MxMIndia

Tag: 2013

  • India's 2012 haul was lower than that in 2011. But with adland putting on its game face for this year, will we see a larger basket of metals coming home?

    Can(nes) we give our best in 2013?

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    With 3 Golds, 3 Silvers and 8 Bronze Lions the Indian tally at Cannes Lions last year ended at a disappointing 14 metals. This was a sharp decline compared to the 24 metals that India had bagged in 2011. But the dismay of last year seems to be forgotten as the Indian camp gets ready to put up a better, if not the best, show this year.

     

    MxM India gets a few biggies of the ad fraternity to share their expectations from camp India this year.

     

     

    Prasoon Joshi, President – South Asia, McCann India

    The tally apart, I go to Cannes with a completely open mind to discover new surprises, works, etc that are done from around the world. To be able to predict India’s performance would be unfair on my part because the festival is such that agencies from around the world come and participate. As a result one goes there with a very open mind to see what are the new trends that have emerged in recent times. Also, where India’s performance is concerned it keeps wavering; I do not go there with too many expectations ever. It’s always a bonus if you win more. But as I said it is always a learning experience where one can learn a lot more.

     

    As for McCann India, we did well last year and managed to win a Gold. For this year I am counting on work around Stayfree to win us metals. It is work that we are very proud of. The work managed to win Gold at Abbys too. We have managed to use multiple mediums very well for the campaign like video, uses advocacy of intention of people to drive home an important point of social change with the brand. It’s all about girls drop out of school because of toilet/sanitation issues and therefore try and create awareness of the issue and try and educate girls in the process. The project also benefits the brand equity in the market and also encourages good social habit. When such work gets awarded it kind of encourages the whole team to do more.

     

     

    Abhijit Avasthi, National Creative Director, O&M India

    I am an eternal optimist and hope that this year will be India’s best ever. Across agencies, across disciplines and across categories there is some very interesting and original work we have submitted as a country. Yes there is always a lot of cultural nuancing in our work but therein lies the responsibility of our country’s jurors to educate the jury about the brilliance of our work. Judges from other countries, especially Latin America, do make the effort to do the same and hence they benefit from it.

     

     

    Sridhar Kondiparthi, Chief Creative Officer – India Sub Continent, Leo Burnett

    I think India stands a good chance this year. We should do better than last year and I hope we win in all verticals including Digital and Mobile. But I do not think this will be our best year ever at Cannes.

     

     

     

    Mahesh Parab, Executive Creative Director, DDB Mudra Delhi

    I am quite confident of Indian talent and craftsmanship so I am expecting India to win a lot. I would also like India to see India winning in some of the most challenging categories like Titanium, & Integrated, Promo & Activations Lions etc. As technology evolves, so does the possibility of what you can do with your ideas. So I would expect more innovative stuff from India this time around.

     

    As for the tally, it’s going to be tough to go past the tally of 25 Lions (2009). After the glory of 2008, India’s first Grand Prix ever, it’s going to be a Herculean task for Indian agencies. All the best.

     

  • Tough times call for tough measures, and 2012 was a year that saw both. Kartik Iyer looks forward to better times in 2013

    2013 – 365 days of engagement

     

    By Kartik Iyer

     

    It was a year that began with hope. Hope that we were well past the depressed market, the global turmoil and the poor fiscal reports. Hope that predicted media growth in the range of 12+ percent.

     

    But as 2012 wore on, it became clear that this was not to be. While it began well, by the end of the first quarter itself signs of what was to come were being seen. Signs of continuing depression, poor fiscal reports for many European countries and signs of uncontrolled inflation within India. All of this meant that the consumer would react and probably postpone purchase. And so it was through the year. With even the festival season not being able to change the trend. Media growth projections dropped to the 7+ percent levels.

     

    All of this meant that Advertising investments would continue to be challenged for Efficiency. The one word that decided the trends of media in India. So while TV and print continued to be the big boys albeit with low growth numbers, their role was questioned. Digital media became a core part of planning instead of being a media for the leftover budgets and grew at a burning pace of over 35+ percent. Out of Home encompassed the large billboards as well as the Malls, Multiplexes and market places thus growing at a rate of over 10 percent. Social media was no longer about digital alone but also about the various points of social connect like malls, multiplexes etc. And the key objective was to maximize earned media. Which meant that the effort was for every medium to connect with the other and work in tandem to deliver greater effectiveness and engagement.

     

    In this evolving media space, let’s take a closer look at each medium.

     

    Print – Will hold but would definitely face growth challenges. This could be the year when TV overtakes print in terms of ad volumes. It is now for media owners and advertisers to redefine the role for the medium and use it for its inherent strengths. Gimmicks aren’t what Print is for. It’s time it played a role as the ultimate Stature medium. As well as a medium that is with the times and is the fountainhead of details.

     

    TV – Would continue to grow. However audience fragmentation is real and needs to be managed. Digitization will hopefully deliver more realistic information on the consumption trends of the medium and one could see clear niches being carved out. Niches that have their own individual appointments with audiences. Appointments that today have become extremely valuable in the efficiency paradigm.

     

    OOH – Is no longer a single medium but is split into large format on the road OOH, Ambient OOH in malls, multiplexes and market zones and Retail space Out of Home. Another variant is that of Urban and Rural activation. A medium that enables true one to one engagement with consumers who are curious and focused. All of these will have their own unique capabilities and would probably see the highest rate of technology influx. The medium has come of age and it’s now time for advertisers and agencies to understand the capability of the medium and design communication accordingly.

     

    Digital – There is a reason that I have mentioned this last amongst all media. And that is because this medium is ready to take on the role of being the backbone of all communication. Very often one gets to see data that clearly shows that the medium has a limited reach which may be true to an extent. However one must bear in mind that even the latest researches on the medium are dated considering the rapid growth the medium enjoys in being adopted. This medium again can be split into a number of areas like Digital display (static) Digital Video, Search (which can lead to display) and the most underused version which is Mobile.

     

    Mobile – This is the one medium that provides the reach which is wider than any other medium available in the country spanning all of India across Urban and Rural geographies. It is now for the advertiser to get innovative and design communication depending on the capability of the device. And all of this has to be done while encouraging the consumer to opt in for communication. There are already very many cases of brads that have managed to engage across geographies using this medium and it’s time that all advertisers learnt from these pioneering initiatives.

     

    At an overall level, all media will move from being categorized by the material form to the interaction form. So it will no longer be print, TV, Radio, Internet, OOH etc.

     

    It could be categorized as Written, Visual and Engagement. This would mean that a TVC (Video) would play out on TV as well as Digital (Pre rolls etc) and OOH (Ambient spaces, Large format OOH etc). A static ad would be released in dailies, magazines, websites and close format ambient media. Audio would be played out on radio and internet and malls and so on. Furthermore, the ads in dailies and magazines would have QR codes or Layar codes built in so that with the use of mobile devices the static ad could lead to video. Similarly with OOH advertising. And all of these things are happening now. Not in the near future but now.

     

    The die is now cast. Future directions have been defined and 2013 will only see all of the above growing. And digitization will give advertisers more realistic numbers to work with. TV and print will continue to be challenged. Digital will continue on its rampant growth path. Out of Home will become core to engagement plans. Digital will be available in ambient spaces thus merging Digital and Ambient. Brands will start thinking of Integrated Communication Plans rather than media plans. And media will become performance focused and more exciting every day. The good news is that shopping in the last few weeks has seen a significant upswing which could be read as a more upbeat consumer which would be a good point to start from for 2013.

     

    And finally let’s not forget the Consumer who is now the Emperor. India’s youth is impatient and has no time for the old world order. They are moving and want to be seen with brands that are moving at their pace or leading them. They are continually bombarded with communication and don’t have the patience to remember every piece. It is the ones that engage with them regularly and innovatively which will be remembered and those are the brands which will emerge as winners.

     

    Kartik Iyer is Managing Director, Carat. Carat, the world’s largest independent media communications specialist, is part of the Aegis Media Group. Carat is Campaign’s Media Agency of the year 2012 for India as well as South Asia. Other companies in the group include Vizeum, Posterscope the global OOH sector leader, Brandscope, Hyperspace (Retail), Ambient (Ambient Media), Carat Fresh Integrated (Activation), PSI (Airports), Doosra (Creative), Isobar, the global communications agency with digital at its heart and iProspect – Communicate 2, the global leader in search and performance marketing.