Category: SPECIALS

(Experience: 17 years)

Sanchayeeta Verma is General Manager – South, Maxus India & part of the Maxus Managing Committee in India & APAC. In her earlier role, she set up the Insights and Communication Planning function of Mindshare India.

 

She has 17 yrs of media & communication planning experience spanning across blue-chip clients in FMCG, durables, finance, telecom, automobile & retail sectors. She started her career in brand marketing with Kiwi TTK. Her largest media stints were around GSK & Nestle. Other accounts handled by her include Pepsi, LG, Dabur, IDEA, Indian Army, Gillette, Motorola, Timex, NIIT, Virgin Mobile.

 

As national Insights & Communications Planning head for Mindshare, she helped raise the quality client planning product across markets and played a key role in shaping the MindShare relationship with many of its top clients.

 

As to her choice of profession, she reflects, “The Indian media planning industry was poised at its first radical shift, i.e. the explosion of C&S television when I joined it. The problem solving needed to navigate the increasingly complex environment appealed to my Mathematics Major mind. At the same time, to succeed one had to understand the consumer and brand context in her life. I had an inkling way back then, that media planning would offer the opportunity of indulging in left brain–right brain synchronization. And am glad made the decision to join this industry.”

 

 

(Experience: 16 years)

Dnyanada Chaudhari has 16 years of work experience in the media and marketing industry with expertise across strategic planning, buying, P&L and media management with the finest financial and FMCG companies. She is currently COO at Pinnacle, a unit of Madison World where she leads the Cadbury Kraft AOR to enable brands to grow profitably and competitively.

 

Dnyanada started her career at Lodestar where she was responsible for leading cutting-edge media planning and buying. As a media planner, she led several strategic initiatives looking beyond traditional methods of measuring media deliverables. Some of the tools she created were exported to FCB Asia Pacific countries and put Lodestar Media on the world map as an intellectual hub.

 

At ICICI Prudential, as the first media manager in the finance industry inIndia, Dnyanada set up the media function and processes to drive media effectiveness. She helped drive business growth by improving lead generation to ten-fold using a combination of media alliances and technology.

 

At Marico, Dnyanada worked closely with marketing and agency teams to develop game changing strategies on new product launches and thought leadership to drive category growth. The team successfully launched Parachute Therapie with a media approach based on consumer insights with a first of its kind non-TV launch in the FMCG segment. For the first time, Parachute Advansed featured amongst the 50 buzziest brands amongst 5 personal care master brands. She encouraged brand teams to create innovations at Marico, which won many industry accolades such as Emmies and Yahoo! Big Idea Chair.

 

At Hindustan Unilever Ltd as Head-Media Services, Dnyanada drove ROI and competitive advantage forIndia’s largest advertiser. She was chosen by the ISA (Indian Society of Advertisers) to actively lead their media agenda and also inaugurated the knowledge series for advertisers. She was Managing Director – West & South at ZenithOptimedia where she achieved profitable revenue growth with a makeover for the Mumbai office through team collaboration, improvising processes and new business development.

 

As to why she chose media planning & buying as her profession of choice, Dnyanada said: “After specialising in marketing, I was one of very few people keen on a career in advertising. And I must confess I didn’t choose a career in media to begin with. When I started as a management trainee at FCB-Ulka, Shashi Sinha was convinced that a role in media was most suited for me. I was a bit sceptical, so he offered me the job on a 6 month trial with the option to take on another role, if I didn’t like it. It’s been 16 years, with no regrets. Looking back, what has kept me going is simply working with some of the best minds in the industry. All through my journey in the media profession, I have had the privilege of working on marquee brands and with exceptionally talented people who have shaped my thinking.”

 

 

(Experience – 16 years)

Vaishali has over 16 years of experience in Media Planning/Buying ranging across a vast set of clients like Nestle, Samsung, Reckitt Benckiser, Madura Garments, General Motors, Gillette, Intel, TVS Motor , Wipro Consumer Care, ING etc. Her career graph reads thus: worked for seven years in Delhi (2 years with Mudra/ 5 years with Universal McCann); in mid 2002, she moved to Bangalore to set up UM Bangalore office and managed TVS Motor, Intel and Madura Garment’s media business. After the merger of Lodestar and UM in 2007, she has been heading and leading the Bangalore office of Lodestar UM.

 

On what drives her to give out her best, she says: “My work reflects the deep understanding of my client’s business as well as the Indian consumer and I guide my clients to accomplish their business objective by providing effective media solutions. I have built a strong team in LUM Bangalore in the last 9 years and have nurtured a lot of talent in the industry today.”

 

When asked on choosing media planning and buying as a career option, she said: “Looking back, I always wanted to do something in the area of communication. The course in MICA offered me an opportunity to work in media and what better than spending time in understanding the Indian consumers and help brands connect with them in the most innovative/engaging way. Given the evolution of media, it kept offering me newness at work each day.”

 

(Experience: 16 years)

Since she was indecisive about her career of choice, Malik opted for Psychology Honours from Delhi University as it was not only a subject of her interest, but would have also helped in any field that she chose later. Fascinated by the ad world, she opted for a diploma course in Advertising and PR and in 1995 entered the world of advertising with little knowledge of media. Her journey began in the industry with four months of training at Lintas Media.

 

From then on, Hema Malik has spent over 16 years in the industry, and most of these years are with her current agency, Lodestar UM. She manages both media panning /buying, content integrations for clients like TTL, Coke, MasterCard, Whirlpool, HCL, Metlife, etc. She did do a brief detour to TME to handle their Airtel planning business but she was called back by UM.

 

Recounting her highpoint, Malik said that it came with her client Tata Docomo. It was for this brand that they truly managed to own a unique mindspace among the youth which is not just a target segment but 2/3rd of nation’s population. “We truly imbibed the brand essence of ‘Do the New’ in media and there was nothing USUAL, nothing common and nothing expected in the media launch. We changed the rules of the game from defining the role of each medium to the way they were consumed. The brand was a success with highest new subscriber gain, creating a community of Docomites! And we guys had awards and lots of fun,” she reminisces.

 

Another highpoint for Hema Malik was Coke Studio. Says Malik: “I was proud to be a member of the team launching this music platform in India. One of the biggest learning opportunities for me driving not just media partnership but also content partnership, consumer engagement initiatives, etc. Excitedly look forward to the next season.”

 

Apart from a professional stint, Malik is also a trained painter. She finds anything from a blank sheet of paper to a plain wall very stimulating. Hema Malik is happily married and is mother to two kids.

 

Experience: 16 years

Aditi Mishra has been in the industry for over 16 years, pursuing creation and execution of client-centred communication solutions. Her experience spans across a range of categories like technology, lifestyle, auto and consumer goods.

 

Working with both Indian as well as multinational clients has enabled Aditi to develop an easy and expert handling of the global client needs while delivering locally relevant solutions on ground. With a passion for crafting innovative solutions to client issues, she has driven the team to win awards at various advertising forum for clients like Coke, Microsoft, Madura Garments and others.

 

A key member of the Lodestar Universal team, Aditi’s role is to drive the strategic content across offices, ensuring superior communication solution delivery for clients.

 

Answering MxM’s query as to why she opted for media planning and buying, Aditi said: “I stumbled into it during my management course during my summer training at Gillette where we had to evaluate the role that media played in their mix. Those were the initial years when TV was gaining ground – with new channels being launched and DD started its metro channel. Post training, I was hooked- and it’s only become more complex and challenging ever since!”

 

As the Managing Director, South Asia of one of the fastest growing agencies in India, Shubha George has been responsible for steering MEC to great heights over the past few years. Her passion and decision-making skills have earned her laurels from clients and colleagues alike. In fact she has been giving a tough run for Group M India’s other big agencies who are compelled to perform better and stay ahead in the race to the top. It is her dedication to her work and family that makes her a diva in a true sense.

 

In conversation with MxM India’s Ritu Midha, Shubha George takes time out to explain her dedication to her profession, how women professionals of today stack up against their male contemporaries and what is it that makes the women TG a hit with the marketers.

 

Do you agree that men are from Mars and women from Venus?

[youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiOxZsa0CQU[/youtube]

If you are having trouble in viewing this video, see link

It is true in some cases – not always. If I look at the way in which men and women approach certain things or in their areas of interest, in some cases it is true. But not the way it is made out to be.

 

To what extent do the preferences and priorities of the two genders differ?

In India in advertising, as that is the sector I am familiar with – there is not too much difference in the way men and women approach corporate world or deal with business etc. I am told that it is more of an exception than the rule, and other industries are somewhat different.

 

From a consumer and purchase behavior point of view, yes, there are some differences intrinsically in how men and women shop and that does make a difference in how you would communicate to them. Men are easier shoppers than women – who are far more involved and inquisitive. You would rarely find a woman who walks into a store, heads to the isle from where she wants to buy things and heads out. She definitely explores more, and shows interest in things that she did not necessarily plan to buy. Men generally tend to be point A to point B shoppers – so they know what they want, and pick up what they want, and are out of there.

 

The woman of today, especially from metros and big cities has evolved rapidly and is seen as a key decision maker. What would you attribute this change to?
Women are involved in a lot more stronger way in decision-making processes. But what I find increasingly surprising – and I was also of the view that more and more women are involved in decision making but research that we have done for brands shows that men – even if you look at household products, which are your regular household shopping baskets, in 50% of the households decision is made by the head of the household, which is typically a man. He even makes decisions on things like what soap, paste and oil to buy. So, if you look at a larger set of households, and not only very upmarket and affluent households, role of man is very high. Difference perhaps is that influence of women in purchase decision making is definitely increasing. Reasons for same are greater exposure, more availability of communication tools, higher education levels – even if you go towards the lower end of pop strata of society. They have a point of view and that is communicated even if they are not the people in the last mile – actually going out and closing shopping, but they do influence what goes into that basket. However, there is some distance to go – even as compared to other Asian countries, when it comes to what role women should play.

 

What, in your view, is the key to reaching the upmarket women in the most effective way?

One of the mistakes we make in the media business is that we assume that women are watching a lot of TV – which is true when it comes to majority of India – but when you get into more SEC A1++ women, the amount of television they watch is relatively lower as compared to the mass based women. The difference is that when we look at planning for premium audiences among men we are very very conscious that they do not watch too much television, and how else and what else should we communicate. But same degree of attention to amount of television they watch is probably not there. So I would say that yes they watch television, but they watch very less of it and they are very selective about what they watch. There are some typical programmes that they follow but it is not that they would have some free time and they would be surfing television. Role of digital media is definitely increasing. Most of them have access to Internet, whether it is on their cellphone, or at home – and they are rather avid consumers of digital media.

 

Newspapers, especially supplements continue to be read. I am a bit of doubter on the role of magazines – data too shows that it is declining. Apart from that, in consumer groups that we do, and people we meet, instances of reading magazines is very very low.

 

As for women professionals in media, would you say they have some inherent characteristics that make them excel in the business?

A couple of them, yes. Women have a greater degree of attention to detail – which I think is very important in media business because all said and done, we still deal with a lot of numbers and spreadsheets – and it requires attention to detail. But that is at an operational and executional level. In general, and it is not only true of media, women multitask a lot more. So even when their working world is a little chaotic, they manage with multiple elements of pressure points which are there within that. Women, by and large, tend to be a little more patient – that also helps in an environment like media where there are a lot of pressures. Maybe because, as we know Roda Mehta for example, was one of the earliest successes in the industry, and also from the time the media industry was evolving, a number of women leaders were there. Probably it was very aspirational for other women who were coming in – and also comforting that you already had women leadership.

 

Finally, how would you define your journey in the media industry so far?

Well I am still here – so I guess it has been good. I really enjoyed whatever I have done till date. I primarily worked with one organization. And yet within that I have been fortunate to have very varied set of experiences. And it is really the strength of Group M that it does offer you opportunities to grow and evolve. I have taken advantage of opportunities that came my way – and it has been fantastic. I would recommend that this industry and particularly the company I work for is a great place for women.

 

The Indian media has been particularly lucky to have no gender barriers. Media and creative agencies, television channels, newspapers and magazines and even the newer crop of digital agencies are run by women and men in equal measure.

 

In fact in most cases there is no discrimination. It is perhaps unfair to the captains of these agencies to be categorized by gender, because that they are men or women has not in any way played a role in their ascent or day-to-day work. However, a lot still needs to be done across the country.

 

Hence, when we started work on this microsite, we were concerned that we are playing to the stereotype. We aren’t. In Diva Upclose, sponsore by BIG CBS LOVE, we speak to the power women in the industry and profile emerging talent in an attempt to inspire more women to get to the profession.

 

Although media buying and planning have existed ever since advertising began formally, it’s only in the last two decades that we have seen this sector blossom. A lot of credit for this would go to Roda Mehta, who is respected and admired in the industry even today.

 

And then, of course, we have Lynn De Souza and Ambika Srivastava, women at the helm in two of the most powerful media agencies in the country – Lintas Media Group and Vivaki Exchange respectively. Both fine examples of powerwomen and media professionals par excellence.

 

The club of power mediawomen has many more members or ‘Divas’ – firm in their belief, rock solid in their standing, having admirable acumen for their work and managing their work, teams, and of course their clients with aplomb. These are (in alphabetical order of their first names) Anamika Mehta (COO, Lodestar UM), Anupriya Acharya (Leader, Client Leadership, South Asia at Mindshare Fulcrum), Basabdutta Chowdhury (CEO, Platinum Media), Divya Gupta (CEO, Dentsu Media), Jasmin Sohrabji (Managing Director, OMD), Mona Jain (CEO, Vivaki Exchange), Nandini Dias (COO, Lodestar UM) and Shubha George (CEO, South Asia, MEC). And then, of course, there is Lara Balsara (Director, Madison Communications).

 

However, our list of power mediawomen does not end here. There are many more showing their might, or already on the expressway to the top. On the fast lane, but steadily so. Presenting to you these Emerging Stars (in Box below, segregated based on number of years they have put in the industry). In case you find any names missing or wrongly listed – please mail the Series Editor Ritu Midha at ritum@mxmindia.com. Meanwhile, enjoy DIVAS UPCLOSE.

 

 DIVAS – EMERGING STARS

 

 

(Experience: 15 years)

Vanita Keswani is a recognized media professional with over 15 years of experience, who has carved a niche for herself in the field of Media. By dint of sheer hard work coupled with an incisive and analytical mind as well as a keen eye for details, Vanita has risen to the coveted position of Chief Operating Officer, Madison Media Sigma, in Madison Communications Pvt Ltd, Mumbai.

 

Vanita graduated with an Honours degree in Pyschology from Delhi University in the year 1990 and this background has stood her in good stead in her working life. She did her MBA from the Times School of Marketing, New Delhi, in their very first batch and also earned a Diploma in Advertising and Marketing Management from the Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, New Delhi. During her school & college days, she was known for her debating skills and a talent for music, both vocal and instrumental.

 

She started her career with a stint in the Times of India Group, where she earned her initial spurs in the profession by working in their Product Development team, Distribution Wing, Times FM Sales, and other departments of the Group. She joined Madison in 1997, and has never looked back since then in climbing the ladder of success. Over the years, she has handled Clients like Coca Cola, Kinetic, Godrej, Dish TV, Pidilite, Tata AIG Life among others.

 

Vanita is married to Hiroo Keswani, who is a cinematographer, an FTII PUNE alumni working in Mumbai and they have a daughter Aashna, who is schooling in Mumbai.

 

As to why she opted for media planning, she explains, “I chose Media Planning due to an interest in advertising and media coupled with a keen sense of analytics. More importantly, what makes me stick on to this profession is the fact that it throws up newer challenges almost every day and I thrive on that.”

 

(Experience: 15 years)

 

 

Samhita Bakre is currently the Associate Vice President at OMD and has been at OMD right from its inception. Before OMD, she worked at MediaCom (Grey), Starcom & Ambience Media.

 

Her client portfolio boasts quite a handful including Johnson & Johnson, Marico, Godrej Soaps, Godrej GE, Lakme, Kotak Mahindra, Balsara Hygiene, DHL, Deutsche Bank, Wyeth Laboratories, Ambuja Cement, Parle Agro, Reliance Communications, Standard Chartered Bank etc.

 

Being a graduate in Statistics from Ruia College and a PG degree from Bombay University, Bakre always wanted to be a teacher and started teaching Maths & Stats. But thanks to one “not so bright guy”, she realised that she did not have the patience to be able to deal with all sorts of students. Shared Bakre: “I realised I should not do injustice to students by being impatient towards them. Also, after spending a year in teaching, I realised that I’m not enjoying it beyond a point. Someone told me, if you are a Stats grad, get into Media planning and that’s how I landed up in this profession.”

 

Sharing her stance on the medium today Bakre says: “Unlike today, where there are courses related to mass media/advertising & you get entry into the field as a trainee at least, those were the days where everyone wanted experienced people. But I was lucky enough that Cedric Miranda, who used to head Media at Ambience, gave me a break. Though I entered this field unknowingly, I stayed here because I loved it and I always will.”