MxMIndia

Tag: Anita Nayyar

  • His key mandate will be to drive growth for the group in the Western region

    Havas Media appoints Hans Mathews as ED

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hans Mathews

    Havas Media India has appointed Hans Mathews as Executive Director of its West India operations. He will be based out of Havas Media’s Mumbai office.

     

    While Hans will manage the agency’s Mumbai office, his key mandate will be to drive growth for the group in the Western region.

     

    Hans joins with seventeen years of experience in the industry, having worked with international agencies in India, MENA and Malaysia. Most recently he was the Chief Client Officer at Mindshare Malaysia where he led Ford’s regional APAC media team managing partnerships with digital and content partners. He was also responsible for managing brands like UL, Maxis, Kraft, Nestle and HSBC. Prior to this Hans has held leadership roles at Mindshare India, Zenith Optimedia and other leading agencies.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Speaking on the appointment, Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group India and South Asia said, “Hans has a rich industry experience working across multiple blue chip brands in different categories. He has been in many leadership positions and has managed critical client relationships. This along with his business development ability makes him ideal to head our Western operations. We are very happy to have him with us.”

     

    “Mumbai and the Western region are at the core of Havas Media India’s operations. Our business in the region has grown tremendously over the years and today we are handling very prestigious clients in that market like Parle, Quikr and many others. Hans, with his astute leadership, will propel our operations further. We warmly welcome him”, added Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

     

    Mohit Joshi

    On his new role, Hans Mathews, Executive Director, West said, “I am delighted to be a part of the dynamic Havas Media team which has witnessed great momentum in the last few years. I find the agency’s positioning around Meaningful Brands engaging and think the framework offers brands tremendous opportunities to communicate effectively. I am looking forward to contributing to Havas Media’s western operations and taking the business to the next level.”

     

  • Indians registered the strongest relationship with brands globally, reports a Havas Media Group study

    Indian consumers most passionate & grateful

     

    :: 68% Indians generally trust brands

    :: 82% Indians think brands should play a role in improving our quality of life and well-being

     

    The results from Havas Media Group’s 2013 Meaningful Brands statistically demonstrate that Meaningful Brands outperform the stockmarket by 120 percent. It demonstrates in hard financial terms, how the relationship between people and brands can benefit from measuring, communicating and delivering increased well-being.

     

     

    Top 12 Meaningful Brands 2013

     

    India:

    Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Britannia, Cadbury, Sony, Samsung, Parle-G, Unilever, Tata Motors, Airtel, Hyundai, LGE and Maruti

     

    Global:

    Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Nestle, Sony, IKEA, Dove, Nike, Wal-Mart, DANONE, Philips and P&G

     

    Sector trends

    India Top 3 Sectors : F&B, Auto and IT & Consumer Electronics (ITC)

     

    Global Top 3 Sectors : Retail, F&B, ITC

     

    Brands can break sector limitations and emerge outliers disrupting all categories as Life Insurance Corporation in India. 2013 shows a marked increase in the importance of ITC globally, half of the top ten brands are technological; these act as enablers to empower us to achieve our potential.

     

    Indian Brands having greatest Attachmen (highest percent of people who would care if they disappeared): LIC, Cadbury, Unilever

     

    In its sixth year, the 2013 findings show Indians as the ‘most passionate and grateful’ customers across the globe, believing brands ‘can and should’ contribute positively to their overall quality of life. People in India tend to believe the overall intentions of brands yet are a bit sceptical of their communication creating huge opportunities for brands to make a real, tangible meaningful difference. India is increasingly expecting brands to enhance personal well-being as brands become aspirational symbols of their improved standard of living.

     

    The study measures 13 dimensions: impact of the brand’s ‘Marketplace’ benefits alongside its impact on 12 different areas of ‘Well-being’ (Personal and Collective), for a comprehensive view of its effect on quality of life. Unique in scale – 700 brands, over 134,000 consumers and 23 countries, it measures the benefits brands bring to people’s lives. The Meaningful Brand Index (MBi) forms the core of the Meaningful Brands framework allowing a view of brand results in terms of consumer perception over time.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Speaking on the study, Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India & South Asia, said, “The India findings highlight deep customer involvement with brands, making ‘meaningful’ the sweet spot of brand strategy in India. Meaningful – today is real business, delivering what matters when, in the truest economic and social sense. It drives brands to establish relationship connections with their customers directed towards sustained personal, societal and financial success.”

     

    India findings

    Consumers in India not only trust brands more but also expect more. Key figures include:

     

    :: 68% people in India generally trust brands (Asia 58%, US 36%, Global avg. 45%)

    :: 71% believe that brands can play a role in improving their quality of life and well-being (Asia 65%, US 41%, Global avg. 50%)

    :: 82% think companies and brands should play a role in improving our quality of life and well-being (Asia 77%, Global avg. 70%)

    :: 79% agree that large companies should be actively involved in solving social and environmental problems (Asia 75%, Global avg. 71%)

     

    What Indians Want? – Modern-day life and livelihood pressures dominate the psyche of Indians:

    :: 3 key issues Indians cannot live without:

    People who care, Save money & better manage spending, Adopt a healthy lifestyle

     

    :: 3 key issues Indians want to devote more time to:

    Learn new skills, Adopt a healthy lifestyle, Simplify and organise life to gain more time

     

    Mohit Joshi

    “More meaningful global brands are likely to come from emerging than western markets where brands need to reinvent themselves to reconnect with people, to avoid getting commoditized. This presents huge opportunities for existing and new brands to establish meaningful connections with their customers in India. Here consumers are still warming up to brands and core categories like F&B brands are seen as meaningful. The study is scalable and throws up rich inferences for a strategic outlook. LIC is an outlier being in the insurance category yet completely in sync with Indian touch points, thus its India’s 2013 top meaningful brand”, continued Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

     

  • News channels make hay as the General Elections results are announced + On MxM today

    It’s Raining Revenues on Results Day

     

    By A Correspondent [summary updated, story was filed yesterday]

     

    If you thought only politicians made for strange bedfellows, you mustn’t miss this. Over the last fortnight, leading English channel Times Now has been going to town with its promotions on Hindi news channel Aaj Tak. Nothing wrong with it. General entertainment channels often cross-promote teleserials on news channels, but in this case Aaj Tak has a sibling in Headlines Today which competes with Times Now.

     

    On MxMIndia Tomorrow
    Although every election is bigger than the previous ones, General Elections 2014 was by far the biggest for the media. These were the first general elections after the social media explosion. It was a ‘Made for Television’ election.

    On Friday, May 16, we will not come to you with our regular mid-morning edition. However, we have a special offering for that day:

     

    01. Livetweeting through the counting process. Our brand of commentary on the way the election results are being covered. Follow our Twitter handle: @mxmindia

     

    02. A very special edition at 4pm that day. Special Columns by Ranjona Banerji, Shailesh Kapoor and Amith Prabhu. Plus Mediaah! Also, a lot more of news and reactions.

     

    03. A Google Hangout on the election results at 4pm discussing the election coverage. To be aired live on YouTube and where you can interact with our guests.

     
    Shailesh Kapoor

    The stakes are big for Results Day or Friday, May 16. The Made-for-Television general elections of 2014 are destined to see a huge spike in viewership. “It has emerged as the most promoted date by far in our television history,” asserts Shailesh Kapoor, television insights specialist and CEO of Ormax Media, adding: “More than 20 news channels will fight a fierce battle on Results Day.  The results of this battle within the battle may have a long-lasting impact on our news television economy.”

     

    Prasanth Kumar

    According to Prasanth Kumar, Managing Partner, South Asia, Central Trading Group of GroupM, advertising demand for May 16 has been on the rise. “Advertisers have shown keen interest in election as a property with most taking 4-8-week sponsorship deals. For sponsors, about 10-15 per cent of their campaign monies have been parked for the Results Day.”

     

    “Inventory on news channels is flexible and especially on a day when we feel there would be a lot of breaking news with results and numbers being declared, it would be difficult to put a fix on the bookings,” added Mr Kumar.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    When asked whether her clients have chosen to advertise on news channels given the elections fever,  Anita Nayyar, CEO of media Havas Media Group, India and South Asia said: “It is a once-in-five-years opportunity hence many of our clients are taking advantage of the same. This is a captive audience for brands like auto and liquor who typically target the male audience and has not been a deterrent.”

     

    This time each party has been extremely aggressive in its marketing, says Nayyar. Eyeballs are expected to be on news. Even no IPL matches are scheduled for May 16 when cricket by itself is hot property in India.  All the channels – regional, Hindi and English (in that order) will see a spike from their regular viewership.

     

    And what kind of advertisers are making a beeline for news channels? “Elections tends to see a concentration of advertisers focused towards male audiences so does news. However, given the general elections, the female viewership is also better than the normal viewing of news channels,” Ms Nayyar said matter-of-factly.

     

  • His key responsibility will be to drive growth for the digital offering of Havas Media in India

    Havas Media appoints Ranjoy Dey as Head – Digital

    By a correspondent

     

    Ranjoy Dey

    Havas Media Group, India has appointed Ranjoy Dey as Head – Digital. His key responsibility will be to drive growth for the digital offering of Havas Media in India.

     

    An MBA graduate, Dey has about 19 years of experience having worked extensively in the digital marketing domain. Prior to Havas he was COO at Ignitee Digital and was earlier with Digitas India. Dey has handled brands like Nestle, Samsung, Reckitt Benckiser, Dabur, ITC, JK Tyre, Axis Bank, SanDisk, Airtel, Pizza Hut Delivery, amongst others. His works have won several National and International awards including the PMAA, MAA Globes, Abbys and DMA.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Speaking on the appointment, Anita Nayyar, CEO Havas Media Group India and South Asia said, ‘Digital at core’ is not only our group philosophy but our mission in India. Havas Media Group had a great run in 2013 and in 2014 won key digital accounts of Yepme.com and Xolo. We are committed to deliver digital across platform, across devices. It is clearly our focus area of growth year-on-year to give clients integrated incremental value fulfilling their business objectives. Ranjoy has the attitude, the all round experience and the energy to drive organic and inorganic digital expansion in the India market; we are delighted to have him on board to jettison the digital strength at Havas Media Group forward.”

     

    Mohit Joshi

    “Young India is a hotbed for digital and 360marketing with challenging and exciting times ahead for all of us. Havas has some of the best digital and media tools and trainings in the industry that have delivered rich rewards to clients across the globe. Ranjoy will be a good navigator to bring to the table innovation and real value for the present and future clients of Havas Media in India”, added Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

     

  • While the compulsion to move part of annual cricketing spectacle out of India may have taken off some of the excitement, sponsors have made a comeback. Now for the viewers…

    IPL 7: Living on a prayer, and a little luck

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Blame it on the late player auctions that were held early this year or the match-fixing allegations that keeps cropping up intermittently or the fact that the General Elections may have taken the hype away from the greatest sporting spectacle coming out of India every year – the IPL. While IPL 6 was already making waves this time last year, the scenario is a little different in Twenty Fourteen with most team-owners still making last ditch attempts in getting their act together including enticing advertisers into partnering them afresh.

     

    But whatever the challenges being presented, the tournament does promise to provide its dose of entertainment this year as well. To begin with, there would be only 60 matches being played this year with the tournament being staged in two phases including one in the UAE from April 16 to May 1 and the India leg that will be staged from May 2nd onwards. In fact broadcaster Multi Screen Media (MSM) is already making its presence felt and has managed to get a decent number of brands to endorse the event this year as well – the same number as IPL 6.

     

    MSM has inked deals with nine presenting and associate sponsors for the seventh season of IPL. The presenting sponsors include Vodafone and Karbonn Mobile who are estimated to have spent approximate Rs 50 crore while the associate sponsors comprise Amazon India, Havells, Perfetti, Marico and TVS all of whom fall under the Rs 25-30 crore cost bracket.

     

    While MSM does seem to have made sufficient inroads with brands, what will eventually decide the success of the tournament is the average viewership ratings that it will throw at the end of the tournament. According to data shared last year, IPL managed to generate an average cumulative TVR of 3.1 in HSM markets and a rating of 3 in C&S 4+ all India. This was much lower than the 3.45 HSM average TVR it reported in 2012.

     

    Ashish Bhasin
    Anita Nayyar

    Sharing his opinion on whether the tournament will live up to its hype or not, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network and Chairman Posterscope & psLive Asia Pacific, said: “I think the seventh season of the IPL will build up as the tournament progresses and be near normal towards the final stages. But it will have a slow start, compared to past years,” he affirmed.

     

    Putting forth her views, Anita Nayyar, CEO- India & South Asia, Havas Media Group said, “IPL has always been an interesting event irrespective of the reasons. Across seasons it has delivered well whether in India or South Africa. Especially the last leg towards the finals has always been an advertiser’s delight with ratings upwards of 10.”

     

    On what the current season will hold for the tournament, Ms Nayyar said, “The seventh season is generating a lot of interest inspite of the shift between UAE and India amongst advertisers who do view IPL as a mass reach medium. Moreover, while it is election time the interest in IPL still stands. This is further vindicated by an analysis of viewership of various genres during elections, which indicates that it does not have any major impact on sports (cricket) or GECs, however the Hindi news genre gains share. Given the situation, IPL holds its own and should continue to deliver viewership and hence interest and acceptability from advertisers.”

     

    Perhaps the right indicator of how viewership could be bought back to the sport could be assessed from what Vinit Karnik, National Director, Sports & Live Events, GroupM ESP had to state in the SportzPower-GroupM joint report on the Sports Sponsorship report. Karnik had stated thus: “Even though the IPL is off to a rough start this year, in the long run accountability, better corporate governance, more transparency, are all good for not just the IPL, but the BCCI too.”

     

    Another factor that will decide whether the tournament receives a positive response this year is the buzz that it will create from the online medium. This year, starsports.com has licensed the digital distribution rights for IPL 2014 from Times Internet. Starsports.com thus will be streaming video on demand on its portal and would not be played on Youtube like last year. With an aim to attract 20 million more users onto the digital platform, starsports.com will be looking at bettering the 2013 viewership numbers that were reported to be in the region of 200 million video views.

     

    Thus, with the countdown to the greatest cricket spectacle only a few hours away, one can look forward to an average outing from the team and brands at the IPL this year. One only hopes that the match-fixing allegations do not make their presence felt yet again or the organisers will have to face additional bottlenecks next year as well. And possibly no ‘bulawa’ as well.

     

  • Havas Media Group India has won the integrated digital duties of Xolo, part of Lava International

    Havas wins integrated digital duties of Xolo

    By a correspondent

     

    Havas Media Group India has won the integrated digital duties of Xolo, part of Lava International, in a multi-agency pitch.

     

    With a stronghold in the mid to high-end smartphone segment, Xolo’s premium smartphones and tablets with fresh design, new platforms and technologies focus on performance and customer experience.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India and South Asia said, “We are delighted with the Xolo win close on the back of Yepme.com and a successful last year. It further establishes digital as our core capability. Mobile is the future for India and a required essential we are delighted to work with the team and brand.”

     

    Xolo has many first to its credits, that includes tying up with Intel® to launch the world’s first Intel processor powered smartphone, the first brand to launch NVIDIA® TEGRA® 4 powered tablet in India, first regional marketing partner for Liverpool FC club in India and many more.

     

    The size of the digital business is estimated to be upwards of INR 60crores.

     

  • Online fashion brand Yepme.com has awarded its integrated media AOR to Havas Media Group India

    Havas bags 50-crore worth Yepme.com media biz

    By a correspondent

     

    Sandeep Sharma
    Sandeep Sharma

    Online fashion brand Yepme.com has awarded its integrated media AOR to Havas Media Group India. The account is estimated to be upwards of INR 50 crores annually.

     

    Sandeep Sharma, Co-Founder, Yepme.com said, “Havas Media had a keen understanding of our audience and business. They have specialist divisions like Mobext to handle the mobile advertising which is so very critical to us. Besides all this, the sheer passion of the team made us choose them as our media partners.”

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India and South Asia explained, “We have just completed a successful year and Yepme.com has added another feather to our cap. It is a young and growing company and we gave them a differentiated and targeted approach to deliver the core message. We are extremely delighted to work with their forward thinking team.”

     

  • RECMA 2013 Compitches has graded Havas at No 1 in YTD new business achievements in both the 2013 preliminary reports, notes a communique

    Havas Media Group India reports spectacular performance in 2013

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media Group claims it is right at the top of the performance charts of media agencies. In the midst of a slow-subdued industry and economy where GDP hit a decade low of 4.5%, Havas Media Group India on the other hand has had an exceptional year in 2013, notes a communiqué, adding: “Besides retaining existing clients, Havas Media Group has had strong new business success.”

     

    RECMA 2013 Compitches has graded Havas at No.1 in YTD new business achievements in both the 2013 preliminary reports. The company stood at No. 2 Media Agency position in the recently declared Agency Report Card 2013 by Campaign India – garnering 8 out of 10 points. It was also shortlisted for the Agency of the Year 2013 Awards.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    “2013 proved to be a good year where our state of the art product, our dedication and hard work paid. We thank all our clients for trusting us with their businesses in an otherwise tough year and our media partners for their unflinching support at all times,” said Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group India & South Asia.

     

    “Given our ‘meaningful brands’ research and other ‘thought leadership’ tools, we are confident that we will replicate the success of the past years. Our ‘Digital at the Core’ avatar is in sync with the current market realities and is finding a lot of interest and traction among the clients. At Havas Village, we are consolidating creative and media through our unique Meaningful Connection Planning offering,” she added.

     

    Mohit Joshi

    “Taking from our ‘meaningful brands’ framework we impart holistic solutions to brand marketing which has been the value differentiator. We believe in client delight and will continue to deliver in 2014,” said Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

     

    Among the news busineses, Havas Media added include Emirates, Voltas, Amway, Aspiring Minds, Shaadi.com, Wonder Cement, Neo Milk Products, Halonix, Simmtronics, Mobis and Bloomberg TV India amongst others along with a roster of clients including Hyundai Motor India, Parle Products Ltd., MTS India, Quikr.com, Taj Hotels, Capgemini India, etc.

     

    Arena India was also launched under Havas Media Group to take on the responsibilities of the global LG Electronics win.The specialist brands Mobext India for mobile solutions and Ecselis for performance marketing are a part of Havas Media Group India.

     

  • Havas Media India has strengthened its digital team with two key senior appointments.

    Havas Media makes senior digital hires

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sumit Kumar
    S V Sunilkumar

    Havas Media India has appointed Sumit Kumar as General Manager, Mobext India while S V Sunilkumar, has joined as Business Head Digital-Mumbai.

     

    In tune with the group’s integrated structure, Havas Media India’s full-service digital portfolio includes digital media planning and buying, display advertising, digital direct response, search engine marketing, SEO, pay-per-click, social media, as well as ‘Mobext’ for mobile solutions and performance marketing using data and analytics.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Speaking on the appointments, Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India & South Asia, said, “Digital is a focal point for us and these appointments will further consolidate our attempt to offer the latest digital services to our clients. Both Sumit and Sunil are talented and committed digital players – we are glad to have them on board.”

     

    “Sunil and Sumit are mandated to entrenching and expanding the Havas Digital footprint in Mumbai and India”, added Anurag Bhatnagar, MD-Digital, Havas Media India.

     

    Anurag Bhatnagar

    “Mobext not only provides mobile solutions to engage the customer but can also help brands make their sales force more effective with our enterprise solutions – a unique proposition in itself. The profile is a huge challenge and opportunity to create unique experiences and expand the Mobext offering in India,” explained Mr Kumar.

     

    Commented Mr Sunilkumar: “As a digital enthusiast, it is always exciting to work with an agency whose mantra is ‘Digital at its core’. Havas Media has been on an aggressive growth path and again it is good to be where the action is. I look forward to creating some of this action”.

     

  • Candid conversation with the Havas Media Group CEO for India and South Asia as the agency celebrates seven years in the country

    Size & Price no longer differentiating factors: Anita Nayyar

     

    Media agency network Havas Media has completed 7 years in India. Ranked as the fastest growing agency in 2012 by global media researchers RECMA, Havas Media grew at 43 per cent in a market which saw growth of 15 per cent.

     

    Post a global rebrand earlier this year, Havas Media has bagged several new businesses. Its new wins include Voltas, Aspiring Minds, Shaadi.com, Wonder Cement, Neo Milk Products, Career Builder, Halonix, Simmtronics, Mobis, Bloomberg TV India, LG Electronics and more recently Emirates.

     

    In the midst of a hectic schedule, Anita Nayyar, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Media Group in India and South Asia took time to answer our questions. She’s been particularly candid in her responses and just for that, we would say: Three cheers!

     

    Seven years here in India… if you have to sum it up for us in one sentence, what would it be?

    It’s been a challenging journey.

     

    Did it help that you were growing at the international level too at the same time?

    Growth at International levels always has a positive rub-off locally especially if you are part of global wins. Post our rebranding earlier this year , there has been a higher degree of integration and we now follow a much simpler, integrated and meaningful structure to customize solutions. The  systems, processes, knowledge and tools shared across the globe bring a lot of synergy across the network. Sharing and exchange of knowledge and ideas helps adapt the same to different markets. More so, there is an exchange of business ideas, for example at our internal Asia Pacific Summit some of India’s strategies towards new business was a talking point of discussion.

     

    India is very well-leveraged on Indian brands and businesses or the India divisions of international brands. This 2013 has seen Voltas India, Aspiring Minds, Amway-Beauty,  Shaadi.com, Yebhi.com, Career Builder, Simmtronics, Neo Milk Products, Bloomberg TV India, etc.

     

    Havas Media has had an interesting last year with many new client acquisitions. So what worked for you last year which didn’t earlier?

    We have had more crest years than trough ones. 2006 when we started and 2010 were comparatively low in compitches and also as graded by RECMA. We strongly believe that our tools and processes are our USP. We are the only agency who differentiates itself by working on brands to make them more meaningful. We have been singularly focused and aggressive towards new client acquisitions. Unlike most agencies who believe in picking up clients of a certain size we have always looked at future potential of a brand, partnered them and grown with them. All this coupled with our passion and challenger mentality has worked well for us.

     

    Since buying constitutes much of the business, do clients find the negotiation power of the networks bigger than a relatively smaller player like yours? Or is that not an issue?

    Size and Price are no longer the differentiating factors. It is a sum total of a lot of factors more importantly about ideas and innovations. We have been successfully able to demonstrate our buying power. It is no longer about big volumes. It is about being Smart and buying smart.

     

    Havas Media is not much in the awards circuit. Is it by design, or is it quality of work or is it just that you don’t find winning awards worthwhile enough?

    Priorities are different at different stages in an agency’s lifecycle like that of any brand. While setting up, the focus is more on gaining new business, servicing and retaining them. So the award application process does take a backseat. Winning awards certainly adds to market perception and we have seen enough of that happening. It is not as though we have not submitted good quality award entries as our work and product is what we take immense pride in but we’ve for some reason been very unlucky and won only some. Everyone likes winning but it’s not always the best athlete who wins, it is also following the rules and getting it just right and there are far too many factors that influence the process. In fact in 2013 we were on the shortlist for the (Excellence in Radio) ERA Awards and won a Bronze and Special Award at the DMA ECHO Awards India 2013.

     

    We take pride in our work and client delivery. We have delighted clients and the testimony lies in retaining them over years. That to us is the biggest award.

     

    How much of your business is now centred around digital?

    Around 15-20% but you will see this figure grow.

     

    You were among the early entrants in mobile. How’s that doing?

    Operations with Mobext in India started about mid 2011 as a pilot outfit. This quarter on you will see us more aggressive on mobile with more resources allocated. Clearly we see it is a high growth area, hugely scalable and Mobext is armored with technologies for emerging and developed mobile markets which we are looking at leveraging for the Indian end-customer.

     

    Havas has been active on sports internationally, but in India that’s not done too well. Why.

    As you are aware India has limited sports to cricket with little focus on the other ones like soccer, tennis, hockey etc. Even the national game does not find too many takers. The gestation period for sports led solutions is very long and low on priority with clients. Unless of course it is cricket. This limits the growth of customized sport solutions and hence we’ve been going slow on the same. It is best to concentrate on what converts. However, we are doing our own bit in the area of sports hoping to take it to a better level.

     

    Below The Line is another area that is growing in demand as traditional media gets expensive. How active are you in that space and going forward to see much grow?

    BTL even for mega-brands today is becoming increasingly important more so with its direct speak mechanism. Havas Media Active our OOH division takes care of BTL. We are certainly looking at scaling it up.

     

    And lastly: Seven years hence, what do you see Havas Media doing and growing to?

    Everyone talks of integrated and digital but India needs a lot more stepping on the pedal.

     

    Advertising in its old format does not exist. The future is to those who will unlearn and re-learn and this means domain knowledge, its application, processes for execution, collaboration and attitudinal and mind-set shifts.

     

    We see Havas Media Group in India still relatively smaller, more agile, completely integrated with digital at core – as brand architects providing meaningful experiences – some award winning, some effective for our clients and their customers, scoring No.1 on client delight.

     

    Our focus is on adding incremental value to clients, training, investment in digital and looking at alternate revenue streams.

     

  • Havas Sports & Entertainment and music licensing agency Music Dealers join forces to help brands better leverage music

    Dial Havas for music for your brands

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E) has announced a global strategic partnership with Music Dealers, an independent music licensing agency and digital platform that provides clients with emerging music. India is also a part of this partnership.

     

    Music Dealers crowd-source existing and original music from their database of over 20k emerging artsts across 80 countries. HS&E is part of Havas Media Group which is headed in India and South Asia by Anita Nayyar.

     

    As brands look for new ways to incorporate music into their campaigns to drive social conversation and engagement, Music Dealers’ knowledge of the global music industry and music strategy will partner with Havas to offer clients unique music expertise and strategy.

     

  • With the recent win of LG, Havas Media Group has made two senior appointments as also another for MTS, etc

    Havas strengthens India top deck for LG, MTS etc

    By A Correspondent

     

    Love Guglani
    Saurabh Bhatnagar

    In keeping with its growth and new business acquisitions since the beginning of 2013, Havas Media Group India has made some senior management appointments.

     

    Love Guglani joins as Vice President and Saurabh Bhatnagar as Group Account Director-Digital. Their main mandate is to manage the LG business in keeping with the philosophy of being ‘Digital at the core’.

     

    Besides this, the Delhi office has appointed Roopali Sharma as Vice President to manage key clients like MTS which are on their growth phase.

     

    Roopali Sharma
    Anita Nayyar

    Commenting on the appointments, Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group India & South Asia said, “Our growth strategy needs the right people. All three have had illustrious careers and collectively bring in huge wealth of knowledge and experience.”

     

    Mr Guglani has 12+ years of experience across Carat, Starcom, Maxus and Loadstar Universal. He has worked on some of the big local brands (Tata, Hero Honda) as well as global brands (Intel, Sony). He has straddled across planning, buying and implementation roles. Mr Bhatnagar too comes with 12_ years of experience most of which have been with digital. He was previously Business Director, Dentsu Digital. He has also worked with Sapient Nitro, Quasar Media, BC Web Wise. Ms Sharma has over 13 years of experience which spans across strategy, planning and buying. She also had a stint on the client side when she worked with LG. and was previously VP Buying at Zenith Optimedia.