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Tag: Avian Media

  • Chase will remain a separate consultancy owned by Avian WE and will retain its name

    Avian Media merges with WE; new entity to be called Avian WE

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s a story that we were looking to report many months ago. Global independent PR major WE Communications (WE) has announced a strategic investment in Avian Media, a leading PR agency and its sister public affairs consultancy, Chase. WE Communications India will merge with Avian and will now be called Avian WE. Chase will remain a separate consultancy owned by Avian WE and will retain its name.

     

    “By joining forces with Avian Media, another like-minded independent, we can continue to put our clients at the center of everything we do,” said Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO of WE Communications. “Our investment immediately extends the client capabilities we offer and creates opportunities for future services expansion, supercharging our regional and global network.”

     

    Founded in 2004 by Executive Chairman Nikhil Khanna, Avian Media currently numbers more than 150 employees with offices in Mumbai, Delhi (where it is headquartered), Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. Khanna, working with Co-Managing Partner and now Group CEO of Avian WE India, Nitin Mantri, together built Avian Media into the second largest independent communication consultancy in the country. Avian WE clients in India include Airbnb, Airbus, Bloomberg, Dell, MasterCard, Qualcomm, Sony and TripAdvisor.

     

    Said Khanna: “We are excited about this partnership. Both entities share a common entrepreneurial culture and a philosophy of working in partnership with our clients to build long-term relationships, and a culture that places great emphasis on our people. I am very excited about what we can achieve together.”

     

    Added Mantri: “The merger between Avian into WE represents a huge opportunity for us to accelerate our expansion into new sectors and markets within the region. With the increased scale of the combined business, we can deepen our specialist capabilities, particularly in the areas of our power sectors Technology, Health, and Consumer and provide our team with greater development opportunities.”

     

    In addition to expanding its regional and global footprint, WE is also growing its signature intellectual capital, Brands in Motion, to include India. Brands in Motion examines the movement of sectors and brands inspired by, or driven by, technology.

     

    “WE is focused on becoming the leading, independent mid-sized global network in the industry. With last year’s addition of Red Bridge in China and WATATAWA in Singapore, combined with our investment in Avian Media and Chase in India, we are in a great position to serve multi-market clients better than we ever have,” said Alan VanderMolen, WE President of International. “These additions to our family are yet another example of WE aggressively expanding our global network in order to service a growing, global client base.”

  • The industry expected to double in size by FY'20, will be worth overRs. 2,100 crore

    PRCAI releases study on state of Indian PR industry

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) released a comprehensive report on the PR industry titled ‘State of Indian Public Relations Industry: 2016’. According to the findings of the report, the industry more than doubled in size between FY’08 and FY’16 from Rs 490 crore to Rs 1120 crore. The report further states that the growth will substantially increase in the coming years and the industry will be worth Rs 2100 crore by FY’20, almost double its present size. Increased maturity in public relations has allowed the industry to become more integral to brand communications.

     

    The survey also reports that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is the biggest clientele for PR firms in the country. The sector accounted for over 20 per cent of the revenue generated by PR firms, closely followed by financial services and the FMCG sector which accounted for 12 per cent and 9 per cent of the revenue respectively. The PR industry, which grew by 19 per cent this year as compared to 13 per cent last year, is on a strong growth trajectory and is expected to play a more strategic role in delivering brand messages. More brands are waking up to the potential that PR has to offer and are moving towards it to deliver a unified message to all stakeholders.

     

    Commenting on the findings of the report, Nitin Mantri, President PRCAI and CEO, Avian Media said, “Storytelling will be key for brands going forward. Delivering content-driven integrated campaigns which can engage and captivate varied audiences will be crucial to the survival of brands in the near future. The sources of revenue in the industry have diversified beyond public relations and public affairs. New services such as digital and social media communications, along with crisis and CSR management, have enabled strong growth of the industry which is expected to double in size by 2020 and be worth over Rs 2100 crore. Constant innovation and smart adaptation to the changing landscape are indispensable for PR firms today. PR practitioners are also waking up to the huge potential, majority of which is still untapped, that lies in the fast growing rural markets. Despite limited retail access, consumer demand is booming in these markets, being fueled by mobile transactions.”

     

    Commenting on the findings of the report, Deepak H, Head (Emerging Sectors Business Unit) at Feedback Consulting said,“Owing to the growth in the PR industry, there has been a significant increase in the number of boutique firms, while consolidation is happening at the top of the pyramid. PR companies are positive about the future outlook of the industry and estimate a 15 – 16% year on year growth in the next 4 years. Start-ups, Sports & Entertainment are seen as emerging business segment, while the industry is largely driven by the Services & Manufacturing Segment.

     

    The biggest and common challenge in the industry is acquiring the right set of talent and retaining them. The talent gap is seen across the skill areas required in the PR industry. Research & Innovative lead individuals with marketing and business development ability are highly desired skills as indicated by companies during the survey.”

     

    While the core services – public relations and public affairs – continue to be biggest source of revenue for PR consultancies, together generating over 70 per cent of the total revenue, the rapid growth seen at the digital and social media front is indicative of the changing dynamics of the PR industry. Brands are also fortifying themselves against possible negative consumer sentiment in the future by investing more towards crisis and risk management and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management.

     

    Clients today are slowly shifting towards a project based relationship with the firm over the retainer based model. While today 74 per cent of the total revenue comes from retainer businesses and 26 per cent from project businesses, this dynamic is expected to change in the near future. The increasingly competitive agency landscape and mushrooming of freelancers has increased the options for the brands.

  • The ICCO Global PR Awards benchmark the finest excellence in PR, and is globally recognised by 33 PR trade associations across the world

    Nitin Mantri & Avian Media conferred top honours at ICCO Global Awards 2015

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nitin Mantri

    Avian Media has clinched the ‘Independent Consultancy of the Year (APAC)’ title at the ICCO Global Awards 2015 in London on November 26. The company’s CEO, Nitin Mantri, who is also the President of the Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI), was adjudged Global PR Leader of the Year Award for displaying great leadership and achieving excellent results in moving the industry forward in one of the most challenging markets in the world. Mantri is the first Indian to have won this award.

     

    Nitin Mantri, CEO, Avian Media, said: “We are a homegrown, independent agency and we are proud of our heritage. This gives us the freedom and nimbleness to deliver result-oriented campaigns for our clients. Hence, it is a matter of great honour to win the ‘Independent Consultancy of the Year’ award. This has been a milestone year for us. We have won the ‘Indian Consultancy of the Year’ Award at the 2015 Sabre Awards in September, and now these prestigious awards on a global platform like ICCO, reiterate our belief that Avian Media is on the right path. We owe our success to our hard-working team of employees, our partners who support us, and our clients who trust and encourage us to scale greater heights. These awards will further motivate us to achieve our goal to become ‘The Most Trusted Advocacy Firm in India’.”

     

    Nikhil Khanna, Managing Director, Avian Media, said: “There is no doubt that Nitin is an outstanding professional, but I have always maintained that he should first be viewed as a remarkable leader. His novel approach to PR has set the roadmap for Avian Media’s success. And, the results – two agency of the year awards in the span of two months – are here to see. Nitin has not only charted Avian’s growth, but has been a leader for the profession. As President of the PRCAI, he has championed the cause of PR both at home and at global platforms. I cannot think of a more suitable Global PR Leader of the Year. I am extremely proud and happy for both my agency and its CEO.”

     

    The ICCO Global PR Awards benchmark the finest excellence in PR, and is globally recognised by 33 PR trade associations across the world. This is an internationally recognised awards programme purely based on effectiveness, measurement, results and impact for the global PR industry.

     

  • Girish Balachandran appointed as Chief Strategy Officer, Neha Mehrotra and Shalmana Tendulkar as Regional Heads for Avian North & West respectively

    Avian Media rejigs leadership team

    By A Correspondent

     

    Avian Media has announced new roles for its leadership team as it prepares to take on new growth from existing and new clients.

     

    Girish Balachandran

    Girish Balachandran has been promoted as Chief Strategy Officer. In the last eight months at Avian Media he has held responsibility for marquee client relationships, winning new business and championing LEAP, an agency-wide, employee-led movement to build a culture of achieving unreasonable results. In his new role, Girish will continue building a growth roadmap for the agency including incubating newer business units – Digital & Content Marketing and CSR, Advocacy and Development sector work. Prior to joining Avian Media, Girish served as Europe, Middle East and Africa Client Development Director at Waggener Edstrom and worked with Ketchum as a Board Director in London.

     

    Neha Mehrotra

    Neha Mehrotra, an Avian Media veteran has been appointed as Regional Head for North. She is one of the first employees of Avian Media and recently completed 11 years with the company. Neha has helped build a robust team in Delhi looking after key clients across aviation and defense, consumer electronics, automotive and e-commerce among others. In her new role, Neha will be responsible for leading strategy and creating standards and processes to ensure a consistency in service for large Indian and multinational clients as well as manage operations for Avian Media in north India.

     

    Shalmana Tendulkar

    Shalmana Tendulkar, has taken the reins of Avian West as Regional Head. With over eighteen years’ experience, she joined Avian Media in Jan 2014 to lead its consumer practice out of Mumbai. In her new role, Shalmana will also oversee operations for Pune and Mumbai offices and ensure seamless quality in client servicing across its corporate, consumer, and technology and healthcare practices. Prior to Avian Media, Shalmana has worked at Genesis Burson Marsteller and as an independent communications consultant in India.

     

    Subramaniam M continues leading operations for Avian Media in the South as Regional Head of its business across offices in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.

     

    Commenting on the new structure, Avian Media CEO, Nitin Mantri said, “Brands in India are increasingly looking for agencies that can understand the role of communications within a broad stakeholder environment. By uniting our functions under single regional heads we’re bringing together the best mix of expertise and experience to bear on client challenges in an integrated way, beyond the silos of practices and functions. This new realignment will help us not only focus better to run the business and also integrate teams better within and across offices.”

     

    The firm continues to have Nikhil Khanna, MD and Nitin Mantri as CEO at its helm. In the last year, Avian Media won 48 new clients including BMW, Sony, BlaBlaCar and Sesame Workshop.

     

  • The PR mandate includes re-iterating and emphasizing Sony's business strengths and technology leadership

    Sony India appoints Avian Media to handle strategic communications

    By A Correspondent

     

    Avian Media has been awarded the PR mandate for Sony India. The development comes in the backdrop of a multi-agency pitch process held in New Delhi.

     

    It will be responsible for developing and managing strategic communications for the company. The PR mandate includes re-iterating and emphasizing Sony’s business strengths and technology leadership, as well as building online advocacy amongst the relevant stakeholders.

     

    Nitin Mantri

    Commenting on the new business win, Nitin Mantri, CEO, Avian Media said, “We have a diverse portfolio across industries and geographies. A new win in the space where our rich experience and expertise provides us a winning edge over competition will further augment and strengthen our position in the market. Working for a brand like Sony India is a great honor and it will amplify our capabilities with innovative planning and execution of successful campaigns for the brand.”

     

    Ryusuke Fukushima, Deputy General Manager Marketing Communications, Sony India said, “We look forward to work with Avian Media in successfully driving the strategic communications campaign in India.  We wanted a public relations partner which has a deep understanding of our sector and could support us strategically to meet our business goals.”

     

  • Girish will work closely with the leadership team at Avian Media to further align and strengthen company’s operations in India

    Girish Balachandran joins Avian Media

    By A Correspondent

     

    Girish Balachandran

    Avian Media has announced the appointment of Girish Balachandran as National Head of Marketing and Group Business Director. In his new role, Balachandran will lead the agency’s business development and marketing efforts across India while advising clients on their communication strategy. Girish will work closely with the leadership team at Avian Media to further align and strengthen company’s operations in India, thereby driving growth and profitability for the firm.

     

    Nitin Mantri, CEO, Avian Media, said, “Over the past few years, Avian Media has achieved steady growth as we focused on adding more marquee businesses to our client portfolio across centres. The company has grown rapidly in the last ten years and the time has come for our next big leap. Girish will initiate a new marketing drive for Avian as well as manage key client relationships. With his vast experience and business expertise, we aim to further strengthen our capabilities to become India’s Most Trusted Advocacy Firm by 2025.”

     

    An industry veteran with over 14 years of international experience in business development and marketing communication, Balachandran returned to India after 9 years in the UK and 3 years in the Middle East. In 2011, Girish was appointed as a Board Director at Ketchum UK to lead the firm’s business development and oversee key account growth for Oracle. In his six years of employment with Omnicom agencies, Pleon and Ketchum from 2006 – 2012, he served as a core member of the leadership teams responsible for growing the business, developing new offerings in change communications, field marketing and digital consulting.

     

  • The agency appoints Mehul Mehta as Group Business Director to spearhead vertical

    Avian Media launches financial communications practice

    By A Correspondent

     

    PR firm Avian Media has launched a specialized financial communications practice. It has appointed Mehul Mehta  as the Group Business Director to head the vertical.

     

    Nitin Mantri

    Said Nitin Mantri, CEO and Business Partner, Avian Media: “The setting up of a dedicated financial communications practice is a logical and strategic next step for us. The new initiative leverages Avian Media’s expertise and experience, including deep and varied industry knowledge, to offer clients innovative and result-oriented strategic communications campaigns. We are delighted to welcome Mehul on board to spearhead this exciting new vertical. His extensive experience in the IR and BFSI sector coupled with our experience in corporate PR, ideally positions this practice for growth and success.”

     

    A chartered accountant by qualification, Mr Mehta has worked with many communications firms in the recent past. He was last with Penn Schoen Berland, ValueSmith Consulting (which he founded), Adfactors PR and Tatva Public Relations.

     

    Commenting on his appointment, Mr Mehta, said, “I look forward to developing and growing Avian Media’s financial services offering. BFSI companies need fresh thinking and strategic counselling while communicating with different set of stakeholders. Building on from Avian Media’s extensive expertise across various sectors, through this new offering, we hope to bring clients, deep insights and result-oriented financial communications campaigns.”

     

  • Avian Media has launched its Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability practice, in another step to establish itself as a full service communications agency and strengthen its existing portfolio of services

    Corporate responsibility to drive future growth at Avian Media

    By A Correspondent

     

    Avian Media, a specialist communications consultancy, officially launched its Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability practice. This is another step by the firm to establish itself as a full service communications agency and strengthen its existing portfolio of services for its clients.

     

    Nitin Mantri, CEO, Avian Media said, “As we grow and expand our business, we will make investments that would enable us to enhance the value proposition for our clients and drive growth of the company. Today our clients have turned to us for help in understanding their strengths in community relations, enhance their corporate reputation and reach the right stakeholders. We are confident, that with our experience and guidance from our social advisory board, the firm will be able to build and implement successful CSR programmes for its clients.”

     

    Avian Media is an eight-year-old company with offices across five cities in India.

     

    About Avian Media:

    Avian Media is a specialist communications consultancy that drives its reputation from delivering high quality Public Relations. We conceptualize, build and implement communications programme that provide our clients with a sustainable competitive advantage, far exceeding what is delivered by others today in the market. We are committed to our clients’ success and like to measure our success with their business growth. We are a passionate team of people who are dedicated to deliver the highest quality in what we do, thus giving Avian Media enviable reputation in the market.

     

    For further information, please contact:

    Asha Gopal/ 9769917314/ asha@avian-media.com

    Somdatta Sen/9833596410/ somdatta@avian-media.com

     

     

  • Online fashion and lifestyle shopping portal Jabong.com has appointed Avian Media as its public relations agency.

    Avian Media wins PR mandate for Jabong.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Online fashion and lifestyle shopping portal Jabong.com has appointed Avian Media as its public relations agency.

     

    The development comes on the back of a multi-agency pitch process held in New Delhi in July 2012. Avian Media’s PR mandate is to position Jabong.com as the leading online fashion and lifestyle portal in India. Through its PR campaign, Avian Media will highlight the USPs of the company such as the wide selection of products, on-time delivery and quick resolution of any concerns along with a highly experienced buying team, agile warehouse systems and state of the art customer care center.

     

    Commenting on the appointment of Avian Media, Manu Kumar Jain, Managing Director, Jabong.com said, “Of the agencies that presented to us during the pitch, Avian Media showed the best understanding of our brand, our PR requirements and came up with a customized PR strategy to enhance our brand image and visibility among our stakeholders. Given our business model, we need to deliver innovative and sustained communication to become the single ‘go-to’ destination in our customers mind when it comes to fashion and lifestyle. Avian Media with its capabilities and experience of managing PR campaigns for leading lifestyle and fashion brands, promises to deliver results that suit our business needs.”

     

    “As an agency we have always focused on enhancing our capabilities and offerings, providing our clients superior, result-oriented services. As part of this commitment, we are thrilled to be working together with a fast growing fashion and lifestyle brand like Jabong.com, which is surely an added asset to our growing consumer client portfolio.  We look forward to augmenting value to their business through our specialized communication approach that delivers superior quality results for the brand,” commented, Nitin Mantri, CEO, Avian Media.

     

  • Companies have realized that investing in PR campaigns and sending out the right messages is critical for business recovery after an economic downturn, says Nitin Mantri.

    [PR Channel] ‘Industry resilient in times of turmoil’

    By Nitin Mantri

     

    A new year heralds a new beginning. Year 2012, however, began on a note similar to last year’s, with news of a world economy in crisis continuing to grab front-page headlines. As the world kept an anxious eye on Europe, where talks to avert a debt default by Greece are under way, the rupee recovered its lost ground, touching a two-and-half month high of Rs 49.65 against the dollar. However, a CII survey has shown that Indian corporates are not very upbeat about the economy and their own businesses.

     

    So what does a tottering economy mean for the public relations industry? Nothing damaging, thankfully. There used to be a time, about 10 years ago, when PR budgets topped the list of cutback targets whenever the financial markets dragged down the economy. Not anymore. The industry has proved to be a valuable partner to companies in good times and more so in bad times by internalising all critical issues affecting clients. PR advice has become especially valuable during difficult times, primarily due to the advent of social media and a changing communication milieu. PR also delivers more cost-effective results when compared with advertising and marketing. Companies have realized that investing in PR campaigns and sending out the right messages is critical for business recovery after an economic downturn. In fact, experience shows companies that desist from PR engagements fare the worst.

     

    Year 2012 will provide plenty of growth opportunities to PR professionals who spot the key trends and react early. While global trends remain relevant for us, in the Indian context the stress will be on a few areas. With businesses slowing down, client retention will be the natural focus. PR professionals will have to walk that extra mile to be a valuable partner to our clients. This means more value-driven PR campaigns that give a demonstrable return for the clients’ money. This is also the time to leverage research capabilities and provide real-time information and analysis on different industries and competition to clients. But it all has to be done ethically. With Public Affairs capabilities being offered by agencies, it has to be done in an honest manner.

     

    The controversy last year has also turned the spotlight on media accountability. The industry has nursed a secret hope that the Indian media will become more accountable and with the recent controversies, it may just become a reality. But blind worship of the media should stop. The focus should be on what value we can give (to the media and client) and not what we get. Accountability-based influence should be the new harbinger of change and we should be the face of that change. This will also be the year when regional media will continue to grow. Since mainstream English publications have limited reach (read urban population), clients will shifted their focus on regional newspapers and channels, which hold the key to the semi-urban and rural markets.

     

    Social media will of course continue to grow, but there will be blurring of lines between paid and unpaid. The important thing is to be present in all streams-paid, earned, shared and owned-so the message is heard. Content will continue to be king, but the industry needs to think of ways to use the content strategically in both traditional and digital media. Since consumers are spoiled for choice, the key differentiator would be good content that breaks through the information overload and relays the clients’ brand messages. 2012 will also be the year of knowledge curation. All of us will have to play the role of curator at some point or the other and lead our clients to the content that they really value.

     

    There is, however, one thing that remains unchanged in this business of people – connections. PR is creating and enhancing connections with various stakeholders. In this era of social media it is even more critical as opportunities to interact are many. We have to look for peers, journalists, organisations and allies who with time have vanished from our list and make 2012 the year to re-connect.

     

    The past decade has shown the results of effective PR planning and it looks like we will get another opportunity to confirm the PR industry’s resiliency in these troubled times.

     

    Nitin Mantri is the CEO of Avian Media.