MxMIndia

Tag: Dentsu

  • Maxus, Loderstar UM and Lintas Media Group are rank third, fourth and fifth respectively in the RECMA billings report

    Mindshare continues to be India’s #1 media agency, Madison is at #2: RECMA billings report

    By A Correspndent

     

    The much-regarded billings report for India has been released by RECMA. The Indian media agency business grew 12 percent in 2011 with a total billings of US$ 5644 million.

     

    Group M’s Mindshare media agency tops RECMA’s India billings report for 2011 with US$ 1055million, growing 10 percent over its 2010 billings. Madison Media is second 630mn, growing 15 percent. Maxus, Loderstar UM and Lintas Media Group are rank third, fourth and fifth respectively.

     

    ZenithOptimedia saw the highest growth with 40 percent over the previous year, as per the RECMA report. At least three agencies saw a degrowth. Media Direction went down 29 percent, MPG down 20 percent and TME dropped 15 percent.

     

    The combined billings of Dentsu and Aegis agencies Carat and Vizeum would put the new entity at #11 with US$ 250 million.

     

    Last week, MxMIndia had reported RECMA’s global billings data and rankings (see Link: http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/07/starcom-tops-recmas-global-billings-rankings-omd-is-2/).

     

     

  • All signs point to an industry in sustained growth (+9.2 per cent), partly fueled by the continuing development of Digital

    Starcom tops RECMA’s global billings rankings, OMD is #2

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media agency analyst RECMA has announced the publication of the 13th edition of its Global Billings Rankings report. As many as 865 agencies in 61 countries were evaluated and all the data (10 different indicators for each agency) were consolidated in a pivot table.

     

    Industry indicators point to a sustained growth (+9.2 per cent) – a lower rate than in 2010 though (+13.8 per cent) – partly fueled by the continuing development of Digital activities within the agency core business.

     

    In the global network ranking 2011, Starcom MediaVest Group holds the lead it took over OMD last year but with a very tiny gap (less than $0.2m). SMG increased its billings by +9 per cent (or +$2.8bn) while OMD posted a +9.8 per cent overall growth (or +$3bn).

     

    Four networks recorded a double digit growth (vs. 11 networks last year): Maxus (+43.6 per cent), PHD (+17.5 per cent),ZenithOptimedia (+11.1 per cent) and Carat (+10.1 per cent).

     

    As the undisputable industry leader, GroupM showed a below-the-average growth rate with uneven performances across the regions: low billings increase in the USA(+5 per cent vs. +10 per cent on average) but high in Asia-Pacific (+$2.3bn).

     

    Internal hierarchy of the four WPP media networks remains unchanged: Mindshare, MediaCom, MEC and Maxus. The latter increasing its share thanks to strong performances in the USA (where it has doubled its billings), the UK and Germany.

     

    On July 12, Aegis agreed to be acquired by Dentsu.  The takeover of Aegis by Dentsu provides is a perfect geographical fit and does not have any impact in the billings tables of this report.

     

    However the addition of Dentsu Media Japan to Aegis Media’ global billings would allow this new Group to reach the third rank ahead of Omnicom Media Group (statement based on an estimated billing figure of $bn 10 for Dentsu Media Japan (about a quarter vadpends).

     

    The full report is accessible to subscribers at www.recma.com via My RECMA link.

     

     

  • No immediate impact in India as Dentsu's announcement of acquiring Aegis brings it closer to adland biggies WPP, Omnicom, Publicis & Interpublic

    Welcome,the new adland superpower:Dentsu

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s no longer watercooler chatter or just a whisper in the corridors. By gobbling up Aegis, Dentsu has made its intentions very clear. Sir Martin Sorrell and Maurice Levy, the Japanese are a-comin!

     

    Announcing the mega-deal: Tadashi Ishii, President and CEO, Dentsu Inc and Jerry Buhlmann, CEO, Aegis

    Dentsu’s $4.9 billion acquisition is being counted as the biggest in the advertising business. It’s the second buy of a British ad entity within a month. But, of course, Aegis is a large network while BBH (which sold out to Publicis) is just a creative boutique.

     

    There was nothing forthcoming from the Dentsu and Aegis offices in India, however, it’s set to be business as usual for the now. The nitty gritty will only be completed by the end of the current year, and the impact, if at all, will be more on shared services, sources tell us.

     

    There is a marked difference between our respective styles of functioning, an insider at Dentsu told MxMIndia on conditions of anonymity. “But that too is a global issue”.

     

    Another industry voice told MxMIndia that the scale which Dentsu attains will help it considerably. It’s not just the preserve of networks like WPP, Omnicom, Publicis and IPG any more. The rub-off will be very positive on both entities and pitches henceforth will see them as significant players.

     

    First some background:

    In July 2009, Dentsu announced its medium-term management plan titled “Dentsu Innovation 2013”, focusing on global business expansion and intensifying digital offerings, together with further strengthening its mass media business, to drive its business strategy as one unified group and to achieve strong growth. Looking to its clients’ and media agencies’ business landscape, Dentsu’s business exposure has been expanding globally, especially with strong focus on emerging markets including Asia.

     

    On the other hand, Aegis, a global focused media and digital communications group with highly competitive digital service offerings, enjoys a strong presence across Europe and increasingly in the US (clearly the world’s largest advertising market), and is rapidly growing its footprint across Asia and the Pacific. The combination of Dentsu and Aegis will be highly complementary, bringing together a global media platform with capabilities to provide integrated solutions, and offer enhanced quality services to clients.

     

    Both companies place “client centricity” at the core of their values and Dentsu’s corporate vision for “Good Innovation.” and Aegis’ to “Reinvent the Way Brands are Built” demonstrate the respective commitment to continuous improvement.

     

    The Rationale:

    Dentsu believes that a business combination between Dentsu and Aegis will deliver the following strategic and financial benefits:

     

    1. Expansion of global presence

    The geographical fit between Dentsu and Aegis is highly complementary. Dentsu has a leading market position in Japan’s advertising and marketing sector, an established presence across Asia, and an increasingly expanding business in the US, with mcgarrybowen as its core US subsidiary.

     

    Additionally, Aegis enjoys a leading position showing strong presence across Europe and increasingly in the US. Moreover, Aegis is rapidly growing its footprint across emerging markets, and has established robust positioning in Asia excluding Japan.

     

    Together, the enlarged group will be a stronger global competitor with the scope and scale to compete for and win international mandates across Japan, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. The combined network with a full range of advertising, media and marketing services will enable Dentsu and Aegis to provide highly integrated services for local, regional and global clients across multiple international locations.

     

    2. Enhanced service and integrated solution offerings

    Dentsu and Aegis each rely, in order to be competitive, on distinct service offerings and expertise, together with their creativity and integrity, to exploit best solutions with a variety of service offerings.

     

    Following the transaction, the combined group will have a strengthened ability to offer a wider spectrum of niche services and expertise as a full service agency. With both Dentsu and Aegis’s extensive experience and knowledge, the combined group will enhance its ability to offer integrated solutions to clients.

     

    3. Intensified digital capabilities

    The adoption of ‘scaled’ technologies by consumers has driven the proliferation of connected devices and advancements in communication technology, significantly affecting clients’ advertising and marketing activities. Dentsu faces strong client expectations to strengthen digital solutions.

     

    With the rise of digital consumption and client demand for digital services, Dentsu has successfully enhanced its digital solutions over the years. By integrating Aegis, with Isobar and iProspect’s digital strengths in creative origination and performance marketing, the combined business will provide a powerful global platform for media, content and digital technology, and will increasingly support client activities.

     

    The combination of Dentsu and Aegis, with its robust client portfolio, will count at least 71 out of the top 100 marketers as clients on a combined basis, and will provide global and local clients with a new, differentiated proposition to achieve their objectives, and also accelerate the drive to continuously create new innovations as one unified group.

     

    CEO-speak:

    Here are comments from the respective CEOs:

    1. Dentsu: Tadashi Ishii, President and CEO:

    I am pleased to announce this exciting and transformational combination between Dentsu and Aegis. Together, we will be able to deliver fully integrated and best-in-class services to our clients through a new global communication network born in the digital age offering a broadened service portfolio. Dentsu and Aegis will be the market leader in the Asia-Pacific region, enjoying a strong presence across Europe and the fastest growing agency network in the US.

     

    In recent years, under the leadership of Jerry Buhlmann and his team, Aegis has been recognised as the most successful independent media and digital communications agency with strong performance momentum and talented, client-focused employees. We look forward to working with our new colleagues with whom we already share a common “client-centric” philosophy. Jerry and I have huge ambitions for a truly client-focused global communication network built in the digital age, and are looking forward to further innovating our business and continuing to contribute to our clients’ success.

     

    2. Aegis: Jerry Buhlmann, CEO:

    This is a compelling combination of two great businesses that will create one of the world’s most dynamic marketing services groups – and the first to be born in the digital age.

     

    We at Aegis are delighted at the prospect of being able to play a full part in helping Dentsu create a platform for global growth and continued digital innovation. By forming the first communications group with true global reach, the growth strategies of both businesses will be enhanced as we provide more scale, geography, capability and investment to support clients.

     

    “For the people of both these great businesses, the combination offers continuity and the promise of working for one of the most exciting, high-growth companies in our industry. We have complementary geographic fits and aligned visions and strategies. Together, we have strengthened investment capabilities as we work to help more clients than ever before navigate the complex and converging media ecosystem.”

     

    The India angle:

    Market observers in India credit the team led by Sandeep Goyal for the initial salience of Dentsu amongst advertisers. The Japanese ad network is no longer an alien name, even though it’s not as big as WPP, Publicis, Ommnicom or IPG.

     

    In India, Dentsu has the following arms: Dentsu Marcom, Dentsu Communications, Dentsu Creative Impact, Dentsu Media and Dentsu Digital. And Aegis has: Carat, Vizeum, Isobar, iProspect, Posterscope, Brandscope, Hyperspace, Carat Fresh Integrated, PSI and Doosra.

     

    But the presence of Mr Goyal earlier and now Rohit Ohri has ensured that business keeps coming in to Dentsu, a senior media agency executive told MxMIndia. As for Aegis, the leadership of Ashish Bhasin means that the group has stability at the helm.

     

    For Mr Ohri: Ken Terasawa (Exec Vice Chairman), Soumitra Karnik (NCD) Narayan Devanathan (Dentsu Marcom), Titus Upputuru (NCD, Dentsu Marcom), Arijit Ray (Dentsu Communications), Glen Ireland (Dentsu Digital), Yutaka Kamoshita (Dentsu Digital) and Divya Gupta (Dentsu Media) and for Mr Bhasin: Kartik Iyer (Carat), Anand Bhadkamkar (CFO), S Yesudas (Vizeum), Haresh Nayak (Posterscope), Shamsuddin Jasani (Isobar), Zaheer Mirza (Doosra).

     

    While Mr Ohri is travelling and not available for contact, the information that MxMIndia received the morning after the announcement that the overall global structure will be unveiled only by the year-end, and following that regional and India-specific restructuring may happen. However, in the same breath, a source in a Dentsu international office told us that given the slowdown managements will be sensitive to overspending, so don’t be surprised if the process towards rationalization happens quicker.

     

    Suggested reading:

    Ad Age report: Not the ‘Big Four’ Holding Firms in Adland Anymore — Now It’s the Big Five

    http://adage.com/article/agency-news/big-holding-firms-adland-anymore-big/236001/

     

  • Taproot's co-founders Dias and Santosh Padhi are clearly testing the market and checking out valuations, said an agency insider. But this may not tantamount to an immediate sale

    Global ad biggies like Omnicom, Publicis & Dentsu in hectic parleys to buy Taproot

    By Neha Dewan & Ravi Balakrishnan

     

    In 2011, when Taproot snatched two big-ticket assignments, PepsiCo and Airtel – both JWT clients – the joke was that JWTstood for Just Went to Taproot.

     

    Now JWT may just have to be shuffled around to become TJW – or Taproot Just Went – now that a clutch of global ad networks are in hectic parleys with the founders of the five-year-old independent Indian agency. Those in the fray, said a person familiar with the negotiations, include the Omnicom group, Publicis and Dentsu.

     

    Agnello Dias, chairman and co-founder, Taproot India, said: “There are three or four groups talking to us and Dentsu is one of them. It doesn’t have any head start and we are no closer to signing a dotted line (with Dentsu than with any other network).”

     

    A Dentsu spokesperson was unavailable for comment. Nakul Chopra, CEO, Publicis South Asia, said: “We don’t comment on acquisitions of any nature.”

     

    Taproot’s co-founders Dias and Santosh Padhi are clearly testing the market and checking out valuations, said an agency insider. But this may not tantamount to an immediate sale.

     

    “The global groups are speaking not just to Taproot but also to other independent agencies like Creativeland Asia. We are open to talking to anybody but at the end of the day it may not be Dentsu, Omnicom or anybody. We would just like to get an idea of how much we are worth and valued at,” is how the insider who requested anonymity put it.

     

    The agency, which had a slow beginning in 2007, eventually moved on to big clients. Campaigns such as ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai’ (HFZ) and ‘Change the Game’ for Pepsi got popular acclaim as well as industry  accolades with HFZ winning seven medals at Goafest this year.

     

    At Goafest, considered the premier local ad festival in India, Taproot was runner-up to Ogilvy India, clinching 34 metals and beating top agencies such as Leo Burnett, DDB Mudra, Grey and JWT. Besides this, the agency had won the Grand Effie award last year for the ‘Change the Game’ campaign.

     

    In its fifth year, the agency runs a tight ship with 35 people on board. A senior official at a leading ad agency says that Taproot has had to turn down a lot of projects in the past year.

     

    “Funding via a sale of equity will help them increase their capabilities,” he said. For now though, a more interesting game is afoot with Dias and Padhi playing their cards very close to their chest.

     

    Source: The Economic Times
    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Dentsu Creative Impact, Dentsu India's full-service advertising agency, has bagged the creative duties for Tetra Pak

    Dentsu Creative Impact wins Tetra Pak creative mandate

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Creative Impact, Dentsu India’s full-service advertising agency, has bagged the creative duties for Tetra Pak, the world’s leading food processing and packaging solutions company.

     

    Tetra Pak India delivers aseptic packaging material and processing, packaging and distribution solutions to the Indian food processing industry.  Their customers include leading players, both national and regional, from the private sector as well as the dairy cooperatives. Tetra Pak works in close partnership with the food processing industry to promote consumer and key stakeholder awareness on the importance of aseptically processed and packaged foods, and how they provide benefits of food safety, consumer wellness and environment sustainability.

     

    Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman, Dentsu India Group said, “We are delighted to partner Tetra Pak in India. The communication opportunity which Tetra Pak offers Dentsu India is very exciting and clearly beyond conventional media. We’re looking at communication across every touch point in the packaged milk and beverage ecosystem. This communication approach is at the heart of Dentsu’s offering in India.”

     

    “Past communication from Tetra Pak has focused on the key message of how Tetra Pak aseptic technology best protects foods like milk and juices.  Our plans are to continue strengthening communication around the Tetra Pak credentials and around our brand promise ‘protects what’s good’”, said Jaideep Gokhale, Communications & Environment Director, Tetra Pak South Asia Markets.

     

    On the choice of Dentsu Creative Impact Jaideep added, “With this premise in mind, we were looking at how the communication task could be addressed with a fresh perspective without losing focus of the imperative to remain consistent and true to our brand personality. With our new agency partner Dentsu Creative Impact, we are now in the process of developing our 2012 campaign which will explore communication channels beyond the conventional.  Our media buying will continue to be handled by Carat.”

     

  • According to Radio Establishment Survey 2011 findings, although the mother tongue of 51 per cent of FM device owners is Marathi, an overwhelming 80 per cent of them prefer Hindi music

    Will Marathi content be a shot in the arm for FM in Mumbai?

    By Robin Thomas

     

    What’s common between radio stations in Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolhapur, and Kochi? They give almost equal prominence to local music along with the Hindi or Bollywood songs. This is in direct contrast to the Mumbai market where FM stations mainly play Bollywood songs which are quite popular with the Mumbai listeners.

     

    According to RAM’s (Radio Audience Measurement), Radio Establishment Survey 2011 findings, although the mother tongue of 51 per cent of FM device owners in the city is Marathi, an overwhelming 80 per cent of them prefer Hindi music and RJ talks on radio. Nevertheless, the survey also revealed that as compared to 2007, the preference for music and RJ Talk in Marathi has witnessed an increase in 2011.

     

    It’s not that the all the FM stations in Mumbai have ignored the Marathi speaking audience. Big FM, Radio Mirchi and Radio City play Marathi songs, but only on Sundays and they are the only radio stations to do so.

     

    Big FM, for instance, has been airing Masala Chaha every Sundays between 7am to 9am since 2009, much before Raj Thackeray’s diktat to the radio stations to play Marathi music. But even then, a Big FM spokesperson was of the view that although there is a market for Marathi music, Mumbai being a cosmopolitan city, most Mumbaikars prefer listening to Bollywood music. “There is surely a market for Marathi music, given the high population of Marathi speaking public. However, Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city with a wide audience base, and a mass channel has to play the music that appeals the most… which is Hindi, a lot of it being Bollywood. Phase III will unleash the true potential of radio and will allow for more differentiation in content, along with newer genres and radio stations that will cater to a more specific audience base.”

     

    Radio Mirchi airs ‘Mumbai Dhol’ every Sunday, between 12 noon to 3pm, hosted by RJ Rohit. ‘Mumbai Dhol’ covers the culture of the city, the happenings and plays back to back Marathi music, contemporary and the classics.

     

    Indira Rangarajan, VP, Programming, West & Central, Radio Mirchi stated: “The response to our Marathi show – ‘Mumbai Dhol’ has been very good. Following the resurgence of Marathi films and music, we had decided to experiment with a slot specifically for Marathi songs and it has worked well. I believe there is plenty of scope for Marathi music in Mumbai and over the years this popularity will increase further.”

     

    RadioCitytoo plays Marathi retro songs every Sunday evening between 5pm to 6pm during ‘Sandhikali Aasha’, a radio programme hosted by RJ Vishaka.

     

    After looking at the Marathi content being offered by these three stations, one wonders if there scope for more Marathi content on Mumbai radio stations? Or will the Marathi music lovers have to wait a little longer for a radio station that caters to their tastes?

     

    Unlike the private radio stations, the government-owned FM stations, AIR FM2 Gold and AIR FM1 Rainbow, play a mix of Hindi and Marathi songs every day. The private radio stations would do well to take a lesson from these government-owned radio stations.

     

    Naval Toshniwal, CEO, Tomato FM, a Kolhapur-based FM radio station, was also of the view that although the potential for Marathi music is huge, Mumbai being a cosmopolitan city will play more Hindi or Bollywood songs. “Yes, there is a huge scope for Marathi music in Mumbai. However, no private FM station would want to play only Marathi music, it will have to play Bollywood or Hindi songs too because of the cosmopolitan listenership. Looking at the current FM scenario where every station sounds the same, I believe that a radio station which plays a little more Marathi music will create some amount of differentiation in the market.”

     

    FM stations in the city play Marathi hit songs during prime-time, especially on occasions like Maharashtra Day or Gudi Padwa. For instance, Big FM Mumbai will be playing Marathi songs during the breakfast show from March 19 to March 23, celebrating the occasion of Gudi Padwa.

     

    According to Janardhan Pandey, Associate VP, Mudra Max: “Although the market may not be big, the potential for Marathi listenership is huge in Mumbai. The issue, however, is that there has not been any serious attempt by FM stations to woo the Marathi listeners. Awareness about Marathi programmes aired on radio stations seem to be non-existent, the Marathi programmes or music are played during mostly non-prime time. However unless a FM station does not aggressively promote its Marathi programmes, and plays Marathi songs more frequently, it will neither add new listeners nor will it attract new advertisers. There are a lot of retail advertisers in the city catering to the Marathi audience.” Ajay Rao, Vice President, Dentsu stated: “There is a huge scope for Marathi listenership in Mumbai as Marathi generates high level of passion.”

     

    The good news is that increase in the frequency of Marathi music on radio stations could mean attracting new listeners to radio, and perhaps even new advertisers. Moreover, multiple frequencies may bring some good news to the Marathi music lovers as it will bring new genres of radio stations.

     

  • Birla Tyres has awarded its creative mandates to Grey Singapore; the account size is pegged to be Rs10 crore.

    Birla Tyres to roll with Grey Singapore

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    After assigning its creative duties to Dentsu in May 2011, Birla Tyres has now awarded the creative mandate to Grey Singapore. Industry sources close to the development have confirmed the news to MxMIndia.

     

    The account size of the business is estimated to be 10 crore.

     

    The incumbent on the account, DentsuIndia, was the first agency to work on the creative business of the account.

     

    Ever since its inception in 1991, Birla Tyres, a division of the BK Birla flagship Kesoram Industries Ltd, has seen a jump in its turnover from Rs1,947.22 crore in 2008-09 to Rs2,849.61 crore in 2009-10. The company is now looking to reach a target of Rs5,500 crore.

     

  • Divya Gupta talks about the road ahead for the media industry.

    Change is the biggest challenge, says Divya Gupta (now @ Dentsu Media)

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Divya Gupta, who has joined Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Media is back in the media agency side of the business after a gap of almost seven years. She has been away from the agency set up but not really away from the industry as she was gaining experience being on the other side of the fence. First with Reliance ADA Group as Media Advisor to the Chairman’s Office providing strategic advisory on media investments for the group; later at Hindustan Times Media as Business Head – West with the mandate of building the business. Just before joining Dentsu India, Ms Gupta was an independent consultant advising and consulting marketers, media agencies and owners in the media business.

     

    In seven years, a lot has changed in the media landscape and MxM India deicided to catch up with Ms Gupta and find out what changes in the industry she can outline. She puts it concisely, that the changing environment presents both challenges and opportunities for the industry.

     

    Ms Gupta says, “First, I think the changing environment allows for having meaningful dialogues with consumers, almost on a one-on-one basis. Media today allows us to actively engage, build and nurture rich relationships with our consumers. And both the message and the medium can be tailored and served to each consumer.” For example she cites that the advertisements that are served to the consumers while accessing mail, search, etc, is basis their past interests and behaviour. Hence, the targeting goes beyond the demographics and makes a marketer’s and media professional’s job much more exciting.

     

    “Second would be about harnessing collective media synergies, seamlessly, in real time. Media roles are changing and no single medium, even TV, will be self-contained. The opportunity lies in media blending; combining and harnessing each medium in a digital chemistry that delivers across all, paid, owned and earned media,” continued Ms Gupta. “Centered on the brand engagement idea, the focus will be to get better “earned” dividends and the ultimate goal being allowing our consumers themselves to carry forth our crusade.”

     

    Also she emphasized that today’s landscape allows for realtime, instantaneous consumer feedback. If on the right track, one can march forward or do some quick course correction if need. No more waiting for months to understand the impact of advertising that used to happen some two decades ago, as now the response is instant.

     

    “Lastly, it is about tightening ROI from computing mere eyeballs to an engagement metric. Reach that is layered with engagement, in both planning and pricing, is a step forward in computing actual ROI. Today, computing eyeballs alone is sub-optimal. Think about it, how often do we check our mobiles while supposedly viewing TV? Dual screens are here to stay. Or how often do we read and register (keep click aside for the time being) all advertisements that get served to us on a search page?” said Ms Gupta.
    Concluding she said, “To encapsulate, it is exciting times, with media posing huge challenges and opportunities in building engaging consumer connections, experiences and nurturing relationships.”

     

    Talking about her task at Dentsu Media, she shared that it is to first stabilize and deliver to their current clients and then harness their global experience, to the way they work and their suite of media tools to deliver an integrated, multi disciplinary, channel solutions to their clients.