GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, has announces the elevation of Ashwin Padmanabhan as Chief Operating Officer for South Asia. He will continue to be based out of Gurugram and report to Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia.
Padmanabhan will now oversee a streamlined structure that brings together GroupM’s extensive and diversified key practices. This includes Influencer Marketing, Content, OOH offering and Nexus. Investments, Trading, Partnerships, Motion and Entertainment will continue to be part of his portfolio. Ashwin’s strategic vision will play a pivotal role in seamlessly integrating GroupM’s diversified services, to develop and deliver a best-in-class solution that unlocks value for clients and GroupM.
Said Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia: “Ashwin’s deep understanding of client requirements and industry ecosystems and his proven track record ensures a seamless alliance across respective domains. He will continue to drive synergies across multiple practices emphasizing simplicity and consolidation to consistently deliver outstanding client work.”
GroupM India has announced that Ashwin Padmanabhan will be taking on an elevated role as President – Investments, Trading & Partnerships, GroupM India. Padmanabhan, who earlier led ‘Trading’ and ‘Partnerships’, will now be also taking on the ‘Investments’ portfolio from Sidharth Parashar. Parashar will be joining the APAC Mindshare leadership team as Chief Investment Officer, Mindshare APAC and will now be based out of Singapore.
Said Prasanth Kumar, GroupM South Asia CEO: “Sidharth has had a phenomenal career journey where the organization has witnessed his evolution from a practice expert to a leader over the last 18 years with GroupM. He has successfully led the investment mandates across all media and has elevated the practice through innovative products and delivering exceptional value for our clients. I would like to wish him the very best and will continue to work closely with him as he drives regional investment strategy for Mindshare,” adding: “I am also excited to see Ashwin taking over this additional role. He has a deep understanding of the business, and we continue to benefit from his knowledge of the media ecosystem. Focusing on cutting-edge innovation backed by his solid process orientation is a value add for clients. His ‘start up’ mindset has helped GroupM venture into new practices, deploying creativity to our Products and Solutions keeping client delight at the helm.”
Parashan will report to Helen McRae, Chief Executive Officer, Mindshare APAC, and work on enhancing Mindshare’s local market investment strategy and driving thinking and the opportunity of Good Growth and Intentional Investment for the region.
Added Helen McRae, Chief Executive Officer, Mindshare APAC: “I am very pleased that Sid will be joining our regional team. He brings a tremendous depth of expertise and will be a great champion of Good Growth for our clients.”
Said Parashar: “It has been an amazing journey at GroupM, and I am delighted to now take over this new Mindshare APAC investments role. I look forward to this opportunity in new markets to build value for our client’s business.”
Added Padmanabhan: “GroupM, has been a fertile ground for innovation and creating value in a highly entrepreneurial environment. This expanded remit motivates me to renew my focus on the GroupM value proposition for our clients, media partners, and technology partners. We want to keep the momentum up with these relentless efforts toward improving today for a better tomorrow.”
Padmanabhan will continue to report to Prasanth Kumar and be based out of the Gurugram office.
WPP-owned media investment conglomerate GroupM has announced its advertising expenditure (AdEx) forecasts for 2022. As per the GroupM futures report ‘This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2022, the adspends are estimated to reach 107,987crs in 2022. This represents the estimated growth of 22% for the calendar year 2022. India will be the fastest-growing market among the top 10 global markets and retains its 9th rank in 2022, as per the report. See GroupM TYNY2022 deck.
Commenting on the TYNY 2022 report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “The pandemic has pushed the envelope towards digital and has hence topped the pie, with advertisers keen to explore more of it. Ecommerce and Telco will drive the economy, we also expect FMCG and auto to slowly catch up and contribute towards this growth.”
Added Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “With the pivot to digital by consumers and companies alike, digital emerges as the largest medium in 2022 with an estimated share of 45%. Digital is estimated to grow by 33% in 2022. As digital capabilities enhance and connectivity becomes omnipresent, technology will further poise and change almost every sector of India’s economy.”
Said Parthasarathy Mandayam, Chief Strategy Officer, GroupM South Asia: “With consumers gravitating towards themes like sustainability and sensitivity, brands are adapting rapidly, and media has the power to lead this change. Flexible, specialist and distributed teams are the order of the day and this trend will be further enhanced with the arrival of 5G. The emphasis on performance marketing has further accelerated and is at the very core of marketing. Intelligent & responsible leverage of first-party data will be critical for brands & marketers in driving this.”
Said Atique Kazi, President – Data, Performance & Digital Products, GroupM India: “Marketers will have to bring together innovation, intelligence and integration in their strategy to win on Digital. In 2022; we will also see addressable TV coming to India in some scalable form and connected tv surge with smart TV sales and new fibre/broadband connections will be on the rise. Focusing on eCommerce, performance marketing, outcome-based media and addressable data is winning formula in 2022.”
Added Sidharth Parashar, President – Investments & Pricing, GroupM India: “While digital is set to take the larger pie, we are expecting a noteworthy revival for OOH & cinema too after a tough period. Advertising on e-commerce, the rise of influencers and short format videos along with OTT has witnessed growth in 2021, which would continue in 2022.”
Said Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships & Trading, GroupM India: “The rapid digital transformation of companies, brands and the way they connect with consumers is reflected in the global advertising spends as well as the way even traditional media is expanding with their digital extensions. India in 2022 will see a rapid manifestation of these Global trends and thus fundamentally altering the media industry.”
INCA, GroupM’s brand-safe influencer and content marketing solution unit, announced the release of The India Influencer Marketing Report last weekend. The report looks at all aspects of the industry including trends and the impact of regulation.
Prasanth Kumar
Commenting on the report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia said: “Over the last few years, brands have shown significant interest in influencer marketing. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of influencer marketing by brands making it an integral part of the brand marketing strategy and is now an important part of our media mix recommendation to brands. The key factor that has got brands interested is the bond of trust and authenticity that influencers share with their audiences, thus helping brands associate with an influencer to leverage the same. This report is our effort to help marketers understand various aspects of influencer marketing in the country. Consumer behaviour is changing at a fast pace, and we want to empower marketers with the knowledge that can help them.”
Ashwin Padmanabhan
Added Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships and Trading of GroupM India: “Influencer marketing industry is at a point of inflexion and can take off, subject to the industry initiating to measure, quantify and make investments in influencer marketing accountable. The ‘India Influencer Marketing Report’ is GroupM and INCA’s attempt to do the same. Not only have we tried to quantify the industry, but we have also attempted to define and standardize the various formats and industry terms. We hope this report will catalyse the industry and ensure the power of influencers is harnessed effectively!”
GroupM India has announced its advertising expenditure (AdEx) forecasts for 2021. As per the GroupM futures report ‘This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2021, India will see a major ad recovery in 2021 given the downfall of ad spends in 2020 due to the pandemic.
TYNY forecasts India’s advertising investment to reach an estimated Rs. 80,123 crores this year. This represents an estimated growth of 23.2%, for the calendar year 2021. India is the 2nd fastest growing market in the top 10 countries and will be the 6th largest contributor to incremental ad spends in 2021 globally. While India was ranked 9th in the global ad spend rank in 2019, it dropped to 10 in 2020 and is likely to regain its 9th rank this year.
Prasanth Kumar
Commenting on the TYNY 2021 report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia said, “2020 was an unprecedented year. The pandemic impacted across sectors and it, therefore, affected the media investments too. As we are aware, the year that went by had a mixture of lockdowns, many restricted market momentum and overall threw a challenge and impacted multi-industry economies. The ad industry too had its challenges and 2020 witnessed a steep drop in the overall media investments. However, we have witnessed a month-on-month upturn in the industry starting Q3 last year and we are quite optimistic about the revival that 2021 will see. With the gradual easement of the lockdown backed by seasonal spends and big-ticket events like IPL, we expect 2021 to continue to build on that momentum. While the global ad spends are estimated to see a rise of 10% in 2021, digital is expected to take 67% of ad spends. With the help of technology, marketers have adapted to pandemic-proof ways by constantly innovating, staying relevant and offering digitally charged solutions to brands.”
Digital was the only medium to witness a gain of USD 27bn globally in 2020. Digital as a media vehicle will continue to skyrocket due to the increase in digital dependency and changing consumer patterns.
Tushar Vyas
Added Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “2021 will see 90% incremental ad spends on digital globally. The massive switch to digital reliance over the past 1 year has been a major driver for this shift. Brands have been forced to think big and different to transform their businesses, match the newer expectations and overcome the challenges faced. The post-pandemic era will continue to see this upsurge in digital demands. The crisis has brought about a sea change in mindset, adoption, and role of technology in doing business. Brands are seen renewing their business models and are constantly ideating to find better ways to connect with the consumer on a digital tangent.”
Ashwin Padmanabhan
While Covid-19 resulted in an overall slowdown in the global economy, Indian adspends will continue to see a month-on-month recovery considering the overall media landscape. Said Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships and Trading of GroupM India: “Based on a strong foundation built on the back of FMCG and e-commerce, 2021 is expected to see growth across sectors like auto, telecom, consumer durable, retail and education. Manufacturing, which was severely impacted by the pandemic, is now stabilising and moving toward a positive outlook enabled by automation, technology and supply chain optimisation. 2020 has accelerated the adoption of agile, cost-effective business models, which will help brands and marketers offer better products, services and experiences to consumers.”
Sidharth Parashar
Added Sidharth Parashar, President-Investments and Pricing of GroupM India: “Along with digital, television saw a spike in consumption during the lockdown. With acceptance on the subscription bandwagon increasing, OTT will continue to witness a constructive growth and is likely to develop with more players attracting users by investing in content. Print & Radio expected to be backed by local advertisers and certain categories with marketeers leveraging the brand solutions that these media offer. We expect OOH and cinema to see double-digit growth after a difficult year. Given the uncertainty and cautiously spending consumer, brands are realising the importance of being present wherever consumers are. Hence along with continued relevance of television & other mass media, we will witness advertisers leveraging relevant platforms to reach out to its audience.”
GroupM formally announced its advertising expenditure (AdEx) forecast for 2020. As per the GroupM futures report ‘This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2020, India will continue to top the list as the fastest-growing major ad market in the world. TYNY forecasts India’s advertising investment to reach an estimated Rs. 91,641 crores this year. This represents an estimated growth of 10.7%, for the calendar year 2020.
India will continue to be the third-highest contributor to the incremental ad spends, only behind UK and USA while China drops to the fourth spot and the eight fastest-growing country with respect to ad spends across the globe.
Commenting on the TYNY 2020 report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia said: “We expect the global AdEx to grow by 5.1%. The Indian media landscape is constantly evolving, will continue to witness the fastest growth of 10.7% to reach Rs 91,641 crores. While we expect sustained and stable investment across media in India, Digital to garner 65% of incremental ad spends in 2020. In 2020, India faces challenges and uncertainties across sectors just like other markets. However, this also brings opportunities for brands to innovate because of which we see an evolving media stack. This will be propelled by greater use of technology and better content across media.”
Digital secures #2 position as the most used media vehicle and is estimated to reach 30% of adspend in 2020 with growth coming from 3Vs (video, voice, vernacular-Indic) and advertising on e-commerce. The growth of digital is set to soar high because of changing consumer habits.
Added Tushar Vyas, President Growth and Transformation – GroupM South Asia: “There are multiple advancements happening in technology which is transforming digital advertising and other mediums. India being a diverse country, digital will keep growing, especially with the rise of content platforms and its availability in multiple languages powered by the growth of 3Vs. From a predominantly ‘at home’, ‘urban’, ‘English print’ & ‘TV’ consuming market, the Indian media consumer evolved to include ‘on the move’, ‘rural’ & ‘regional’ counterparts, experimented with digital media in the early 2010s’, adopted social media in middle of the decade and started consuming digital videos voraciously after 2016.”
Even with an overall slowdown in the global economy Indian media spends are expected to be between low to moderate in H1, with robust growth anticipated in H2 2020.
Said Sidharth Parashar, President – Investments and Pricing of GroupM India: “The format of print storytelling is changing but the content is still the strongest. With print media organizations undergoing transformation across India. Publication houses have invested heavily in promoting digital subscriptions and have started limiting access to digital versions of epapers. We believe that this would pave the way for newer business models. Print will continue to remain relevant to advertisers wanting to build credible brands. Television will continue to grow at a steady pace. This year, the growth rate for TV is estimated to be 7% and Radio is expected to grow at 6%. While cinema and OOH will grow at 15% and 6% respectively in 2020.”
OTT has seen a faster evolution in India, which is now complementing television. OTT hybrid models looking at both advertising and subscription will continue to be an effective model.
Speaking on the trends for the year, Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Partnerships and Trading of GroupM India said: “While there are challenges and uncertainties in the market, it is a world of abundant opportunities in the content eco-system. This gives us vibrant options to reach and engage with consumers. It necessitates us to be agile, invest in new-age talent and technology while keeping an eye on the future. The key is to be always prepared while we are shaping the media landscape.”
GroupM India, the media investment group of WPP, has announced the appointment of Sidharth Parashar as President – Investments and Pricing, GroupM India and Ashwin Padmanabhan as President – Partnerships and Trading, GroupM India. As part of this elevation, both Parashar and Padmanabhan will join the GroupM Executive Committee.
Said Prasanth Kumar, CEO of GroupM South Asia: “The elevation of both Sidharth and Ashwin is a testament of GroupM’s continued investment in its talent which has helped build a strong leadership pipeline, creating leaders to take our business into the future. In this ever-evolving integrated media ecosystem, we understand the importance of having leaders across key client focus areas like media investments and trading. Both Sidharth and Ashwin are astute leaders and I am confident that they will continue to drive client delight and expand GroupM’s reach across platforms.”
Prasanth Kumar
Both Parashar and Padmanabhan have been leading GroupM’s pricing-investment and partnerships trading practices over the years and they will take over their respective new roles effective this month (November 2019). Parashar has been with GroupM for over 15 years and Padmanabhan joined GroupM from Reliance Broadcast Network where, as the COO he led the network’s Radio and Television business. Both Parashar and Padmanabhan will continue to be based out of the GroupM’s Gurugram office and will report to Prasanth Kumar, CEO GroupM South Asia.
Reliance Broadcast Network Limited has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Vikas Khanchandani as Chief Business Officer. With over 20 years of experience working across digital, television and ad/media technology, Khanchandani will be responsible for driving strategic business initiatives – new technologies and customer engagement. He will be reporting to Ashwin Padmanabhan, COO, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited.
On the development, Ashwin Padmanabhan, COO, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited said, “We are happy to have Vikas on board who comes with a wealth of experience and domain expertise. With his extensive knowledge across the television and digital medium, we are confident that he will be able to further accelerate the growth story of the group.â€
Before joining RBNL, Khanchandani was the co-founder of AIDEM Ventures where he played the dual role of managing existing businesses of AIDEM even while he was aggressively driving the growth agenda of building a unique and valuable media sales and services company. Prior to that, Khanchandani was part of the core leadership team which set up NDTV Media. Under his leadership, the channel witnessed phenomenal growth, creating a benchmark within the news genre and leading the category. He started his media career with STAR India as a key member of the Strategic Planning and Management team which worked on sales strategies for the Network’s channels.
BIG Magic and Radio One Ahmedabad have announced an ad sales tie up for the city of Ahmedabad. As per the agreement, BIG Magic will facilitate sale of advertisement airtime on a non-exclusive basis on 95 FM Radio One Ahmedabad. Radio One Ahmedabad will also create new programming to attract better revenues.
Ashwin Padmanabhan, Chief Operating Officer, For Big Magic Ltd said, “We are pleased to announce that effective January 15th, 2016 onwards, BIG Magic Limited has associated with Radio One Ahmedabad, wherein we would work together with them to sell advertising spots on95 FM Radio One Ahmedabad on a non-exclusive basis. We have always been open to exploring new avenues for our advertisers and provide them the best value. The popularity of Radio One in Ahmedabad will ensure that this move would prove to be viable for our advertisers, and a win-win for both entities.â€
Saurabh Sehgal, COO (Operations), Radio One said, “We have been looking to improve revenues in our Ahmedabad station and since BIG magic has no conflict of interest in the city of Ahmedabad it was worthwhile associating with them for the city. We will work together to create local advertiser funded programs and are positive that this is a win-win for both parties. We also look forward to more national revenues now going into Ahmedabad. This will help our sales effort.â€
BIG Magic Ganga, the regional channel of Bihar and Jharkhand under Reliance Broadcast Network Limited has been re-branded as BIG Ganga. This change is in line with the brand refreshment exercise done for the network’s television and radio channel BIG Magic and 92.7 BIG FM, respectively. BIG Ganga, which recently became available to DD Free Dish viewers (Channel No. 16) adopted the new logo across all its channel programming and marketing collaterals from 1st January, 2016 onwards.
Speaking on this new development, Ashwin Padmanabhan, Chief Operating Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited said, “The essential regional flavor and the ethos of the channel remains the same with this change. Our focus is to continue exploring new opportunities and deliver quality original content, to give brands a bigger platform to garner more visibility.â€
With this move, the channel attempts to enhance the authentic regional flavour through locally shot programs, derived from local insights such as establishing self-identity and preserving local culture. BIG Ganga has a deep understanding of the socio-cultural fabric & reflecting the pride of people from the region. It has consistently offered entertainment and meaningful content which can be watched by the entire family.
Apart from the popular shows, there are a number of new shows in the pipeline this year namely Makar Sankranti, Rasoi Ki Rani, BIG Memsaab Season 7, Mele Ka BIG Star, Shaurya Samman, Ganga Bhojpuri Cine Awards amongst others. BIG Ganga offers exquisite and dynamic content for family viewing which resonates well with the masses. With more unique shows to look forward to, BIG Ganga is poised to engage, enrich and entertain new audiences across the country.
BIG Magic Ganga and BIG Magic have strengthened their distribution with India’s leading free to air digital network – DD Free Dish. With DD Free Dish, BIG Magic and BIG Magic Ganga will now benefit with deep penetration across the rural regions of the country. This move will gradually fortify their position in the rural belt, making them easily available for discerning viewers. BIG Magic Ganga will be available on DD Free Dish Channel No. 16.
Speaking on the occasion, Ashwin Padmanabhan, Chief Operating Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited stated, “We are happy to announce our availability on DD Free Dish, which allows our channels BIG Magic and BIG Magic Ganga to immediately grow across the geography. We are confident that our content will be thoroughly enjoyed by the new audiences, further enhancing our reach and position. Strengthening our distribution is a strategic move which will not only widen our audience base and popularity but will also give better value to our advertisers.”
BIG Magic delivers more than 5 hours of original programming, compared to any other GEC channels in the region that only have syndicated content. A Channel which is based on the positioning of being positive, uplifting and nurturing a sense of pride amongst the aspirational audience pool of the region. It taps into the insights of Religion (devotion andbhakti); Reality (game shows, social), Family Movies and Fiction to help people in the region to excel and shed their backward perception and imagery.
Popular shows like BIGMemsaab, TeekhiKhabar, election special RaagChunavi, blockbuster movies every weekend, along with upcoming devotional shows Mangal Utsav for Diwali and Chhath special, BIG Magic Ganga offers exquisite and dynamic content for family viewing which resonateswellwith the masses. With more unique shows in the pipeline, BIG Magic Ganga is poised to engage, enrich and entertain new audiences across the country.
BIG Magic offers content which is cutting edge, quirky, differentiated and entertaining. With original content including a high degree of humour, viewers can enjoy shows in the non-fiction space, focused on building iconic characters which are stand out, quirky and funny. The content offered is platform agnostic with a large play in the digital and mobile medium.
With this association, BIG Magic and BIG Magic Ganga markthe beginning of new prospects for the channel in terms of increased viewership, new audience base, robust expansion plan, etc.
The channel will engage with viewers and trade partners locally and nationally through a multimedia campaign across its radio network, 92.7 BIG FM and other multiple platforms.
92.7 BIG FM has switched to play Contemporary Top 100 Kalakkal Hits. The repositioning is in line with 92.7 BIG FM’s new and youthful logo as well as the focus to appeal to the younger audience. In order to welcome this innovative change, 92.7 BIG FM was joined by RJ’s Balaji, Ramya, Archana, Sarithiran, Vignesh Karthick, Giri Giri and Miruthula at a press conference in Chennai’s Hyatt Regency.
In line with the makeover, the Chennai station promises new RJs, mesmerizing content coupled with innovative and engaging sessions for new and old listeners alike. The coming together of new and existing RJs with appealing content will take listeners on a memorable journey each day.
Speaking on the occasion, Ashwin Padmanabhan, Chief Operating Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited said, “Our idea behind the change in the Chennai stationality is to appeal to the younger audience. The content too has been modified in a way that it blends with today’s generation. We will play the current era’s Top 100 Kalakkal Hits.â€
Excited on being associated with 92.7 BIG FM’s re-launch RJ Balaji said, “The channel has crafted its relaunch carefully in sync with Gen Y, with a focus on hot picks and trending issues while playing beautiful contemporary hit songs. It is a fresh and revolutionized concept and we do hope that our listeners will enjoy our revamped look as well.â€
The popular breakfast show BIG Melody Mornings will be replaced by Jalabala Juckkamma and Tea Kadai Bench with RJ Sarethran and RJ Giri Giri, respectively. On popular demand, the channel will continue to air the popular show Take it Easy by RJ Balaji from 6 PM to 9 PM which promises to tickle the funny bone of listeners.
BIG Magic Ganga, the regional channel of Bihar and Jharkhand under Reliance Broadcast Network Limited has been re-branded as BIG Ganga. This change is in line with the brand refreshment exercise done for the network’s television and radio channel BIG Magic and 92.7 BIG FM, respectively. BIG Ganga, which recently became available to DD Free Dish viewers (Channel No. 16) adopted the new logo across all its channel programming and marketing collaterals from 1st January, 2016 onwards.