MxMIndia

Tag: CVL Srinivas

  • The size of Airtel's media account is upwards of Rs 400 crore, say industry sources, with estimated spends of Rs 350 crore in above-the-line (ATL) advertising and Rs 50 crore on out-of-home (OOH) media

    GroupM bags Airtel account, to set up independent unit; Milestone Brandcom bags Airtel’s Outdoor biz

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta [see update at the end of this story]

     

    GroupM has bagged Bharti Airtel’s media account excluding outdoor, replacing Madison as the media manager of India’s largest mobile carrier by revenue and subscribers after a decade.

     

    The size of Airtel’s media account is upwards of Rs 400 crore, say industry sources, with estimated spends of Rs 350 crore in above-the-line (ATL) advertising and Rs 50 crore on out-of-home (OOH) media.

     

    Milestone Brandcom, which is the outdoor unit of Dentsu Aegis Media, has won the outdoor mandate, said a top official at Airtel. The firm’s creative mandate is split between WPP agency J Walter Thompson, Dentsu Aegis Network agency Taproot and Cartwheel. In response to an email sent to Airtel, a company spokesperson said, “No comments.”

     

    CVL Srinivas

    CVL Srinivas, CEO of GroupM South Asia, said, “We are delighted with the Airtel win.” He said the group will set up a separate ‘team Airtel’ to manage the account. It will be like a parallel unit within the group.

     

    GroupM is in the process of promoting an internal talent to head the Airtel team, who will report to Srinivas.

     

    Madison has been handling Airtel’s main media account since 2005 and its outdoor duties since 2010. The shift in accounts is only for India.

     

    Top officials in know said Madison will continue to handle Airtel account in Sri Lanka.

     

    Officials said the biggest reason behind this shift is because Airtel is looking for a strong partner to help it strategise through this extremely dynamic category. This was especially considering the digital space, “in which Madison has completely missed the bus”, one of them said.

     

    Sam Balsara

    Sam Balsara, CMD at Madison World, said: “Nothing went wrong. You win some. You lose some. Fortunately we win more than we lose.” He said, “Whilst we are sorry to part with Airtel, its impact on total revenue of Madison Media would be very marginal.

     

    It was one of about a dozen large accounts of Madison Media, one of over 50 accounts of Madison Media and one of over 200 of Madison World.”

     

    Airtel had called for two separate pitches. In November last year it put its media mandate on the block including television, print, radio, cinema and digital. This year it called for a separate pitch for the outdoor mandate.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

    All Rights Reserved, Licensed to republish

     

    [MxMIndia Correspondent adds:

    It is learnt that GroupM will set up an independent unit to take care of the Airtel account

     

  • CVL Srinivas, Vivek Sharma, Prathap Suthan & Sanjeev Kotnala on the Cup and the advertiser interest

    Will out-of-form India dampen adspends on W’Cup?

     

    Much interest in the Cup, but only dampener is India’s form

    Some of the brands who are probably fence-sitters today are only wondering what the form of the India team will be

     

    By CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia

     

    We see a lot of interest in the World Cup this year. One of the reasons for this is that it is a once-in -four-years event. But I think there seems to be a lot of innovation coming in to the World Cup product. Whether it is in terms of the number of languages it is going to be telecast in, or the kind of programming and advertising innovations that are available, and the fact that a lot of viewership is going to be on digital and there is also going to be a lot of interplay between digital and TV even when someone is watching the match on TV makes it very interesting for brands, for advertisers, for agencies to come up interesting campaign ideas and innovations. So there is definitely a lot of interest in the World Cup.

     

    The only dampener at the moment is India’s form. I only hope that picks up. This does have an impact on advertising to an extent. While overall the sentiment is still positive towards the World Cup. I think all the big sponsorship has been lined up. A lot of brands are also excited with the innovation possibilities on the World Cup, therefore they have also come in. I think some of the brands who are probably fence-sitters today are only wondering what the form of the India team will be, and whether they would be able to afford the scale of investment required, so if actually all goes well and India perform well in the first few matches, it could be a complete sell-out.

     

     

    It is the biggest aggregation of consumers possible

    The cricket format allows frequent short breaks making it apt for advertisers to be present creating impact and high brand recall.

     

    By Vivek Sharma, CMO, Pidilite Industries Ltd

     

    Cricket is a not just a sport in India, but is in fact a religion, which no one can refute. Not only is the ICC Cricket World Cup the premier flagship tournament of the ICC that comes only once in four years, this year India are the defending Champions, which means higher level of engagement from audiences in India and Indian diaspora. Given this context, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is the right opportunity for our brands to reach out to a large consumer base.

     

    Furthermore, with large number of TV viewers in the country watching the last edition of the World Cup, it is the biggest aggregation of consumers possible. This year, the ICC Cricket World Cup will be broadcast in six different languages making it even larger. The cricket format allows frequent short breaks making it apt for advertisers to be present creating impact and high brand recall. Viewers will get an opportunity to see two of our new TVCs for Fevikwik and Dr. Fixit during this World Cup. Thus we believe that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be an ideal platform for us to create both awareness and connect for the brands with our end consumer across the key target regions.

     

    The unpredictable format of the ODI game makes it more exciting and keeps audience engaged, overall we believe that the ICC World Cup will prove once again to be a win-win situation for all advertisers. Pidilite has supported the game of cricket for long time and will continue to support our boys and the spirit of sportsmanship.

     

     

    Has the magic diminished?

    One great match, one killer performance, one massive win, one boost of hardcore patriotism and heroics, and Indian blood will get to pump again.

     

    By Prathap Suthan

     

    The fact is that the boys in blue, are now more black and blue. Considering that they been blown to the outback in Australia. They seem to be unfocussed. As though there’s a sort of ennui in the team. A lackadaisical attitude.

     

    Nowhere close to what they were when they won the Cup last time around. Worse, very much contrary to the advertising that’s going around featuring the team, they seem to be determined to do everything to give the Cup back.

     

    As a viewer, currently I just don’t feel being inspired to watch. I am all but looking forward to the World Cup. Somehow I am as listless as the team itself. I have no hope, no faith, no conviction in the team.

     

    The problem is that this listlessness is contagious. It comes from the team and affects all of us. All viewers and advertisers. Unfortunately, the team’s motivation, and the team’s resolve, and the team’s body language etc. have all been in the dumps. They haven’t been able to fire any adrenaline back to us.

     

    More importantly, there’s been an overdose of cricket. As a nation we are up to our gills with this game, and sadly, the plentitude is boring. Don’t forget there’s IPL soon after, and there’s just no end to this. I suppose the specialness of the game has waned and much like everything that’s profuse, even the magic of cricket has diminished.

     

    From an advertising perspective, I think regardless of our team, this is great and rich advertising opportunity for brands. In terms of the numbers, million would watch even if India isn’t playing.

     

    This is a game that doesn’t need to be explained to the masses. All of us know the game. And all of us are experts. Including large numbers of our women.

     

    I certainly would advise clients to be part of this. I am sensing a lot of clients are timid and tepid about spending money on this tournament. It is not a bad place to be in, even if we aren’t playing. At some level, we appreciate good cricket and we are fans of the game.

     

    However, everything might change. One great match, one killer performance, one massive win, one boost of hardcore patriotism and heroics, and Indian blood will get to pump again. All it takes is the return of victory and passion into the team, and the wind will fill our sails again.

     

    And at that time, it would be a scramble for slots and spots. Best to hope for a miracle, and be part of this tournament early.

     

    At the end of the day, none of us are anti-cricket, or anti-blue, or anti-anything. As a nation, this is one of the very limited areas of physical excellence that we have the ability and talent to win and dominate. We are poor losers. And poorer patriots.

     

    We are fickle as a nation, and especially when there’s no heart in the team, we give up on the team as quickly as we rally behind them.

     

    Prathap Suthan is Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Bang In The Middle

     

     

    IPL is any day a better bet for brands!

    World Cup 2015 is unpredictable. Not for which team would win but for marketers, brands and the media

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    The Indian Premier League or Cricket World Cup is a choice or problem for a few brands. You either have money to splurge on both tournaments or you don’t. Those who have money either have a campaign to run or they don’t. And brands with money and campaign, it is only the rate and ROI issue. ROI can never be guaranteed and remains a gamble. So, if you have the money and a campaign and need to advertise during these times you may want need to look at it differently.

     

    World Cup 2015 is unpredictable. Not for which team would win but for marketers, brands and the media. Success here depends on audience interest, viewership, viewer’s empathy and apathy towards the team. Oh yes, the die-hard will watch anything, but the deciders are the real consumers; the fringe audience that makes the numbers advertiser look at. Match timings are big spoiler for them. We can expect non-India matches to be completely blanketed. Unfortunately, such matches form a large percentage of the tournament. The main sponsor get these ineffective buys as a package helping them show lower ER.  Non-sponsor brands try avoiding them but are served as no-option as channel has to square off the investment.

    IF (a capital, bold IF) India plays well in the 1st final (India Vs. Pak) it could change the whole game. We as a nation are currently feeling low entering WC15 after a series of losses. Cricket is suffering from lack of empathy and viewers apathy.

     

    On these qualitative counts itself IPL outscores WC-15 with a high percentage of your real TG hooked on to every match.

     

    Srini or No-Srini, 12 or 8 teams, ball-tampering or fixed matches nothing changes the ground rule; IPL is a festival, a mela, a tamasha we all enjoy with a spicy tadka of regionalisation. IPL demands less of your time, give you much to discuss and is much more fun. It is realignment of interest, supports and stars. The audience loves this cut-throat high intensity not giving an inch of attitude. They smile, so can the channel and the advertisers. The patriotic feeling is understated or completely dead and that makes team losing a bit more manageable for the viewer.

     

    I firmly believe that even a low WC-15 performance by the Indian team will fail to dampen the IPL spirit. Good or near decent show will help IPL. In gambling terms, with IPL you hold the royal run. IPL is always a new beginning. With auctions, there is always a new team under every banner. It has a clearly differentiated taste and flavour.

     

    On the other hand, the hard focus on TV impact in these tournaments creates blinkers and brands end up underutilising or missing opportunities with other media. Radio and hoarding are good bets. In WC, by the time newspapers share the result of a match, the audience would be watching the next day’s match.  But if you want to add regionalised tadka in IPL making it exciting for your brand, go talk to your print guy and be pleasantly surprised with the ideas they have.

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is Head Catalyst at Intradia and believes the best way forward for an organisation is to enhance the potential of  internal teams instead of depending on external resources. He is a management- marketing-media consultant and also conducts specialised workshops in the area of ‘Harvesting and Liberating Ideas’ and Innovation.  To contact email netkot@yahoo.com or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com. The views expressed here are his own.

     

     

     

  • The adspending was Rs 43,490 crore for the calendar year 2014, an increase by 12.5% over 2013, according to GroupM

    Adspends to increase 12.6% in 2015: GroupM

     

    A Correspondent

     

    Leading media marketing services conglomerate GroupM released its biannual advertising expenditure futures report This Year Next Year (TYNY), forecasting India’s advertising investment to reach an estimated Rs 48,977 crore in 2015. This represents a growth of 12.6% for the calendar year 2015 over the corresponding period in 2014.

     

    As per GroupM the adspending was Rs 43,490 crore for the calendar year 2014, an increase by 12.5% over 2013. This growth was attributed to the heavy adspending due to the General and State Elections and industry categories like ecommerce and telecom.The FMCG sector, which contributes to nearly a third of the AdEx, had a steady year, growing broadly in line with the industry average.

     

    CVL Srinivas

    Said CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia, “With a new government coming to power, the negative sentiment has lifted but there is still some bit of caution amongst advertisers.We continue to operate in the same zone as last year at an overall level. Digital, TV and Cinema are expected to be the high growth media channels. We are seeing a lot more confidence amongst local businesses to invest in brand building than before. This is a positive sign for the industry. Penetration of smartphones coupled with the popularity of online video is making FMCG spend more on digital. Another trend is the emergence of categories like e-commerce and the increased competition in telecom both of which are aiding the growth of traditional media channels including Print and TV apart from digita.l”

     

    E-commerce is expected to lead the charge in 2015 in terms of ad spend growth although from a relatively smaller base than more established categories, according to GroupM’s forecast. There is increased competition in this sector and no dearth of funding. FMCG, Auto and Telecom are expected to do better than the previous year. More multinational entrants under single brand retail are likely to add to ADEX spending in the retail category. The recent rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India will stimulate the banking sector, reactions of which are evident on a buoyant stock market. This year will possibly see a number of IPOs as there is a sense of stability in policy and investors are willing to take more risks. The market will also see higher spends from the Central Government as they showcase their new initiatives.

     

    Prasanth Kumar

    Added Prasanth Kumar, Managing Partner, Central Trading Group, GroupM South Asia and CEO-designate Mindshare South Asia: “Over the last few years, Indian media has been in a state of change. The next three to five years will be about embracing technology, which will allow both advertisers and media owners to customize distribution to a premium niche audience with very nominal margin of error. In 2015, programmatic buying will see an impetus, as all media in the future will see automation, backed by smart data and analytics.”

     

    As per GroupM’s in-depth research of the Indian media industry, digital media continues to show the maximum growth with 37% in 2015. Digital has been growing at an average rate of 35% over the last two of years. This year within digital media Video, Mobile and Social will be the biggest growth drivers.

     

    Television shows a higher growth percentage in 2015 compared to last year with 16 percent. TV channels will especially be bullish with cross media integration via their own digital platforms. The big ticket event this year is the ICC Cricket World Cup in February and March, with scope for programming and advertising innovation during the tournament.

     

    Even with pressures on advertising revenues, the print medium shows an increase by 5.2% as against the 2014 estimate of 7.6%; however print magazines continue to be on the decline, as several are looking at digital delivery mechanisms.

     

    The surprise element in the media mix has been cinema advertising which finally closed 2014 with a 25% increase. This year too, GroupM estimates this media category to grow at 20%, as multiplex chains consolidate, leading to a more organised and accountable environment. With technology fuelling exhibition and distribution, especially in smaller towns, consumers will get a better viewing experience.

     

  • Gowthaman Ragothaman (better known as GMan), COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific, speaks on the priorities ahead of Mindshare South Asia’s CEO-designate Prasanth Kumar

    Structure, Talent and Innovation are action points for PK at Mindshare, says GMan. Exclusive to MxM

    Gowthaman Ragothaman

    Given that both CVL Srinivas, CEO GroupM South Asia and Prasanth ‘PK’ Kumar, Managing Partner, Central Trading Group, GroupM South Asia and CEO-designate Mindshare South Asia were busy with the presentation of the ‘This Year Next Year’ report, they preferred to not speak on the latter’s appointment to the top job. But since PK will also report into Gowthaman Ragothaman (better known as GMan), COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific, Pradyuman Maheshwari spoke to GMan in Singapore and requested him to respond to a few questions via email.

     

    It’s been three years since you moved out from direct responsibility of South Asia. From a regional perspective, what are the broad challenges facing the India office?

    We have to treat India/South Asia as a region. No other market/office in the world has so many offices. We have Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Lahore, Dhaka and Colombo. While all other markets are structured for a “one office leadership”, as we have expanded and grown across offices, our “speed to market” was significantly tested in the last few years – this is an internal dynamic. As an industry, I realised, when I moved out into the region, India is very inclusive and try to do/invent all things inside when a lot of best practice can be just replicated or brought into the country. I also realised that the talent drain from India to the region, has sort of depleted some good quality talent in the country. So Structure, Talent and Innovation – are the three broad challenges.

     

    Prasanth Kumar is a seasoned GroupM hand. What are the specific targets you have for him?

    Pretty much the above 3 points. And you will see some of these happening quite fast and quick.

     

    In your statement on PK’s appointment, you speak about getting leadership talent from within the group. But, don’t you think that for achieving something out-of-the-box or hat ke, as they say in India, you need to bring in talent from the outside?

    Totally agree with you. We continue to diversify out talent pool at all levels – and the constant churn in the industry helps us to manage this, especially when you flip it as an opportunity instead of a problem. Almost all the recruitments we have made in Mindshare in the past 2-3 years are external talent. And at the same time, if you look at the challenges that I have mentioned in the first point, our considered view is to groom local talent to leadership positions as they come with tremendous insights of the organisational issues. It is  a considered choice…but not necessarily a permanent choice for all the times.

     

  • Mindshare appoints Prasanth Kumar as CEO, South Asia to take over Ravi Rao who is rumoured to be moving to sandier pastures

    It’s PK as the new Mindshare South Asia boss!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The poster of the Aamir Khan film PK was the first thing that came to our minds when one of the A&M media’s favourite sources alerted us of the winds of change that were blowing across the GroupM South Asia headquarters in North Mumbai.

     

    Expectedly, the otherwise very responsive dramatis personae clammed up. Calls and text messages received no reply. Whatsapp messages got those two blue ticks, but not even the ‘typing’ indicator in response. But while we were sure of the news, we couldn’t carry it without a confirmation. So it waited from Wednesday to Thursday to the weekend.

     

    There were also other things that were also grabbing our attention.

     

    Prasanth Kumar
    Ravi Rao

    And then on Sunday evening, our inbox alert beeped. The message curiously asked us to embargo the news till 9pm. The news confirmed our earlier info: Leading media agency network Mindshare has appointed Prasanth Kumar as CEO, South Asia. He will take charge with effect from March 1, 2015. Ravi Rao, who is currently CEO, will be transitioning into a new role within GroupM, the details of which are to be announced soon.

     

    So where’s Ravi Rao going? Back to the Gulf, we were told. If not within the fold, outside of it. The communiqué says he will transition to a new role within GroupM, but which clearly means negotiations are still on.

     

    CVL Srinivas
    Gowthaman Ragothaman

    Kumar or PK, as he’s known in the fraternity, is currently Head of WPP-owned GroupM’s Central Trading Group and a member of the South Asia Executive Committee. As Mindshare South Asia leader, he will report into CVL Srinivas, CEO GroupM South Asia and Gowthaman Ragothaman, COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific. And who takes over from him, we asked the GroupM spokesperson. There are no names yet, but last year Jai Lala and Sidharth Parashar were elevated in the CTG team.

     

    Meanwhile, this is what Srinivas on the announcement: “Prasanth was a unanimous choice for this role.  In the past 10 years, he has played a stellar role in ensuring GroupM’s scale is leveraged to maximise value for our clients. I’d like to thank Ravi Rao for his contribution and wish him the very best in his new role within the network.”

     

    And here’s what Ragothaman (better known as GMan) commented on the change: “Ravi has done a fantastic job in growing our business in India in the last three years. India is at the inflexion point on digital, content, analytics, e-commerce and measurement and in Prasanth we have a seasoned veteran to lead Mindshare to the next level. And I am particularly happy that we continue to groom and grow talent from our larger GroupM ecosystem with diverse talent and experience to leadership positions, which speaks highly about our talent in the market place. In the past 10 years Prasanth Kumar has done a tremendous job scaling up GroupM’s CTG practice in South Asia, and developing strategic partnerships for GroupM that contribute to the successes of all GroupM agencies.”

     

    Big Story image inspired by poster of the Raj Kumar Hirani film PK. Imaging by Rafiq, Poster courtesy: PK, the film, poster

     

  • Industry captains Pratap Bose, Rohit Ohri, Shashi Sinha and CVL Srinivas on the year ahead

    Shashi Sinha, CVL Srinivas, Pratap Bose & Rohit Ohri present Outlook for 2015

     

    Interviews by Shruti Pushkarna

     

    2015 is acid test year for our industry:

    Pratap Bose, President, The Advertising Club

    I don’t want to sound pessimistic but honestly I have spoken to a lot of people in the industry. It’s a view that everyone’s taking which is the whole thing of being very cautious. There is optimism but there’s cautious optimism. And therefore I think, 2015 is really the acid test year, both for the BJP as well as for our business. The promise is large, the delivery is yet to happen. The strain on the government to actually do something concrete, pivotal around strategy, around implementing, to make things happen is huge. People say it will happen, give us time… I understand that. So there’s a lot of optimism that things might happen but unfortunately we haven’t seen the fruits of that yet. I don’t want to sound like a pessimist but I think we have to take the wait and watch approach. Even if you see the Congress men talk about Narendra Modi right now, they are saying that we’ve heard a lot, he’s made the right impression, the mood is right, but we need to see real time action. To summarise what I said, 2015 is the acid test year for our industry. There’s a lot of hope but I’m still pessimistic about it because it needs to transpire into concrete decisions that grow the economy and move the economy forward. That’s not been seen yet. I tread very carefully.

     

    Digital is finally kind-of becoming a strong reality:

    Rohit Ohri, ‎Executive Chairman, Dentsu India & CEO, Dentsu Asia Pacific (South)

    I think 2015 will be a promising year for everybody because I think a lot of the work that the new government has started, should show some results. And we are hoping that the positive sentiment will carry through to 2015 and 2016 as well. The other thing is, from the entire advertising and media industry I think digital is finally kind-of becoming a strong reality. It’s no longer just good to do, I think brands are realising that it’s an interesting part of their plans. And I think we are going to see a big change in the next two years in how brands actually communicate online. And what we have seen in 2014 was this big thing about brands creating content, which they did in a mini movie kind of format releasing online. I think that’s something we’ll see a lot more of going forward in 2015. All in all, from a creative perspective, and from a media spends perspective, I think the industry is looking up.

     

    Government has great plans but they have to push it through:

    Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

    I’m hoping and praying that the next year is good. I am hoping that Budget works out well for the government, whatever they decide, they implement because to me, that’s important. This government has great plans but they have to push it through. As we speak, currently GST is held up… so if they pull off a great Budget, life will be good. To me that’s vital. And not because it’s will be a great Budget but that will show their ability to push through and resolve things. But if they still get caught up in this religious thing that is happening, then there’s trouble. So we hope the government succeeds.

     

    In terms of adspend growth, it’ll be pretty much similar to this year:

    CVL Srinivas, CEO South Asia, GroupM

    We see 2015 to be a good year. On an overall basis, I think in terms of adspend growth, it’ll be pretty much similar to this year. But one must remember that this was an election year so we had a bit of a bump up to growth because of elections. Next year, despite it not being an election year, we see the growth rates to be more or less similar. We see digital growing upwards to 35 per cent like it has been over the past two or three years. We also think television is going to continue its strong growth in healthy double digits and so will the regional print dailies. So, all in all, it looks like an interesting year. We have the ICC World Cup coming up next year so that will lead to spends at some level.

     

  • CVL Srinivas, Rajiv Verma and Shashi Sinha address the Ad Club's Media Review in Gurgaon last evening

    Embracing the New Consumer

     

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    The Advertising Club’s popular annual event, Media Review 2014 was held at the DLF City Club, Gurgaon on Thursday (Dec 18) evening. In its 60th year, the Advertising Club decided to tweak the format of the media review in its latest edition. Unlike the previous editions, there were three eminent speakers speaking on varied topics. CVL Srinivas, CEO South Asia, GroupM spoke on ‘Redefining the role of media agencies in a borderless world’. HT Media CEO, Rajiv Verma also spoke on similar lines, differing only in restricting his topic to redefining the role of ‘print’ media. The third speaker, Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands spoke on, ‘Separate and Together: The future is about being specialist and holistic’.

     

    There was a lot of talk of redefining and reinventing the roles of media agencies in the new digital era and what to expect of the future trends but Mr Sinha, summed it up in a most appropriate way when he said, “We have to manage our present in order to reinvent our future”. He emphasised on the need to tell stories in a way that they evolve and reinvent the future automatically.

     

    As in any other forum that takes place today, there was talk of integration, the need to align different cultures and different mediums to effectively send out a message. There was also anxiety expressed on whether older mediums like Print will hold value in the growing digital world. But the concluding remarks hit the notes of optimism that rode on the back of realigning and in assimilation of various models present today, to arrive at that ‘magic model’ of communication.

     

    Redefining the role of media agencies in a borderless world

    CVL Srinivas, CEO South Asia, GroupM opened his session speaking about the evolution of the media agency and trying to define a ‘borderless world’.

     

    He compared the evolution of man with the evolution of media agency, which he said was presently in its fifth stage. The first stage of media evolution, according to Mr Srinivas, happened in the mid 1990s when media buying shops were being set up in India. The next stage came when media planning business moved out of the creative agencies. After which most media agencies started to diversify, setting up allied businesses, beit outdoor or digital, in order toprovide what they called, 360-degree solutions.

     

    He said, “We started off as a little chimp who is standing right in the back, as being the backroom office and I was one of the chimps when I’d joined the industry in the early 90s, following the client servicing guys wherever they went, hoping to get my five minutes to present my 80-odd slides. From then to now, it’s been quite a journey. But where we are today is at a very interesting stage. Whatever changes have happened in the last four to five years have forced media agencies to take on an entirely new avatar.”

     

    Trying to define a borderless world, Mr Srinivas cited the example of a Facebook map which stands for a connected world. Since the world we live in has all the customers connected and well informed, there is an urgent need for brands to not just stay relevant but also remain meaningful. Mr Srinivas said he sees an opportunity for agencies in this newly connected world, He said, “Today it’s not enough to be a trusted adviser of clients. Agencies can move up the value chain by moving from advising clients to leading clients.”

     

    In the digital era, added Mr Srinivas, a lot of disruption is taking place because of exceedingly available data and technology. He also mentioned some disruptive trends that agencies can take advantage of by designing content strategies around them. One of them was multi-screen viewing, which as a study by Milward Brown on ‘ad reaction in India’ states, is a growing trend in the Indian market. More and more Indian consumers are involved in multi-screen viewing. Milward Brown notes that by 2020, it’s estimated that about 50 to 60% of mobile owning population of India will have smartphones. Mr Srinivas added, “If you put that alongside with the kind of decreasing involvement in TV viewership, the whole ball game completely changes.”

     

    Another disrupter is e-commerce or m-commerce as some would like to call it. Mr Srinivas observed that because now consumers are using a digital gadget to close the loop, agencies have an opportunity to interact with the consumer up to the last mile.

     

    Brands are also getting into publishing and that is turning out to be a disrupter too. They are standing for functional benefits. The more content a brand can keep sending out, the more they can interact with the consumers. “Brands realize that it’s important to become a franchise of content because then a consumer interacts with the brand in so many more ways”, said Mr Srinivas.

     

    Talking of new trends in audience planning, CVL Srinivas said, “We have to move from contextual planning to audience planning with the help of data and the digital. Manual processes will give way to automated processes. We also need to build different communities within the organization.”

     

    CVL Srinivas concluded his session by once again emphasising the importance of reinventing and redefining the role of media agencies and the need to take advantage of every new point where you can touch the consumer directly.

     

    Redefining the role of print media in a borderless world

    HT Media CEO Rajiv Verma started his session on a similar note as Mr Srinivas. He also started by talking oh the history of media and how it has shaped up through the centuries. He divided it into three eras, Pre Media, Mass Media and Infinite media. He confessed that all this talk of the ‘cool digital world’ has had him worried about the future of print but since the infinite media we live in is younger than our kids, he still had some hope. He said, “Infinite media is younger than our kids so it’s not even a blink of an eye in the entire chronologue of media evolution. Therefore it’s just the beginning.  And there’s scope for all mediums to coexist.”

     

    He talked about how reporting has changed over the years and yet the essence remains the same, finding out accurate information and putting it out there. “From one half-hour news bulletin in a day to the days of embedded journalism that began with the Iraq war to today’s day and age where the model of reporting has shifted from ‘one to many’ to ‘many to many’, we have come a long way,” he said.

     

    In a borderless world, media is no longer acting as a filter. It has become more ubiquitous.  He reiterated Mr Srinivas’ point of massive amount of disruption that is taking place today, which presents huge opportunities for business.

     

    But Mr Verma wasn’t all that optimistic as Mr Srinivas as he stated that the digital has its own problems. He said, “In the age of digital reporting, before the truth gets known, the virality takes over. The lines between blogs, tweets, photos are blurring; becoming a mish mash of data and information. The war for ad $s is leading more to noise rather than to news. And the pressure of ad $s is leading to trivialization of news.”

     

    He emphasized on the unique characteristics of print media, like, the written word is still the most trusted word. He said print can go beyond straight facts, presenting a range of views and building a sense of community among its readers.

     

    He concluded on an optimistic note stating that print will coexist along with other media given its unique characteristics. He said, “While all these disruptive forces are at play, the real question that comes to mind is that print media will have to go back to basics in figuring out its comparative advantages, what is exactly is the audience it’s trying to serve and try to go more hyper local in serving that audience because that’s the only unique characteristic of print media which differentiates it from others.”

     

    Separate and Together: The future is about being specialist and holistic

    The last session saw Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands, reiterating the points made in the previous two sessions, adding a few new ones.

     

    Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands, started the session with the word ‘Integration’. He talked of his own career where he started off with advertising and what integration meant in those days, and then talked of the need to integrate not just ideas and processes, but to integrate, mindsets, culture and philosophies, in order to remain relevant.

     

    He also emphasized on the need to embrace the new consumer. He said: “Consumer wants to be the protagonist, he/she wants to be at the center of communication. He/she doesn’t want to be bored with information. Just tell them how it impacts them and how can they participate.So there’s a need for consumers to be constantly engaged and constantly touched.”

     

    He added that what’s important in today’s ever-changing media environment is the need to tell a powerful story. He said, “The success of any model depends on the story and its storyteller. You have to play it together to tell a story. We have to manage the present and as we manage the present, the stories will evolve for us to reinvent the future. And keep your stories simple.”

     

    He concluded by saying that while we live in an increasingly specialist world, without integration we will not be able to remain relevant to the new age consumer. He said, “In this specialist world, where you have Starbucks, Café Coffee Day and Barista, I still have my coffee from the baker.”

     

  • The number of visits on the virtual mela as well as time spent surpasses any offline brand activation initiative organised during the festival in India

    GroupM’s Grand Diwali Mela draws huge response

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Grand Diwali Mela organised by GroupM in association with Google, Amazon.in, LINE, Games2Win and Hungama.com met with a huge response with over 55 lakh visitors patronising the event. The ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ saw very high engagement with users, who spent time getting product samples @ Re.1, enjoying movies and videos, playing games and greeting each other via the LINE messenger. The number of visits on the virtual mela as well as time spent surpasses any offline brand activation initiative organised during the festival in India.

     

    The event received an overwhelming response with over 55 lakh visitors, the majority of which came from mobile phones with over 45 per cent women visitors. On October 24th, Diwali day, the mela received over 4.6 lakh visitors. In all mela visitors spent over 125,000 hours browsing various brand and entertainment stalls in the mela besides which many more hours were spent on partner sites – Amazon.in, Games2win and Hungama.com.

     

    The ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ emerged as the largest online sampling platform for brands. Over 150,000 samples were shipped across India, with 70 per cent samples going to Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. The samples ranged from skincare and household products relevant to both men and women. To celebrate the partnership LINE Messenger came out with a set of special edition stickers for the ‘Grand Diwali Mela’.

     

    CVL Srinivas
    Rajan Anandan

    On the success of the Grand Diwali Mela, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “We are excited about the success of the first Grand Diwali Mela. We were able to create a great platform for consumers to come and sample products and interact with brands. It is also heartening to see the reach of the virtual mela was not restricted to the metros but filtered down to smaller towns where the digital penetration is growing exponentially. We also have seen a distinct spike in access via mobile phones, a clear indicator that India is opening up readily to mobile data and communication.”

     

    Rajan Anandan, VP & Managing Director of Google India, said “I would like to congratulate GroupM and all the participating partners for the success of the first Grand Diwali Mela. The fact that majority of the users experienced the mela from their mobile phones goes onto show the growing importance of mobile devices in India. With over 150,000 samples being tested on the platform, the initiative is likely to open up newer ways of engaging buyers online for brands and marketers on the mobile phones. Online brand activation during festivals is a brand new territory and I am confident that we will be able to scale this further next year.”

     

  • The festival site will have all kinds of categories including real estate, automobiles, consumer durables, electronics, FMCG products, music and entertainment.

    GroupM, Google join hands to launch online shopping fest for Diwali

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    They are now in talks to rope in a top e-commerce company to partner the event and provide logistics support, officials of the two firms said. While GroupM will bring in the brands that will sell their products on the website, Google will help with the technology for the shopping festival that will run for three weeks starting October 1.

     

    CVL Srinivas

    “Grand Diwali Mela is taking offline festive experiences online,” CVL Srinivas, chief executive officer at GroupM South Asia, said. “It will allow users to window shop, browse merchandise and, in some cases, sample products as well, just like your local mela,” he added. Rajan Anandan, country head at Google India, said people can join the festival through their mobile phones. “This will be first of its kind initiative to kick off the festive season in India. Our teams are very excited about this and we are sponsoring the effort that will be accessible across all kinds of devices, including mobile phones,” he said.

     

    The festival site will have all kinds of categories including real estate, automobiles, consumer durables, electronics, FMCG products, music and entertainment. A number of FMCG brands will sample their new food and beverage products through the website, officials said.

     

    The real estate segment will provide information on new properties including layout plans and facilitate site visits. Similarly, people interested in cars and bikes can get details of different models and schedule test drives on the site. GroupM and Google are in the process of signing on brands – including those that Group M does not handle – to participate in the event. “Through this initiative we are trying to help brands graduate to the virtual world,” GroupM’s Mr Srinivas said.

     

    GroupM has already ideated and created an advertising campaign to promote the Grand Diwali Mela across different media platforms including TV, radio, print, internet and social media. Officials said that if the Diwali festival proves a success, than they will host similar events around other major festivals and occasions.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

  • Luxury players using cinema halls, TV, newspapers to target buyers

    Luxe vendors reach new moneywallahs at cinemas, DTH etc

    By Vijaya Rathore

     

    It is unusual for a top jewellery brand, which sells super expensive items such as a Rs 50-crore necklace through auctions, to put out advertisements in cinema halls for the popcorn-munching audience. But designer Nirav Modi’s namesake jewellery label does exactly that recently.

     

    “Be it someone who earns Rs 5,000 or Rs 5 crore a month, everyone watches films in India. It is a great way to reach out to a larger set of potential buyers,” the designer reasons. “But what you show and where has to be chosen wisely.”

     

    Mr Modi is one of the numerous luxury players who have started using mass media including TV, cinema, DTH and mainstream newspapers to reach out to a larger set of audience and open new areas of growth, rather than limiting themselves to the glossy sheets of lifestyle magazines and airport billboards. A host of luxury brands across categories such as luxury clothing, jewellery, automobile, watches and cosmetics, including Jaguar, Bentley and Rado, have started advertising through cinema halls and televisions.

     

    The Collective, a multi-brand retail store chain that sells premium and luxury merchandise from a 100 brands in India, is contemplating tying up with DTH services providers to put out ads through the digital video recorders, while cosmetics brand Forest Essentials that markets itself as luxury ayurveda has launched television commercials.

     

    “It is just a thought at the moment, but would be an interesting way to target the consumer who is not aware about the brand,” said Amit Pandey, marketing head for The Collective. He is of the view that experimenting with mediums new to luxury brands was an investment for the future. “The view is that a lot of wastage happens on mass media, but with so much new money in India, there is a huge opportunity to tap the new consumers,” he said.

     

    CVL Srinivas

    The luxury market in India is still minuscule and so is adspend by luxury brands. Estimates suggest that in China, luxury brands contribute 10% to the media spending, while in India it is 0.5%. That seems to be changing. “Ad spends by luxury brands in India is minuscule compared to global markets,” said CVL Srinivas, South Asia CEO of media conglomerate GroupM.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Service sector brands dominate WPP's BrandZ study. Airtel is #2, followed by SBI, ICCI and Bajaj Auto

    HDFC Bank is India’s Most Valuable Brand

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The combined Brand Value of all the brands in the inaugural BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands ranking is almost $70bn BrandZ. HDFC Bank is India’s most valuable brand with a value of $9.4bn. Carried out by marketing and brand consultancy Millward Brown in conjunction with WPP, the valuation is the only one in India that takes into account consumers’ opinion of brands to calculate the contribution that product brands make to business success.

     

    The BrandZâ„¢ India study shows that India’s unrestricted ‘right to play’ for businesses has nurtured great diversity amongst brands in the ranking. The Top 50 come from 13 different categories. Seventeen are multinational corporations (MNCs), 26 are private Indian brands and seven are state-owned brands. This indicates that India is an open, fertile market for building valuable brands, irrespective of age, origin, structure, category, ownership or even price range.

     

    HDFC Bank, the No 1 brand, has a network in more than 2,100 cities. It is popular with its 28 million customers for launching mobile apps designed to make banking easier, and running literacy, education and skills training programmes in rural areas. The No 2 brand, Airtel, is the fourth largest mobile operator in the world with nearly 300 million customers, while India’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India, is at No 3 in the ranking.

     

    Services businesses (Banking, Telecoms and Insurance), which are the nerve centre of today’s Indian economy, are prominent in the ranking. Seven of the Top 10 brands, and 30% of the Top 50 brands, come from the service sector. Financial services stand out, with the 12 banks and insurers in the ranking holding the largest proportion (37%) of total Brand Value. Analysis shows these brands have built value by successfully achieving scale – both in geographical reach and the diversity of their offerings. Telecoms, Personal Care, and the Food and Dairy sectors also feature strongly in the Top 50. The data shows that these brands – along with the other FMCG brands in the ranking – excel at connecting with Indian consumers.

     

    The average Brand Contribution (a measure of the impact brand alone has on value) of the Top 5 brands is far higher than the overall average of the Top 50, illustrating the positive impact that building a strong brand has on the financial valuation of the brand. These brands create powerful connections by being meaningful to consumers, and differentiating themselves from others.

     

    Key findings highlighted in the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands include:

    :: Being meaningful and different builds value – India’s most valuable brands are highly relevant to consumers and differentiate themselves through service, new offerings and brand experiences. One such example is personal care brand Colgate (No 28) – even after 70 years in India the brand has successfully remained relevant and continues to differentiate itself from the competition.

     

    :: India has evolved into a brand powerhouse – India’s Top 50 most valuable brands have as much Brand Power (consumers’ predisposition to choose that brand over another) as the global Top 50, and are ahead of the other emerging economies.

     

    :: Private sector players and multinational corporations dominate – together these contribute around 85% of total brand value. They have succeeded by nurturing a strong relationship with Indian consumers.

     

    :: Megabrands lead the game – like other fast growing economies, India is dominated by a handful of big brands or companies that own stables of brands: the Top 5 account for 45% of the ranking’s total value. Their tremendous scale and ability to cater to a wide spectrum of the population has translated into financial gains.

     

    :: ‘Balanced brands’ is the mantra – brands that are able to build both strong connections with consumers and business scale that leads to the creation of financial value are contenders for entering or rising up the BrandZ ranking. Three out of the Top 5 Indian brands demonstrate this balance.

     

    :: Consumer technology is ‘the category waiting to happen’ – there are currently no homegrown consumer technology brands in the Top 50, but this category is on the verge of emergence. The presence of Indians working in the sector globally is high, and consumer-facing technology brands founded by young entrepreneurs have already started to gain ground.

     

    :: ‘Indianizing’ products and services is important – the many successful international brands in the ranking have taken the time to understand Indian needs and tastes and adapt to them. Noodles, food seasoning, soup and sauce brand Maggi (No.18), personal care brand Colgate (No.28) and beverage brand Horlicks (No.20) are masters at this – and are thought of as Indian brands by most consumers as a result.

     

    :: Old and new sit side by side – living with one foot in the ancient world and one in the modern makes consumers equally receptive to heritage brands (Bajaj Auto, No.5, established 1945) and new brands (Airtel, No. 2, established 1995). More than a quarter of the Top 50 brands were created after the economic liberalization in 1991 while Dabur, No.22, was established 130 years ago.

     

    Said Prasun Basu, Millward Brown’s Managing Director – South Asia: “The stronger the relationship a brand can build with consumers in its category, and the more it can leverage that to build scale, the more sustainable and profitable it becomes. All of the Top 50 brands are reputable, successful engines of growth for the future of India. Any global manufacturer that makes the effort to understand the diversity of the Indian consumer’s needs, tastes and aspirations, and which can build a proposition that is both meaningful and appropriately differentiated, will succeed in building a strong brand.”

     

    Added David Roth, CEO of The Store, WPP: “With the second highest number of social networking users in the world, and the third highest number of users of mobile devices, developing an e-commerce strategy that focuses on social and mobile platforms is essential for brands in this region.”

     

    Said CVL Srinivas, CEO GroupM – South Asia, “We are already seeing the impact of the purchasing power of the internet and mobile users in India, with the exponential growth of e-commerce companies in the space of travel, e-tailing, ticketing and many main line brands increasing their brand building budgets to digital media in multiples.”

     

    In addition to the rankings, special awards were also presented to brands among the Top 50 under the following categories.

     

    Millward Brown BrandZ India Awards 2014

    A copy of the BrandZ™ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2014 report can be downloaded at www.brandz.com

     

     

  • GroupM has announced the new members of its Youth Committee (YCO) for 2014-15

    GroupM unveils new YCO for 2014-15

    GroupM has announced new members of its YCO (youth committee) for 2014-15. “This group of the brightest stars under 30 across GroupM agencies and specialist units work together with the GroupM senior leadership on key initiatives that are helping us transform into a digitally centric marketing network,” notes a communiqué.

     

     

    GroupM YCO 2014

    Ashima Chetan

    Chinmay Kelkar

    Dany Coutinho

    Divya Nair

    Farah Siddiqui

    Farzeen Udwadia

    Manoj Kumar

    Manvi Singh

    Mohit Sharma

    Nakul Agarwal

    Parul Pandhoh

    Ruth Alice Noranho

    Sangeetha Mahadevan

    Subhamoy Das

    Vaibhav Choudhari

     
    CVL Srinivas

    Speaking on the announcement, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “We launched several new initiatives in 2013 as part of our New Me roadmap – which is helping us transform to a digitally centric marketing communications network from just a media agency. YCO was one such initiative in the talent space. We wanted to harness the knowledge, energy and enthusiasm that exists at the junior levels of the organization and give them a platform where they could add value to our network. The YCO worked closely with the senior leadership team (EXCO) through the year in three areas – digital transformation, talent retention and internal & external communication programs. We got a lot of rich and valuable insights from YCO in all these areas and have made several changes to the way we used to operate”

     

    Commenting on the new YCO team, Gaurav Hirey, Chief Talent Officer, GroupM South Asia said, “The YCO initiative has been tremendously successful at GroupM. This year we have integrated a reverse mentoring element into the program where YCO members will mentor an EXCO member helping them sharpen or develop new skills. We believe that this initiative just like many others in GroupM will help us to be future ready and deliver client delight.”