MxMIndia

Category: PR

  • Tigress Tigress, founded by Meera Sharath Chandra, aims for higher order conversations and delivery on overall brand strategy and consumer engagement across all communication touchpoints. In a hot domain, she tells MxMIndia how she plans to surge ahead

    Meera Sharath Chandra: Roaring for her own turf

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Meera Sharath chandra

    By now the industry may have already warmed up to news of a new agency being launched through Tigress Tigress. Founded by Meera Sharath Chandra, former ECD of Momentum Worldwide UK and former MD of WPP company Syzygy UK, Tigress Tigress will engage in higher order conversations and delivery on overall brand strategy and consumer engagement across all communication touchpoints – with digital at the heart of the experience. It’s a bold step, to say the least – floating a venture of her own in a domain that is a hot favourite.

     

    In fact one could very well start by questioning the thought-process that was adopted behind shortlisting a name that is pretty unusual in the Indian context. Admitting to receiving several inquiries behind the naming of the agency, Ms Chandra asserted that it is in fact a well-thought of strategy. “What I increasingly find is that brands need to mark their own territory in the competitive jungle and no one marks their turf in a better way than the tigress. Moreover once a tiger owns the space he doesn’t let go of it easily. Similarly when a brand comes to us I believe we should give them the chance of having a competitive advantage in the market,” affirmed Chandra.

     

    Presenting another stance Chandra added, “The other side to the name is that if you see my personality, I have been absolutely fiercely protective of my team – another trait of the tigress. When it comes to hunting for business I have been known to be fairly aggressive. So these are the two traits that are synonymous with that of the tigress and hence the name.”

     

    So while a strategy had been envisioned where naming of the agency was concerned, another factor that throws up a lot of questions is being tagged as just another agency in the business. But then there is something different about Tigress Tigress that makes it a player to reckon in the future. Asserted Ms Chandra, “The uniqueness of this concept is that there is no resident team which is creating overheads which I pass on to clients like what the other agencies do. The model is more of a just-in-time talent model where I draw the right resources for the brief. The thing is that whenever the client gives us a brief I would not farm it off to the same team as what most agencies do since they already have the overheads. I would look at the right talent that suits that particular challenge in the marketplace, pull together the right resources; and since creative leadership is my strength I would make sure that everybody works together in a seamless fashion – my entire talent pool is anyway people whom I know and have worked with very well.”

     

    This is business strategy which will draw attention from peers in the industry and also be appealing to clients in a big way. Asserted Ms Chandra, “The thing is that clients are getting a lot savvier in today’s world and if you take a look at their relationship with agencies and re-examine it you would find that the kind of lacuna that exists would be fulfilled by the model that we have to offer. If they want freshness of talent, if they want talent across all touch-points of a truly integrated campaign… nobody has everything in-house but in this model we can stretch ourselves beyond the comfort zone of the agency. I truly believe that a meaningful campaign will always put the consumer first, the brand second and the agency third. If you see today’s model the agencies are navel-gazing and are then worried about the brand and then of the consumer. Whereas it has to be the other way round.”

     

    Chandra said that where clients are concerned she is busy chalking out strategies for one big client – Vibrant Advertising, leaving her little time for the others. “I have just about started signing on a panel of clients and it has taken me quite some time. The first assignment that I am working on is for Vibrant Sports which is a massive High School Football exercise in the US and is completely taken care of on the digital and mobile space. This is being scheduled for August so my entire bandwidth is around that project. In fact the project is so massive that I have no time for pitching to other clients,” quipped Ms Chandra.

     

    Some of the other names on the roster include Digital Marmalade, C R Wolcott Ltd and Skidmore Music from UK, Liam Titcomb from Canada and Ocean Pictures from Germany.

     

    Assisting Ms Chandra in her venture in India will be Vijaykumar Arumugam handling animation and illustration, Deepa Kirodian on art resource and actor-director Purab Kohli, who will be working on cause-related webisodes and video content.

     

    Looking at how the digital landscape has evolved in India, Ms Chandra said, “I have been doing digital for the last 15 years and the last time I was in India, digital wasn’t as huge as it is now. Though it’s not at the level seen in the US or the UK it is on the verge of a breakthrough. What is happening is that TG is increasingly getting younger, becoming more net-savvy and social media active… so the centre point around any campaign has to be digital. If you stick to the old model it may work in certain instances but the new emerging audiences require a different approach with a little of the heart around doing integrated campaigns.”

     

    On the possibility of being open to acquisitions from big enterprises, Ms Chandra expressed caution as she said, “Where digital acquisitions are concerned, that is really not a solution because when you buy a digital company and create an integrated campaign with all the acquisitions that have been made, they are all still different profit centres and they are all pulling at the same share of revenues and they are all having the same friction. This means that the brand personality is not coming out seamlessly because different companies are working on it and therefore one is having a very schizophrenic brand experience and the consumer will get confused at the end of the day. So even if you have divisions inside an agency to create a seamless integrated campaign requires an absolute cohesive team.”

     

    More than that and at a personal level, the venture seems to be a perfect way for Ms Chandra to make her dream of achieving something big at an individual level come true. “As I see it, the entity is an early plan for a late retirement.” Those wanting to explore the possibility of buying out Tigress Tigress out can put that thought to rest.

     

  • MEC India has been awarded the media duties for innerwear brand Dixcy Scott. after a multi-agency pitch

    MEC India wins Dixcy Scott media duties

    By A Correspondent

     

    MEC India has been awarded the media duties for innerwear brand Dixcy Scott. The company markets premium innerwear under the brand names Dixcy and Dixcy Scott. Bollywood A-lister Salman Khan endorses Dixcy Scott.

     

    MEC won the account after a closely contested multi-agency pitch. The agency’s Bengaluru office will handle the account.

     

    Speaking on the development, Raghul Sikka, Director of Dixcy said, “We have very aggressive plans for the coming year and we wanted a like-minded partner on board. It was a tough fight between equally competent agencies. We believe we have found that partner in MEC. We look forward to working with MEC.”

     

    Commenting on the win, T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC India said, “Dixcy is a key player in the Indian innerwear market and we are delighted to have them on board. We look forward to a mutually rewarding association.”

     

    MEC (www.mecglobal.com) is a leading global network and a founding partner of Group M, and operates in 84 countries.

     

  • Ketchum Sampark will be responsible for implementing Ambuja Cement's integrated public relations campaign which includes brand communication, sustainability communication and corporate social image build-up

    Ketchum cements PR relationship with Ambuja

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ambuja Cements has entrusted Ketchum Sampark with its PR mandate following a closely contested multi-agency pitch. Ketchum Sampark will be responsible for implementing Ambuja Cement’s integrated public relations campaign which includes brand communication, sustainability communication and corporate social image build-up, whilst supporting company’s marketing promotional activities in key metros and tier 2/3 towns in India.

     

    Ajay Sharma, Managing Partner, Ketchum Sampark, said, “Ambuja Cements is a classic example of a successful commodity branding. We are truly excited at the opportunity to create breakthrough communication for Ambuja Cement. With the added advantage of our team’s expertise in the cement industry, we are confident to support their business objectives with our insight-driven strategies.”

     

    Bibek Chattopadhyay, Head, Corporate Communications at Ambuja Cement, remarked, “We are pleased to have Ketchum Sampark as our public relations partner.”

     

  • Meenakshi Menon and Lynn de Souza tell MxMIndia what Social Access is, and why it is important

    Social Access: Towards an equitable society

    On occasion of Launch of Social Access (Frm L to R) Abhilash Tomy, Lynn de Souza, Meenakshi Menon, Mark Inglis, Sarah Wilson (In sitting position) with children

     

    By Ritu Midha

     

    The launch of an organization or initiative is usually an event one dresses up for. So it was a surprise to see Meenakshi Menon at the Radio Club yesterday afternoon, abseiling. The occasion: The launch of Social Access, and the message, “bee the change”.

     

    Lynn de Souza
    Meenakshi Menon

    Social Access is an outcome of shared passion of two power media women: Lynn de Souza and Meenakshi Menon. The organization is being launched with the key objective “to use strategic communication and creative ideas” to re-orient society towards social sector by building channels among the four key players: NGOs, corporates, government bodies and society.

     

    The Social Access logo is bulb-shaped , created with the thought that “illumination is required to dispel darkness”. The organisation, say its founders, is inspired by the bee, and it symbolizes team work, acitivity, creativity and buzz. “Bee the change” is the Social Access tagline.

     

    States Ms Menon, “Our anthem is: Let’s do things because they must be done, and because we can do them.” It is based on a message from Lt Cdr Abhilash Tomy, the first Indian to circumvent the ocean solo, nonstop.

     

    She adds, “India has 4 percent of the world’s billionaires; however, when it comes to the giving index it stands 91st in an index of 153 nations. The total value of donations given in our country in 11-12 fiscal is Rs 5000 crore, which is a smaller amount than the brand value of a single brand, Parle G.”

     

    ‘Attitude overcomes limitations’
    The launch of Social Access was different, interesting and succeeded in driving home the message it set out to send. It was initiated with a few interesting activities: abseiling (under Sarah Wilson’s guidance), sailing with the kids, and cycling. 

    It was not only the two stakeholders in the organisation who interacted with the audience, but also LT Cdr Abhilash Tomy (the first Indian to circumnavigate the oceans solo, nonstop and assisted), Mark Inglis (the only double amputee in the world to scale Mount Everest & a Para Olympic silver medallist in cycling), Sarah Wilson (cancer and avalanche survivor engaged in teaching young women how to overcome fears through a riveting abseiling exercise.)

     

    Talking about his amputation and further victories in cycling and mountaineering Inglis stated, ‘To be the change one needs to remove limitations, and to overcome limitations you need to be a change maker, and that is what Social Access sets out to do.” He further stated, “Innovation, passion and commitment are equally important to achieve what you set out to achieve but the key thing is the attitude – attitude overcomes limitations.”

     

    An audio-visual took the audience through Tomy’s sailing experience. His beautiful lines about his adventure, sum up the journey of life in a way, “Sun shone and showed the path. Winds tested us, loved us, and egged us on. Waves sometimes angry and playful, and sometimes calming. We made lots of friends in the way. Every day added a new meaning to life.” His thoughts and ideas have been an inspiration for Social Access as it took shape.

     

    Interestingly, the entire event was put together without too much expense. Radio Mirchi was the key partner – they organised a contest on the radio for the event, helped with the venue and broadcast the event live. Other media major involved was National Geographic. Catalyst was the event partner.

     

    The organisation seeks to be the connect between the NGOs and organisations that can help them. Also, on the cards are communication solutions. As Ms de Souza says, “The intent is to provide the best solution – creative or otherwise, to the NGOs, depending upon their requirement.”

     

    Social Access has tied up with iVolunteer for easy facilitation of volunteers.

     

    The organization believes that it is about time Indians learnt to care and share more. Though impressed by the concept, one can’t help but wonder if India is ready for this kind of an initiative. States Lynn de Souza, “Of course it is ready. Many things are happening now…. Social media has stepped up awareness, charity and causes have found a voice. Corporations have realized that brand value goes up if you contribute to social causes. Society is more conscious now – and so are the government and local bodies. Media too is contributing. Another key thing is that awareness among youth is increasing, and they are coming forward.”

     

    The use of social media for raising awareness and mobilising people is one of the key areas Social Access intends focusing on. States Ms Menon, “Social media is giving voice to the dumb. We can use the power of media to help ideas travel across cultures, consumers, corporates, government bodies and more.”

     

    But will it really help in mobilizing people to get involved? Ms Menon and Ms de Souza believe that one cannot undermine the power of social media when it comes to mobilizing support for social causes. States Ms de Souza, “Social media will no doubt play a very important role in mobilising people. While social media per say has grown in the range of 90 percent, its usage for non-commercial purposes has increased close 190 percent.”

     

    The plan is not to make it a close-fisted organisation with a handful of employees. Anyone passionate about social causes can be involved . States Ms Menon, “It will be an open architecture society where anyone can contribute. We are building a community and providing a platform. Anybody can become a part of it.”

     

    Social Access has a two-pronged role – to get the corporates and other able organizations to support NGOs, and to get people to contribute in a myriad different ways. Concludes Ms de Souza, “We are focused on share of heart and mind, we are not looking at share of wallet. Our basic philosophy is that of equality. Everything must lead to an equitable society.”

     

  • Brand strategy and design firm DY Works has announced the appointment of Rekha Pamani-Gulati as Chief Operating Officer

    DY Works gets new COO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Brand strategy and design firm DY Works has announced the appointment of Rekha Pamani-Gulati as Chief Operating Officer.

     

    Ms Gulati began her professional career at the Golden Tulip Hotel Chain, Ghana (West Africa), and later established base in Mumbai with The Concern India Foundation and DMA Branding, where her team serviced prestigious accounts such as Unilever, Mahindra, Godrej, Dabur and Air India.

     

    Welcoming Ms Gulati, Alpana Parida, President, DY Works said, “Rekha’s cross-cultural experience and strong understanding of both Indian and International markets will be invaluable in creating unique and meaningful brand propositions for our clients.”

     

    On her new role at DY Works, Rekha Pamani-Gulati said, “I’m excited to take on this new challenge. In recent years the company has built an impressive client portfolio and strong team. As Chief Operating Officer, I look forward to building this further.”

     

  • MSLGroup's MSL India has been appointed by the Singapore Tourism Board, Lenovo Smart Phones, Sheth Developers & Realtors, Usha International, V-Guard Industries and PC Jewellers for integrated communications briefs

    MSL announces six new wins

    By A Correspondent

     

    MSL India, part of MSLGroup India, Publicis Groupe’s flagship strategic communications and engagement company and the largest public relations and social media network in India, today announced the win of six new clients; Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Lenovo Smart Phones, Sheth Developers & Realtors, Usha International, V-Guard Industries and PC Chandra Jewellers. This large number of client wins reinforces MSLGroup’s position as India’s leading communications agency.

     

    MSL India will provide creative, strategic programmes, unbound by channel to drive brand building, corporate reputation management, corporate responsibility and crisis and issues management.

     

    Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill, CEO, MSLGroup India, said, “Today, it’s not enough to offer capabilities within one channel. MSLGroup India is perfectly positioned to partner with our clients for integrated communications offerings, where our strategy and creative are communicated through traditional PR, social media, digital solutions, creative, content, marketing and experiential.”

     

    MSL India fought a multi-agency pitch to win an integrated communications brief for Singapore Tourism Board (STB). The mandate will draw on MSL India’s strength in delivering engagement campaigns across traditional PR and social media. The agency will be providing strategic counsel for digital campaigns and manage social assets in order to drive perceptions of Singapore as an international tourist destination. This assignment reflects STB’s strong relationship with MSLGroup, with the brand now working with the agency in two of Asia’s key growth markets – India and China.

     

    As Lenovo, the world leader in personal computers, continues its expansion into smart phones, it has tasked MSL India to support their business objective of consolidating its leadership position across all four screens – computer, TV, mobile and film.  MSL India will develop an integrated strategy to communicate the arrival of the PC+ era and the brand’s commitment to technology and innovation. Expanding their technology portfolio, MSL India will also work with V-Guard Industries to develop its core communications strategy to support business expansion plans.

     

    PC Chandra Jewellers, one of the largest and most established jewellery brands in eastern India has entrusted MSL India with an integrated assignment spanning PR, social media and experiential. MSL India will help position and promote PC Chandra Jewellers as a leading lifestyle brand. In addition, MSL India will partner Usha International, a renowned name since 1935 in multi-product consumer durables manufacturing, marketing and distribution. MSL India has been entrusted with corporate reputation management and product-related communications for the company’s diverse portfolio.

     

    MSL India also won Sheth Developers & Realtors, which has extended its real estate presence in India with its retail development Vivacity in Thane – one of the largest malls in India. With deep expertise and experience in the real estate and retail sector, MSL India will provide strategic counsel to the brand, executing holistic communications solutions reaching out to key stakeholders in Mumbai.

     

  • The acquisition triggers the launch of the Razorfish brand in India, and the move follows a number of acquisitions recently announced by Publicis Groupe

    Razorfish acquires Neev; aims to be No 1 in 18 months

    By A Correspondent

     

    Publicis Groupe announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Neev, one of India’s leading technology services providers specialising in eCommerce, SaaS (Software as a Service) and cloud applications across web, social and mobile. Neev will be aligned with Razorfish, one of the largest interactive marketing and technology companies in the world.

     

    The acquisition triggers the launch of the Razorfish brand in India, and the move follows a number of acquisitions recently announced by Publicis Groupe and further strengthens its digital leadership globally as well as its presence in India and the greater APAC region.

     

    Kanika Mathur

    Kanika Mathur, Managing Director for Razorfish and Digitas India said, “Neev is one of the leading technology services company specialising in e-commerce and cloud applications across social and mobile. It’s more like a mini-Razorfish in India and that was what was exciting about the venture when we spoke to each other. Razorfish is all about business transformation using technology. It’s about creating new business models for clients and about providing a brilliant experience to the consumer.”

     

     

     

    Srikant Sastri

    Srikant Sastri, VivaKi Country Chair for India, who is overseeing the acquisition of Neev, said, “With the acquisition of Neev, we have added cutting-edge tech capabilities. We are now twice as large as any other global network in terms of digital team-strength and revenues, and unparalleled in breadth and depth of digital skills.”

     

    Founded in 2005 and based in Bengaluru, Neev has aggressively grown and now employs a team of 250 specialists, of which over 220 are technologists, with experience and expertise in leveraging cloud and mobile technologies and promoting innovation that drives business success.

     

    Elaborating on the agency structure Ms Mathur said, “Neev is growing very aggressively and by the end of first quarter next year we think we’ll be about 450-odd people in India. I think digital marketing as well as digital technology is being adopted at a very fast pace in India and Asia Pacific, so we do feel that we are on a huge growth curve on that front. While our technology hub will be in Bengaluru, we will be present across New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru.”

     

    When asked about the agency’s clientele in India, Ms Mathur said that they would initially be tapping global clients at Razorfish and have already started engaging with a few of them. “While we cannot disclose any names as yet but it would suffice to say that we will be moving very fast in the Indian market.”

     

    Explaining the market and how it has evolved over the years, Ms Mathur said that the space that Razorfish operates in is growing very rapidly. “But when we look at the market we tend to look only at media buyers. If you were to look at technology and using digital to enable new services and products, that’s really the space that we operate in. We can’t really say that the market is about media only. Media, creativity and technology – the intersection of this is where we are placed right now.”

     

    As for the anticipated growth story, Ms Mathur said Razorfish had a good growth in 2012-13 at about 40 per cent and would like to keep on doing better as they go forward. “While right now we are one of the top 3 players, the goal certainly is to be the No 1 player in the next 12-18 months.”

     

    The agency will operate as Razorfish Neev led by Neev CEO, Saurabh Chandra. He will report into Kanika Mathur with a direct connection to Ray Velez, Global CTO for Razorfish.

     

  • The summit gathers more than 30 financial communications consultants from MSLGroup network, in Asia, Europe and the US

    MSLGroup Asia finance summit chalks out new initiatives for Asia market

    By A Correspondent

     

    MSLGroup, Publicis Groupe’s flagship strategic communications and engagement company, hosted its third Asian Finance Summit on April 18 and 19 in Hong Kong.

     

    The 2013 Finance Summit was the first one after the senior leadership appointments and the new organization announced recently. MSLGroup Asia puts financial and strategic communications at the heart of its development model, and decided to turn Hong Kong into the Asia hub for Financial Communications at the end of last year.

     

    Par Uhlin, Managing Director of MSL China, who has recently added Hong Kong to his portfolio of markets, has already started to strengthen business relationships between MSL HK’s financial communications department (led by Antoine Denry) and the two other financial communications practices in Mainland China – Shanghai, headed by Linda Du, and Beijing, headed by James Hawks.

     

    Dedicated to financial communications issues, the Finance Summit gathers more than 30 financial communications consultants from MSLGroup network, not only from Asia but also from Europe and the US. The agenda this year called for a mix of meeting room activities as well as offsite visits which were designed to drive future growth and focused on the following key areas:

     

    To explore the achievements and perspectives for financial communications across the region: organization, collaboration between offices, staffing, marketing plan;

    To identify the specificity of the Asian market compared to Europe and the US in regards of the clients’ needs and the macro-economic environment;

    To dig out the role of Financial Communications in financial transactions, especially in cross border M&As;

     

    To discuss how the financial communications offered can be renewed; new and original offers as well as best practices to share and circulate throughout the network, with a special focus on social media.

     

    The two-day seminar was also an opportunity to get the points of view of different experts about financial markets or financial communications trends. Among the speakers who joined the roundtable/discussion:

    A Hong Kong Stock Exchange spokesperson who detailed the competitive advantages of the HK market place and looked back on the last transactions;

    A journalist from Thomson Reuters shared his views of the ECM market trends in Hong Kong and in Asia overall;

     

    The APAC Head of Communications for a major financial institution highlighted the key points that agencies have to keep in mind to answer clients’ needs efficiently at a regional level.

     

    Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill, Asia practice leader for Financial Comms, said, “We are in Hong Kong to address some of the foremost challenges on the market. It is important that we focus on turning these challenges into business opportunities. We must work together to showcase our strengths and specificities, to provide best-in-class advisory and grow in a sustainable manner on this very important market for MSLGroup.”

     

  • Having won 20 new brands across diverse sectors, the Madison World unit has also begun operations in Hyderabad

    Madison PR expands India presence

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madison Public Relations, the specialist image management unit of Madison World, has rapidly expanded in recent months, working across five offices across the country. With new clients and brands in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, food & beverage and education to service, the firm is growing at a rapid pace to establish a sizeable presence in the industry.

     

    Recently the agency added a range of new businesses from various sectors into its portfolio. These include:

     

    In the Healthcare sector, the firm won the mandate for one of the largest global pharmaceutical and healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline’s Vaccines business in India and The Cradle, a boutique birthing centre from Apollo Health and Lifestyles.

     

    In the Food & Beverage sector, the agency won the PR mandate for Budweiser, the world’s largest beer brand, Garuda Foods, an Indonesian Food Giant bringing a tempting line of food & beverage offerings to the Indian market, Hokey Pokey, leaders of finest quality vegetarian ice-creams, Radikal Premium Rice, one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of premium basmati rice and Brbee Products Pvt. Ltd, into honey products from the Himalayan Range.

     

    In the Education sector, the agency won Institute of Finance and International Management (IFIM), a premier B School in Bengaluru and ITC’s Education & Stationery products business.

     

    In the Lifestyle sector, Madison PR bagged the mandate for sport lifestyle company Puma India and Skechers South Asia Pte Ltd, a global leader in the lifestyle footwear industry.

     

    The other significant wins were Go Air from the Wadia Group, Shenzhen State Micro Technology Co. Ltd (SMiT), Media Today Group, Hilton Hotel New Delhi, Wizzcare- Home Healthcare Specialists, Studio 169 in New Delhi, Panchantra Lifecare in Hyderabad, Meinhardt Infrastructure and McDowell Indian Derby in Mumbai.

     

    In the Construction & Aviation Sector, the agency won the mandate for Sany Heavy Industry India Pvt. Ltd from Pune and Deccan Charters Pvt Ltd. from Bangalore respectively. In the travel sector, the Agency bagged Fairfest Media Ltd, leading international tradeshow organizers and bC India Pvt Ltd.

     

    Paresh Chaudhry

    Commenting on the new wins, Paresh Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer, Madison PR said, “Madison PR has worked with iconic brands over the past 13 years and we will continue to focus on creating client delight. We are very pleased to sign on these new businesses from different sectors across our various offices. Our recent wins will help us reinforce our credibility as communication partners, as we continue to invest in infrastructure, talent development and establish our expertise across various sectors which will help clients to achieve their overall communication objectives.”

     

  • Bengaluru-based PR firm K2 Communications has spun off its content business to a new company, Purple Hues

    K2 Communications launches Purple Hues

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bengaluru-based PR firm K2 Communications has spun off its content business to a new company, Purple Hues.

     

    Founded by Shiv Shankar Devraaj, CEO, K2 Communications and Jay Shankar, a veteran journalist, Purple Hues aims to churn out words that are right, relevant and refreshing.

     

    Mr Devraaj said, “Content is an inevitable part of PR. A new venture focused on content along with the support of highly experience journalists will add value to the clients and help them voice their messages better. Content is the bloodline for corporate communication activities and has been a growing concern for the companies to find quality skill sets in the content industry.”

     

    Mr Shankar said, “Crisp, clear and creative. That’s what we want to be as a content provider.”

     

  • Ketchum Sampark has appointed Vipul Bondal as Partner, Corporate Practice and Prasanna Ratanjankar as Senior Manager, Social Media

    Ketchum Sampark strengthens corporate practice & social media arm

    By A Correspondent

     

    PR agency Ketchum Sampark has appointed Vipul Bondal as Partner, Corporate Practice and Prasanna Ratanjankar as Senior Manager, Social Media. These appointments reinforce Ketchum Sampark’s operational strategy to further strengthen its presence in India’s integrated communication space.

     

    Mr Bondal will serve as a member of the leadership team at Ketchum Sampark, and will operate out of the agency’s Mumbai Office. Through his expertise he will be responsible for driving new business growth and delivering enhanced value to existing clients. He will also play an integral role in streamlining and enhancing the agency’s operational practices in line with Ketchum’s global standards.

     

    Prior to joining Ketchum Sampark, Mr Bondal served as Vice President and Member of the leadership team at MSL India. He had played a pivotal role in strengthening the agency’s Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) practice in his three-year stint.

     

    With almost two decades of experience in the communications space, Vipul brings to the table vast PR experience, having worked on both sides of the spectrum.

     

    Prasanna Ratanjankar will play a pivotal role in heading and strengthening the agency’s digital media arm, and will also be responsible catering to digital and social media requirements of existing clients, in a bid to offer an integrated approach.

     

    Ms Ratanjankar has seven years of experience in digital and social media, having worked with several prominent PR and Digital Media agencies including Social Wavelength, Ignitee, Genesis Burson Marsteller and Perfect Relations. She is recognized in the industry for her competencies in delivering innovative and effective digital media campaigns for clients across diverse industries.

     

    Ajay Sharma, Managing Partner, Ketchum Sampark, commenting on these developments, said, “With Vipul on board, we look at strengthening our corporate practice and bring in business transformation by building sub-practices such as healthcare and pharma. We are confident that his strong expertise and business acumen will take the agency’s capabilities to a new level. Digital and Social media is emerging as an important communication tool with several Indian brands integrating it in their overall marketing strategies. As we continue to scale-up our PR business, we will simultaneously ramping up our digital media arm. We are confident that Prasanna’s experience and capabilities in the digital media space, will help us achieve some of these objectives.”

     

  • Yusuf Hatia of FleishmanHillard tells MxMIndia about the communications shop's rebranding, and how it is part of the firm's game-changing plans

    Aiming to be the most complete communications firm in the world: Yusuf Hatia, FleishmanHillard

    By Johnson Napier

     

    In what could be termed as a defining moment, communications shop FleishmanHillard unveiled a newly refreshed corporate brand and associated digital media property on May 2. The new branding reflects the evolution of the PR firm into a fully integrated communications company that provides clients with complete communications solutions.

     

    As part of the exercise, FleishmanHillard has unveiled a new brand platform, tagline and logo. The new logo reflects the trust and confidence that clients have placed with the firm and is said to have a more fresh, innovative and contemporary interpretation. While the logo has brought the names of both founders – Fleishman and Hillard – on one line to reflect the heritage of the firm, there is also an iconic mark that can be seen that complements the logo and symbolizes the transformation of the firm.

     

    Yusuf Hatia, MD, Client Service, FleishmanHillard India responds to queries by MxMIndia on the significance of engaging in such a game-changing exercise. While there is a lot that is being planned through this initiative, Mr Hatia asserts that the aim is to let everyone know that FreishmanHillard is the most complete communications firm in the market. Excerpts:

     

    Given that FleishmanHillard is in the midst of a rebranding exercise at the moment, how game-changing and extensive an initiative is it going to be?

    We think it is part of a very important and significant development in how we position the changing nature of our business in an industry that has been rapidly evolving over the last few years. Over these years, in most of the markets we operate in, we have been delivering fully integrated work – from identifying a critical insight, to taking responsibility of the strategy, to developing the story, and delivering content across paid, earned, shared and owned channels. Our brand refresh permeates our agency and we see it as game-changing. Our industry is evolving and we plan to be at the forefront. In most of the markets we operate in, we’re being asked for and we’re delivering integrated work from insight to strategy to the story and content across all channels, not just via traditional print or broadcast. For instance, many of our clients and industry peers are surprised to hear that, last year, FleishmanHillard placed $1.2 billion in paid media. Our new brand will communicate the new reality of our company.

     

    What are the reasons for undergoing a repositioning initiative at this juncture?

    The market has evolved beyond the previous silos of advertising, media, PR and other disciplines and we feel it is time that we reflect how our business has changed and is changing. While PR remains at the heart of FleishmanHillard, the very definition of PR is changing and broadening. Our brand refresh let’s everyone know that we’re in communications and that we want to be the most complete communications firm in the market. Our brand hasn’t changed since 1990 but the market has, so we took a hard look at what it represented, what we’re actually doing and have recreated ourselves for the present and positioned ourselves for the future. Where we landed was the concept of true and the need to be true.

     

    What are some of the new changes that one will get to see from this rebranding exercise?

    FleishmanHillard is treating the change through a brand refresh. This goes beyond a new logo and a strapline. We went back to our DNA to understand what our unique proposition is and listened to clients, partners and employees. All of our analysis focused on a need to be true and our refresh is built around that word. True is our reality as well as our aspiration. We see our role as helping clients be as they wish to be seen. In many respects, this is what PR has always been about and we’re remaining true to our virtues in helping our clients present a true picture of who they are but in a new age where the dynamics of communication are very different. Organizationally, we’ve invested in digital in India and globally. We’ve also brought in marketing integration experts and key insight specialists.

     

    How would you analyze the year 2012-13 for FleishmanHillard on the growth parameter in India?

    Our business in India is still growing and we had a solid year last year that is in line with our strategy for what we believe in will be one of the most important PR markets in the world. India is unique in its size, demographics and growth trajectory but also because it is a democracy with a free and independent media. We have a strategy to organically and inorganically grow and work for some of India’s leading brands as well as helping our global clients navigate the Indian market.

     

    In terms of new client wins, how would you rate your performance across verticals?

    We had a good year in 2012 and added some important clients to our existing list. They include L’Oreal, Sony and Convergys; we’ve also extended work with existing clients such as Godrej and Emerson (a company that FleishmanHillard has worked with for nearly 60 years). We’ve only just scratched the surface but that’s what makes this market so interesting – the potential for growth is immense!

     

    What were some of the new initiatives you undertook in 2012-13 to spur growth for your company?

    We invested in digital talent at a very senior level when we hired Riitu Chugh who came to us not from another PR agency but from other creative and digital specialist agencies. We’ve strengthened our senior management talent with new general managers in Mumbai and Delhi to lead our businesses in the two biggest Indian markets. Our talent strategy in India is consistent with our strategy elsewhere: find the best people, build the business around them and give our clients what they really need. It is in line with our holding company Omnicom’s motto: talent conquers all. In 2013, we’ll continue to add to our senior talent, invest in our teams through training and cross network account work and look for non-linear growth in areas including social, digital and across paid, earned, shared and owned channels. We’re also collaborating closely with others in the Omnicom network and have pitched and worked alongside TBWA, BBDO and DDB Mudra. In fact, earlier this year, we moved in with DDB Mudra not just because the company has a great working space but because there are immense advantages of sitting alongside hundreds of creatives from every single marketing discipline. PR cannot afford to sit in isolation and remain independent of other marketing strategies. The new reality is to work with everyone else to address what clients want – and more often than not, that’s a total solution to a business need and not PR. A project for Nissan last year did just that and we worked with TBWA, a UK digital agency and others to deliver a multi-discipline campaign that was shortlisted for a Spikes Asia Award.

     

    The past year was believed to be a tough one for many players in the PR & Communications space. How did the year pan out for FleishmanHillard?

    In India, our business is still growing and we didn’t see the kind of slowdown that others may have experienced. But our business is a little different from other players in this market and we have taken a contrarian view of the India opportunity. We have benefitted from international clients who still see India as a growth opportunity and we work with Indian enterprises that are looking to grow in India and beyond. There was a period over the last 6-8 months when there was a slowdown in activity which some of our clients put down to the changing political landscape and a policy paralysis, but that seems to have now passed and we’re seeing business as usual.

     

    A few big players from the fraternity have highlighted a degrowth that’s being observed and also skepticism from the client’s end to pump in more money. Is it a cautious phase for the industry to be in right now?

    The market is changing and we’re seeing clients ask for more evidence and measurement to prove the value delivered. But we are used to this approach in other markets and we have processes and mechanisms in place that can put across a convincing position to, for instance, a procurement team or a CFO. This is a market where there is an instinctive need to show a return on investment and asking for a hike in fees is not a given at all. But when you can show extra value or tap an unidentified need, for instance digital, then clients are open to investment.

     

    The recent past has also seen a few players venturing out to offer unique solutions of their own. Will it be a healthy exercise to engage in the long-term?

    Every agency needs to differentiate so it’s always a healthy approach to bring new solutions to India. You will see our brand refresh showing how we’re different and how we can bring something new to the conversation.

     

    Are you contemplating launching new verticals/arms in the imminent future?

    At this stage, we’re focused on delivering the core business of FleishmanHillard in India and since we’re still relatively new to this market, we have a lot of opportunities and potential to address. However, if a client needs a particular offering and we see a business justification for doing so, we’re always open to expanding our scope in India. We’ve done this in the past: a major banking client wanted a very specific offering and we created a dedicated team for that client and for a particular need.

     

    What is your vision for 2015 in India?

    Exactly what we aim to be in every other market: the most complete communications firm in the world.