M/Six, GroupM’s outcome-based agency, has bagged the digital media mandate for Parag Milk Foods. The account will be handled out of m/SIX’s Mumbai office.
Saket Sinha
Said Saket Sinha, Senior Vice President and Head of M/Six India: “We are delighted to partner with Parag Milk Foods. This win showcases m/SIX’s digital expertise and the client’s belief in us. With our proficiency and our DNA “Xcellerator”, our teams will further drive the brand’s success. The dairy FMCG space has seen phenomenal growth and evolution and with our business growth and consumer-centric approach, we will ensure to deliver successful brand and business results for Parag Milk Foods. We look forward to partnering with the brand in this exciting journey.”
Akshali Shah
Talking about the collaboration, Akshali Shah, Sr. VP – Strategy, Sales & Marketing, Parag Milk Foods added: “The Indian dairy industry is growing consistently and is transforming at a great pace. Keeping in mind the evolving consumer preferences, Parag Milk Foods is not only keeping up with this acceleration but emerging as a pioneer through its various product offerings. In the new normal, every brand needs to adopt a different approach to brand building and innovation, which is why we see M/Six as a strategic partner that understands our brand and our vision to further meet our marketing goals. We are confident that the m/SIX team will continue to drive our brand to newer heights.”
M/Six, the GroupM outcome-based agency, has won integrated media duties for Nilon’s processed food companies. The agency will drive Nilon’s brand experience with its data intelligence and consumer-centric approach.
Said Saket Sinha, Senior Vice President and Head of M/Six India said: “We are thrilled to have a name like Nilon’s added to our clientele. Nilon’s partnership is very special to us since they capitalize on m/SIX’s CPG expertise. Our teams will further strengthen the brand’s presence across the country using our capabilities of strategic planning at both, a macro and micro level. Our teams will closely work together, targeting a clearly-defined audience effectively and efficiently through our marketing strategies.”
Added Dipak Sanghavi, Managing Director and CEO, Nilon’s said, “Nilon’s as a brand is on a growth path, and we wanted to partner with a team who could align themselves to this journey. We started working closely with M/Six for the launch of our new brand campaign ‘Isme pyaar mila hai’. So far, the team has been able to meet our objective of driving consideration for the brand and with their deep expertise in social media and digital marketing, they did a commendable job. We are looking forward to working with M/Six’s dynamic team to further strengthen our brand presence.”
Xaxis, GroupM’s Outcome Media Company, has announced that its voice-activated conversational ad campaign for Pizza Hut India has increased customer engagement by 8.29% over 2 weeks and led to a surge in order volumes. Note: MxMIndia has not verified this data claim and other data claims in this report.
Xaxis Creative Studios (XCS) created voice-activated conversational ads, engaging listeners in a dialogue to drive awareness of Pizza Hut’s Buy One Get One (BOGO) offer. The interactive audio content generated more than 2,000 responses from 60,000 impressions during a 10-day pilot. XCS accessed advertising inventory on the Gaana music app and used voice-activated artificial intelligence (AI) advertising technology to help handle conversational elements. XCS also ran A/B tests to measure the effect of generic campaign creative elements vs. creative focused on dinnertime. The overall voice-engagement rate saw an 8.29% increase.
Said Neha, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut India: “Pizza Hut has been at the forefront of experimenting with innovative marketing formats that resonate with our millennial-minded audience, and I am thrilled to see that our voice-activated BOGO campaign has received such an excellent response. Kudos to the Xaxis team for perfectly conceptualising and implementing it. I look forward to working with them on many more exciting projects going ahead.”
Added Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia: “Conversational ads are still in the nascent stage in India,” “Pizza Hut expressed its openness to leverage the expertise of Xaxis Creative Studios and use two-way conversational audio ads to reach its target audience. With conversational audio ads, there is an opportunity for brands to craft a targeted and personalized customer engagement strategy. The results of this campaign are proof that our insight-driven approach and expertise drive impactful and measurable outcomes for the client.”
GroupM India has appointed Atique Kazi as President – Data, Performance and Digital Products.
Prasanth Kumar
Said Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia: “At GroupM our focus is to continue evolving by offering flexible, scalable and innovative solutions. Atique joining the core team at GroupM India is the reflection of our commitment towards offering digital solutions that can create great value-add for brands in this ever-evolving market. I look forward to working closely with Atique and I am confident that he will continue to grow our digital offerings. His expertise of aiming at innovation and providing value-propositions will be key towards Digital Transformation of our clients and partners.”
Added Arshan Saha, CEO Xaxis, APAC: “The scale and speed of digital transformation and the fact that India as a market has demonstrated its leadership in this area means that we need to have our best talent to fulfil this demand. Atique is one of our very best with a proven track record locally and most recently regionally in APAC where he launched and scaled GroupM’s Influencer and content arm – INCA. Having worked with Atique for over 8 years, I can attest to his leadership, curiosity, knowledge and drive which are invaluable in defining and determining client success.”
A week back, GroupM released their Midyear Report on This Year Next Year (TYNY) for 2021, predicting that in 2021 Indian Advertising Industry will not only overcome the degrowth of last year, but also will record almost 2% additional growth. The Midyear TYNY predicts that India Inc’s investment on advertising will grow by 23.2% during 2021 calendar year and will touch 89,123 crores at the end of the year. The growth in advertising expenditure will come from FMCG, e-Commerce, Auto, Retail, Telecom and Durables categories.
India’s rank in the Top 10 fastest growing advertising markets globally had gone down one notch in 2020 to number 10 from number 9 in 2019. It is expected that as the 2nd fastest growing market among the top 10 countries, India will regain the 9th rank in 2021. GroupM predicts 82% of the global advertising spends will come from top 10 markets in 2021 and India will be the 6th largest contributor to incremental ad spends among the top ten markets as shown in the chart below:
Source: GroupM TYNY 2021 Midyear Report
In 2021, Indian advertising expenditure is estimated to grow at a rate (23.2%) which is more than double of the expected growth rate (10%) of global advertising expenditure. India will be in the same bracket with UK, China and Brazil where advertising expenditures are also expected to grow by 20% plus. The Midyear forecast for global advertising expenditure is 19% higher than their forecast made by GroupM for 2021 in December, 2020. As per the Midyear Report globally, digital advertising expenditure is expected to grow by 26% as against 15% and TV is expected to grow by 9.3% as against 7.8% predicted in TYNY last December. GroupM has cited the following factors as the catalysts of the higher growth rates: (1) faster than expected expansions of app ecosystems; (2) rapid small business formation activities and (3) the growing role of cross-border media marketplaces.
Focussing back to India, of the estimated total advertising expenditure of 15,000 crores of incremental spends in 2021, 40% will be contributed by digital and the share of digital in the total advertising expenditure will be 35%. TV will account for around 45% share and the non- TV and Digital media will have a share of 20%.
The website www.businessworld.in has shared an article on June 21, 2021 which says “With states easing lockdown curbs due to declining number of COVID-19 cases, there are immediate indications of improvement in economic activity as companies are hopeful of better performance in the next 6 to 12 months, according to a survey.” The TYNY Midyear report for 2021 is highly encouraging with an assurance of better days for the Indian Advertising Industry. It seems though the pandemic may not disappear from our lives in 2021, the dark shadow of the pandemic will be lifted from our advertising Industry.
GroupM has appointed Madhvi Pahwa as its new Chief People Officer for South Asia. Pahwa, previously Chief People Officer Mindshare APAC, has been promoted into the role to lead the GroupM India talent team and develop GroupM’s talent proposition for the region. She will report to Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia.
Said Kumar: “Madhvi has a proven track record of delivering innovation and education that moves the dial for the business. She is the perfect choice to lead the GroupM South Asia talent team and to lead us into the next phase of our growth.” He added, “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Rohit Suri for his commitment and efforts in helping build the talent team across South Asia. We greatly appreciate his contributions and wish him the best.”
Added Pahwa: “Our employee promise has been to make Mindshare the place where you do your best work, and it has certainly been true for me. The people, priorities and culture just come together almost magically to bring out the best in you. I am grateful and proud to be part of the GroupM network that has given me growth opportunities across multiple agencies and geographic remits spanning global, regional and markets while supporting flexibility and personal priorities. I am super excited for the next chapter for GroupM India.”
GroupM along with Amazon Advertising India, have launched a Search Advertising playbook titled ‘Decoding the shift in consumer behaviour to win on search’ with a report on search consumer journeys and how consumers are leveraging online platforms for not only buying products but also for holistic product research.
Notes a communique: “Over the past year, consumer behaviour and purchase patterns have seen a drastic change. Urban consumers have started conducting their product research thoroughly before making any purchase online or offline. The playbook indicates that urban consumers are researching on at least two platforms before making up their mind while Amazon.in is has emerged as a preferred platform for product research. Around 62% of urban internet users research for products online, before making any online or offline purchase; 52% of urban internet users who research online, visit amazon.in to research products before making an online or offline purchase.”
Online product research influences offline sales since 50% of offline shopping across categories involves prior online product research.
A few takeaways from this playbook are:
• Growth of digital for product research before making purchase decisions
• in is emerging as one of the trusted brands for product research
• 89% consumers discover new products and brands on in
• 60% ads influenced purchase journeys are inspired by search ads
Said Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia: “The last year has seen a rapid shift in purchase decision making and channel preference for purchases with more consumers now researching and purchasing online. This trend is only accelerating with not only metro consumers but consumers from smaller cities and towns. Furthermore, the role of e-Commerce platforms in the purchase funnel is undergoing a change with more consumers relying on them from a product research point of view. With most of these behaviors set to only accelerate in the coming years, we at GroupM will continue to prioritize and focus on creating knowledge and bringing forth solutions to our clients to effectively navigate this ecosystem.”
Added Vijay Iyer, Director-Ad Sales, Amazon Advertising India:“With the drastic increase in media consumption, online and eCommerce platforms have become the go-to destination for urban consumers to make a product and brand choice before making a purchase online or offline. The search environment provides brands the opportunity to reach ‘intent’ consumers and create awareness in the early phase of the purchase journey. Native search advertising formats aid in establishing a seamless connection with researching audiences. This playbook aims at helping brands understand the behavioral trends with respect to consumer demand and discusses recommended strategies to drive awareness and performance on amazon.in”
Xaxis, GroupM’s outcome-driven media agency, has announced the promotion of Silvia Sparry to Global Chief Operating Officer (COO), reporting to Nicolas Bidon, Global CEO. Sparry previously served as VP of Global Operations & Platforms.
In her newly created role, Sparry leads Xaxis’ global operations and will be focused on accelerating Xaxis’ journey to become an artificial intelligence (AI) and data science first company. Responsible for technology platforms, partnerships, operations and process excellence, Sparry will work to maximise synergies across Xaxis’ 47 markets, as well as across the wider group, including GroupM and WPP.
Working closely with GroupM agencies, Sparry will help translate how differentiating capabilities such as Xaxis’ proprietary AI platform Copilot or GroupM Choreograph can be consistently leveraged by clients to deliver better outcomes from their digital media investments.
Said Nicolas Bidon, Global CEO at Xaxis: “As programmatic advertising continues to conquer new channels like audio, TV or out of home, marketers are looking for globally scaled specialists that can help them accelerate their own digital transformation and growth. To help our clients seize the opportunities presented by this ever changing and complex ecosystem, it is more important than ever for Xaxis to have a strong global operational leader who can drive operational excellence and innovation across the globe. Silvia has a proven track record of driving transformative initiatives, and I could not think of anyone better to help us continue our 10-year journey of innovation and growth.”
Sparry commented: “I’m excited to take on my new responsibilities at Xaxis at such a momentous time of change. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Nicolas and the talented Xaxis teams around the world to further transform the business into an AI and data first company, that equips its people with the capabilities and know-how to deliver the very best outcomes for our clients over the next decade and long into the future.”
MediaCom India, a GroupM media agency, has announced that it has been awarded the media mandate of Bayer’s new Consumer Health division in India. The company envisions to make self-care for a better life a reality for billions of people around the world through everyday healthcare. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be handled out of MediaCom’s Mumbai office. The media duties include full planning and buying all media platforms.
Bayer is a global life sciences company present in India for over 125 years and is committed to the principles of sustainable development and with a goal to create value for our customers, shareholders and employees. All this goes to make up the company’s vision, ‘Health for all, hunger for none’.
Sandeep Verma
Sandeep Verma, Country Head – Bayer Consumer Health Division, India said, “With Bayer’s Consumer Health division offering a portfolio of leading and trusted brands in India, we want people to adopt self-care and take charge of their everyday health. To make this possible, its essential to have the right partners on board who can add value to our efforts and contribute to our vision. We are hence happy to onboard MediaCom in our journey at Consumer Health.”
Navin Khemka
Commenting on the win, Navin Khemka, Chief Executive Officer, MediaCom South Asia said, “With the rising concerns of the global population, we believe it is important to have a company like Bayer in the market whose scientific successes are intended to help improve people’s lives. With our integrated teams and media-neutral solutions, we are looking forward to helping Bayer further scale its efforts and accelerate its business growth. Leveraging MediaCom’s expertise, we will be focusing a lot of new-age thinking and digital-first approach and are looking forward to creating an amazing experience for them.”
Essence, the GroupM agency for data and measurement-driven media investments, has announced the appointment of Sonali Malaviya as the agency’s Managing Director for India. Anand Chakravarthy, previously Managing Director for Essence India, has moved on from the agency to pursue new opportunities. Malaviya will be responsible for leading continued client-centric innovation in data, analytics and technology, as well as business growth and company culture for the agency in the market.
Based out of Delhi, Malaviya will report to Essence APAC CEO, T. Gangadhar (Gangs) and GroupM South Asia CEO, Prasanth Kumar (PK). She will join Essence’s APAC leadership team and GroupM India’s executive committee as part of her role.
Joining Essence in 2018, Malaviya most recently led the agency’s Google business in India and Southeast Asia as Senior Vice President, Client Services. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer at Colorbar Cosmetics and Country Marketing Lead at Twitter in India. With over 20 years of industry experience, she has also held senior roles at Mindshare, PHD, Roy Morgan Research and MediaCom in India, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.
Said Gangadhar: “Sonali comes with rich experience in management, marketing and media across industries and markets, as well as a deep understanding of Essence’s business, work, people and culture. In addition to building strong, collaborative partnerships with clients and employees alike, she is an advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. India continues to be a priority for Essence in APAC and globally, and with Sonali at the helm, I am very excited about our next phase of growth and development in the market,” We would also like to thank Anand for his efforts in helping to establish our business in India over the last three years. We greatly appreciate his contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavours.”
Added Kumar: “We are glad to see Sonali take over the role of Essence India Managing Director. With her background and significant achievements, she will add to the capabilities of Essence and work with our teams to improve the client experience. As we continue to develop leaders internally, Sonali is also part of our growing pool of talent taking on various leadership roles across GroupM India. I look forward to working with Sonali and leveraging her expertise.”
Said Malaviya: “I am truly honoured to have the opportunity to lead Essence in India. Over the past three years, I have witnessed and been part of our incredible growth story in this market, and am very proud of what our agency, clients and employees have achieved together. I am looking forward to partnering with our highly talented teams and leveraging our industry-leading capabilities to help even more brands in India achieve data-driven growth and transformation, as well as valuable connections with consumers.”
Since Essence’s entry into India in 2016, the agency has rapidly expanded to three offices across Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. Essence’s diverse portfolio of clients in the market includes Airtel, Britannia, Flipkart, Games24x7, Google, Honda motorcycles and scooters, Livspace, Melorra, Purplle, Vedantu, Wakefit and Zee5.
Publicis Group’s Starcom has strengthened its leadership team by appointing Niti Kumar as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, she will be responsible for client deliverables, revenue growth and new business development across the agency’s offices. Kumar will report to Rathi Gangappa, CEO of Starcom India and will work closely with the senior leadership at Publicis Media to consolidate businesses and drive integrated solutions.
On the appointment, Gangappa said: “I believe that there is immense growth potential in the market today, especially considering the shifts we are likely to see in consumer and work place habits in a post- pandemic era. This is the right time for Starcom to recruit the right talent, drive future-focused capabilities and to grow the agency’s business through innovative and organic streams. Niti has a successful track record of driving new business growth and fits right into this vision. I am confident that her rich experience in marketing communications will be an asset that will add immense value to our clients and people alike. ”
Before joining Starcom, Kumar was Senior Vice President at Penguin Random House India. She has also worked in leadership roles at GroupM (Managing Partner North & East at Mediacom) and Mudra Communications (Office Head, Media, Delhi & Kolkata).
Embarking on her new role as COO, Kumar added: “I’ve always believed in the power of communications to influence a brand’s business impact and their relationship with consumers. Starcom has a diverse and interesting portfolio of clients, and I’m looking forward to working with them to drive more value, innovation and effectiveness for their media investments while also using the agency’s unique offerings to grow and strengthen the teams and the business”
GroupM agency MediaCom has announced the appointments of Shekhar Sharma and Averill Sequeria. Sharma will take the role of Managing Partner (North & East), while Sequeria will be joining as the Chief Product Officer.
Said Navin Khemka, Chief Executive Officer, MediaCom South Asia: “The media landscape is accelerating and ever-evolving. We want to continue to build on our strong track record of helping brands build campaigns that deliver results. Today brands want to communicate quickly and effectively, and we believe that together with our new appointments, we will be able to deliver more powerful work for our clients. With having Shekhar and Averill as a part of our team, I am convinced that they’re uniquely positioned to successfully drive the company and are here to put their best foot forward towards offering the best solution to our clients and strengthening our portfolio.”
By Indrani Sen
