MxMIndia

Tag: Havas Media

  • Boosts the brand engagement offer of the Havas Sports & Entertainment network with the acquisition of US-based experiential market leader ignition

    Havas Media announces expansion of its sports & entertainment ops

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media, one of the world’s leading media groups, announced a further expansion of its Havas Sports & Entertainment operations with the acquisition of ignition, an award winning, independent experiential marketing agency with offices in theUSA,London and Moscow.

     

    The acquisition forms part of Havas Sports & Entertainment’s strategy to up-weight its global brand engagement offer, particularly in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

     

    The ignition brand will join the Havas Sports & Entertainment and Cake Group agencies in delivering experiential campaigns in markets complementary to the network’s existing local footprint, which now spans 34 offices in 20 markets. With ignition’s headquarters and strongholds inAtlantaandNew York, the move will significantly increase Havas Sports & Entertainment capabilities in the US.

     

    ignition’s delivery of large-scale, event-led brand engagement campaigns and leadership in sustainable experiential marketing will also complement Havas Sports & Entertainment’s current branded content, social media, sponsorship consulting, PR, brand experience and research offers.

     

    Along with synergies in location and expertise, ignition also adds an attractive, long-retained client base with brands such as American Express, BP, Delta Air Lines, ESPN, Kia, United Nations Foundation, Victoria’s Secret and The Coca-Cola Company (with whom it holds a prestigious ‘global partner’ status).

     

    ignition will continue to be managed by Mike Hersom, current ignition president, alongside CindyAnn “CA” Hersom, CMO, and Dill and Susan Driscoll, the original founders. Hersom will report into Havas Sports & Entertainment’s global president and CEO Lucien Boyer.

     

    “We are proud to welcome ignition to the Havas Sports & Entertainment network. Together we will achieve great things thanks to ignition’s expertise and outstanding reputation for delivering sustainable consumer experiential events around the world,” said Mr Boyer.

     

    “ignition will add tangible value to the Havas Sports & Entertainment and Cake Group agencies in our network, helping to reinforce our strong global offering at a very interesting time for brands in sports and entertainment. ignition’s 15 year history of activating the Olympic Torch Relay, including for London 2012, and 14 years activating the Trophy Tour in relation to the FIFA World Cup for The Coca-Cola Company will also build on our involvement with these key clients and sports organizations.”

     

    Mr Hersom added: “Today the ignition brand goes truly global. With Havas Sports & Entertainment’s infrastructure, insight and reach, coupled with our 15 year track record of leading complex international consumer campaigns, we are now poised to take our magic to scale for sustainable growth. This move is part of Havas’ acquisition strategy to both develop and expand core areas of expertise and to target entrepreneurial, innovative forward-looking agencies that use creativity and technology to develop better relationships between consumers, brands and their wider communities.”

     

  • One learns from every profession but it's a different learning if one has had a dramatic shift in professions, says Nayyar

    The Anchor: Anita Nayyar on 6 things she has learnt from being in the media business

    It seems like a lifetime that one has been in the media business. One learns from every profession but it’s a different learning if one has had a dramatic shift in professions. From being a Microbiologist & Pathologist to the business of Media has been a long and interesting journey.

     

    Passion pays:

    Passion pays tremendously. Inspite of a dramatic shift in profession I realize that it was/is my passion to excel in whatever I do, has paid off in my career.

     

    Adapt as you progress:

    Key to success is to be always ready to adapt oneself especially in the fast moving and evolving industry like media. From full service to media brands, from implementation to strategy and planning, from traditional media solutions to integrated solutions, from media to communications, from media planning to communication planning.

     

    Eye for detail:

    As they say “God lies in the details”. In the fast paced, unorganized world of media and advertising unplanned and non implement-able big ideas fail to make impact of any kinds.

     

    Hardwork & Dedication:

    There is no shortcut to success. Hardwork and dedication are the key ingredients to a good professional recipe. Especially when you don’t have any mentors. Get known by your work.

     

    Multiple solutions:

    It is important to always have multiple solutions; it reduces the chances of failure.

    Alternates are keys to media solutions.

     

    Never repeat mistakes:

    In media you are allowed to make a mistake only once hence, never ever repeat a mistake, it costs.

     

    Anita Nayyar is the CEO, India & South Asia at Havas Media

     

  • The Havas Media CEO for South Asia has put in her papers and is all set to put in her learnings of 28 years as Head of Customer Strategy at The Times of India group.

    Anita Nayyar quits Havas, to join BCCL as Head of Customer Strategy

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media CEO – South Asia Anita Nayyar is moving on and is joining Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL) as Head of Customer Strategy.

     

    A Havas Media spokesperson has confirmed the development. While a hunt is on for Ms Nayyar’s replacement, Mr Mohit Joshi, until now Managing Partner of MPG India, has now been elevated to Managing Director.

     

    “It is a challenging role and I will be able to utilise all the learnings of 28 years from the agency side,” Ms Nayyar told MxMIndia indicating that she will continue to be based in Delhi.

     

    Ms Nayyar has been with Havas since 2007 and prior to this was Executive Director at Starcom and Vice President at Mudra Communications.

     

    Said Mr Vishnu Mohan, CEO, Havas Media APAC, “After five years, Anita leaves behind an organization seven times stronger with several specialist brands that today are over 40% of group’s portfolio and a strong talent force that are leaders in their own right. We thank her for her stewardship and wish her every success in this new stint on the other side after 28 years in the agency business. We are at present in the process of identifying a suitable leader for this role and should make an announcement to that effect shortly.”

     

  • The account, worth upwards of Rs20 Crores, will be handled by MPG Delhi

    Sleepwell appoints MPG as its media AOR

    By A Correspondent

     

    MPG India, a flagship brand of Havas Media, has been appointed as the media AOR for Sleepwell.

     

    The account, worth upwards of Rs20 Crores, will be handled by MPG Delhi. On MPG’s appointment, Manoj Sharma, Head of Marketing, Sleepwell said: “We are happy to partner with MPG. We found their approach very thorough and insightful. Their strategic thinking is driven by MPG proprietary tools which provide a holistic communication perspective. Most importantly, their extremely passionate and enthusiastic team made us choose them as our media partners.”

     

    Commenting on the win, Anita Nayyar, CEO of MPG South Asia said: “It is a great privilege to be working with Sleepwell. One of the key factors that helped us win this business was our strategic approach to communication using our proprietary tools. It’s a great win for MPG to kick-start the second quarter.”

     

    Sleepwell is a flagship brand of Sheela Group, it is ISO 9001 certified as well.

     

    For the records, Sleepwell was erstwhile with Motivator (Group M).

     

  • Ms Sengupta will take charge of the agency's strategic offering and product development. She will also take custodianship of Havas Media's proprietary tools and processes

    MPG India appoints Ruma Sengupta as Director of Strategy

    By A Correspondent

     

    MPG India, the flagship brand of Havas Media, has announced the appointment of Ruma Sengupta as Director of Strategy.

    Based out of Mumbai, Ms Sengupta will work closely with MPG’s four key offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, to take charge of the agency’s strategic offering and product development in keeping with the vision of Leading New Thinking. She will also take custodianship of Havas Media’s proprietary tools and processes.

     

    Ms Sengupta will report to Anita Nayyar, CEO of Havas Media South Asia and also work closely with the regional strategy team based out Singapore.

    Ms Sengupta joins the agency with 15 years of experience and expertise across marketing, branding, sales, strategy, MR and analytics. She was most recently the Director of Business Insight for Synovate, where she was responsible for key international clients across FMCG categories. Prior to this, she has worked as Business Head for IMRB International. Her diverse experience also includes working in senior marketing roles at Adlabs Films Limited owned by Reliance ADAG and United Spirits Limited at UB Group.

     

    Ms Sengupta’s longest stint has been with Ranbaxy Global Consumer Healthcare where she launched OTC & DTC business and managed it successfully through marketing and sales-distribution.

    Commenting on the appointment, Ms Nayyar said: “Havas Media is well-known for the high quality of its strategic product and tools and Ruma has the right credentials and attitude to take control of our strategic offering. Her flair is evident from her extraordinary background having worked with top research agencies like Synovate and IMRB. Her previous experience in spearheading marketing and innovation capabilities with brands is a plus.”

     

    MPG anchors Havas Media, the world’s fastest growing global media network and recipient of the network Service Award at the 2010 Valencia Festival of Media. MPG provides media planning & buying, strategic consulting, branded entertainment and interactive marketing services for a range of clients in every region of the world. With offices in 109 countries, MPG consists of over 3,500 media professionals working across a broad variety of disciplines and categories.

     

    Havas Media, the global media network of Havas, is one of the world’s fastest growing media groups having grown from 10 markets in 1999 to 122 markets in 2012. Havas Media services its clients through a portfolio of specialist global networks and agencies. The group is organised to maximise local market dynamics whilst leveraging the extensive global insight and strategic support under its Meaningful Brands framework and analysis.

     

    The companies within Havas Media include: MPG (Havas Media’s global media communications network), Arena Media (Havas Media’s tailor-made communications network), Havas Digital (Havas Media’s global interactive network) and Havas Sports & Entertainment (Havas Media’s global sports and entertainment communication network).

     

  • As the global agency of record, MPG and Havas Digital will continue to handle both the online and offline media responsibilities for the airline in all 54 Air France markets

    Havas Media wins Air France global account

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media retained the global Air France account following a competitive pitch with VivaKi (Publicis Groupe) that commenced in the second half of 2011. MPG, the largest media network under Havas Media, will support the win. MPG will manage the Air France account out of the French hub.

     

    As the global agency of record, MPG and Havas Digital will continue to handle both the online and offline media responsibilities for the airline in all 54 Air France markets. In addition, Havas regained digital markets throughout Asia that had previously been managed by VivaKi, including China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Philippines.

     

    “On behalf of the whole team, I would like to thank Air France for renewing their confidence in Havas for the fourth time, thereby continuing the relationship that has been in place since 1992,” said Pascal Dasseux, COO Havas Media France.

     

    Havas Media – a real-time Global media agency leader – seeks to bring to Air France real-time solutions and constant reactivity thanks to a widely interlinked network; all Havas Media agencies will collaborate more closely and efficiently using their proprietary Flightdeck tool as well as the management and optimisation of paid, owned and earned media.

     

    MPG anchors the world’s fastest growing global media network, Havas Media. MPG provides media planning & buying, strategic consulting, branded entertainment and interactive marketing services for a range of clients in every region of the world. With offices in over 100 countries, MPG consists of over 5,000 media professionals working across a broad variety of disciplines and categories. MPG was named Mediapost’s Media Agency of the Year 2009-2011.

     

    Havas Media, the global media network of Havas, is one of the world’s fastest growing media groups having grown from 10 markets in 1999 to 122 markets in 2012. The companies within Havas Media include: MPG (Havas Media’s global media communications network), Arena Media (Havas Media’s tailor-made communications network), Havas Digital (Havas Media’s global interactive network) and Havas Sports & Entertainment (Havas Media’s global sports and entertainment communication network).

     

  • Customers in India & China would pay 10 per cent more for socially and responsible brands, says report

    Havas Media launches Meaningful Brands study

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media has come out with findings of its research that suggests that 20 per cent of brands have a notable positive impact on our sense of well-being and quality of life. Some of the findings also suggest that majority of consumers are willing to pay 10 per cent more for socially and environmentally responsible goods in India and China and 95 per cent and 85 per cent say they trust companies with a responsible or social profile more than those without in China and India respectively.

     

    This is the fourth yearly study done by Havas Media, which started initially with a study on sustainability and has evolved further to studying Meaningful Brands.

     

    What is intriguing is that for the second year running, Havas Media found that most people would not care if 70 per cent of the brands ceased to exist. Further, it argues, that the existing approaches to building and measuring brand value are out of date. As a direct response, Havas Media has launched ‘Meaningful Brands’, a global framework that offers a new index, analysis and proprietary tools to measure and build brand value in the context of today’s demanding environment.

     

    This innovative global undertaking that covers India and China in Asia Pacific enables, for the first time, to connect brands with our quality of life and well-being. It does this by measuring the perceived impact of brands on our personal wellbeing – their influence on factors such as our health, fitness, happiness, values, social relationships, financial security, lifestyles and habits – and our collective well-being, that is, how brands help to improve communities, societies and the environment.

     

    Speaking to MxMIndia, Vishnu Mohan, CEO of Havas Media Asia Pacific, said: “The findings suggest that the brands in the emerging markets like Asia have a much more positive impact and score higher on trust as compared to western market. It would have been believed that vice versa would be true but this study shows that the future of brands is higher in emerging markets like India. My interpretation is that valued brands are those that have values too. Hence those brands that are considered meaningful also have been performing well on the stock index.”

     

    The research was carried out from March to June 2011 across 14 markets – France, Spain, UK, Germany, Italy, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, China, Japan and India. The research took into account the views of 50,000 consumers via online panels. Mr Mohan explained that the plan is to include more markets and consumers to make it more robust.

     

    The findings of Meaningful Brands analysis are especially relevant for marketers in Asia. It clearly shows the seriousness with which consumers in Asia look at the social, ethical and environmental aspects of a brand. As a region, which is growing at a rapid pace, the findings provide us a huge opportunity to create the context that promotes the growth of meaningful brands. Companies and brands operating in our region can play a big role in transforming the lives of millions of people and contribute to the progress of their societies.

     

    Some of the key consumer trends in China and India include:

     

    • 74 per cent and 62 per cent say they would pay 10 per cent more for socially and environmentally responsible goods in China and India (highest globally, aside from Chile).
    • Information and expense are the main barriers to socially responsible consumption, with credibility being another key issue in both markets.
    • 84 per cent in China feel it’s the responsibility of companies rather than the government to solve social and environmental issues (compared with 64 per cent in 2009) and 76 per cent in India, with a similar increase, since 2009.
    • 95 per cent and 85 per cent say they trust companies with a responsible or social profile more than those without in China and India respectively.
    • Empowerment is down in China: 64 per cent feel that they can make a difference to how companies behave and this is static in India at 71 per cent.
    • But so is cynicism: 71 per cent feel that most companies are only trying to be responsible to improve their image and only 12 per cent trust what companies say in this area.

     

    The analysis suggests that the next generation of brands will come from emerging economies. People in fast growing economies, such as Asian and Latin American markets, record a stronger and healthier relationship with brands. The proportion of brands making a notable positive contribution to our lives increases to around 57 per cent in China, 30 per cent in Latin America, compared to 8 per cent in

     

    European markets, where people tend to be more skeptical and less engaged with brands. In the US, it’s 5 per cent. By contrast, the situation in developed economies is the opposite. Brands in these regions are no longer seen to improve people’s quality of life.

     

    Meaningful Brands helps us to develop this type of relationship by understanding exactly what people expect from brands. It also helps us track how successful companies are responding to these needs by understanding how these companies are contributing to our wellbeing, both as citizens and individuals, and how they communicate these values to us. It also shows us that there’s a big business opportunity for brands which are able to satisfy consumers by creating wellbeing in the context of their new values, expectations and local market realities.

     

  • Ecselis will complement Havas Media's existing brands MPG, Media Contacts, Mobext and HS&E by providing specialised services

    Havas expands Ecselis in APAC with Rajeev Bala at helm

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media announces the expansion of its specialist Performance and Quantitative marketing arm, Ecselis to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.

     

    Launched in India in 2009, Ecselis currently has a team of 55 performance experts based in the country with clients across SEA, India, Europe and Australia. Ecselis will complement Havas Media’s existing brands MPG, Media Contacts, Mobext and HS&E by providing specialised services including Conversion Rate Optimisation, Attribution Modelling, Quality Score Management in addition to data, search and analytics.

     

    To be headquartered in Singapore, Ecselis will be led by Rajeev Bala, who takes charge as Managing Director for Asia Pacific, reporting in to Vishnu Mohan, CEO of Havas Media Asia Pacific. Rajeev joined Media Contacts in 2008 to lead the Singapore operations and was subsequently promoted to the role of Regional Director of Media Contacts for Southeast Asia. In the last four years, Rajeev has been credited with infusing exceptional talent at the agency along with building an impressive client roster.

     

    Commenting on the expansion, Vishnu Mohan, said: “The need for advanced quantitative and performance orientated skill sets is growing rapidly. Rajeev has done a great job of building Media Contacts in the region, and has the deep domain and consultative expertise to grow Ecselis, as we expand our digital footprint across the region.”

     

    On his new role, Rajeev Bala, Regional Director of Media Contacts said “Ecselis is already an established organisation with very niche skills. I am excited by the opportunities and see Ecselis evolving into a deeply specialized company. We have aggressive plans for growing this across APAC over the next four quarters.”

     

    The agency is in the process of hiring senior executives for Kuala Lumpur and Sydney offices. The offices are likely to be fully functional by the end of second quarter.

     

  • Post its re-entry into India, Peugeot is now looking out for agencies to handle its PR mandates.

    Peugeot seeking PR agency in India

    By Shubhangi Mehta

    Peugeot, the French motor car brand, has called for a PR pitch after its re entry in the Indian market, industry sources close to the development have confirmed the news to MxM India.

    The creative mandates for them are mainly handled by Euro RSCG globally and Peugeot is one of the biggest clients for Havas Media .

    Peugeot is gunning for the launch of the Peugeot 508 premium sedan in India before the end of 2012. The car will be priced in the range of Rs 20-25 lakh. Apart from the Volkswagen Passat, the 508 will have to compete for space against Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Teana.

    After its exit from the country nearly 15 years ago, the company is cautious on its re-entry. Globally, the brand competes with Volkswagen and such brands and it is expected to be similar in India.

    The French company will set up a vehicle manufacturing facility near Sanand at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore ($650 million). At an initial capacity of 165,000 vehicles a year, the plant is slated to be commissioned by 2014 and can be expanded to 340,000 units in phases.

    The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion trademark. The company produced its first automobile in 1891. Due to family discord, Armand Peugeot in 1896 founded the Société des Automobiles Peugeot.

    Peugeot’s roots go back to 19th-century coffee milling and bicycle manufacturing. The Peugeot company and family is originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant and Peugeot Museum there. It also sponsors the Sochaux football club, founded in 1928 by a member of the Peugeot family.