MxMIndia

Tag: Anupriya Acharya

  • Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Anupriya Acharya and Lavneesh Gupta

    What Ticks for Indian Consumers/Teens: Anupriya Acharya and Lavneesh Gupta

    Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Anupriya Acharya and Lavneesh Gupta.

     

     

    The evolving teenagers

     

    By Anupriya Acharya

     

    While people across all age groups are evolving at a fast pace in India, teenagers are changing the fastest. They are growing up in a world with a lot more exposure, many more opportunities and a plethora of choices. As an outcome of it, they are far more informed and decisive as compared to teenagers of a decade back. They take informed decisions after carefully weighing their choices.

     

    There are quite a few factors at play that are shaping up the behaviour pattern of today’s teenagers: First, digital is playing a very important role in the way teenagers are shaping up. They are way better connected largely due to social media. They have a much larger peer group thanks to their friends in the virtual world. As the entire generation, more so in urban areas, is on social networking websites, there are higher pressures on being ‘cool’ and very well connected.

     

    Secondly, higher wealth levels in the country have led to higher standard of living. As a result, teenagers are getting better pocket money. Consumerism is in, and they are able to spend on things they want to.

     

    Next, media exposure, social networking and peer groups all have come together to create too much pressure on ‘girlfriend/ boyfriend’ phenomenon, and that too at a much younger age. Teenagers consider it to be of great importance to have a ‘girlfriend/ boyfriend’ to hang out with.

     

    		  

    ‘Innovation in content has become the need of the hour’

     

    By Lavneesh Gupta

     

    Much of the growth in TV viewership is coming from the youth in the age bracket of 15-35 yrs – a segment that wants novelty. Same kind of content builds boredom and results in an overall drop in viewership.

     

    Innovation in content in terms of storylines or new formats ( for entertainment channels) has become the need of the hour. For reality shows, the key learning is to keep the duration of the entire season shorter than what we are currently seeing.

     

    A timeline of three to fourth months for a reality show may lose the interest of young audiences in between a season, so the focus, instead, can be towards maintaining a healthy viewership across the season, getting them hooked on to the show; not losing them in between by having the same kind of content for a longer duration. A healthy mix of all types of content too augurs well for an entertainment channel.

     

    We have seen specialist channels emerge, but as an entertainment channel, one must look at genres such as music, movies, action, crime, sitcoms, reality shows, fashion, Bollywood etc for the younger audiences. Youth loves to share their opinions on issues be it national or local. Channels must provide a platform for the youth to share their views.

     
     

    Thanks to information overload, there is a lot of exposure to adult themes. Thankfully, they are much better geared to handle it. Talking of studies, earlier tuitions were a taboo, and taking them was an acknowledgement of being weak in studies. However, today is the world of cut-throat competition even for teenagers, and tuitions are absolutely acceptable.

     

    An interesting consequence of all the changes impacting teenagers is that being informed, having a large peer group with whom they interact a lot, teenagers today are far more expressive too. While there might be a few undue pressures on them, by and large, teenagers today are far more focussed, confident and optimistic about their future than the teenagers of a decade back.

     

    They are raring to take advantage of multiple opportunities coming their way. Teenagers of today have a mind of their own and use it without hesitation or trepidations.

     

    		  

    For the age-group which is under 21 years, entertainment channels can also look at playing a role in guiding their careers. Parents have increasingly become busy in their jobs and in pursuing their professional careers and are not able to spend much time in guiding their kids on career options. An opportunity for broadcasters to engage with youngsters. Another area which comes to mind is entrepreneurship for youngsters – shows focusing on aspects of entrepreneurship.

     

    The point I’m making is that singular kind of content does not interest the youth. So it is important to have a healthy mix of content. For youth to watch fiction on a daily basis, it has to be light-hearted and not very serious kind of drama. It may not be necessarily linear – like most fiction shows are. At Big Magic, we run light-hearted episodic fiction shows which are relevant to the youth.

     

    Our fiction show Raavi, for instance is a witty, quirky story of a girl who grows up disguised as a boy in a Punjabi household. It is light-hearted and episodic. In summary, singular content may not work for youngsters. A mix of content types with a light-hearted and fun loving flavour will sustain viewership amongst the youth.

     

     

    On Monday, August 18: Children -Lara Balsara and Nabendu Bhattacharyya

     

  • ZenithOptimedia has announced the quitting of CEO Satyajit Sen and Navin Khemka. Meanwhile, Dnyanada Chaudhari joins today as Managing Partner and Prasanna Kulkarni as Chief Creative Officer

    Key changes in ZenithOptimedia top deck: Exit: Satyajit Sen & Navin Khemka In: Dnyanada Chaudhari & Prasanna Kulkarni

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s been doing the rounds for a while, That Satyajit Sen and Navin Khemka are qutting ZenithOptimedia India and now the news has been confirmed by Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO ZenithOptimedia Group. “After putting in eight years with ZenithOptimedia, Satya has decided to embrace a new challenge. We thank him for all his contributions to ZO and wish him all the very best”. She also informed that Khemka, who has also been with the group for eight plus years, has put in his papers. “ZOG thanks him also for his contributions and wishes him well in his next assignment”

     

    Anupriya Acharya

    Meanwhile, Ms Acharya also announced the appointment of Dnyanada Chaudhari as Managing Partner, ZenithOptimedia India. Dnyanada will be incharge of trading and media management nationally and in this role, she will partner marketing teams to not just look at efficiencies but also leverage strategic alliances across media partners, in line with our Live ROI philosophy.

     

    Says Ms Acharya: “Dnyanada brings with her the exact expertise needed for this role. Her diverse background across strategy, buying and media management as well as experience with large scale businesses, is especially suited to create and refresh our trading architecture and execution across all media including TV, Print, Radio, Digital, OOH, Experiential and other specialist services.”

     

    Dnyanada Chaudhari

    Ms Chaudhari joins from today (June 2) and will be based out of ZO’s Gurgaon Office. In her 18 years of work experience, she has gained expertise across diverse functions – strategic planning, buying, media management and has worked both on the agency as well as the client side. In her last role at Madison, she led its Mumbai office as COO and was responsible for driving excellence across units. She has also been at Lodestar and ZO in the past. Her client experience includes three of the most admired companies – ICICI Prudential, Marico and HUL. At HUL, as Head – Media services in India, she was amongst the top 40 media people in the Unilever world and was responsible for maximizing ROI and driving competitive advantage for India’s largest advertiser. Over the next few days and weeks, she will come across to meet you at your convenience.

     

    Comments Ms Chaudhari: “Am excited to be back and strongly believe in ZenithOptimedia’s Live ROI principle and am very keen on partnering marketing teams to not just look at efficiencies but to also strategically leverage alliances to drive thought leadership and brand ROI”

     

    Prasanna Kulkarni

    Ms Acharya also confirmed the appointment of Prasanna Kulkarni, as Chief Creative Officer, ZenithOptimedia Group. He will be based out of Mumbai and in-charge of Creative and Content marketing solutions across ZenithOptimedia, Performics, Resultrix and Newcast. Said Ms Anupriya: “We are increasingly finding our clients requiring creative content solutions across not only online but even on integrated campaigns. Prasanna’s role is towards driving competitive edge in our product through superior integration of creative and content solutions. In fact as we move ahead, we will be looking at getting more and more diversified talent on board.

     

    With over 16 years of experience in advertising, brand strategy, and digital media, Mr Kulkarni’s previous assignment saw him leading a creative team as Executive Creative Director at JWT – digital. Prior to that he was at OgilvyOne Worldwide India as Senior Creative Director – Digital; his experience also includes Rediff.com, Ogilvy Interactive and the E-learning domain. He has worked for clients like IBM, Diageo, Ceat, Cadbury, Vodafone, Vespa, Lenovo, HSBC, Tata Motors, Castrol, Star India, Perfetti Van Melle, Hindustan Unilever Ltd., British Airways, Starbucks, Godrej and won several accolades and awards.

     

    Says Mr Kulkarni: “Great opportunity to work across the focus groups like performance based marketing, content led communication solutions, and integrated campaigns with ZenithOptimedia and its divisions, extremely glad to be part of such multidisciplinary team at ZOG. I look forward to taking the organization’s creative capabilities to the next level by elevating the bar for innovative content. I am confident we are on our way to making ZenithOptimedia, Performics, Resultrix and Newcast a stimulating place for creatives and patrons alike.”

     

  • ZenithOptimedia Group has announced the launch of its full service, fully owned Mobile marketing subsidiary 'Performics Mobile'

    ZenithOptimedia launches Performics Mobile

    By A Correspondent

     

    ZenithOptimedia Group has announced the launch of its full service, fully owned Mobile marketing subsidiary ‘Performics Mobile’. The subsidiary has already bagged the mandate for Nestle, SBI Life, Tata AIG, Musafir, ZeeQ, Cordlife and will handle these businesses out of its Mumbai and Delhi offices.

     

    Performics Mobile will focus on building brands on mobile through crafting and managing end-to-end solutions across all platforms and services. Platforms will include display, search, social, SMS, MMS, videos and Services will includedriving application downloads,incentivizing activations, generating site traffic, m-commerce and content-driven solutions. Also, in one of the firsts in the market, it will also bring in mobile programmatic buying using Publicis’s AOD platform.

     

    The subsidiary will be led by Nirvan Biswas who has 17 years of experience across diverse companies like Netcore, Midday, Rediff.com and Boston Consulting across both  technical and business roles. A cross-functional team will support him across creative, development and media.

     

    Says Tanmay Mohanty, MD, Performics: “The market for marketing via mobile devices is one of the fastest-growth areas in the advertising sector. That growth has continued over the last year – reflecting a 400% rise. We believe that there is significant potential in offering this specialist expertise across our client base and new clients.”

     

    Anupriya Acharya

    Adds Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO, Zenith Optimedia Group: “Mobiles, Tablets, Phablets are seeing explosive growth – a clear demo of insatiable consumer appetite for the convenience, content, information and connectivity provided by these. It is but obvious that as more and more consumers shift their attention here, the space becomes critical to have a focused full service offering in this space. I am confident that Nirvan and team are set for explosive growth and will transform the way mobile marketing is being looked at currently.”

     

  • The performance of Indian entries at the Festival of Media Asia Pacific could be described as dismal. Anupriya Acharya, CEO, ZenithOptimedia Group India who was on the jury of the FOMA APAC on what went wrong

    Jaldi 5 with Anupriya Acharya: Need for more enthusiasm around awards

    With just two winners and one commendation at the Festival of Media Asia Pacific that concluded last week in Singapore, there have been question marks raised on the quality of work done in the country. While Mediacom bagged a prize for Gillette and PHD for Brooke Bond Tea, Madison Media Infinity received a ‘highly recommended’ tag for Parachute Advansed Hair Oil.

     

    We spoke with Anupriya Acharya, CEO, ZenithOptimedia Group India who was on the jury of the FOMA APAC on what went wrong.

     

    01. Just two winners and commendation from India. And this is where we are competing with just APAC entries. Does this speak for the kind of work Indian media agencies are producing?

    Yes, it was indeed a bit disappointing but then the shortlisted entries this year were down to 13 from the whopping 31 last year! While this was my first jury experience at Asia level, I have closely followed this space of regional and global awards. I gauge that the competition is increasing tremendously with each passing year, with more countries and more brands and agencies participating. In fact even at the Asia level, the work is quite globally competitive – 12 shortlists in Festival of Media Global recently from India is a case in point.

     

    02. Anything noteworthy that you would like to highlight?

    The few things which truly caught my attention was that the quality of AVs has improved tremendously but Australia still stands head and shoulder above the rest in that aspect. Something we must learn from. The other thing is that a large number of the entries, especially the Indian entries, is dominated by FMCG brands – where traditionally the strategic planning and hence just the sheer competence of articulating the entry, as well as availability of added data-points to demonstrate the results is, in general, better.

     

    03. So what should the media agency agencies be doing?

    I think we, as an industry, should encourage and spread enthusiasm around awards for some of the other categories too. I find some very good work happening there.

     

    04. The Best use of Mobile is possibly the first big ‘Mobile’ award India is winning amongst advertising industry awards. Are we now producing better work? Do you think we could get more awards in Mobile at Cannes?

    Yes, as an industry, the work on mobile is becoming better. More and more marketers are rising to the acceptance of it being an integral part of their communication and even sales plan. More importantly, in the Indian context, a lot of work is linked to feature phones rather than smartphones. These solutions require some massive data and tech support, given the sheer volumes and numbers of the country. This aspect gets lost to the the jury coming from the developed markets and they feel that some of these solutions are so archaic. Hence it is imperative that some key points are brought forth: the penetration of feature phones and its context in India, the fact that it is the largest medium, crossed TV too, that most consumers that can be reached by this cannot still be reached by any other media and the sheer complexity of execution given the volumes.

     

    05. Any specific global trends that you would like to highlight?

    I am still finding the digital, social, entries a bit weak and part reason of this could be that maybe a lot more work in these areas gets directed to the specialist digital awards rather than platforms like FOMA. We will have to do some work in that area. I do believe that as more and more digital specialist shops get into more mainstream solutions for advertisers and more generalists agencies get into specialist offerings given acquisitions and always on training, this divide will become lesser.

     

  • A cross-section of industryperson on whether media planners are a slave to proprietary tools or their masters

    Why machines (& the good old Optimiser) will never get the media planner out of a job

    By Shephali Bhatt

     

    It’s the year 2020 and the machines have taken over. What we are talking about is a possibility a lot more realistic than paranoiac visions of The Matrix, Terminator or Blade Runner. Optimiser has completely replaced the at-ease-with digits management graduate known as the media planner.

     

    For the uninitiated, Optimiser is a tool media agencies use to formulate plans that reap their brands maximum reach at the lowest cost. With a young legion of planners admitting that the software sometimes ends up doing 80%- 90% of their work, a machine taking over the entire role of a media planner may not be too far-fetched . But does this qualify as crystal ball gazing or stoking an unnecessary panic?

     

    Ravi Rao

    Flashback to the late 80s and 90s, where intense print plans were created by plotting 100 publications on Yaxis and data from readership surveys like NRS and IRS on the X-axis. “It would take us more than five hours to manually calculate the reach of a print plan using the least cost solution based on Kwerel’s Formula ,” Ravi Rao, leader – South Asia at Mindshare recounts. Now, the planner feeds in the desired GRPs and the client’s budget.

     

    And then sits by as the optimiser dishes out a media plan with numbers on reach and frequency, in one-tenth the time Mr Rao and his compatriots would take. It calls to mind Arthur C Clarke’s observation about how any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. And it’d be true to a large extent.

     

    But it only ends up giving a planner more room to concentrate on strategising for the brand instead of being saddled with a mechanical chore. It really is just a tool that throws numbers at you when you give it some yourself, remarks Anagha Ingle, a two-year-young media planner on Unilever brands at Fulcrum, Mindshare.

     

    Mostly, these numbers are used to support the decisions a planner takes, keeping in mind a dozen other factors. For instance, does the brand need to sustain a campaign or wind up with short bursts over a few weeks? Will there be repeated messaging? How heavily will the insertions be placed across channels? Which genre of channels/print titles and in which language? All questions that only a media planner has answers to, not the machine.

     

    These are just some of the basic questions that every media planner ought to get out of the way before approving or ignoring the plan presented by the holy Optimiser. However strong a backbone it might have, the tool has limitations that continue to give the human planner an advantage . Even if the numbers desired are the same, an Optimiser won’t make complete sense for two different campaigns, meant to target different audiences.

     

    A large part of the decision making is influenced by the marketing environment, brand requirements and the competitor’s actions. Our poor Optimiser is incapable of factoring all of this in. Deepak Ahuja, vice president at ZenithOptimedia cites an example to strengthen this point: “If I were to launch a brand like Micromax, my objective will be to spread quick awareness of the brand to its target audience. So, I’ll target channels specialising in movies, music and sport.”

     

    The hiccup is that this tool will never show English movie channels as a viable option because to the machine, the GRP numbers aren’t satisfactory. If only an Optimiser could weigh in on the qualitative aspect of numbers. Similarly, if one was to follow the software’s advice to the tee, no one would’ve invested in spots around reality shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati because of high cost, Shekhar Banerjee, SVP and head, Madison Pinnacle points out. (If you’ve been keeping score, the humans appear to be winning.)

     

    If it were up to the Optimiser, cricket would never have been advertisers’ favourite sport, given its high incremental cost. Humans, on the other hand, are capable of taking decisions that may not always be efficient but prove effective in meeting a brand’s objective.

     

    That explains the BMW and Rado ads on English channels in spite of marginal ratings, and the absence of ads for deodorants from religious channels despite high viewership ratings. With TAM and IRS coming in for more than their fair share of critiques, data has been reduced to a mere stick for a blind man, says Karthi Marshan, head – marketing at Kotak Mahindra Group.

     

    It can’t tell you with certainty what’s coming up. Hence, a client needs his media planner’s gut, instinct and experience, Mr Marshan adds. The human contribution to the media planning role is only going to increase with umpteen media vehicles available for a brand to ride on.

     

    Anupriya Acharya

    In such a scenario, superior understanding of content would be required to ensure contextual landing of brand in a particular medium, says Anupriya Acharya, group CEO of ZenithOptimedia. Another trick of the trade that one can’t expect an Optimiser to pull off.

     

    Which is why the likes of Mr Rao and Ms Acharya are hell-bent on hiring more planners, from backgrounds as diverse as engineering and economics. For a tool can only answer the ‘where’ of a media plan. The ‘what’ , ‘why’ and ‘how’ will always require human intervention. Or at least until someone builds a machine that answers these questions better.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The announcements are part of ZenithOptimedia Group's management succession moves for Performics and Resultrix in India

    Tanmay Mohanty to take charge of Resultrix and Perfomics in India as Gulrez Alam moves to Singapore as Chief Devpt Officer for ZO APAC

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gulrez Alam

    After founding, growing and leading Resultrix as Global COO for close to five years and making it a name to reckon with in the digital marketing industry, Gulrez Alam moves to Singapore as Chief  Development Officer, APAC at Zenith Optimedia. In this role he will be working with Gerry  Boyle to lead New Business and develop as well as evangelize Digital in the APAC region for ZO.

     

     

    Tanmay Mohanty

    Tanmay Mohanty, who has played a pivotal role in shaping up  Resultrix under Mr Alam for more than a year now, will be taking on the mandate of MD, Performics India and in this role will be incharge of leading both Performics and Resultrix operations in India. He will also  help the ZO Group to further develop and grow its digital capabilities.

     

    In this new role, he will directly report into Anupriya Acharya.

     

    Comments Mr Alam, “I totally believe in ZenithOptimedia’s Live ROI philosophy. I am excited about offering data-led solutions to clients  across mainline and digital media. And also looking forward to working with a very passionate, performance and excellence driven team at ZO APAC office. As I move, I am totally confident in Tanmay taking  over the India responsibilities from me and am sure he will take the organization to greater heights”

     

    Said Mr Mohanty: “At ZenithOptimedia Group, we all have thoroughly imbibed the Live ROI philosophy and all our digital and mobile offerings across Content, Creative, Communication have Performance culture at the core”.

     

    Confirming the development, Ms Acharya noted that Resultrix has been a spectacular success story and will continue to be a competitive advantage for the ZenithOptimedia Group in India. As the client requirements becomes more sophisticated and move from vanilla to more expertise-based solutions, the competitive advantage will get  even more sharply defined. She said “Our revenues from digital as ZO Group in India, are already upwards of 40% and we will focus to grow this further in the coming years.”

     

  • Initiative takes over from ZenithOptimedia as Reckitt Benckiser's media planning and buying partner

    IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative bags Reckitt Benckiser mandate in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    When a top FMCG advertiser moves its media agency mandate globally, there’s a stir in the advertising marketplace. Reckitt Benckiser (RB), which owns 19 big brands like Dettol, Strepsils, Durex, Clearasi, Harper, Bang, Mortein etc, has appointed the Aegis, Havas, Publicis and IPG networks as its global media agency partners. In India, where RB is among the five biggest adspenders, IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative has been appointed the media agency.

     

    This follows a global review to ensure the company benefits from “best-in-class media planning and buying” across around 60 markets in which it advertises. RB had existing arrangements with Havas and ZenithOptimedia (Publicis). Aegis and IPG are new additions to its global roster. Initative takes over the mandate in India from ZenithOptimedia.

     

    Said Heather Allen, executive vice president global category development, “Our media investment is critical for our brands to engage with consumers around the world.  Reckitt Benckiser is one of the world’s fastest growing companies in consumer health, hygiene and home and we’re looking forward to successful growth for our agency partners and us going forward.”

     

    “The learnings that we have got on the RB business will stay with us and we are richer for these. We thank RB for their support and wish them and their new agency all the very best for the future,” said Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO, ZenithOptimedia India.

     

     

  • Adspends will increase 11.5% in 2014, forecasts ZenithOptimedia

    Digitization will help broadcast economics: ZenithOptimedia forecast

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    This is the season for annual adspend forecasts and global media agency network ZenithOptimedia unveiled its Advertising Expenditure Forecasts predicting a year-on-year growth in ad spends in India of 11.5 per cent in 2014. The growth number for 2013 (over 2012) is 8 percent. The global ad expenditure growth from 3.6% in 2013 to 5.3% in 2014.

     

    Anupriya Acharya

    Said Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO, India, ZenithOptimedia group: “Our outlook for 2014 is cautious, though we expect the growth to happen mid-year onwards.” According to Ms Acharya, there appears to be an upswing in the mood since the Assembly election results on Sunday. Added Satyajit Sen, CEO, India, ZenithOptimedia: “All policy-making has been in a limbo, but we expect a spurt in the second half with digitization happening in full-swing.”

     

    According to the agency’s research team, 2013 has “overall been a turbulent year for the media industry”. “In March/April we saw changes to the TAM panel following the second stage of the digitization process (of which more underneath), followed by changes in the TAM data reporting period from a weekly to a monthly format and finally the flip-flopping over the new 10+2 advertising regulations (a cap on advertising minutage set at 10 minutes of advertising and 2 minutes of programme promotion per hour), which was supposed to take effect from Oct 2013 onwards. However, some channels have been slow to comply.”

     

    “Growth will be driven by inflation measures and pricing actions due to the 10+2 advertising regulations, as the restriction of supply will lead to rising prices,” it notes. “All of which means that advertisers are looking seriously at redistributing budgets to other media. On the whole, quality of content will improve on TV and we expect a consequent ratings boost thanks to 10+2 regulation. The change comes at a cost, however. There was a two-week stand-off between TAM, broadcasters and advertisers when data reporting formats were in flux. During this period, the top seven advertisers pulled their ad spots from all TV channels.”

     

    The ZenithOptimedia research notes that digitization will help the broadcast sector: “Following the second phase of digitization of distribution in Q1 2013 in 38 cities, the TV broadcast industry has achieved approximately 77% digitization and expects to reach 100% within the next two years.” The report adds that even though viewership ratings have been impacted, in the long term, digitization is expected to improve broadcast economics significantly.

     

    Internationally, the research has been bullish on adspends in the mobile sector. Mobile is going to take off big time and has already crossed television in terms of number of units, said Ms Acharya. “The internet consumption is going to increasing on the mobile and even though the smartphone number is not very high, it’s rising rapidly.”

     

    “The increase in mobile phone connections continues to drive growth of mobile internet penetration in India,” notes the study. “Cheaper mobile handsets and affordable mobile data packages are helping increase content downloads, and millions of users are engaged with wireless internet on a daily basis. FM Radio listenership is rising and it is a key feature used by mobile phone brands to sell handsets,” the report adds.

     

    On activation and BTL, the report says: “Along with changing lifestyles and the emergence of modern trade and malls in India, there has been an increase in consumption of outdoor advertising. Brands are keen to connect with consumers via experience zones and activations to ensure greater recall and amplification of brand values.

     

    Activation/Events are becoming more and more of a key offering in the radio and print channels. Live Music Events/Festivals have been successful in attracting widespread audience and engaging youth across key cities. Hand in hand with proliferation has come the challenge of fragmentation among audiences. Hence, advertisers are increasing the number of touchpoints to cater to addressable audiences and are selecting media beyond TV, print and radio.”

     

    Government advertising spend has begun ramping up as a precursor to the 2014 general elections, the report adds even as the final quarter of 2013 has “seen lower levels of investment than usual because of the soft economic environment”

     

     

     

  • The principal engine of adspend growth from 3.6% in 2013 to 5.3% in 2014 to 5.8% in 2015 and 2016 will be mobile technology, notes ZenithOptimedia's annual ad expenditure forecast

    Mobile to drive global adspend growth over next 3 yrs: ZO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Advertising is set to see the strongest sustained period of growth in 10 years with global adspend growth forecast to rise from 3.6% in 2013 to 5.3% in 2014. Growth is then set to increase to 5.8% in 2015 and 2016. The principal engine of this growth will be mobile technology, which is expanding the space for media consumption.

     

    According to ZenithOptimedia’s new Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, growth in global adspend next year will come from the continued steady improvement in Europe and the three ‘semi-quadrennial’ events: the Winter Olympics, the football World Cup, and the mid-term elections in the US. We forecast that the global advertising market will accelerate to 5.8% in 2015 as a strong broad-based economic growth takes hold, followed by another year of 5.8% growth in 2016. This assumes that the Eurozone’s gradual recovery continues and no new crisis occurs.

     

    Mobile is expanding overall media consumption

    Mobile is now the main driver of global adspend growth. This the first time in the past 20 years that a new platform is expanding overall media consumption without cannibalising any of the other media platforms. We forecast mobile to contribute 36% of all the extra adspend between 2013 and 2016. Television is the second largest contributor (accounting for 34% of new ad expenditure), followed by desktop internet (25%), which continues to enjoy significant growth alongside that of mobile advertising.

     

    Despite its sizeable growth, mobile advertising still only accounted for 2.7% of global adspend in 2013. By 2016, however, we expect it to account for 7.7% of adspend, leapfrogging radio, magazines and outdoor to become the world’s fourth-largest medium. We count as mobile all internet ads delivered to smartphones and tablets, whatever their format.

     

    Rising Markets are growing three times faster than Mature Markets

    The world’s ad markets are growing at two very different paces. Mature Markets are struggling with debt and low innovation, and their populations are ageing, with growing numbers of retirees supported by a shrinking workforce. We forecast these markets to grow at an average of just 3% a year between 2013 and 2016. Meanwhile Rising Markets are improving their education systems, infrastructure, productivity and adoption of technology, and they have a young population with an expanding workforce. We expect them to grow at 9% a year. The Rising Markets currently account for 35% of global adspend, but we expect them to contribute 61% of adspend growth between 2013 and 2016.

     

    BRIC growth is slowing

    The G7 markets (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA) have a median age of 40; they account for 58% of global adspend, but we forecast them to grow at an average annual rate of only 3.6% between 2013 and 2016. The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have grown enormously over the last twenty years, and now account for 14% of global adspend, up from 1% in 1993. They are much younger than the G7 (with a median age of 31), and we forecast them to grow at an average of 9.5% a year over the next three years, but this is well down on their average growth of 15.8% in the previous decade.

     

    “Mobile technology is creating new opportunities for marketers to connect with consumers. Combined with the continued rise of young, dynamic markets, this will spur healthy and sustained growth in global adspend over the next three years,” said Steve King, ZenithOptimedia’s CEO, Worldwide.

     

    ZenithOptimedia is headed by Anupriya Acharya in India.

     

  • Mindshare has announced the elevation of Amin Lakhani as Leader, Team Unilever South Asia. He will replace Anupriya Acharya who is moving on from the organization.

    Amin Lakhani to head Mindshare Fulcrum

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amin Lakhani

    Mindshare has announced the elevation of Amin Lakhani as Leader, Team Unilever South Asia. In his new role Amin Lakhani will head Fulcrum, a unit of Mindshare that manages the media planning and buying for the Unilever business in South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He will replace Anupriya Acharya who is moving on from the organization reportedly for personal reasons.

    In his experience of over 15 years, Mr Lakhani has worked as a product manager with an Indian pharmaceutical company and in media agencies. In his stint with GroupM India, he handled various roles starting with Maxus as the Head of Trading for West region, moving on to GroupM as Trading head for West and then on to Mindshare where he played the architect of The Exchange function in 2008, finally leading up the Trading Lead for the Unilever business.

     

    Ravi Rao

    Announcing the appointment, Ravi Rao, Leader South Asia, Mindshare said, “Amin was our unanimous choice and we know he will turn a new chapter in Mindshare Fulcrum by raising media excellence in strategic planning and world class execution backed up with award winning innovations for Unilever. We wish Anupriya all the best and thank her for a short but great stint at Mindshare Fulcrum”.

     

    Commenting on his new role, Mr Lakhani said, “It is an exciting opportunity especially in challenging times. Mindshare Fulcrum has been a centre of excellence. I am looking forward to building on our strong base and continuing to provide delight to India’s most esteemed client, Unilever.”

     

  • In this role she will lead Team Unilever overseeing India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lankaat Mindshare Fulcrum

    Anupriya Acharya to head Unilever biz @ Mindshare

    Anupriya Acharya
    Ravi Rao

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the elevation of Mr Ravi Rao to lead Mindshare India, the media agency has appointed Ms Anupriya Acharya Leader – Team Unilever:South Asia, a position held by Mr Rao until he took over the agency’s reins (from Mr Gowthaman Ragothaman). She takes charge today.

    Ms Acharya has relocated from Singapore where she was CEO, Aegis Media.Her responsibility at Mindshare requires her to oversee business in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

     

    Announcing the appointment, Ravi Rao, Leader, South Asia, Mindshare, said: “Anupriya moves into this role fromSingapore where she was CEO, Aegis Media Singapore and is credited with doubling the operation in just over two years. Prior to Aegis Media, she was President TME (The Media Edge) from 2005-2008. She is also no newbie at Group M. She set up mConsult under Vikram Sakhuja in 2004 and has been an integral part of Fulcrum from 2000-2003. So we welcome her back. ”

     

    Commenting on her new role in Mindshare, Ms Acharya said: “I am most excited about this role. I have always had very fond memories of Fulcrum. Aegis Media Singapore position helped me gain an international and regional perspective and honed my intercultural management skills, while TME taught me handling extremely diverse set of clients and their different requirements. CP, Parle AOR, Indian Oil, Viacom 18’s Colors and Citibank were some of the key clients then. Now I was looking to get back to scale and lo! this assignment was so timely and perfect.”

     

    “I look forward to working closely with Ravi, Roy Sudipto, who heads the team Unilever for APAC and David Pullan, Global Head of Team Unilever at Mindshare London, and to drive the aggressive Unilever agenda forward acrossSouth Asia. The scale is truly exciting and humbling at the same time. I am raring to go!,” she added.

     

    Ms Acharya has also worked at McCann Erickson and Ogilvy in her earlier years. A Post Graduate in Analytical Chemistry from IIT-Roorkee, she has over 16 years of experience in Communication solutions. Her interests are adventure sports, photography and travelling for leisure.