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Tag: GroupM

  • Media agencies provide a layer of capability, experience & peripheral vision that can be of inestimable value to clients, notes The Media Landscape, a GroupM publication

    The Continuing Relevance of Media Agencies

     

    Excerpted from GroupM publication, The Media Landscape:

    It is clear that the global landscape is getting more complex rather than less. It is evident, for example, that the media market is fundamentally local and that budgets are allocated and transacted on that basis. Within any given market, shares of individual vendors vary widely, as does the volume of inventory that can be traded via automated systems.

    Aside from brand and social safety, an area where the leadership of media agencies is clear, perhaps the greatest advertiser challenges are in budget allocation and attribution. On the one hand, the walls of the walled gardens are rising; on the other, the ability to create “data clean rooms” within those walls is increasing. The challenge for everyone is that attribution across media types is of far less interest to the seller than to the buyer. Allocation and attribution are massively compromised by the balkanisation of data, and without the custom models built by agencies and advertisers together, any answer is partial at best. The fact that this process varies by market (as well as the data/regulatory environments of those markets) simply adds to the complexity.

    Advertisers also have an uneven and inconsistent relationship with data and marketing technology. In the case of the latter, media agencies provide a layer of capability, experience and peripheral vision that sooner or later can be of inestimable value to their clients. It’s hard to build and maintain a “tech stack”; it’s easier if a single marketing cloud vendor can fulfill many objectives. That’s certainly simpler than advertisers taking on the noncore function of systems integrator. Challenges arise at two levels: first when each component of the tech stack is not best in class, and then when a switch is required. By their nature, large agencies have visibility across the supply chain and of switching and onboarding processes and implications.

    Data presents challenges of its own: cost of acquisition, regulatory compliance, respect for the consumer, and risks related to data being used by sellers of media to the benefit of others in the category as a result of pervasive pixels placed on advertiser digital properties. Media agencies have particular expertise concerning the prioritiation and safekeeping of the data sets that thread the needle between relevance and compliance, which can also be applied to audience segmentation and directly to the purchase of media inventory. They also have a record of high standards of data security.

    It would be naive to dismiss in-housing; it is real, and for many marketers it has increased the speed and accuracy of decision-making. It is our view that in the environment described, in-housing is at best a partial solution, as most often it is restricted to channels that allow automation. Media in its entirety is a system of connections between brands and consumers, and it needs to be optimised in its entirety. It is also easier to execute in some markets for some channels than for all markets in all channels. In turn, this can create unfortunate incentives if attribution models are skewed to favour the channels and creative assets are managed by one party rather than another, and if different markets have different priorities caused by organisational structures rather than business needs.

    As media agencies, we are significantly invested in the success of our clients. It is obvious that their success is likely to prolong our relationships, and potentially increase the breadth and depth of our assignments. Part of being invested in that success is adapting to organisational constructs that our clients favour. Consequently, we find ourselves as partial enablers of in-housing, which, on the surface at least, is not in our interests. It is what might be called a “learning moment” for our sector—in which scope and reward rise with collaboration and proof of expertise rather than by right.

    Excerpted from GroupM publication, The Media Landscape Please visit https://www.groupm.com/news/groupm-media-landscapes to download the publication

  • All marketers should regularly assess opportunities to use media beyond television and pure-play digital in their campaigns, writes Brian Wieser

    Media beyond Digital and TV

     

    By Brian Wieser

     

    Outdoor, radio and print-based media offer opportunities for marketers. So much of the industry’s focus is on television and digital media – specifically the largest internet-based, technology-focused sellers of digital advertising. This is particularly true of anything that combines elements of both, as streaming SVOD services. TV and Digital account for the bulk of industry-wide spending and investment and this co-dominance is unlikely to change any time soon, despite the shortcomings of each medium.  These challenges include digital’s brand safety and/or brand-building issues and TV’s incrementally worsening reach and ever-rising prices.

    Simple math:  an advertising economy growing at low-to-mid single digits, with digital accounting for around half of all spending and growing at least twice that rate in many instances, does not leave much opportunity for other media. However, other media may offer real benefits and maintain the potential for faster growth in the future than in the recent past, especially as they develop their own directly related digital assets.

     

    Outdoor advertising is growing faster than the rest of the industry aside from pure-play digital media. Recent results from many of the world’s sellers of outdoor advertising have been very favorable with relatively rapid growth. Our most recent estimates for the industry indicated growth of more than +6% globally this year.

    So, what is behind this trend?

    First, owners of outdoor-related ad inventory have invested in digital infrastructure, including a capacity to buy the medium programmatically. There is also widening availability of digital out-of-home inventory from niche providers. This encourages a wider range of advertisers to use the medium and provides some confidence in the long-term opportunities to reallocate budgets within the medium more efficiently. Second, OOH’s effectiveness is relatively undiminished by fragmentation or ad avoidance, at least where related real estate is constrained by local laws and regulations. Outdoor is also benefitting because there are many fast-growing marketers who believe the medium is a superior alternative to television when goals are focused around brand-building and target audiences are in geographically narrow areas.

     

    Radio maintains wide reach and real impact, but growth is more modest. Radio, or more accurately “audio,” has generally been less robust than outdoor or television in recent years. Like outdoor, however, innovation in audio has been percolating for years and has recently achieved more meaningful scale; the medium has the potential to benefit from advertisers looking to stray from pure-play digital and television-based advertising.

    Traditional radio has arguably always been very effective, so long as an advertiser was willing to invest in appropriate creative content and manage what can be, in some countries, a relatively fragmented medium. However, it also suffered from negative perceptions, a reputation made worse when trade associations of traditional broadcasters failed to embrace emerging industry participants. It has also been hard, or at least expensive, to buy and steward campaigns, relative to other broadcast media.

    Anyone looking to recommend spending on radio needed to overcome these issues.  Happily for owners of radio-related assets, streaming services and satellite radio helped to improve the reputation of the medium as a whole. Podcasting – while modest in size – has seemingly captured the attention of marketers in a meaningful way as well, and programmatic buying of radio is helping overcome some of the aforementioned executional issues in some countries. Now we are at a place where audio can be judged on its own merits, which remain relatively healthy given the medium’s wide reach and high levels of consumption.

     

    Print still struggles, but there are niches with opportunities for long-term growth. While once dominant in almost every country, print’s struggles selling advertising have been pronounced. They have suffered because the goals it tried to help large brands meet – consumer engagement, for example – were directly provided more efficiently by digital media. This introduced substantial competition to media owners who often had very little direct competition in a pre-digital era. And as digital media expanded, circulation of print titles fell, making what was left of print less worthwhile for marketers than ever before. By now, what is left of print as a medium can still be very effective for marketers, but the scale is so different that it is best viewed as a niche platform.

    Many traditional publishers have already built meaningful digital business for consumers, although success is often dependent upon subscription fees and a broad geographic focus. For these publishers, advertising is best viewed as a complementary source of revenue alongside other activities like events.

    Publishers who have transitioned their business orientation from print to digital expanded their geographic presence and invested in new business lines but have not been able to establish much of a subscription business. This puts them in a more precarious position regardless of the value their content brings to advertisers. All publishers are challenged to cover the costs of content good enough to hold consumer attention for meaningful amounts of time and also  good enough in context to warrant advertiser association. This will remain an ongoing challenge.

     

    All marketers should regularly assess opportunities to use media beyond television and pure-play digital in their campaigns. Just because a medium is growing fast, slow or declining does not mean it cannot be impactful for a marketer now or in the future. What matters is whether or not the media owner is investing in opportunities to connect with audiences. Marketers also need resources to capitalize on opportunities involving media that are incremental to existing plans. Doing so likely helps to improve the overall impact of their efforts.

    Moreover, ongoing investments into alternative sources of media inventory – and finding best practices that exist within them – may help to improve the use of traditional TV and digital media, both of which are likely to persist as the dominant forms of media into the future.

     

    Brian Wieser is Global President, Business Intelligence GroupM. This article was first published at https://www.groupm.com/news/media-beyond-digital-and-tv

  • The 300+ cr account was won following a multi-agency pitch

    m/Six bags media mandate of Emami

    By A Correspondent

     

    m/SIX, a unit of GroupM, has bagged the AoR media mandate of key Emami Group businesses such as Emami Ltd, Emami  Agrotech Ltd, and Emami Cement Ltd. The account will be handled by the agency’s Mumbai and Kolkata offices and the scope entails the television buying and implementation responsibilities.

     

    Harsh Agarwal

    Said Harsh Agarwal, Director – Emami Limited: “We are happy to have m/SIX on board and look forward to the value-add they promise to bring to servicing of the mandate.  We are confident that with the very dynamic and fast changing media scenario, m/SIX with their global presence and wide experience and expertise will be able to develop a robust strategy for our media buying to add impetus to all our marketing initiatives.”

     

    Prasanth Kumar

    Added Prasanth Kumar, CEO GroupM South Asia: “It’s a great win for m/SIX and we are excited and delighted to partner with Emami. Emami Limited, Emami Agrotech and Emami Cement are great brands and these wins are the testament of great efforts and solutions that the team brings on to the table for our clients.” He added, “These wins motivate us and we will continue to work with our partners to deliver the best.”

     

     

  • Sam has more than 20 years’ industry experience, having spent the last six years at GroupM Jakarta

    INCA appoints Samuel Vanel as Director of South East Asia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Samuel Vanel

    INCA, GroupM’s brand-safe influencer marketing solution, has appointed Samuel Vanel as its first Director of South East Asia. In his new role, Vanel will oversee INCA’s operations across Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore; working closely with key stakeholders within markets to actively support the development of INCA’s roadmap, increasing its capabilities for sustainable success and growth.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Vanel said: “I am beyond thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to lead INCA in SEA and challenge myself to embed the INCA model within markets while allowing for the unique requirements of individual markets to be met. INCA has allowed GroupM to offer a compelling influencer marketing solution to some of the world’s biggest brands. I look forward to building on this success to stay at the forefront of change while simultaneously ensuring we remain focused on delivering the very best quality service to our clients.”

     

    Added Atique Kazi, APAC lead, INCA: “Samuel brings the perfect balance of media and technology experience. His passion, belief and knowledge on Influencer Marketing is inspiring. His elevation is well deserved as he embodies a strong focus on product innovation and creative lateral thinking, which is required to meet clients marketing challenges. I’m confident that he will be of great value in propelling the INCA brand forward. I’m excited to have him on board.”

     

     

  • In her new role, she will report to CEO Anand Bhadkamkar and David Neal, CFO Greater South – Dentsu Aegis Network

    GroupM’s Asha Suvarna joins DAN as CFO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Asha Suvarna

    Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), the global media & marketing communications conglomerate, has appointed Asha Suvarna as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), India. Prior to this, the role was held by erstwhile COO and CFO Anand Bhadkamkar who was promoted to lead the country operations as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) last month.

     

    Armed with more than 20 years of experience in media and advertising, Suvarana is also a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA). She joins DAN India from GroupM where she held numerous roles over two decades, the last being Finance Director.

     

    Suvarna take charge of her new office today (October 16). In her new role, she will report to Bhadkamkar and David Neal, CFO Greater South – Dentsu Aegis Network.

     

    Anand Bhadkamkar

    Commenting on Asha’s appointment, Bhadkamkar said: “I am pleased to announce Asha’s appointment as CFO of the Group in India. Asha brings with her considerable experience in our industry as well as a very strong understanding of our business. With her financial acumen and leadership capabilities, I am sure Asha will be a great addition to the DAN India executive team and a critical strategic business partner in these transformational times.”

     

    Commenting on her new role, Suvarna added: “Home to 23 super-successful agency brands of the country, Dentsu Aegis Network today is undoubtedly the fastest growing network in India. I am extremely honoured and happy to take up this new role and now ready to embark upon this new challenge under DAN’s strong One P&L philosophy.”

     

     

  • The top management of most large marketers appear more focused on growth than anything else, notes Brian Wieser of GroupM

    What Marketers are Thinking About: Growth, Growth and More Growth

     

    By Brian Wieser

     

    We recently reviewed transcripts from earnings calls for the world’s largest marketers to identify the key topics of importance to senior management and the securities analysts who cover their stocks. To ensure we had a comprehensive group we chose 35 companies with more than $1.5bn in annual spending and that also allocated 4% or more of annual revenue to advertising. (Ad spend figures were based upon our analysis of ad spending from public filings or through estimates from Ad Age). We excluded companies that are major media owners to focus on broader marketing issues as well as private companies. From a data set of more than 300,000 words, we found those used most frequently. The output from this work is summarized in the following graphic.

     

    Top Topics on Earnings Call of World's Largest Markets

    Topics captured on these calls are not themselves surprising, but perhaps the relative emphasis is, with “growth” dominant. The word “grow” (along with “growing” and “growth”) was cited almost three times as often as any other. While it is unsurprising, it still bears repeating that growth is the primary topic of interest for the world’s largest marketers, whether referring to recent growth, future growth or plans to eventually achieve growth. This reflects the nature of going-concerns as management teams and investors tend to focus on ongoing efforts to expand.

     

    Consumers are the means to the end in combination with other tactics. The “consumer” (or “customer”) is, of course, the key to all forms of growth (and decline). Of course, consumers and customers are the indirect topic of discussion when marketers talk about growth, but this #2 ranking illustrates that there is less of a focus on consumers alone than on them in the context of mechanisms which support growth. This leads to the #3 ranking term, “market(s)/marketplace” referring to the environment around which a company’s customers exist and in which a marketer must sell (and indeed, “sales” ranked #4).

     

    One additional word more directly applicable to marketing – “brand” – was not far behind as the ninth most commonly used word, although others in the field were much further away. “Marketing” was #23, while “Channel” was #33, “Advertising” was #82 and “Media” #83 (although advertising and media combined would have been the fortieth most commonly used pair of words). Notably, technology-related terms were not cited with significant frequency among this group of companies. Digital was #28, “e-commerce” ranked #57 and “Technology” (or “Technologies”) ranked #69. The use of “Online” was #99.

     

    Financial metrics are less important than growth and consumer-related terms. A key financial metric, “margin” (or margins) followed in terms of its frequency of use, with a collection of terms including “price”, “price-mix” and “pricing” closely behind. Others, such as EBITDA, EBIT and EPS were used much less often (at #87, 93 and #55, respectively).

     

    Geographically, China and Europe appear to be the most commonly thought-about parts of earth for many of these companies, with both cited among the top 12 words or equivalents. Asia in general was #46 with Brazil #65, India #78, Mexico #84, Latin America #85 and Africa #91.

    Of course, what we can’t extrapolate with precision from this analysis is noteworthy: while “growth” probably represents marketers hopes and ambitions, it is harder to identify areas of concern, not least because companies and analysts who cover them tend to emphasize positive rather than negative elements on these calls.

    As a key takeaway – less for marketers and more for the media owners, technology providers and services providers who work with them – growth has always been a key agenda item which serves as a basis for any underlying engagement. However, as this data makes clear, it is not just a key agenda item, it is the primary agenda item. Everything else is a means to an end.

     

    Brian Wieser is Global President, Business Intelligence GroupM. This article was first published at https://www.groupm.com/news/agency-future-today

     

  • An expanding range of capabilities and ongoing improvements in integration are critical for agencies, writes Brian Wieser of GroupM

    The Agency of the Future, Today

     

    By Brian Wieser

     

    There is no one “agency model of the future” just as there is no one agency model of the present. One of the most commonly asked questions in the advertising industry is “what does the agency model of the future look like?” There is no one answer to this question.

    A variety of agency offerings exist today, generally designed to map to the variety of structures that companies maintain for their marketing departments.  As long as marketers organize themselves in diverse ways, agencies will need flexible structures for their businesses while maintaining an ability to adapt to marketer needs as they evolve. However, agencies can improve their propositions to marketers by continuously finding new services to provide and by finding better ways to support integration across the services they provide.  We see something similar in the marketing technology sector, where companies developing these products must do the same thing with their software.

    Different marketers have differing needs. The fluid and gradually evolving nature of agencies is a function of providing services for a wide range of marketers who each have differing needs.  To understand why marketers are not – and likely never will be – homogenous, consider some of the following factors that could cause businesses to organize differently:

    :: Customers who are generally large or small

    :: B2B/enterprise-focused or consumer-focused

    :: High value or low value.

    :: Budgets to manage across multiple brands, categories and geographies, vs. a singular brand or a few brands within a single category and geography.

    :: Key performance indicators (KPIs) tightly integrated with sales or other marketing-related, consumer-facing functions versus complete segregation from these functions.

     

    Critically for agencies, each client organization will be differently oriented toward decision making based on knowable costs versus intangible values. Further, some clients may have business strategies which are highly dependent upon only a few kinds of marketing activities (shopper experience or creative strategy or brand awareness, for examples).  Conversely, they may be indifferent about how other activities are executed.

    All of these factors, among many others, influence how marketers are organized. All of them can impact their needs for agency partnerships. Agencies attempt to meet marketers’ needs by offering a wide range of service models, some focused on specific disciplines and others integrating multiple ones. Scale matters for some marketers in some areas, but not for all in all areas. Similarly, integration across adjacent functions matters. In all cases, agency offerings have to map to what marketer-clients demonstrate a willingness to pay for.

    The way in which marketing technology organizes solutions for marketers provides a mirror to our view on how agencies organize themselves. As the industry’s software layer underpinning its services, there are a similarly small number of massive companies whose products are centered around a range of related products (CRM, marketing automation, digital experience, e-commerce management and data management, among others) and thousands of smaller companies with individual “point” solutions. Software providers try to emphasize sales of “suites” (bundles of software products, ideally integrated with each other) to realize scale and pursue a larger “share of wallet” from their customers.

    Marketers have commonly selected Martech vendors by first looking for best-in-class solutions for strategically important products and will adopt software bundles, including less strategic products, when those bundles reduce prices or provide meaningful integration benefits. Otherwise they would rather oversee integration of software from different providers based on who is best-in-class for each point solution. Sometimes integration with one provider isn’t necessary as far as the marketer is concerned, especially if they operate in highly segregated silos. Alternatively, they may invest in a capability to integrate software from disparate providers internally or with the help of additional services providers. All of these attributes share commonalities with the organization of agency services.

    An expanding range of capabilities and ongoing integration improvements are most important for marketing technology much as it is (and will be) for agencies. For the largest Martech providers, future success will undoubtedly be from expanding capabilities (developed or acquired). They will also benefit from continuously adding or improving features on existing products while improving integration between them. The largest players with the biggest scale will off a portfolio of technologies that integrate; however, enterprising startups will continue to innovate and widen the range of providers in the Martech space.

    Similarly, there is unlikely to be one “agency model of the future” within or across disciplines. The most successful companies in the agency industry may continue to be the big holding companies that exist today, plus other large players in the consulting space – those which are able to offer a suite of services that integrate and scale. There will, of course, also continue to be smaller players who innovate and specialize services, thus broadening the array of capabilities and business models available to marketers. The dominant agencies, much like the dominant marketing technology companies, will benefit from enabling integration with best-in-class “point solutions” among independent service providers.

    It is unlikely that marketers will ever collectively standardize how they operate, and so service providers and software companies preparing for the future need to ensure they have flexible offerings. Over the past couple of decades, they have demonstrated an improving capacity to do so, and will undoubtedly continue to improve. To the extent they do, agencies can flourish with a diverse collection of point solutions and portfolio offers, becoming the “agency of the future” by always performing as the best possible agency of today.

     

    Brian Wieser is Global President, Business Intelligence GroupM. This article was first published at https://www.groupm.com/news/agency-future-today

     

     

  • Earlier this month, BCCI invited online bids for the title sponsorship rights for the BCCI organised domestic and international cricket matches

    Wavemaker, ESP Properties help Paytm bag BCCI title sponsorship

    By A Correspondent

     

    Wavemaker and ESP Properties, GroupM’s sports and entertainment marketing agency, have facilitated the renewal of the partnership between Paytm and BCCI for the title sponsorship rights for BCCI’s International and Domestic cricket matches at home from September 1, 2019 to March 31, 2023. Paytm first bagged the title sponsorship rights in 2015.

     

    Earlier this month, BCCI invited online bids for the title sponsorship rights for the BCCI organised domestic and international cricket matches. BCCI confirmed that Paytm will be the title sponsor of all domestic series/events organised, managed and administered by BCCI and played in India, between 1st September 2019 and 31st March 2023.

     

    Said Jaskaran Singh Kapany, Head- Marketing, Paytm: “We decided very early in our journey to partner with India cricket. Over the last few years, our association with the sport has given us a huge platform to be visible in front of half a billion Indian cricket fans. This has helped the brand immensely at various levels to build long term salience & stature. Paytm is a brand for the masses and continuing as the Title Sponsor of Cricket in India will help us bolster Paytm’s leadership position in the minds of millions of consumers, on the back of the most popular sport in the country.”

     

    Said Kartik Sharma, CEO, Wavemaker – South Asia: “Partnering with ESP properties to help Paytm win BCCI title sponsorship rights for the second time in a row is a huge feat for all of us. It is our constant endeavour to offer best platforms to all our partners and help them grow along the journey.”

     

    Added Vinit Karnik, Business Head, ESP Properties, GroupM India: “Paytm over the last four years has demonstrated its faith and commitment towards Indian Cricket. They understand & appreciate the potential of the game very well. Paytm and BCCI continuing their existing relationship will be huge win for both. The following that cricket gets in the sub-continent is at times more than any other sporting event across the planet and Paytm can continue to benefit from this. Earlier this year in ESP’s annual trends report we predicted that cricket would dominate the media and mind measure in 2019 and with such start to the new cricketing season we believe that this will only grow and improve over the next few months and years to come.”

     

     

  • Ogilvy will shift its office to the new location on Monday, August 26

    Ogilvy, JWT (now Wunderman Thompson), GroupM, etc to relocate to new WPP campus in Sahar

    By A Correspondent

     

    Soon arch rivals Ogilvy and Wunderman Thompson will work under the same roof. As part of its global growth strategy, WPP has announced invest in two co-location campuses in India. The roll-out will commence with more than 3,800 people moving into a new Mumbai Campus in late August, while a Gurugram campus will be set up next year. According to the information received, Ogilvy India (and its group agencies) will shift its office to the new location on Monday, August 26.

     

    All co-locations will support the WPP community with world-class facilities. The campuses include conducive spaces for talent to work and engage in collaboration and will also provide clients with easier access to WPP’s network of agencies.

     

    Said Mark Read, CEO of WPP: “India represents a region with immense opportunities for WPP. We are committed to building further momentum for our businesses there, through our campus investments. Having modern, dynamic workplaces creates real impact for our people, and enables collaboration and ideas to thrive. We work with some of the most progressive clients and teams in India and we want to support their efforts in creating outstanding work.”

     

    WPP’s new Mumbai Campus will be named BAY99, which alludes to the city’s historical roots and is also the campus’ postal code reference. Situated within The Orb, a new complex next to the international airport in the Sahar area, the location offers various amenities, including convenient transport and social options. The Orb complex will also offer more than 40 dining and entertainment options within walking distance for staff to enjoy.

     

    In a first for WPP’s India offices, the co-location will bring together more than 16 companies under one roof, with a space of 380,000 square feet over a 10-year lease. On-site, staff will enjoy a host of modern facilities, ranging from a rooftop terrace, recreation lounge, library, cafeteria and more.

     

    Commenting on the new campus, WPP Country Manager for India, CVL Srinivas said: “India is one of the most exciting markets for WPP with great growth potential. By investing in co-location campuses in key cities, we are bringing to life our vision to lead the market as a creative transformation company and to build a strong, cohesive WPP community. We support some of the biggest brand names in India and more than ever, clients want to be connected to easy processes and solutions, as well as a complete suite of services. The new Campus means our teams will have increased access to each other’s expertise and this will go far in enabling our talent to do their very best work for clients.”

     

     

  • The basket of media that a buyer incorporates into their measure of inflation should evolve, writes Brian Wieser

    Inflating Prices, Enhancing Value

     

    By Brian Wieser

     

    Media inflation is an important issue for marketers. Measuring inflation levels within an economy is important for policy-makers as well as the businesses and individuals they represent, allowing them to have some sense of how fast typical prices are rising and make better decisions.  Inflation is usually considered to be a bad thing from a buyer’s perspective, and a good thing for a seller if it outpaces the costs to produce their goods. The reality is that modest inflation is usually a healthy economic signal which encourages suppliers to make more of whatever they are selling. The alternative of deflation is usually a negative thing, at least to the extent that it discourages production.  This is generally why reserve banks in many the world’s developed economies target a low single digit rate of inflation. While the concept of inflation is simple, calculating it involves some subjectivity: it has usually required defining the cost of a basket of goods a consumer or household might buy in a given year, and tracking the increase in cost for that basket over time. But how the basket of goods is defined can prove to be outdated or not up-to-date.  If the relevant basket of goods included typewriters in 1980, that basket of goods is probably not completely relevant in 2020. At the same time, baskets of goods may not be similarly relevant across all regions or for all kinds of households within a given geography.

    All of the above considerations are relevant when assessing inflation within the media industry.

     

    Defining media inflation is critical. The complexities in defining inflation are amplified the narrower the scope of measurement. What is a relevant “basket of goods”?  Or if only looking at a specific type of media unit (a thirty second free-to-air network TV peak/prime time commercial unit), how specific should that unit be (such as a pod position or whether the position is on the same network or within the same program or similarly popular programming from year to year)?  As a separate – but equally important – matter, how is pricing data being tracked, and by whom, and how consistent is the process over time?

     

    Prices for like-for-like media units in television have risen over time. With all of this noted, inflation within some media – such as network prime time television in the United States – has been significant over time.  Referencing trade press as a source, and specifically tracking a consensus among publications producing estimates of pricing of the largest individual seller of advertising in any given year, we can observe an implied +8% CAGR between 1980 and 2018, representing a nearly 20-fold increase in pricing over that time. Consumer inflation as measured by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics tripled over the same period, for a +3% CAGR. Whether 8% is an accurate number or not, it’s highly likely that like-for-like inflation rate for pricing of broadcast network prime time TV increased well ahead of consumer inflation levels. Factors causing this gap include the structure of the industry and relative concentration of the most important buyers vs. the most important sellers, as well as the ongoing emergence of new brands.  In recent years this has meant the relatively new and very large digital companies, including the likes of Amazon and Google along with scores of others,  each looking to capitalize on what the medium uniquely provides: premium content adjacency and the pairing of sight, sound and motion-based content distributed to a wide-reaching audience. Spending by new advertisers can go a long way towards offsetting declines in spending by other, more mature brands.

     

    What is the right basket of goods to compare when defining inflation levels in media? Of course, like-for-like brands (among those who still exist) should not have actually experienced +8% CPM increases over the past four decades, at least if we look at a realistic “basket” of television – or media more generally.  For starters, from the medium’s earliest days, advertisers experimented with concepts such as flights (optimal lengths of campaigns and the frequency with which campaigns recur). Second, mix shifts between relatively higher priced network TV and relatively lower priced cable or syndication programming enabled advertisers to avoid experiencing inflation across their TV-buying baskets from the period when cable first emerged as a desirable source of inventory until very recently.

     

    The basket of goods a buyer incorporates into their measures of inflation should evolve. More recently, buyers – and media agencies, specifically – have invested heavily in assessing new sources of supply to provide willing marketers with expanded options and alternative places to deploy their marketing budgets.  Media agencies have encouraged many of those media owners to alter their offerings to facilitate more accurate comparisons with television, an especially important consideration when marketers choose to benchmark pricing across similar media regardless of the potential differences in effectiveness of these media channels. Media agencies have also delivered efficiencies by working at identifying relatively more valuable and relatively less valuable sub-segments of inventory, helping marketers realize value enhancements that could more than offset inflation in any given year.

     

    Marketers should focus on directing their budgets to high value inventory rather than towards inventory with low costs. Inflation is a reality of the TV business, and likely will be on an ongoing basis because of its unique strengths compared to other media. As long as the economy continues to produce companies who value brand building, and as long as the industry’s market structure remains as it is, this will be the case.  However, inflation does not need to be a reality for any marketer who is able to define their “basket” of media in a sufficiently broad manner.  It is possible to mitigate inflation by shifting budgets to less “costly” media, although if price and value are at all correlated then a focus on cost alone will not produce a positive outcome in the long-run. Marketers will be better off if they focus on identifying high value inventory and steer their budgets in that direction.

     

    Overall, opportunities to mitigate and manage inflation will inevitably persist as long as creative minds and better analytics come together to find better media solutions for marketers.

     

    Brian Wieser is Global President, Business Intelligence GroupM. This was first published on the GroupM website at https://www.groupm.com/news/inflating-prices-enhancing-value

     

  • IAA Leadership Awards inducts Kaushik Roy into the IAA Hall of Fame and recongises industry leaders and CMOs

    IAA India conducts leadership awards

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India chapter of the International Advertising Association inducted veteran mediaperson Kaushik Roy into the IAA Hall of Fame. Roy was recognised at the sevent edition of the annual IAA Leadership Awards held in Mumbai on Friday.

     

    Other awards presented were Media Agency Leader of the Year to Prasanth Kumar, GroupM; IAA TV Anchor of the Year to Rahul Kanwal of the India Today Group, IAA Media Person of the Year to Sanjay Gupta, Star India and IAA Media Game Changer of the Year to Virendra Gupta  and Umang Bedi of  Dailyhunt.

     

    Also recognised in the evening were a variety of industry leaders. See List below

     

    Said Punit Goenka, President, IAA India, MD & CEO, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd: “The IAA India Chapter has been working relentlessly to enhance the stature of our marquee properties to enrich them with engaging and thought provoking conversations, and celebrate the commendable work being done by leaders across sectors. The 7th  edition of the IAA Leadership Awards was one such exceptional evening that celebrated and applauded true leaders who have positively contributed to the economy, changed the landscape of the M&E industry and created global brands. The support received from the guests present at the event reinforces our commitment to keep working towards creating initiatives that benefit the M&E industry.”

     

    Added Dr Bhaskar Das, Group President, Republic TV, Co-Chairperson of IAA Leadership Awards: “ IAA Leadership Awards is a humble attempt to honour industry doyens in the fields of Marketing, Advertising and Media, who have made enormous professional contributions and delivered business success to their companies. Because only we know the challenges, the hardships, the dilemma of ethics, the sacrifices and the tough decisions that go into making a leader – to stand tall, to stand true.”

     

    A panel discussion was moderated by CVL Srinivas, Country Manager-WPP India, on “Platform is critical. Content be dammed” with panellists from across the media ecosystem: Punit Misra, CEO- Domestic Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., Sameer Nair, CEO-Applause Entertainment, Nandini Dias, CEO-Lodestar UM, and  Pooja Jauhari, CEO –The Glitch. The panelists discussed how content, platform and the consumer are interlinked and how content and platform is a function of time and how data driven insights are helpful in generating timely content.

     

    Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman and World President IAA, who was also present on the occasion, said: “We can now trace the progress of Chapters geographically”. The second being to promote education across.

     

    In his acceptance speech, Kaushik Roy who is President Brand Strategy & Marketing Communication at Reliance Industries Limited, said: “It is a great honour that doesn’t come easy, especially from IAA that has been a global body for 80 years. One must keep the fire in the belly alive: To Grow – Stay Hungry”.

     


    Winner List – 7th Edition of the IAA Leadership Awards 2019

  • GroupM and Lifesight guide brands on how to set standards and benchmarks for success in omnichannel marketing

    GroupM & Lifesight launch online-to-offline attribution playbook

    By A Correspondent

     

    GroupM India and Lifesight, a Bengaluru-based location intelligence platform and data company, have co-created a playbook answering key questions advertising clients have on online to offline attribution and outlining ways in which marketers can use intelligence on consumers’ online behaviors to impact offline sales. This, claims a communique, is the first-of-its-kind attribution study in India with examining the conversion of online ads into offline sales.

     

    Said Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “The importance of omnichannel strategies has grown exponentially, and the lines between online and offline have begun to blur. Given that the consumer journey between online and offline is becoming seamless, it is critical to have the right technology to manage location data and location-based attribution models to provide better insights to clients. For a marketer to understand what’s working in their campaigns, it is important to attribute the right conversion to its apt source. At GroupM, we understand the constant need to create, invent and reinvent the right measurement frameworks to help our clients address their business problems.”

     

    In 300+ campaigns run through Lifesight, with over 200 brands, there were some interesting insights discovered:

     

    1} The average costs to drive in consumer footfall is the most for Consumer Durables and the Auto sector and the least for Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and Fashion.

    2} Offline attribution works best for Auto and QSR since most people would visit a physical store

    3} The Retail sector takes the least time (2-3 days) to drive a walk-in from exposure. On average, it takes approximately 6-9 days across verticals to drive store walk-ins

    4} 70% of the initial walk-ins to physical stores happens within the first 8 exposures. Retail takes the least number of exposures while fashion requires the most.

     

    Added Tobin Thomas, Co-founder and CEO of Lifesight: “Marketers today have unlimited options for building, targeting, and delivering a campaign. But even with all these options, one question remains- is my advertising working? With a large number of channels to choose from, it’s imperative to understand how each campaign component performed comparatively. As a result, location attribution has emerged as a powerful solution to stitch together channel, audience, and platform signals to understand reactions to online advertising in the real world.

     

    “Lifesight is leading efforts to take campaign success metrics beyond the click. We are excited that leading a marketing powerhouse like GroupM have joined us at the forefront of online-to-offline attribution.” Tobin Added