MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Many youngsters in the agency have applauded Omnicom’s present move in Mudra, hoping that it would give the agency a fresh lease of life.

    Analysis: Will Omnicom upset the applecart?

    By Tuhina Anand

    Now for years, Omnicom has been trying to gain a greater share in the Indian market, but it has finally managed to get it right with the Mudra acquisition.

    It has been making moves recently to gain a foothold in the Indian market by debuting in the country its media agency OMD and then by bringing creative agency BBDO. Omnicom also acquired 100 per cent stake in TBWA but the coup is definitely getting Mudra and the talks of majority stakes turning to 100 per cent stake, Omnicom will in one sweep manage to pocket a sizeable chunk of the advertising pie in India.

    In fact, the seriousness of India as a market could be gauged from the fact that Tim Love , the Chief Executive Officer of Omnicom, Asia Pacific India Middle East Africa (APIMA) region has always pointed to his business card which puts India separately and not club as part of Asia or APAC as is the norm. He had stressed during his meetings that this showed how important is India as a market for Omnicom and its commitment to the country.

    Many youngsters in the agency have applauded Omnicom’s present move in Mudra, hoping that it would give the agency a fresh lease of life. Not to forget that Mudra has been on an overdrive in the last two years, with the agency winning awards at the national festival. Recently the network (DDB) also won at SpikesAsia so there has been a buzz. Its sub-brands Water, its strategy and design consultancy unit and Terra, bottom of pyramid marketing had also been launched earlier with much fanfare.

    In fact, with Mudra’s acquisition, Omnicom gains in getting hold of a fully integrated advertising services agency which otherwise would have been difficult if the latter had gone doing things on its own. Currently, Mudra has- Mudra India, DDB Mudra, Mudra Max and Ignite Mudra and each of these have their own strategic business units like Mudra India has 5 SBUs including Mudra West, Mudra South and Mudra North & East. Water, a strategy & design specialist, and Maatra, a localization & pre-media specialist. DDB Mudra comprises four strategic business units, DDB India, Tribal DDB India, RAPP India and DDB Health & Lifestyle. Mudra Max consists of 16 strategic business units that provide clients seamless solutions across a wide array of media touchpoints.

    In the months to follow, it would be interesting to see how Omnicom would try to bring its own flavour to Mudra. Also how would its other agencies like BBDO, TBWA and OMD be placed in the scheme of things and continue as independent units would be worth the watch. But one thing is sure with this move Omnicom has suddenly leapt in the big circle as there is no denying that Mudra has the pedigree that can give Omnicom though a late entrant, a name and grip in the industry that it has been trying for long but had not succeded ealier.

    More importantly, will this move shake the WPPs who have well-settled in the Indian industry? After all, any new player comes with the big intentions which if not shakes the sedentary life of the oldies but definitely puts them on their edges. Only time will tell.

  • From a base of Rs 10 lakh in 1983 to Rs 700 cr for an additional 41% stake to Omnicom, Mudra has done well for Reliance ADAG boss Anil Ambani

    Omnicom moves to rule India with Mudra buy

     

    By Rajiv Banerjee, Amit Bapna & Sonali Krishna

     

    After a decade of on-and-off parleys, US advertising giant Omnicom has sealed a deal to gain control of the Mudra group, the last of the major homegrown advertising networks left in the country.

     

    The deal for a 41% stake will fetch Mudra’s majority shareholder and ADAG boss Mr Anil Ambani around Rs 700 crore, making it the biggest deal in the history of Indian advertising, a person involved in the transaction told ET. Omnicom agency DDB Worldwide has held a 10% in Mudra since 1993, and the latest transaction effectively hands control of the firm founded by Mr Anil Ambani some three decades ago to the US-based firm.

     

    Ambani will continue to own a 49% stake in his personal capacity in the agency, which has revenues of around Rs 200 crore in revenues and Rs 33 crore in net profit. The deal values Mudra at a little over Rs 1,700 crore, around eight-and-a-half times its top line. Omnicom has the option of acquiring another 25% in three years and the entire network in five years, according to the agreement. Reliance ADAG chairman Mr Anil Ambani, add those privy to the details, was offered a board position but opted for a berth on Omnicom’s international advisory committee.

     

    “I am happy for 1,100 families of Mudra professionals, who will now be part of the global network of Omnicom. It’s been a fulfilling journey for me, having started this agency from the shop floor of Reliance Industries’ textile division in Ahmedabad (in 1983),” Mr Anil Ambani told ET.

     

    As per the agreement, Omnicom will now control the Mudra group’s four agencies – Mudra India, DDB Mudra, Mudra Max and Ignite Mudra. Along with these, Omnicom also gets access to 26 pan-India offices. Those close to the deal say that Mudra’s focus on diversified advertising services (DAS) was the primary attraction for Omnicom. Along with branding, communication and marketing, Mudra also has an ‘integrated engagement and experiential agency in Mudra Max and perhaps India’s only agency for entrepreneurs in Ignite Mudra.

     

    Significantly, the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), a communications management institute, is set to become a global school for Omnicom.

     

    Omnicom Gets Foothold

     

    “Over the past few years there have been heightened levels of discussions that finally culminated in this partnership. We now get aligned in with DDB, and then perhaps can look forward to several tie-ups with Omnicom brands or working closely with several Omnicom brands that come to the country,” says Mr Madhukar Kamath, MD & CEO, Mudra Group. Other than DDB, the Omnicom network includes BBDO, TBWA Worldwide, and public relations firms like Brodeur Worldwide and Fleishman-Hillard.

     

    Omnicom for its part gets a solid foothold in a fast growing market in which it has been distinctly overshadowed by the big boys like WPP, the Interpublic group (IPG) and Publicis. Mudra would rank amongst the top five agencies in India in billings, behind JWT and Ogilvy & Mather, and in a similar league as Draftfcb Ulka and Lowe Lintas (both a part of the IPG network).

     

     

    Says Mr Tim Love, vice chairman, & CEO, Omnicom Group APIMA (Asia-Pacific India Middle-East Africa): “The deal is an important confirmation of the importance of Asia and India for Omnicom Group’s long range plans for our clients.” “The partnership gives us unprecedented scale across India,” adds Mr Randall Weisenburger, CFO, Omnicom. That scale may still not be enough to unseat the big boys. As IPG CEO Mr Michael Roth says: “Even after the acquisition of Mudra, IPG is still larger.”

     

    Mr Ambani started Mudra in 1983 with a capital base of Rs 10 lakh. The story goes that patriarch Dhirubhai gave the younger son Rs 10 lakh to start the agency, which essentially was an in-house division of Reliance back then. Fresh out of Wharton, Ambani converted it into a separate agency with the Reliance-owned Vimal brand being its first and only account. Ambani came close to selling Mudra in 2002 to Sir Martin Sorrel-lheaded WPP, which offered Rs 170 crore back then for a 70% stake. The wait has been worth it.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2011, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

     

     

  • Rediffusion Y&R's media arm TME has entered into a strategic alliance with the Havas group's MPG

    TME to have a strategic alliance with MPG

    By A Correspondent

    TME (the media planning and buying arm of Rediffusion – Y & R and Everest Brand Solutions) and MPG (the flagship brand of Havas Media) have entered into a strategic alliance to provide value added media planning and buying services to clients of Rediffusion – Y & R and Everest Brand Solutions.

    This alliance came into effect from November 1.

    As per a communique, TME and  MPG will leverage their individual strengths to partner and provide greater value to clients and collaborate to tap opportunities for growth in the market. The alliance will enable TME clients to benefit from Havas Media’s extensive network knowledge resources, the integrated buying clout, MPG’s well-regarded proprietary Decision Support Systems and their touch point platform “CONNECT” bringing together a more effective and optimized investment plan. TME will continue to be built as a media independent brand under MPG’s stewardship.

    Statements issued in a press communique:

    D Rajappa, President, Rediffusion – Y & R: “This alliance is a collaborative effort to grow the business and also add enhanced value to existing and prospective clients of RYR”

    Dhunji Wadia, President, Everest Brand Solutions: “This is one of the deepest integrations to date, marking yet another milestone in the Group’s plan for a consolidated media investment management operation. The focus is to bring competitive advantage to our clients and our companies.”

    Anita Nayyar, CEO of Havas Media, South Asia: “This strategic alliance is a synergistic relationship between MPG and TME wherein both brands will co-exist and continue to provide benefits to each other working towards a common goal of delighting clients.”

  • Celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, Faber-Castell has reason to rejoice. A conversation with Count Andreas von Faber-Castell.

    Writing, Faber-Castell style

    By Insiyah Rangwala

     

    Celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, Faber-Castell has reason to rejoice. In the last 15 years it has seen extraordinary growth and an expansion that has taken it from being a ‘German company that exports’ to a globally familiar brand. But for the company which has seen eight generations, it was not all smooth sailing. With the two World Wars and the Depression, it was disowned by several countries and lost a lot. It was bought back and it fought back, though.

     

    Count Andreas von Faber-Castell Director, Asia-Pacific Region Faber-Castell Group, and his wife Countess Virginia are on a tour all of this year celebrating 250 years of the company and talking about the company’s legacy and heritage. They have already visited Indonesia and Singapore. There was also a massive celebration in Germany in July where they had a multi-vision show and showcased the company in context of its history. This was attended by 5,000 guests among which 120 were Indian but they still hoped for more.

    Count Andreas told MxM India that Faber-Castell is completely decentralized, and in that spirit has set up in the Indian market which is run by Indians for the Indians, as it believes in using local expertise. India was a very obvious expansion especially since it is so well connected to South America.

    He talked about being a family company means that it can challenge any public company. “As a family company we make ideal partners as we care just a little bit more. We have the freedom to make a long-term decision which might pay off only in 100 years.”

    When asked about his view on digital art and how it might hurt the company he said it only complements the firm, and he has no fear. “All sports can be played on video games now; does it replace the real thing? There is a magical feeling to writing.”

    While talking about this expectations from India as a market he stated that for India to become a well saturated market   is still in the future and will probably happen after his time, though he is heavily involved with the process and visits India almost once a month and works closely with the Indian team.

    Faber-Castell has set up its manufacturing units in India itself as it gets into new markets with long-term interests, and it is always better to be present within the country as this makes it more flexible and reliable.

    It wants the Indian customers to have an experience that can be remembered when they use their products. “Any product is completely safe for kids. I can go in and drink a glass of my ink without any worries that I might fall ill.”

    As for the luxury range, this has just been started and the company will set up its own shops in India to build the brand over time, as has been done in other countries. To mark the 250th anniversary, Faber-Castell has introduced Graf von Faber-Castell luxury range and Faber-Castell Design range of Pens.

    When asked what he would personally like Faber-Castell to be known as, the Count replied, “I just want people to smile and say this is nice.”

  • For the new generation ‘new’ is disposable. New keeps changing every moment and what matters to them is ‘now’.

    AdAsia: Big Ideas in the Age of Now

    By Akash Raha

    Emerging from the real-timeness of the ‘anytime, anywhere’ economy, the ‘present’ has never been so dominant in the life of business / marketing professionals and consumers. There is a surfeit of ‘so-called’ ideas but there is always a short-supply of the ‘big’ idea that results in creative disruption. Robert Senior, Creative Chairman, Saatchi & Saatchi in the ‘The Pursuit of Big Ideas in the Age of Now’ showcased some of the big ideas that have made a difference and also highlighted the taxonomy of pursuing big ideas.

    The word ‘new’ has lost its significance in today’s world. For the new generation ‘new’ is disposable. New keeps changing every moment and what matters to them is ‘now’. There has been a movement of era of ‘new’ to age of ‘now’. With the change of this era changes the shift from attention to participation, inform to inspire, interruption to interaction, return of investment to return of involvement and local to global.

    It’s a volatile world we live in, and in all spheres – from political to financial. Also, the future is uncertain, complex and ambiguous. In such a scenario, it is very hard to plan for the future, because the future is so dynamic. So the question one asks is, we are uncertain about the future… what do we do next? The creeping in of fear at such a point is inevitable. The creative mind isn’t immune from fear. But the creative mind deals with fear. A creative mind loves problems and loves to solve them. With the problems, also come possibilities of creating newer things, newer ideas, and better ideas. Ideas like these can be the prism of hope. Amazing things can happen when you have ideas and are innovative. The essence is to capture the moment and be creativity.

    Creativity in a way, said Mr Senior, is like science, it’s meant to be experimented with. It has to be tried and tested in order to get to the desired result.

    One of the biggest clichés of the advertising industry, he said, was the concept of ‘Big Idea’. The question one asks is, how big is the idea, and is the idea really that big? There is no such thing as a big or small ideas, it all about having ideas in general and then nurturing them. Anyone can kill an idea, even a moron can. But the essence is to find value in a idea and then make it big. Nurturing a tiny idea into a so-called ‘big idea’ is the key.

    One of the things important in today’s world is speed. The world is moving so fast that by the time you nurture your idea, the time when the idea could be implemented is gone. Hence, speed, agility and being nimble are essential.

    He urged advertisers to believe and trust in the strength of ideas. Ideas that can create a difference, ideas that can make an impact. Talking about the current world scenario, he said it is of the essence that we try and make a difference, however small. It is okay to be a little enraged, a little angry; it is okay to dream and do something crazy. Ideas have a lot to do with emotions, and an upsurge of emotions causes action.

    Talking about the Israel and Palestine issue he gave example of how an idea (a campaign) tried to make a difference in the war-inflicted area. He went on to say that ideas are nice and creating ideas is nice, but the next step is more important. It is important to bring some action to it. It’s good to be enraged and angry with something you feel passionately about. Such anger and resentment often appeals to the heart. “Let’s give some context to the world which is fast losing its plot.” Let our heart work wonders and then we should do something that might not change our world, but do something that our children can be proud of. The speaker brought the power of ideas and connected it with emotions, and touched everyone’s heart.

  • Volatility is not a part of our life any more, it is our life, says the PepsiCo chief. Hence, make volatility an intrinsic part of the plan.

    AdAsia: Indra Nooyi’s answer to uncertainty, creative adaptability

    By Akash Raha

    In the current times of volatility managing business and brands is no easy task. Yet, we have the example of PepsiCo which has thrived in the New World Order though thick and thin. The final session of AdAsia captured Ms Indra Nooyi’s perspective Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo who stimulated the delegates with her ideas on how to manage business with de-averaged realities.

    She said that it is indeed a difficult task for CEOs to navigate an enterprise when uncertainty is the only certainty. Especially when we have not seen such volatility that one has not seen in the last few decades, what does one do?  At such a framework, prediction is very difficult, especially when it is about the future. But the question is, hasn’t the future always been as such, as unpredictable as it is right now? But no, I do believe, she said, that there is something unnerving about the uncertainty we feel today. Be it financial sphere or the political sphere, these are the times of immense upheaval and turmoil.

    At such times, it was inevitable that creativity gave way to fear and risk. There are several crises that we have faced in the recent times and from which we need to learn a lot. The first challenge she mentioned was the crisis of leadership. “One of the great tasks of leadership is to prepare when the storm comes.” And it won’t be wrong to say that several leaders of reputed companies failed to avert the tension. Hence, one of the most important things for most companies is to build strong leadership base over a long period of time. Another crisis that we faced in the recent times was the crisis of government failure. Governance of several countries around the globe failed so much so, that it has caused a crisis of expectations. Many of us don’t know or have forgotten what success looks like anymore. Financial, social and political failure all at the same time hasn’t helped the cause of anyone.

    Yet there are several positives that has emerged in recent times, one of them is that of emergence of the women force in the emerging market – more than twice the size of India and China together. There are plenty to reasons to give cause to optimism. The only certainty today is, that the world is uncertain. So the question is, how can we survive and thrive in such situation? Darwin’s theory of evolution still holds good and they key in such a scenario is that to adapt. It’s not the strongest that survive, but the fittest.  As a CEO of PepsiCo, said Ms Nooyi, I have seen so much change since I joined. “All of us have to explicitly realize that we are in a new reality… I don’t think that we can plan in the way we used to plan. Volatility is not a part of our life any more, it is our life.” Hence, when you plan, make volatility an intrinsic part of the plan. “We need to plan the next plan while the ink on our first plan is still drying out”, she added.

    Another important thing is that leaders have to lead for today. It’s important that the leaders and institution give something back to the society and stay relevant. Having a vision for the future is essential. Also, leaders should know about the element of uncertainty beforehand and keep it always as a variable in their scheme of things.

    We see how growth is elusive in many parts of the world. This is not a time for small changes; we need big changes in to big things. There must be seamless and borderless innovation to make something big happen. “Disrupt yourselves deliberately, otherwise competition will disrupt you.  The usual way of working will not work anymore.

    Lastly, it is essential to get new talent in the business and nurture them. Experience of the quality people and leaders we have in our company are invaluable. But also essential is training leaders, creating young leaders. In our company, said Ms Nooyi, we are trying to give the knowledge of East and West, about various ethnicity and cultures to all our budding upcoming leaders. Companies across boards need to rethink the whole process of leadership development.

    Leaders of today have to be super visible to the organization and to the outside world. Interaction with the outside world is absolutely necessary at times such as these. One should be transparent, truthful and open. Because, if the leader does not tell them, someone else will and then there will be speculation and rumours which is absolutely detrimental to the cause of any company. Have an open door policy. It is always a good advice always, but now it is imperative. The answer to uncertainty is simple, it is creative adaptability.

  • The David Droga – R Balki session was cancelled but there was plenty of other excitement on the last day of AdAsia 2011.

    AdAsia: Exec Summary – what a day!

    By Tuhina Anand and Akash Raha

     

    One of the most engaging sessions of AdAsia 2011 was the start of Day 3 of the congress, with Swami Sukhabodhananda, Founder and Chairman, Prasanna Trust. He spoke on ‘Global ethos: Managing Unpredictability across circumstances of Life and Business. The session turned out to among one of the most engaging one with Swamiji captivating the audience with his wit and mantras on managing life and business. There was a fair dose of spiritualism, but it came with practical solutions that can help an individual perform better, both in personal and professional life. The key message was to look for the solution in the problem itself, as very often one ignores this aspect and gets engrossed and bothered by the problem while overlooking the solution which is right there.

    The much-awaited session on Creative Participation with David Droga and R Balki was cancelled. The next session was on Conscious Capitalism moderated by Santosh Desai, MD and CEO, Future Brands Ltd. Duncan Goose, Founder and MD, Global Ethics Ltd and Anna Bernasek, Journalist and Speaker, addressed the audience. While the theme of the discussion might seem an oxymoron, the session looked into the idea where many capitalists have successfully straddled this and pursued business objectives with a conscience and helped in global sustainability.

    Asian women are different from women across the globe and so are their buying habits. The session ‘Marketing to Women Consumers in Asia’ emphasized the importance of marketing to women, which is often ignored. Women remain a very important segment in terms of spends per year, albeit ignored by marketers. Women control US$12 trillion of annual discretionary spends which is two-thirds of the total pie. And if women are seriously dissatisfied with what is on offer, it is essential to innovate for them. But relevant significant products are more important to women consumers than mere innovation. Hence the mix should be of innovation and significance (value for money spend). Women consumers are more conscious of the price that they are paying and the value they get for it. Considering the amount of money that exchange hands from this segment, it is but ironical, pointed out the speakers, that marketers aren’t focusing on them enough. Moreover, the psyche of women in each of the Asian countries has to be researched to truly understand how, what and when they buy, and these research data can then be leveraged upon.

    The word ‘new’ has lost its significance in today’s world. For the new generation ‘new’ is disposable. New keeps changing every moment and what matters to them is ‘now’. There has been a movement of era of ‘new’ to age of ‘now’. Robert Senior, Creative Chairman, Saatchi & Saatchi in the ‘The Pursuit of Big Ideas in the Age of Now’ showcased some of the big ideas that

    have made a difference and also highlighted the taxonomy of pursuing big ideas. He urged advertisers to believe and trust in the strength of ideas. Ideas that can create a difference, ideas that can make an impact.

    Talking about the current global scenario, he said it is of the essence that we try and make a difference, however small. It is okay to be a little enraged, a little angry; it is okay to dream and do something crazy. Ideas have a lot to do with emotions and an upsurge of emotions causes actions.

    The final session of AdAsia captured the perspective of Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo, who stimulated the delegates with her ideas on how to manage business with de-averaged realities. She said that it is indeed a difficult task for CEOs to navigate an enterprise when uncertainty is the only certainty. The first challenge she mentioned was the crisis of leadership. She repeatedly emphasized on the creation of good leadership who would stand by when the storm comes.

    Quoting Darwins theory of evolution she said that the key in such a scenario is that to adapt. “It’s not the strongest that survive, but the fittest.” She went on to say, “All of us have to explicitly realize that we are in a new reality. I don’t think that we can plan in the way we used to plan. Volatility is not a part of our life any more, it is our life.” Hence, when you plan, make volatility an intrinsic part of the plan.

    “Leaders of today have to be super visible to the organization and to the outside world. Interaction with the outside world is absolutely necessary at times such as these. One should be transparent, truthful and open. The answer to uncertainty is simple, it is creative adaptability,” she concluded.

  • Expectations, suggestions and experiences, AdAsians in conversation with MxM India on their takeaways from this edition of the Congress

    Video Report: The ‘AdAsian’ experience

     

     

    [youtube width=”320″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaNsKVHeQpI[/youtube]

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Whether it was Swami Sukhabodhananda’s inspiring words of wisdom, Joseph Tripodi’s ‘engaging’ presentation or Will Sansom’s ‘Contagious’ ideas, there was something for everyone to take home from the AdAsia 2011 conference that concluded yesterday in New Delhi.

     

    Were expectations met? Did this AdAsia wash away the Jaipur 2003 memories? Did the Dilli chaat and the manganiyas charm the foreign delegates enough? Could it have been better? For answers to all of the above and more, MxM India caught up with some AdAsia veterans as well as first-timers on the last day of the congress.

     

    It was an experience to remember for quite a few, especially for the strong line-up of speakers. While first-timer Anita Nayyar, CEO-India & South Asia, Havas Media, was impressed with the creative line-up of speakers and topics, for Alok Agarwal, COO, Cheil Worldwide, India, some great content came from the non-advertising lot. He said, “…the presentations made by the non-advertising people were far fresher in their thinking…”

    Looking at the line-up, a few turned up at the congress in the hope of interacting with the industry icons. But the format of the sessions didn’t leave too much room for interaction. Coming from Pakistan, Mehwish Rafi, Chief Strategy Officer, Adcom Pvt Ltd, had a different picture in mind before she attended the sessions. But nevertheless, the sheer association with the ‘AdAsia family’ as she calls it, made it a great experience for all the 90 delegates from Pakistan.

    AdAsia loyalist, Raymond So, CEO, Mastershub, also came with huge expectations which he admitted were almost met but for the cultural experience. Recalling his grand Jaipur experience, he said, “…Jaipur had given me an excellent experience, the cultural exposure was great…and this time because of the hotel arrangement, it wasn’t as impressive as the previous AdAsia.”

    Sonal Dabral, Creative Head Asia & Chairman Bates 141 India, like most others was impressed with the content coming out of AdAsia 2011 but sharing his experience from Cannes, he gave some interesting feedback on how the content could have been showcased better. Stressing on the keyword of the trade, ‘advertising’, he said, “…I don’t think the separate seminars that happened were properly advertised… if we are in the business of building expectations, of teasing people, to creating desire about a product, I think that should have been done for each of the seminars.”

    For Chris Thomas, Chairman and CEO of BBDO in Asia, Middle East & Africa, the biggest takeaway from the conference was the vibrancy in the industry in Asia. Referring to the great work and conversations shared through the three-day congress, he said, “…there is absolutely a passion for the work, there is a sense of creativity and new techniques to be applied, and I think Asia is demonstrating its vibrancy and its importance on the world stage, and particularly in India.”

    Paresh Nath, Owner, Delhi Press, admitted to have had a great time at AdAsia 2011 as well. He said that the conversations were not just about advertising but about “communication” which happens to be an integral part of publishing.

  • Audiences today consume several media forms at the same time, and getting a message across is difficult. What is needed is acts and not ads.

    Ad Asia: Acts, not Ads

    By Akash Raha

    Times have changed and with that has changed strategies of communication from brand to consumers. For much of its history, the art of advertising revolved around the creation of the ad: an expertly crafted message conveyed through traditional media and consumed by end audiences. But the audiences today have changed, they way the consume media today has changed. Audiences today consume several media forms at the same time, and to get a message across to them now is a difficult task.

    Digital and social media have upended the erstwhile models of communication. Marketing messages are now more visceral and participatory. In this era, consumers themselves can play the critical role in conveying the brand promise while energizing others to greater levels of awareness, empowerment and inspired action.

    Chris Thomas, Chairman and CEO of BBDO in Asia, Middle East and Africa & Chairman of Proximity Worldwide and Simon Bond, Chief Marketing Officer, BBDO/Proximity Worldwide in the session titles ‘Acts; Not Ads’ at AdAsia 2011 showed how ads are no longer enough. This session, deconstructed how, in today’s multidimensional media landscape, advertising messages are evolving into true social movements and acts that can affect and drive positive change. There are some old certainties which still remain certain and yet there are things that have changed forever.

    Mr Thomas said that there is a lot of uncertainty led through the forces of globalization the forces of urbanization. However, what really brings about this uncertainty is change. Giving examples from their life, both the members showed how their lives spent a decade apart had so many changes… from vinyl records to iPods, from friends on Penthouse to those on Facebook etc. These changes that we have seen in technology, has happened quicker and faster. And now, we see how information is dispensed quicker and faster in unimaginable volumes. Like a decade or two back, our values and creativity is no longer shared by two or three people but rather millions of people on digital and social media space. To emphasize this dynamic change further, Mr Bond said, “People will look back at today like they did the Industrial Revolution. It is a fundamentally changed world.”

    The panelists of the discussion gave several examples to drive home their point. The first such example was that of Yellow Pages, with an age old advertisement and with a current one. The point that they were trying to emphasize was that earlier engaging with consumers was easy as there was less interference. But today we are living in a interconnected word and customers want to interact and converse with the brand. The need is to engage with the consumers, hence, what is needed today is acts and not ads.

    A recent Yellow Pages advertisement innovated to show the efficacy of yellow pages, and an act was created, where the consumers could participate and feel one with the brand. It shows the effectiveness of advertising in the yellow pages. The implication is that the company is the same as it used to be, the customers are the same as they used to be, but the times have changed drastically. Hence, one needs to engage and innovate. Today, the consumer is in control and is in a state of absolute power. Word of mouth, trust is one of the most important things for the customers today.

    For advertisers, the essence is to create compelling content and yet, it remains important to have a clear purpose behind it. The type of communication that we are doing today is just based on the fact as how consumers react. How people buy what they buy. With modern scientific techniques one can perhaps understand this a little better now; how they buy, what they buy, but the essence to understand is why the buy. People buy not what you do, but why you do it?

    Talking about Apple as a brand and Steve Jobs the panelists stressed on how they have unleashed the power of creativity. Similarly, Starbucks too went on to say “We don’t fill bellies, we fill souls” as their campaign went from using paper cups to reusable mugs. In a new data driven world, never has creativity been more important. We know more about the consumers than ever before. But there is a danger since there is so much of information and we have to differentiate between accountability and effectiveness. We must not spend much all our attention on things that we can easily calculated and can be accounted for. The primary driver should be effectiveness… It is a little hard to predict and a little hard to account for yet it remains superior.

    Furthermore, the panel gave examples of how successful acts were created by Aviva Life Insurance and Gillette through their campaign on ‘donate books’ and ‘women against dirty stubble’ respectively. Moreover, these acts generated good content too. Similarly Volkswagen created a campaign for people car in china which became immensely successful. Through several examples, the panel showed the efficacy of acts and showed how ads are no longer as compelling. What the consumers of today need is Acts, acts which they can live and be a part of.

  • How important is trust for a brand, and how can one build trust? These are some of the compelling questions that were discussed in AdAsia 2011.

    AdAsia: Brand-building in a trust deficit world

    By Akash Raha

    With a plethora of brands in the market and a cacophony of declarations from each, the result is a trust famine in the mind of the consumer.

    In such a trust deficit world, the protocols of brand-building could be a lot more complex but highly rewarding. The panel members in the session named ‘Building brands in a trust deficit world’ helped navigate through the fog of distrust and threw light on a brand becomes trustworthy.

    The panel members in this session were Robin Wight, President, Engine and WCRS; Vikram Sakhuja, GroupM, Chief Executive Officer, South Asia; Michael Boneham, President & Managing Director, Ford India; Deepa Prahalad, Author & Business Strategist and Sandeep Ghosh, CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance. Ms Prahalad began the discussion by asking the rhetoric question, how can a brand build trust in a trust deficit world? Trust is very important and it is not dead, but fewer brands are trusted these days. Some brands are struggling to build trust not because they are not trustworthy, but because trust is so hard to gauge and build.

    Trust is not only about what is the brand giving in terms of quality of product and services but quality of a brands conduct and the causes the brand is championing. Mr Wight went on to talk about the psyche of the consumer and said that the biological purpose of a brand is to enable the consumer to make the buying decision with little mental effort. The brain really does not want to make any buying decisions all it wants to do is pass on the genes. The brain wants to do the least work it can do and hence a trustworthy brand scores over the others. If there is decline in trust, then there is a problem and the brain has to re-think about it. For example, if the brain had to think which mobile phone to take, considering the number of phones we have in the market, it will take it years to decide. Hence today, they use the web to make their mental effort easier. Engagement that a brand creates is very important, but what we need is not only engagement but peer to peer marketing which is so successful. Peer to peer marketing depends on building trust where the consumer spread the message themselves. He gave examples of the Coca-Cola advertisement where they reached out to 80 million people with no cost to the company. The message of the World Cup was spread without the company having to spend a penny and only through peer to peer marketing.

    In recent times, we have seen a downtrend in trustworthiness of several financial service institutions after premiere banks across the globe declared themselves bankrupt. The consumer can’t help but question the bubble that the bankers create. Mr Ghosh of Bharti AXA life insurance said that there is a need for financial services structures to move away to the land of promise and begin delivering. It is essential to move from mere promises to real proof, where the spectrum of financial service provide tangible proofs and demonstrate trustworthiness.  He showed examples of two of their campaigns where they gave tangible proofs to the consumers to build trust. Such strategy of proof as opposed to shinny promises can work wonders in building trust.

    Ford is another company which stands for trustworthiness and its case is no less interesting. During recession, Ford was one of the few companies that refused bail out, and such a step only build more confidence and trust in the brand. Mr Boneham  pointed out that since then they have worked very hard around that aspect and about their independence and walking alone. “We built and rebuilt our brand for what we were standing for. Under each of these we focused on what we could do to separate ourselves from others… A few things we then focused on was quality, green, safe and smart.” The company devoted a huge amount of time with the consumers to understanding their needs and what they wanted. And it is from this that they improved on the product and built up the trust quotient. We use consumers to build experience. Even in our ads we have consumers speaking rather than celebrities. We have focused on consumers talking to consumers.

    Mr Sakhuja of Group M was the last to speak and said that the point in context is “Building trust in an attention deficit world rather than trust deficit world.” Commitment levels per se (of the consumers) are not really high rather, it is quite low. The consumers don’t give the trust away easy, but when they do, they stay with it… they are not as fickle minded as several marketers are. But there is the psychological equity to it. The question is that, are people sure about what their brand gene pool is? People are not building enough of core psychological brand equity. He gave the example of Nokia, which according to surveys still ranks high on the trust quotient even though their market share has dropped significantly. The entry barrier for phones has suddenly become low owing to the several new players that have come into the market, so people are experimenting. Yet there is the latent psychological equity to buy Nokia.

    It is also essential for brands to have consistency in the messaging over time and across all touch point to create trust. The key is to keep the old and add the new… In the urge of doing new one should not discard the old value systems for the new. Moreover, for brands to be trustworthy, they have to be modest, even when they are doing very well because one never know when the next problem is coming from. “There are no secrets anymore… Don’t talk down to the customers,” said Mr Sakhuja.

  • Contagious comes to India along with its acclaimed magazine, hailed as a Bible among many in the industry.

    AdAsia: India gets Contagious

    By Our Correspondents

     

    Neeraj Nayar, President, Contagious India on launching Contagious in India
    [youtube width=”300″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsIx5Aahgck[/youtube]
    Neeraj Nayar on the revenue model for Contagious India
    [youtube width=”300″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9UkmQn_sAU[/youtube]
    Neeraj Nayar, President, Contagious India says he’s confident of the product he has to offer
    [youtube width=”300″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRmTbSlUYPY[/youtube]

    Contagious Communications, a complete intelligence resource, was officially launched in India on Day 2 of AdAsia 2011 in New Delhi. Neeraj Nayar, President of Contagious India, will oversee the India operations along with Will Sansom, Writer and Consultant for Contagious. As part of the launch, Contagious will bring in its much acclaimed Contagious magazine – seen as the Bible among many in the industry – and will also include in the portfolio an online feed, trend briefings and Consultancy and Special Reports.

     

    Talking about the launch of Contagious in India, Mr Nayar said, “There is some great ideas coming out from India and I think its important to be here and closer to the market.” The magazine which is available only for subscription will cost around 1000 pounds for a year (the magazine comes out quarterly). The pricing does not deter its promoters as Sansom pointed that it’s a niche product and very high in its content quality. There are also different packages for those who are interested in getting the maximum out of Contagious.

     

    Contagious was launched in 2004 to explore the relationship between brands and consumers, to predict the impact of new technologies and to make sense of the fragmenting media landscape. The magazine comes with a DVD showcasing over 100 pieces of creative work per issue.

  • Conversation, exchange of ideas, networking and business as usual was the order of the day at AdAsia, Day 2.

    AdAsia | Day 2 – Exec Summary: Food for thought, and plenty

    By Tuhina Anand

    Conversation, exchange of ideas, networking and business as usual was the order of the day at AdAsia. Day 2 of Congress at AdAsia 2011 started with a session by Frederika Meijer, Representative UNPF, India and Country Director UNFPA, Bhutan. The session was on `The Female Equation: Communicating with conscience. The session was an attempt to bring to attention, provoke debate, and challenge the minds present to think of providing creative solutions to one of the critical issue on ‘The girl child’.

    The next session on Marketing 3.0-New Rules of Engagement was an interesting session where Joseph Tripodi, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, The Coca Cola Company discussed how marketing is dead and engagement is in. He talked about balancing the notion of Brand Love and Brand Value. As consumer engagement is rapidly changing he pointed that the challenge is to navigate in this new universe. He talked about the `Liquid and Linked’ philosophy that the company embarked on last year. It’s this philosophy which has helped in creating the FIFA World Cup campaign celebration campaign. Tripodi introduced the newly launched campaign on Arctic Home that Coca Cola has taken to give homes to polar bears. Then he gave a peek into what the company has planned for London Olympics 2012 which again is truly a Liquid and Linked philosophy. It’s basically about unlocking the social side of Olympic and dubbed it as `integrated and ambitious’ plan. Prasoon Joshi, Chairman and CEO, McCann Worldgroup India and ECD McCann Erickson was the session anchor who threw some tricky questions to Tripodi who answered them all with ease.

    There is business uncertainty, market uncertainty and media uncertainty and that’s what the next session delved on. Kelly Clark, Worldwide CEO, Maxus, Mainardo De Nardis, CEO, OMD Worldwide discussed Media Fragmentation: How to navigate through traffic? The session was moderated by Bob O’Leary, MD, Head of Global Marketing, Consumer, Citi. The panel discussed the explosion of media in the market along with changing human behaviour and the need to find a way through this. Mainardo about the changing Asian market where the role has reversed and other countries are borrowing from best practices from Asia while the scenario was completely different few years ago.

    It was a change to see finally young blood take to stage with the next session on `Ideas that are Contagious’ by Will Sansom, Writer and Consultant, Contagious Communications. HE showed works that were truly innovative uncovering new opportunities and collaborative cultures. An interesting example was that of luxury brand Burberry which used Tweetwalk to engage consumers while managing to retain the exclusivity that only front row gets during its fashion show. Through the use of social media it engaged people to follow the brand online by putting a shot of model just before the walk thus getting its fans to follow the brand online and not disturbing the dynamics offline.

    There was also a session by TED/INK-The New Age of Advertising. Lakshmi Pratury, Host, The INK and Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships, TED talked about the movement that provokes people to think and challenge the consumer consciousness.

    Times have change and with that has changed strategies of communication from brand to consumers. For much of its history, the art of advertising revolved around the creation of the ad: an expertly crafted message conveyed through traditional media and consumed by end audiences. But the audiences today have changed, they way the consume media today has changed. The session ‘Acts. Not ads’ deconstructed how, in today’s multidimensional media landscape, advertising messages are evolving into true social movements and acts that can affect and drive positive change. The panelists gave several examples to drive home their point of how acts are much more efficacious as compared to merely advertising. Today, the consumer wants to be a part of an ad and engage with the brand, making it an act.

    There are several brands in the market and with the cacophony emanating from brand declarations, trying to out-shine other brands, results in only a ‘trust-famine’ in the mind of the consumer. Trust becomes very important and that is what the session in adasia discussed ‘Building brands in a trust deficit world’. For the panelists, the essence of building trust was to talk and engage customer and be ethical and responsible as a brand. Consumers like to associate themselves with responsible brands. The latent psychological element of how people buy things at the first place is also important. It is essential for brands to have consistency in the messaging over time and across all touch point to create trust. The key is to keep the old and add the new… In the urge of doing new one should not discard the old value systems for the new. Moreover, for brands to be trustworthy, they have to be modest, even when they are doing very well because one never knows where the next problem is coming from.