MxMIndia

Tag: GroupM

  • Xaxis launches Asia-Pacific headquarters to provide global advertisers with audience targeting capabilities, nine-market roll-out planned over next six months with Michel de Rijk MD-APAC

    GroupM’s Xaxis to launch in India in 6 months

    By A Correspondent

     

    Xaxis, a GroupM company that is part of the WPP, has announced the opening of its headquarters in Singapore to serve the Asia-Pacific region.  With this launch, Xaxis is initiating an aggressive plan in the region with nine market roll-outs planned over the next six months – these new markets will include India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong.  The existing Xaxis operations in Australia will also come under the umbrella of the new headquarters, which represents the industry’s most comprehensive network of digital endpoints across online, mobile, social and video platforms.

     

    Global digital media executive Michel de Rijk will lead the practice, joining Xaxis as Managing Director, Asia-Pacific. Prior to Xaxis, Mr de Rijk served as a senior executive at digital ad firm EyeWonder, where he was responsible for launching operations in the Asia-Pacific, Benelux and Middle East regions.  During his four years with EyeWonder, Mr de Rijk served in several roles throughout each region and introduced the first ad-view-time metric to gain insights into the actual visibility of an ad. Previously, de Rijk worked for Dutch publisher De Telefoongids.

     

    “As the largest audience-buying company in the world, Xaxis has an unmatched understanding of the global digital media-buying space along with local presence and expertise in each market it operates in,” said Mr de Rijk.  “This combination allows Xaxis to deliver proven audience solutions that are custom-fit for executing targeted campaigns market by market.  From mobile in Indonesia to video in Taiwan, Xaxis offers maximum precision when delivering ads in all markets.”

     

    Xaxis provides audience buying solutions to more than 700 global advertisers, delivering over 300 billion impressions each year.  The proprietary Xaxis data management platform (DMP) houses the largest collection of unique anonymous audience portraits. Additionally, as a universal and neutral data management platform, the Xaxis DMP allows advertisers to measure attribution, offline ROI, audience insights and brand impact based on the entire digital plan, not just the Xaxis portion of the plan.

     

    “This commitment to expansion throughout the Asia-Pacific region follows a year of success and growth in North America, Europe and Australia,” noted Brian Lesser, CEO of Xaxis.  “Ad spend in the region is expected to reach $170 billion within the next two years with online ad spend making up 31 per cent of the growth. Our clients have asked us to apply our knowledge and experience executing audience campaigns to the region.  This launch displays the first step in our commitment to the region and will be followed with an aggressive expansion.”

     

    Mark Patterson, CEO GroupM Asia Pacific, commented: “We have ambitious plans with Xaxis in the region. Our drive for value and improved audience delivery for our clients, as well as ownership of that capability – versus outsourcing as many groups do – will help us deliver on both, securely and rapidly, for our clients across the region and the digital spectrum.”

     

    Through its proprietary platform, Xaxis offers advertisers a single, comprehensive resource from which to reach and engage with global audiences across the universe of digital media.  Xaxis, which offers its proprietary platform for Group M media agencies Mindshare, Maxus, MEC and MediaCom.

     

  • Leading WPP network (and Group M) agency MEC completes a decade of existence

    MEC turns 10!

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading media agency MEC is completing a decade of existence. Created in 2002 from the first ever merger in ad conglomerate WPP’s history, two innovative independent businesses, The Media Edge in North America and CIA in Europe, came together to become MEC.

     

    Named by RECMA as the fastest growing global media network of the decade, MEC was the first media agency to create a specialist digital operation, Outrider, as early as in 1995 and by 2003, these services were fully integrated within the agency, enabling it to offer a seamless Paid Owned and Earned product to clients.

     

    As a founding partner of GroupM in 2003, MEC pioneered the concept of group trading and GroupM remains a unique and groundbreaking concept in the industry.

     

    In their very first decade, the agency has racked up some remarkable achievements.

    • The first media agency to win a Cannes Media Lion
    • The only agency to win Advertising Age’s Global Media Agency of the Year twice in consecutive years
    • The only agency to win Adweek’s Global Media Agency of the Year twice in consecutive years
    • 53 Media Agency of the Year awards in local markets around the world

     

    Today, MEC has over 150 offices in 84 countries and employs over 4,000 people. In India, MEC was launched in 2004 and has full-service offices in Mumbai,Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru. Both their specialist divisions – MEC Interaction (digital services) and MEC Access (entertainment, sports and partnerships) – were launched in 2008.  Interestingly, this anniversary year has brought much cheer for MEC India.  Not only did the agency win most golds at Goafest 2012, they were adjudged winner at Festival of Media Global for creative of media.

     

    Says Shubha George, Chief Operating Officer, South Asia MEC, “I am delighted to be part of MEC’s journey in India.  And, I am proud that the fledgling agency that we were has blossomed into a super successful organisation that brings on board the best mix of strategic thought, innovative action and analytical measurement. MEC’s culture is unique and infectious and I thank all my colleagues – current and those who have helped build the agency in the past – and wish us an even more successful decade to come.”

     

    Speaking on the occasion, T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC India says: “I am proud to be a part of MEC, a global network that is an exciting combination of strategic communications planning  and an idea-centric culture. While we will continue to take inspiration from our prolific past, this occasion is apt time to renew our vows to our clients, staff and associates.”

     

  • Internet advertising hit $84.8 billion in 2011, representing a 16 percent increase over the previous year, according to a new report from GroupM

    GroupM study says global web spends up 16% in 2011

    By A Correspondent

     

    Internet advertising hit $84.8 billion in 2011, representing a 16 per cent increase over the previous year and accounting for more than 17 per cent of all global measured advertising expenditures, according to a new report from GroupM.

     

    North America led the pack in terms of overall digital ad spending with an estimated $34.5 billion; Asia-Pacific came in second with $24.8 billion followed by Western Europe with $21 billion, according to the study, entitled This Year, Next Year: Interaction 2012.

     

    The study is part of GroupM’s media and marketing forecasting series drawn from data supplied by parent company WPP’s worldwide resources in advertising, public relations, market research, and specialist communications. It was released on Wednesday by London-based GroupM Futures Director Adam Smith and New York-based GroupM Interaction Global CEO Rob Norman.

     

    The study also predicts that in 2012, digital advertising spending will reach $98.2 billion globally, almost 16 per cent more than this year.  The figure represents almost 19 per cent of all measured advertising investment.  In the 2012 forecast, North America once again ranks first with an estimated $38 billion in digital ad spend; Asia-Pacific follows with $31.4 billion followed by Western Europe with $23 billion.

     

    In the US, digital advertising spending hit $32.2 billion in 2011, representing a 22 per cent share of the overall domestic market and a 12 per cent increase over the previous year, according to the study.  This year those figures are expected to reach $35.4 billion for a 23 per cent share and a 10 per cent increase over 2011.

     

    The report also includes detailed commentary on the current state of various digital marketing developments and offers insightful observations on the evolution of digital communications and the inherent implications for marketers.

     

    “At the risk of an ‘oh really?’ response, it’s possible to argue that for the first time since these reports began that the last year has been one of evolution rather than revolution,” Mr Norman wrote in the report’s introduction.  “It seems that less is brand new and that a combination of scale of usage of an increasingly social and mobile web, the penetration of devices supported by it, and the continued atomization of audiences and content, in both their creation and distribution combine to tell the story of the year.”

     

    Mr Norman added: “In 2007 we speculated about a world that would be truly social, searchable, mobile, addressable and interactive and illuminated by data that could be collected and applied across all marketing functions; in 2012 that is no longer a matter for conjecture.”

     

    In addition to spending forecasts, the comprehensive, 20-country report also details ad investment in paid search and Internet display as well as providing data on broadband penetration, media time spent online and e-commerce per user data.

     

    Additional key findings in the survey include the following:

     

    • Digital advertising’s share of total ad investment rose from 4.4 per cent worldwide in 2004 to a projected 18.8 per cent in 2012.
    • The average percentage of consumers’ “media time” spent online increased from 11 percent in 2006 to 19 percent in 2011. The absolute number of broadband homes worldwide has nearly tripled in this period to reach 500 million, and the typical country has seen broadband penetration grow by half.
    • Aside from general monetary inflation, ad investment growth has two main vectors: aggregate audience hours, and advertising intensity per individual. Average online advertising investment per online user doubled between 2006 and 2011.  For 2011, Norway had the highest per-capita online ad investment in the study’s sample–$200.
    • E-commerce accounts for about 5 per cent of global retail sales today, with instant-on devices, secure and simple payment, vouchering, and the optimization of retail for mobile serving as catalysts for growth.
    • Consumer tablet penetration reached double digits in only three of the survey’s countries in 2011: the US, Finland and South Korea.  However, take-up is expected to be rapid and nine countries should reach double digit penetration in 2012.

     

  • It's the season for predicting spends, and even as there are varying numbers from Mindshare, Madison & MPA, the industry appears cautious yet optimistic

    So will media spends grow at 12 or 8%?

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    A lot could be said about how the year 2011 has shaped up for the media industry in India. From a growth perspective, it possibly has shaped up the way brand marketers and industry observers had predicted it to be – a mixed year with its usual set of highs and lows. But despite the rise and fall, the enthusiastic performance displayed by the industry year-on-year is giving players from the space, as also research bodies, enough scope to track down this domain exclusively and come up with studies that predict the trajectory and also crystal-gaze into its performance for the forthcoming year.

     

    In pace with its observations on the growth witnessed by the media industry in India, a couple of media (agency) firms have rolled out reports citing healthy growth numbers for 2011 and a cautious-yet-optimistic trend for next year. After Mindshare India released its annual report titled ‘This Year, Next Year: Indian Media Forecast’, it was the turn of Pitch-Madison to reveal its report last week. Joining the above two reports was another finding from research firm Media Partners Asia that unveiled its study tracking the performance of media in 2011-12. (Disclosure: MxMIndia partnered with Mindshare to publish the report digitally and in print form as ‘The Mindshare Indian Media Forecast 2012’)

     

    2011 (cr) 2012 (cr) YOY % growth
    Mindshare 33,388 37,397 12
    Pitch-Madison 25,594 28,013 9
    Media Partners Asia 31,400 34,100 8.7

     

    While most studies have predicted a healthy growth trend what is noteworthy is the optimism in numbers that have been expressed through the various reports which range from a modest 8 per cent to a high of 13 per cent. This translates into adspend monies ranging from Rs 25,594 crore to Rs 33,388 crore approximately. As part of the ‘Mindshare Indian Media Forecast 2012’ published by MxMIndia, Ravi Rao, Leader, South Asia, Mindshare had expressed how predicting adspends has become more complex now than ever was. “The economic outlook is something that one can never get the handle right, with most studies not agreeing on one number. But this is what makes it exciting to look and estimate the Adex growth in India. Group M does yeoman’s service of providing some startling numbers based on science rather than gut, even though India tends to buck the trend away from global predictions.”

     

    When analysed further, the Mindshare study predicts an AdEx growth of 12.8 per cent in 2011 with net revenue totalling INR 33,388 crore. This was driven largely by the medium of television that contributed 18 per cent to the growth followed by Print at 7 per cent and Digital at 30 per cent. In fact for 2012, Mindshare predicts an overall growth rate of 12 per cent that will be led by spends on television – 15 per cent, print – 8 per cent and digital – 30 per cent.

     

    As for the insights by MPA, ad revenues in India for 2012 are expected to clock a growth rate of 8.7 per cent. According to MPA, this growth will be primarily driven by MNCs investing in India and stronger MCG sector, and if there are revisions carried out in 2H 2012. As for the advertising growth across key categories, MPA expects robust growth from the FMCG sector, which is the largest advertising category, contributing 30-35 per cent to total ad spend. The study predicts that MNCs are expected to report robust numbers while a few large MNC accounts are looking to increase spends by 50-70 per cent for the coming year. The other sectors that will see heightened activity include Auto – while traditional companies such as Maruti and Hyundai have reduced spends, global car manufacturers investing in India are driving the overall growth for the sector, Telecom and Life Insurance.

     

    On its part, the Pitch-Madison study (published by Pitch magazine, conducted by Madison) predicts a sluggish growth rate of 8 per cent due to slowdown worries in the second half of 2011. It predicts a cautious trend for 2012 which is expected to pick momentum only in the second half. It predicts a growth a 9 per cent with revenues totalling Rs 28,013 crore.

     

    The industry, on its part, seems undeterred with the varying figures being thrown up and appear comfortable with the current state of affairs so far. Divya Gupta, CEO, Dentsu Media India said, “The estimated adspend growth according to us stands at approx 9 per cent. Also, the growth trajectory may have slowed down versus what was reported in the last few years, but it is still very healthy!”

     

    According to Shubha George, Chief Operating Officer, South Asia – MEC, “Our estimate of 2011 closing numbers is close to 13 per cent. When analysed further, the mediums of TV, Digital and Cinema have outperformed vis-a-vis the overall 13 per cent whereas Print and Radio have been below par. As for 2012, our estimates are a percent lower than 2011 at 12 per cent.”

     

    Admitting that the so-called slowdown may have cast its effect on the growth of the industry, Anita Nayyar, Chief Executive Officer – India and South Asia, Havas Media said that “the actual rate that was predicted was in the range of 11-12 per cent but given the slowdown scare and also the volatility that was witnessed in the markets, the rate was revised to be in the region of 9-10 per cent.” Going forward, Nayyar feels that marketers will tread with a cautious approach as they are yet to see signs of recovery – a phenomenon that will start taking place in the second half of 2012. “Large clients like P&G and other FMCG units have announced a slash in the adspend rates. This indicates a cautious approach that’s being taken by the marketers. Even category-wise, sectors like FMCG, finance etc that used to spend heavily have taken a backseat for the moment. But what is surprising is the marketing drive that has been taken out by sectors such as education, real estate and to certain extent even auto, which are continuing to hike their adspend budgets.”

     

    Presenting a rather comprehensive outlook, S Yesudas, Managing Director – Indian sub-continent, Vizeum India stated that while the industry will grow at 10 per cent, growth will come in largely from three areas. “At a broad level it will come from investments in newer markets with the definition of India changing for many categories and consequent expansions. Share of voice reduction by certain categories will be balanced with increase by certain others which will include new launches particularly in the financial, automobile, IT and healthcare segment. Growth will also come from increased investments in the digital as well as out-of-home space and will be further boosted by changes in the audience buying-selling structure of traditional TV medium,” he asserted.

     

    While some clients may have decided to plug the unwarranted spends in advertising there are others who are jumping into the bandwagon to explore opportunities not found before. But slowdown or no slowdown, the industry appears to be keeping pace with its growth story the way it has been since the past few years and would continue to focus on ensuring that clients get maximum ROI for the monies spent.

     

  • GroupM clinched this position, backed with a string of people initiatives in talent management, attraction and retention

    GroupM awarded 2nd Best Employer Brand 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    GroupM, the leading media planning and investment agency of the country, was awarded the 2nd Best Employer Brand of India 2012, on February 18, at the Employer Branding Awards. GroupM improved its last year ranking of 7th to 2nd this year. Backed with a string of people initiatives in talent management, attraction and retention, GroupM clinched this position beating several biggies of the corporate world!

     

    GroupM bagged awards in most of the categories, making them one of the top contenders for the top 2 spots. GroupM was given Awards in Innovation in Recruitment, Talent Management, Excellence in Training, Best HR Strategy in line with Business, Innovative Retention Strategy, Excellence in HR through Technology, Continuous Innovation in HR Strategy at Work, Global HR Strategy and Innovation in Career Development.

     

    “It has become a cliché to say that people are our strength. At GroupM we are proud to walk the talk on this truism. We have been investing steadfastly in talent development. It feels wonderful to move from 15th to 7th to the 2nd best employer brand over the past three years”, said Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, GroupM, South Asia.

     

    “GroupM’s HR team has worked relentlessly over the last 3 years, working towards building a nurturing culture and innovation in Human Resources practices, walking alongside the business,” said Sonali Vaidya, Human Resource Head for GroupM India.

     

  • In this role she will lead Team Unilever overseeing India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lankaat Mindshare Fulcrum

    Anupriya Acharya to head Unilever biz @ Mindshare

    Anupriya Acharya
    Ravi Rao

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the elevation of Mr Ravi Rao to lead Mindshare India, the media agency has appointed Ms Anupriya Acharya Leader – Team Unilever:South Asia, a position held by Mr Rao until he took over the agency’s reins (from Mr Gowthaman Ragothaman). She takes charge today.

    Ms Acharya has relocated from Singapore where she was CEO, Aegis Media.Her responsibility at Mindshare requires her to oversee business in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

     

    Announcing the appointment, Ravi Rao, Leader, South Asia, Mindshare, said: “Anupriya moves into this role fromSingapore where she was CEO, Aegis Media Singapore and is credited with doubling the operation in just over two years. Prior to Aegis Media, she was President TME (The Media Edge) from 2005-2008. She is also no newbie at Group M. She set up mConsult under Vikram Sakhuja in 2004 and has been an integral part of Fulcrum from 2000-2003. So we welcome her back. ”

     

    Commenting on her new role in Mindshare, Ms Acharya said: “I am most excited about this role. I have always had very fond memories of Fulcrum. Aegis Media Singapore position helped me gain an international and regional perspective and honed my intercultural management skills, while TME taught me handling extremely diverse set of clients and their different requirements. CP, Parle AOR, Indian Oil, Viacom 18’s Colors and Citibank were some of the key clients then. Now I was looking to get back to scale and lo! this assignment was so timely and perfect.”

     

    “I look forward to working closely with Ravi, Roy Sudipto, who heads the team Unilever for APAC and David Pullan, Global Head of Team Unilever at Mindshare London, and to drive the aggressive Unilever agenda forward acrossSouth Asia. The scale is truly exciting and humbling at the same time. I am raring to go!,” she added.

     

    Ms Acharya has also worked at McCann Erickson and Ogilvy in her earlier years. A Post Graduate in Analytical Chemistry from IIT-Roorkee, she has over 16 years of experience in Communication solutions. Her interests are adventure sports, photography and travelling for leisure.

     

     

  • Mr Gotlieb will focus on the overall strategic direction of GroupM; Mr Proctor will oversee management of GroupM’s agencies worldwide

    Change time @ Group M. Irwin Gotlieb is chairman, Dominic Proctor is prez. Nick Emery is new Mindshare CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media agency major GroupM has announced that Mr Dominic Proctor, long-time CEO of Mindshare Worldwide, will be President of GroupM. The position is newly created.

     

    The announcement was made by GroupM Global CEO Mr Irwin Gotlieb, who said the move is designed to strengthen the company’s senior management team in order to successfully meet today’s marketplace challenges and opportunities.

     

    In his new role, Mr Proctor will continue to report to Mr Gotlieb, who officially becomes GroupM Chairman as part of the reorganization. Mr Proctor will be succeeded as Mindshare Worldwide CEO by Mr Nick Emery, currently the London-based Chief Strategy Officer for Mindshare.

     

    “These changes represent a logical and important progression for us, and we’re confident that our clients and staff will prosper as a consequence,” Mr Gotlieb said, making the announcement. “Our rate of growth and the complexity of our business require that we constantly evolve. Media investment management sits at the crossroads of media, data and technology and we must be positioned to capture the significant opportunities that are on the horizon.”

     

    Under the new structure, Mr Gotlieb will focus on the overall strategic direction of GroupM and ensure that the company deploys data and technology to drive change for the benefit of GroupM clients and stakeholders. Mr Proctor will oversee management of GroupM’s agencies worldwide, which in addition to Mindshare include Maxus, MEC, and MediaCom. GroupM’s regional heads, as well as the CEOs of the company’s four major media agencies, will report to him.

     

    “I’m especially pleased that Dominic, who has been so instrumental in the long-term success of Mindshare, has agreed to move into this new and important role in GroupM and concentrate on the global management of our company,” Mr Gotlieb said.

     

    Mr Proctor has deep experience in managing media agencies. He launched Mindshare Worldwide in September 1997 as WPP’s first media investment management agency and led the company over the ensuing years to its current position as one of the leading media shops in the world. He started his career in 1979 and worked in various advertising agencies before joining JWT in London, where he became Media Director in 1989, Managing Director in 1991, and Chief Executive in December 1992. He held this position for five years, during which time he also had a seat on the board of JWT Worldwide.

     

    “GroupM has become a large and complicated company requiring more hands on the wheel than in previous years,” Mr Proctor said. “We have many more moving parts and we need more operational management to maximize the opportunities across our agencies. I’m delighted to step into this role, and equally pleased that Nick has accepted the CEO role at Mindshare. He has been a great partner since the start, and Mindshare will go from strength to strength under his leadership.”

     

    Mr Emery, a Mindshare veteran who joined the company when it was founded in 1997 and has worked closely with Mr Proctor ever since, said: “Mindshare is a great global network with fantastic, market leading talent and clients. I’m honoured and privileged to be able to take over from Dominic.”

     

  • Gaurav Hirey will be moving to Singapore to be a part of the GroupM Regional Talent Team and has been appointed as HR Business Partner for Maxus (Asia Pacific)

    Sonali Vaidya to head HR at GroupM India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sonali Vaidya

    GroupM, the leading media planning and investment agency of the country has just announced the appointment of Sonali Vaidya as Human ResourcesHead,India. Sonali Vaidya takes over from Gaurav Hirey, who will move toSingaporeto be a part of the GroupM Regional Talent Team and has also been appointed as HR Business Partner for Maxus (Asia Pacific). Ms Vaidya will be based in Mumbai and will report to Vikram Sakhuja, CEO South Asia, GroupM.

     

    Commenting on her new appointment, Ms Vaidya said: “I am excited to be a part ofIndia’s biggest and best media agency. Talent management is in its formative stages. There are huge opportunities for our businesses to realize the benefits of managing talent. I am looking forward to being a part of this journey and delivering delight to our employees and customers!”

     

    Ms Vaidya has over 14 years of experience in the human resources field across companies such as ABN-AMRO Bank, GE Consumer Finance and ESPN Star Sports. She joins GroupM from Alchemy Group, a financial services group, where she was Group HR Head. Ms Vaidya’s emphases are on building an extremely intensive talent management program to engage and grow GroupM’s talent internally.

     

    In his new role, Mr Hirey will lead the HR activities for the Region including recruitment, talent management and development, corporate social responsibility and employee relations. He will also support GroupM Talent projects in addition to this. He will report to Angela Ryan, the GroupM Global Talent Head and Neil Stewart CEO- Maxus Asia Pac.

     

    Gaurav Hirey

    Commenting on his new role, Mr Hirey said: “The last three and a half years have been an intoxicating journey and it is a delight to see GroupM become, not just the best place to work, but become the place where the best work. The focus on talent by the management team, especially from Vikram Sakhuja has been phenomenal. Our success in talent management is clearly reflected in the level of satisfaction we are delivering to our clients and our employees who have made us the employer brand of choice. I am extremely excited at my new assignment as it gives me an opportunity to learn and share best practices from across the region. It is my belief that the talent function in this industry can make a significant impact on our business and hence our clients.”

     

    Mr Sakhuja said: “We are delighted to welcome Sonali on board. She brings a wealth of commercial people management experience to the role. Gaurav has done a fabulous job in the past 3 years to bring scale, structure and credibility to the GroupM talent agenda that has gone from setting HR systems, to stepping up employee engagement and communication, to scaling up recruitment and performance management. His efforts to make GroupM one of the best places to work in has been validated by the Employer Branding Awards. We’re confident that Sonali will prove to be a great asset for our organization.”

     

    GroupM is WPP’s consolidated media investment management operation, serving as the parent company to agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare.

     

  • In the Regional Round of Employer Branding Awards for West, GroupM won five of the 10 awards in the Organisational Category

    GroupM HR Team frontrunners for 6th Regional Employer Branding Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Adding to an already exhilarating show on the awards front in 2011, GroupM also emerged as the frontrunner in the western regional round of Employer Branding Awards held at Indira Group of Institutes last week.

     

    The team talent from GroupM walked away with a total of five awards, making them the favourites for the finals to be staged in February 2012.

     

    The Employer Branding Institute is an organization that recognizes the best practices in HR employer branding and work of outstanding professionals who are contributing to talent development, management and innovations.

     

    Every year a Top Employer Brand list is released and in the run-up to the World HRD Congress, regional rounds are held in every metro city before the final National Round in Mumbai.

     

    In the Regional Round for West, GroupM won five of the 10 awards in the Organisational Category.

     

    Commenting on the wins, Gaurav Hirey, Human Resource Head, GroupM – South Asia, said: “The consistency at which we have been winning awards clearly reflects GroupM’s commitment to our people. We are now closer to our objective of being not just the best place to work, but the place where the best work.”

     

    The five awards that the agency bagged included Award for Talent Management, Award for HR strategy in line with Business, Award for Innovation Retention Strategy, Award for Excellence in Training, and Award for Innovation in Career Development.

  • More people looking for more jobs, more positions demanding more skilled hands. Never before, perhaps, has Human Resources been of such significance.

    The Anchor: 5 things that tell you this is the Hour of HR

    By Gaurav Hirey

     

    #1 The changing industry

    The media planning and buying industry is a new industry for HR. Managing people in this industry has been highly difficult and challenging. There are still people and skill shortages, structures are still being created and talented people are in short supply.

     

    #2 Gen Y on the march

    A generation of employees who were pampered by their Baby Boomer parents have now taken our workplaces by storm. Their numbers have jumped from previous years and are growing every year. They bring pluses and minuses to our workplace. So, not only are we trying to absorb these offspring of the Baby Boomer generation, who bring special challenges, but we are also dealing with helping three generations of employees who are happily co-existing to serve our customers as a team.

     

    #3 Recruiting and networking online

    This decade has brought about the transformation of employee recruiting and social and media interaction and networking. From the big job boards like Monster we have seen a transformation in how people find each other for networking and jobs.

     

    Social media networking is the new way to find employees, find jobs, get answers to questions, build a widespread, mutually supportive network of contacts, and keep track of colleagues and friends. Social media and online recruiting bring the employer new challenges. Developing social media and blogging policies, deciding whether to monitor employee time online, and checking candidate backgrounds online, are just some of the things that we have started doing. The power of online media is something that cannot be ignored by HR.

     

    #4 Made-to-order employment relationships

    Perhaps it’s the push from the Gen Ys, and definitely it’s the availability of technology that facilitates the customization, but the made-to-order work relationship has become a dominant force for us in GroupM. Customized talent initiatives have taken workplaces by storm.

     

    Flexible anything has now become the new norm. Flexible work hours, flexible work weeks, flexible time off for appointments, and the most important trend of all: Paid time off which allows employees to take time off when they need it, as it consolidates sick leave, personal time, and vacation time into a bank of days for employees to use.

     

    As employers we don’t need to police employee time but this demands increase openness in the new way of working. We have had to make work and communication more transparent and measurable so the flexibility yields results. Our employees are more motivated and engaged, and less stressed out about family and life issues, because they have the necessary time to address work-life balance issues.

     

    #5 The Big Blur

    Online, all the time, and availability via technology, has blurred the line between work and home. Employees work at home in the evening on collaborative reports and email. They shop at work and take brief breaks by playing online games. Employees do their banking at work and their work accounting at home. Almost no one goes on vacation without their smartphone and laptop. Instant messaging is now a part of our lives!

     

    No generation has ever been this connected, and for good and bad, some employees never stop working. As employers we need to make sure this degree of connectivity does not burn them out. At the same time we too must back away from old rules about what an employee is allowed to do at work. Our policies and processes need to reflect this and that in itself is a challenge.

     

    Gaurav Hirey is HR Director – South Asia at GroupM.

  • Mindshare appoints Ashok Lalla as Leader, Digital, South Asia

    Lalla on board with Mindshare

    By A Correspondent

    Strengthening its senior leadership team, Mindshare, the flagship media agency of GroupM has appointed Ashok Lalla as Leader, Digital for Mindshare, South Asia. Mr Lalla takes over a world class operation that has won Mindshare a large number of awards over the last 3 years, and was also Digital Agency of the Year in 2010. Based out of Mumbai, Mr Lalla will report to Ravi Rao, Leader, Mindshare South Asia.

    Mr Lalla is an award-winning Digital, Brand and Social Media Marketing leader with over 18 years of agency and client business experience on brands that cut across the spectrum from one-cent candies to million dollar hotel stays. He moves from Euro RSCG, where he was President – Digital, and worked with several blue-chip clients including Unilever and IBM. Earlier, he was Director of Internet Marketing at Taj Hotels where he led worldwide Digital strategy and Ecommerce for the hotel chain for 9 years.

    Welcoming Mr Lalla, R Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare South Asia, said, “Ashok Lalla, joins Mindshare at a time when our digital businesses is well poised to grow manifold, not only on the basic services, but also across Search, Social, Mobile, Creative and Performance Marketing. We are delighted to have him on board to take Mindshare to greater heights in the Digital Marketing space.”

    On his move to Mindshare, Mr Lalla said, “I am excited to join Mindshare, an agency with a mouthwatering array of clients, a great Digital team and a fantastic track record of doing breakthrough digital work. I look forward to taking Digital to the next level for our clients, and growing our team into an even stronger unit that does even more spectacular Digital work, and sets new industry benchmarks.”

    Mr Lalla is a compelling presenter and a visionary keynote speaker on Digital Marketing, Social Media and Brands at leading events and B-schools. He is also the Author  and  curator  of  “The  Future  of  Digital for  Brands”,  a  highly  regarded  online global community of over 1900 Digital, Marketing and Brand experts and enthusiasts from 38 countries.

    Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of $27.8 billion (source: RECMA). The network consists of 114 offices in 82 countries throughout the North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.  Mindshare is a member of WPP, the world’s leading communications service group, and is part of GroupM, the world’s leading full service media investment management operation.

  • Mindshare's ‘Team ABG’ struck Gold for its work on Idea Cellular in the 'Best use of Radio in a Campaign ' category

    Mindshare strikes gold at the Mirchi Kaan Awards

    By A Correspondent

    Mindshare, the flagship media agency of GroupM won a Gold metal for its exceptional radio campaign for Idea Cellular at the ceremony for the eighth Mirchi Kaan Awards. Held at the Comedy Store in Mumbai on September 28, this year, the awards saw participation from over 20 agencies, receiving more than 220 entries from all over India. The entries were judged across 15 categories.

    Mindshare’s ‘Team ABG’ struck Gold for its work on Idea Cellular in the ‘Best use of Radio in a Campaign ‘ category. Titled Ajab Premki…On-Air Kahaani….in true Bollywood style, Mindshare along with Red FM scripted the story of a lovelorn outsider – Muthuswamy, a young man from Madurai who’s travelled to Mumbai in search of a girl who he’s fallen in love with. Muthu doesn’t know a word of Hindi, Marathi or English and yet, he braves the big city to try and find this girl he’s lost his heart to. Muthuswamy’s story unfolded over a week on Red FM – and all the RJs got the city involved in helping Muthu with the local language.

    Following the success of the campaign in Mumbai, Muthu’s story was also executed across the cities of Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, where Muthuswamy morphed into the Marathi manoos Godbole (for Delhi) and the Malayali Joby Matthew (in Bangalore).

    Mr R Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare South Asia, said “I am extremely delighted with this win. It reaffirms my faith in the collaborative work that Mindshare Exchange and Invention teams have been doing with media partners for delivering great communication solutions that build our clients’ business, especially in a difficult medium like Radio.”

     

    Mr Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular, said “The radio idea and activity put together by Mindshare was able to successfully amplify the campaign and help establish Idea’s theme campaign “Break the Language Barrier”. This demonstrated Mindshare’s ability to work out and deliver creative communication solutions that engage consumers. This also leveraged the power of the medium and helped bring the campaign alive.”