the past year, which indicates a combination of greater deal-making activity, paying down debt and returning capital to shareholders,” said Tom Connolly, EY’s Global Media & Entertainment Transaction Advisory Services Leader. “This increased availability of credit and growing confidence in key economic indicators shows that more media and entertainment executives plan to pursue acquisitions now more than at any time the past couple of years. However, they need to move quickly – with fewer assets on the market, valuation gaps will widen.”

     

    Other key findings include:

    o Only 11% of executives think the economy is declining; 25% believe it is stable and 64% that it is improving.

     

    o Media and entertainment companies that hired aggressively after the cutbacks of the 2009 financial crisis and now optimizing skillsets and the makeup of their workforce. 21% of executives say they will reduce workforce numbers, up from 13% last year; 21% will hire, down from 44% last year and 58% will keep their workforce its current size, up from 43% a year ago.

     

    o The two largest trends affecting acquisitions in the media and entertainment industry are digital transformation (61% of respondents) and “future of work” issues (43% of respondents).

     

    o Ninety-two percent of executives see political, regulatory and emerging market instability as the greatest economic risks to their businesses during the next year.

     

    o Sixty-five percent of executives expect deal volumes to increase during the next year, with 98% of respondents believing deal volumes will either increase or remain the same.

     

    o Executives strongly see deal sizes increasing, with 52% of respondents expecting deals during the next year to be greater than US$251 million, up from 21% the previous year.

     

    o Thirty-four percent of executives expect to pursue acquisitions during the next 12 months, a continuation of a rising trend.

     

    o The valuation gap between buyers and sellers in narrowing, with 41% of executives believing the current valuation gap is less than 10% compared with 28% one year ago.

     

  • Linen creates the three minute Bollywood short film starring Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor

    Linen recreates classic lost & found love story as Oppo enters India

    Oppo, a global major in handsets, which had launched its flagship model a few months back in India, has unveiled a full-fledged multimedia campaign for the brand. It has paired Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor as ambassadors for the brand in India. Earlier, Linen, a Lintas group Company was given the mandate to launch and manage the communication duties for Oppo in India.

     

    Constantin Haoran

    Announcing the launch of the campaign, Constantin Haoran, Head of Brand Development India, Oppo commented, “Oppo endeavours to deliver customers with the most delightful smartphone experience through meticulous designs and smart technology. The aim is to recreate the overseas success story in India.”

     

    Mobile advertising is simple yet complicated. Complicated because of the structure of the communication. And simple is what Linen created. It decided to underplay the product and decided to tell a story.

     

    The objective of the campaign was to define a unique brand space for Oppo, which is a mix of design-technology-emotions.

     

    (L-R) Jaideep Mahajan, Abhik Santara and Pranav Harihar

    “The TVC is long format, which follows the recent onset of a new category of communication designed specifically for digital space and a certain audience type many of whom call it a YTC-“You tube commercial”. The fact that the TVC earned more than 15 lakh views on Youtube in the first 15 days of its release is a testimony that we have managed to achieve both. Now with the launch of the commercial in TV, we wish to multiply this traction,” shared Abhik Santara, Executive VP, Linen.

     

    Jaideep Mahajan, Executive CD, Linen added, “Oppo wasn’t known in Indian market. But despite that they chose to enter by launching the flagship device priced at approx. Rs. 40,000 where they would be competing with the best of the phones from the biggest of brands. We decided to narrate a story, where the phone and the features take the story forward. There are a lot of firsts in this communication. To begin with, the pairing of Hrithik and Sonam as a couple (which has never happened either in ad space or in Bollywood films), the way the product is handled and not falling for using  Hrithik’s dancing skills to grab a quick eyeball.”

     

    Pranav Sharma, the Group CD and the writer of the campaign commented: “The 3-minute short film revolves around three characters – two celebrities and one phone. The project followed a lengthy and complicated process, which is similar to a feature filmmaking and is different from a quick TVC production process. After locking the script, character sketching was done for both the celebrities, a detailed screenplay was written, where every shot was broken down to its minutest detail. Doing away with the regular advertising-jingle space, we churned out a 3 minute song for the film.”

     

    The film has been directed by Siddarth Anand (who has directed hits like Salaam Namaste, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Anjana Anjani etc) and produced by Film Farm India.

     

  • The account will be managed by the Maxus New Delhi team

    Getit opts for Maxus

    By a correspondent

     

    Maxus has won the media planning duties for askme.com and askmebazaar.com. Getit Infomedia owns a portfolio of brands operating in both online and offline properties with brands including ASKME, ASKMEBAZAAR, FREEADS & YELLOWPAGES across Indian online search, deals, marketplace and classified industry.

     

    The account will be managed by the Maxus New Delhi team.

     

    ASKME is being launched as a next generation mobile app for consumption across local search, marketplace, classified and deals. It is platform agnostic and allows consumption across Voice (04444444444, ten times four), Mobile (APP n WAP) and Online. It has also executed some industry defining product partnerships such as with WECHAT.

     

    Manav Sethi, Marketing Head, Getit Infomedia said “Our determination to lead the online search, deals, marketplace & classified space with clutter breaking marketing activities also drives us to ensure we work with the best of the agency to deliver on the ambition. After careful evaluation, we decided on Maxus, as it was able to bring in consumer experience beyond traditional communications.”

     

    V. Narayanan, General Manager, Maxus New Delhi said “We are thrilled to partner Getit Infomedia. Their brands focuses on strategic thinking & smart innovations when it comes to communications solutions. This very much aligns with the Maxus way of working. We look forward to contributing to their success & work towards building the portfolio of brands in a fiercely contested market place.”

     

     

  • Godrej in association with Talenthouse invites aspiring artist to design the new logo for innovation

    Godrej rolls out innovation-led contest with Talenthouse

    By a correspondent

     

    Godrej in association with SEA’s leading creative crowdsourcing platform, Talenthouse India, has recreated the magic of innovative thinking via ‘Symbol Of Innovation’ contest. The contest invites designers, artists, students and anyone with a flair for design to come up with a logo or symbol that represents innovation. The key challenge would be to intuitively convey innovation and should be universally applicable on all mediums including print, on-product stickers, television, digital platforms etc. The last date for entry is July 08 while the winners will be announced on July 31, 2014.

     

    The winner will receive a grand prize of Rs Rs 1 lakh and an exposure for their entry across the host’s social media channels. The winner will also get an opportunity to be featured on future communication by Godrej on multiple mediums.

     

    Announcing the collaboration, Shireesh Joshi, Head-Strategic Marketing, Godrej Group said, “Continuing with our commitment to foresee and develop innovation in sync to our masterbrand campaign – Ideas that makes life brighter, we have introduced this campaign to provide a unique platform to promote, showcase and cultivate innovative thinking. It’s also a good opportunity to create recognition of the unique and innovative ideas behind our products that make life brighter for our consumers.”

     

    Elaborating on this association, Arun Mehra, CEO, Talenthouse India said, “Talenthouse is fast becoming a prominent platform that collaborates with leading brands to ensure maximum consumer engagement. We are very happy with our association with Godrej and are certain that this initiative will generate a lot of interest from participants. Brands need to be a part of the consumer’s mind space rather than just plugged from the outside and this innovative initiative is reaching its consumers in a creative way.”

     

  • Senior mediaperson Sunil Lulla will join leading advertising agency network Grey Group India as Chairman & Managing Director for Grey Group India.

    It’s official. Sunil Lulla to join Grey as CMD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sunil Lulla

    Senior mediaperson Sunil Lulla will join leading advertising agency network Grey Group India as Chairman & Managing Director for Grey Group India. He will report to Nirvik Singh, Chairman & CEO of Grey Group Asia Pacific.  Meanwhile, Jishnu Sen, currently CEO of Grey Group India is leaving the network for personal reasons.

     

    Mr Lulla’s move to Grey is a return to advertising and the WPP group. WPP owns Grey as well as JWT, where he worked till 1996. He joins Grey from Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd where he was President, Corporate Development. Prior to that, he was Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Times Television Network.

     

    On his joining of Grey Group India, Mr Lulla said, “The creative and communication landscape in India is undergoing a huge transformation now and there’s no better time for me to join Grey Group, which has been doing wonderful work for leading brands in India and across the world..”

    Said Nirvik Singh: “Sunil Lulla will be the keystone to our growth strategy in India as we build a stronger network to provide truly holistic communication solutions to our clients.”

     

    Said Jishnu Sen: “Grey Group has been great to me and I am truly happy to have worked with some of the best people in the industry. We had a great run together. It is time for me now to move on to different and more exciting challenges. I wish the Grey family all the very best and I am sure they will continue to grow to greater success.”

     

     

  • The awards celebrate the individuals and firms whose commitment to excellence sees them exceeding clients’ expectations on a daily basis while setting the bar for others in their industry

    Ashish Bhasin is best Media CEO – India at 2014 Business Excellence Awards

    By a correspondent

     

    Ashish Bhasin of Dentsu Aegis has been declared the Media CEO of the Year – India at the 2014 Business Excellence Awards announced in London recently.

     

    Voted for by a worldwide network of professionals, advisers, clients, peers and business insiders, the Acquisition International Business Excellence Awards celebrate the individuals and firms whose commitment to excellence sees them exceeding clients’ expectations on a daily basis while setting the bar for others in their industry.

     

    The awards, open to businesses from any sector or region, are handed out solely on merit. They are given to only the most deserving businesses, departments and individuals who have consistently demonstrated outstanding innovation, performance and commitment to their business or clients over the past 12 months and who have received independent nominations from their clients or industry peers.

     

    Speaking about the awards, AI Global Media awards coordinator Siobhan Hanley said: “Our Business Excellence Awards are quickly becoming one of our most popular, with businesses all over the globe eager to showcase the amazing work they’ve been doing to achieve stellar results for their clients while really setting the standards for what can be achieved in their sector.  We’re proud to be able to showcase some of the most innovative and committed organizations from across the business world and the winners can be rightly proud of the game-changing work they’ve been doing over the past 12 months.”

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network, said “I am honored to receive the 2014 Business Excellence Award for Media CEO of the Year. I am lucky to have such a wonderful team at Dentsu Aegis Network.The award is for my team’s efforts, I am just receiving it in my name.  It’s been an amazing journey for Dentsu Aegis Network in India but the best is yet to come.”

     

     

  • 4K at 8.3 Megapixels has approximately four times the pixilation as 2K – the current HD standard, thus providing far greater clarity and more vivid colours on screen for viewers

    Tata Sky unveils plans for 4K STB

    By A Correspondent

     

    Tata Sky has announced its plans to launch 4k set top boxes in India by early next year. The launch plans were unveiled last week when Tata Sky showcased the first ever live telecast with 4K technology on Sony Six HD using a 4k STB.

     

    The 2014 FIFA World Cup football match played between France & Germany was telecast on SD, HD and an (4k enabled) UltraHD television from Sony Electronics with live 4k feed of the football match on Sony six HD. 4K at 8.3 Megapixels (3840×2160) has approximately four times the pixilation as 2K (1920×1080) the current HD standard, thus providing far greater clarity and more vivid colours on screen for viewers.

     

    Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer at Tata Sky explained, “Being the market leader, we are always at the forefront of technology and have worked on delivering world class TV viewing experience. In today’s day and age, following global trends is not enough, we try to leapfrog them. Launch of 4k UHD STBs next year is another example of the same. 4K is the future for our subscribers and we are very happy to bring this preview to India for the first time together with Sony Six, showcasing the world’s biggest sporting festival.”

     

    Prasana Krishnan

    Prasana Krishnan, Executive VP and Business Head Sony Six, said “We are thrilled to associate with Tata Sky and Sony Electronics in demonstrating for the first time in India how 4k feed can completely take sports broadcasting to the next level and there is no better way to do it than with the world biggest sporting extravaganza 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil on Sony Six. I am confident that this enhanced viewing experience will appeal to our sports loving consumers in India and 4k will mark the beginning of the next generation of high quality broadcasting in the country.”