MxMIndia

Tag: Madhukar Sabnavis

  • Chumbak has evolved into a lifestyle brand with offline presence in 12 Indian cities

    Ogilvy Blr wins mandate for Chumbak

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ogilvy Bangalore has been awarded the mandate for Chumbak after winning a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Said Vivek Prabhakar, CEO and Co-Founder of Chumbak: “With the strong growth we have seen across our retail and online channels and our fast growing portfolios across Fashion and Home, we realised the need to work with a strong creative partner to help harness the Chumbak story. In Ogilvy we found the perfect partner to realise our ambitions both as a brand and a business.”

     

    Added Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman and Director- Client Relations, Ogilvy and Mather: “Chumbak is an amazing brand that has built a substantial cult following over the last few years. We are happy to partner them in the next stage of their brand building journey. What’s exciting is how to maintain the balance between consumer needs and designer dreams and intuition as Chumbak expands its footprint in the country.”

     

     

  • The event is scheduled for 21st January 2016 in Mumbai at AAAI's Training Centre at Lower Parel

    Madhukar Sabnavis to lead ‘Mining for Insights’ workshop in Mumbai

    By A Correspondent

     

    Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) under the aegis of the AAAI Prowess initiative has announced a one-day Consumer Insights workshop titled ‘Mining for Insights’. The event is scheduled for 21st January 2016 in Mumbai at AAAI’s Training Centre at Lower Parel. This workshop will be led by Madhukar Sabnavis.

     

    Insights and ideas are the most popular words in the world of advertising. Madhukar will share with participants what an insight is, why is it important in communication, where do you find them and how do you unearth them. He will use real life examples of successful communication to illustrate the same. Five types of insights will be covered- Product, Human, Social, Cultural and Digital and is targeted at young leaders with 5-10 years of experience.

     

    The workshop will be in two parts – In the morning, it will be a class room session explaining the concepts with illustrations; In the afternoon, it will be a workshop- fun and learning- to actually unearth insights using some data. The participants will work in groups to uncover some insights. This will be a learning-by-sharing session. While Madhukar will share his views, he will also encourage the participants to share their experiences so that learning is enhanced through sharing.

     

    Madhukar Sabnavis is Vice Chairman and Director- Client Relations at Ogilvy and Mather India. He has over 30 years of experience in advertising – 27 of them with Ogilvy. He has championed some innovative techniques to understand brands and consumers – Media ethnography, social listening and semiotics decoding of advertising- to name a few. His interests include teaching and writing. He has taught in many business schools and has contributed columns for many business publications.

     

  • MAX HD will be available across multiple DTH and leading digital cable platforms

    Sony Max launches HD avatar

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sony Pictures Networks Television India (SPN) has added an HD channel to its bouquet of offerings by launching MAX HD. With a differentiated brand positioning of ‘Jee Ke Dekho’, MAX HD will entice viewers and bring alive the emotions and moments that touch various aspects of their life. The channel mirrors the disposition of the Indian viewers who love their movies, appreciate superior quality and expect premiumness in their TV watching experience.

     

    MAX HD will go on air from 25th December 2015. To celebrate the season’s festivities MAX HD will  showcase blockbuster films such as  Bahubali, PK, Queen, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Ram Leela and Aashiqui, to name a few.

     

    MAX HD will be available across multiple DTH and leading digital cable platforms.

     

  • India's first professional three-year undergraduate program based on a work-study model

    ISDI WPP School of Communication launched in Mumbai

    By A Correspondent

     

    WPP and the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI), a fast-growing recognized leader in arts and design vocational education, jointly announced the establishment of the ISDI WPP School of Communication.

     

    Located on ISDI’s state of the art campus in the heart of India’s business capital, Mumbai, the ISDI WPP School of Communication marks WPP’s first foray into the Indian education sector. The partnership will help create India’s first professional three-year undergraduate diploma program in communication based on a unique work-study model that will bring together a strong academic and creative curriculum combined with practical application.

     

    The admissions process is currently underway through an online application form. The school recently hosted its first Accepted Students day where students and their parents had an opportunity to interact with the leadership team and faculty. The inaugural batch will commence in August 2015 with the first cohort of 60students.

     

    The ISDI WPP School of Communication is WPP’s second education initiative globally. In 2011, WPP in partnership with the Shanghai Arts and Design Academy established the WPP School of Marketing and Communications in China. The program has just successfully completed its fourth year with 220 students enrolled.

     

    WPP and WPP companies, which are globally recognized for their in-house training and development programs, have worked closely with ISDI to develop the School’s curriculum and hire full-time faculty. Radha Kapoor, Founder & Director, ISDI, will lead the School’s board of directors. Additionally, senior staff from WPP companies will serve as part-time faculty and act as mentors. Internship and training opportunities will also be provided to students. An Executive Council has also been set up to oversee the smooth functioning of the 3-year program. ISDI is represented by Dr. Indu Shahani, Dean HR College, Radha Kapoor & Siddharth Shahani, Directors, ISDI; and WPP India by Ranjan Kapur, Country Manager, Paul Mower, Country Finance Director and Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman & Country Head of Discovery & Planning, Ogilvy & Mather.

     

    While the list of visiting faculty will be marked by celebrated names such as Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and National Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather, and Roshan Abbas, Managing Director at Encompass Events, the program directors will include the likes of Madhukar Sabnavis, and CVL Srinivas, CEO at GroupM for South Asia, among others.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said, “Amid strong growth in the wider economy and, more specifically, in our sector, India is facing a pronounced talent shortage, one that is expected to become even more acute in the future.” He added, “As the leading communications group in India and the world, WPP is committed to helping India to further develop the already high level of creative and professional talent in this sector.”

     

    Speaking on the supply-demand gap for fresh talent in the industry, Ranjan Kapur, Country Manager – India at WPP, said, “We employ approximately 15,000 people (including associates) and on an average, we need 3,000 new recruits every year, including replacements and first timers and this school is just a small beginning. We hope to expand this to be able to cover a significantly large part of our requirements and turnout 400-500 young men and women every year from our school. Our first batch of 60 students is just the beginning.”

     

    The School will offer students a three-year undergraduate program, wherein, the first year comprises of basic marketing and communication subjects and the second and third year offers students four major specialisations to choose from- Advertising and Communications, Media, Activation and Digital Marketing and Public Relations. WPP Lectures will run from Monday to Saturday, in the afternoons. Throughout the three years, students will be taught and mentored by top professionals from WPP and the industry, will work on live projects, build a portfolio, develop practical work skills, and have the opportunity to intern with WPP companies and get international exposure through student exchange and study abroad programs.

     

  • Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Nikhil Rangnekar and Madhukar Sabnavis

    What Ticks for Indian Consumers/ Women- Nikhil Rangnekar and Madhukar Sabnavis

    Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Nikhil Rangnekar and Madhukar Sabnavis

     

     

    ‘Women are emotional beings who need constant attention’

     

    By Nikhil Rangnekar

     

    A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.

    – Rudyard Kipling, author

     

    When you’re talking to a target group with a strong emotional quotient (EQ) and extremely strong purchasing power, you need to be a careful marketer. Here are some things to remember when marketing to this ever-evolving power tribe:

     

    • Stay away from claims that can’t be supported with data, research, consumer experience or any other tangible evidence:

    Women are less likely to fall for unsupported claims or marketing gimmicks. I remember a shampoo ad in India that showed research done in Thailand as proof of their claim. Not only do these kind of gimmicks show the marketer in poor light but they also have a negative ruboff on the brand.

     

    • Understand emerging segments within women and cater to them differently:

    The emerging class of “single urban working women” is buying products like cars, 2-wheelers, insurance etc. and taking these decisions on their own. It’s time marketers recognized this segment and actively created strategies to target this audience. This could start from conceiving/developing new products/brands designed specifically for these women to advertising and media usage based on insights and media-analytics.

     

     

    		  

    Targetingworking women

     

    By Madhukar Sabnavis

     

    According to the National Sample Survey, 30.7 per cent of the labour force in the age group 15-59 is female; and 19.9 per cent of organized sector employees are women. So, working woman is a significant segment. What does it take to address this segment? Why do Indian women work? In the lower income class, it’s often for sustaining the household- many men in this group are sponges. In middle class households, it’s often to supplement income to help live the lifestyle family members aspire for.

     

    In fact, it is in this segment that many educated women are socially dissuaded to work post marriage- the men folk think it’s an ‘insult’ to have the woman work. This is changing albeit slowly- largely because double income means more comfortable life. In upper income segments, women work as hobbies- to fill the free time from home duty and when other folk in the house are out doing their own things. This could sound an oversimplification; but it is perhaps close to the truth. Many researches among the lower and lower middle income groups have revealed that women who work before marriage do so not to get a better bridegroom or for self fulfillment but to give their family- parents and siblings- a better life!

     

    There are the ‘odd’ middle class women who work before marriage to fulfill their personal dreams before marriage settles their life forever- however, they remain small. It’s instructive to understand two classes of women who don’t work post marriage. If the choice is personal and the relationship with the husband is one of mutual respect, there is little angst. Where the choice is enforced and the relationship is one of duty, there is angst. The angst is often about the lack of respect that she feels she would have got if she had been working.

     

     
     

    • Recognise the changing shopping behaviour of women:

    Gone are the days when advertising on mass media alone was the mantra for success. Shopping, especially in metros and mini metros, has shifted from the grocer to the local super market. What are the implications of this changing behavior? Firstly, it is likely that the role of the grocer/shop-keeper would have diminished significantly and peer group, friends and relatives are the new source of information about brands. Marketers need to keep existing consumers happy and have a robust WOM strategy in place. Engagement – thy name is woman:

     

    Women are emotional beings who need constant attention… 🙂 Most of the advertising we see still depicts the woman in a stereotypical role e.g. mother, wife, sister-in-law etc. To make matters worse, communication is a one-way street where the brand talks and the woman listens.

     

    It’s time to move away from this monologue and start a dialogue with the consumer. With the proliferation of digital media, successful brands will be the ones that engage with their audience.

     

     

     

    		  

    What does this all mean? ‘Working’ woman or ‘house wife’ the core driver of the Indian woman remains family and nurturance- the need to be a fantastic homemaker. So, what do brands need to do to target them right? Clearly these women, when part of double income families, can afford better products and services for the family. However to manage their lives, convenience, time management and stress reduction are good product benefits.

     

    Guilt reduction is a good brand statement that helps the working woman feel better. However, deeper what she will cherish most is brands that get family and society realize, understand and appreciate the ‘two’ jobs a working woman is doing, show her respect and provide her help for doing the same. This is a big gap in the working woman’s life. In fact, celebrating a ‘housewife’s full time job is an implicit tribute to the ‘higher’ value a ‘working’ woman is bringing to a family.

     

    More than celebrating her ‘superwoman hood’, the working woman can be more powerfully activated and engaged by driving greater social consciousness about her challenges and her contributions. Something worth thinking about.

     

     

     

  • Up-close with the vice chair and country head – discovery and planning, elevated to be Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide Board

    Basics don’t change for Madhukar Sabnavis

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    This Valentine’s Day would have been especially sweet for Ogilvy & Mather India. Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman and Country Head, Discovery and Planning, O&M India, was one of the 12 new members appointed to the O&M Worldwide Board. Having spent 25 years at Ogilvy, Mr Sabnavis is only the second Indian after Piyush Pandey to become a part of the board. (More here: http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/02/madhukar-sabnavis-on-oms-worldwide-board/)

     

    “At a personal level I am delighted! It’s clearly a reflection of the growing emergence of India in the network. It’s a recognition of Ogilvy India’s performance on the twin peaks of creativity and effectiveness. And the agency’s sustained strong performance over the years,” is how Mr Sabnavis summarised his reaction to the news.

     

    The news has humbled the disciplined man even further. He remarked, “My twenty-five years in Ogilvy have been a continuous journey; it’s a continuous attempt to keep up the excellence the company has achieved and keep pushing the bar up in terms of quality of work.” How does he manage to do this? “The basics don’t change – continue to find communication solutions for client problems. However, it needs to be done in a new environment and new media that makes it both challenging and exciting.”

     

     

    Future Ogilvy India bossman?

    Many in the industry who track Ogilvy believe there is a larger role in the Ogilvy India fold that is possibly being written for Mr Sabnavis. “Experience within our set-up and age are on his side,” one senior executive told MxMIndia on conditions of anonymity. A former O&M executive remarked that there are three clear pillars of the agency in India– Piyush Pandey (executive chairman), SN Rane (co-executive chairman) and Madhukar Sabnavis (vice-chairman). “Madhukar is a suit, but not the client servicing person in the traditional mould,” said the senior Ogilvy exec. “Being a planning whiz and his understanding of brands makes him a key constituent of the succession plan.”

     

    It’s early days yet, but, in the meantime, it’s business as usual.

    – MxM Bureau

    A graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (1983-85), Mr Sabnavis has been writing for various publications as well. In a yearender article in 2012, he remarked that it was a quiet, uneventful and forgettable year for the A&M industry. However, despite a slowdown in the overall economy, he reviews 2012 as a challenging year for the industry. He said, “We saw a slowdown in the overall economy that put pressure on marketing; but the industry responded quite well. While there were quite a few interesting campaigns, what stood out for me was the interesting use of digital power – whether it was on the internet through social media or otherwise, or whether it was on-ground activation or the DTH platform.”

     

    “Attempts were made to break the mould that portends a trend for the future. A commercial had its soundtrack debuted on the net before going on the tube; the makings of commercials were showcased on the DTH platform – and even in traditional media, a move was made towards longer duration to break the mould. Clearly marketing and advertising is rethinking paradigms and we hopefully should see more of it this year and in the years to come,” he added.

     

    According to Mr Sabnavis, the biggest challenge the industry currently faces is ‘talent’. “That’s something one would like to focus on a little more and work harder at attracting new talent and keeping the best within the industry fold,” he said.

     

    And has Ogilvy fared well? He definitely thinks so. According to him, Ogilvy India has been built on the two pillars of creativity and effectiveness and “we have been doing pretty well on those two pillars in the last few years. The task to keep this momentum going remains. In the last two years our global Marketing Services Center in Bengaluru has strengthened and shown strong growth. That’s the third pillar we want to grow as we go into the future. It has a strong delivery arm and a strong data analytics wing that caters to clients across the globe.” For him and Ogilvy, the way forward remains focusing, strengthening and growing the three pillars – creativity, effectiveness and delivery.

     

    Having spent nearly 28 years in advertising, Mr Sabnavis thinks he is fortunate that the right things have happened to him at the right time. “I have had the chance of working on some of the best clients at the right time in the ’80s and ’90s (and this continued into the new millennium when I moved into planning) when the market was opening up and brands began attempting to establish themselves, and this was very enriching. I have had the opportunity of setting up a second agency for Ogilvy – RMG David – which was a very liberating experience and then in the last decade the opportunity to set up and drive Planning in Ogilvy. During this journey I have worked with some great seniors, each of them having contributed their bit in shaping my thinking and approach to advertising and business,” he said.

     

    The biggest influencers on Mr Sabnavis, as he says, have been the teamwork and clients. “The Teamwork – I have worked with over the years; the creative people I have worked with – and have been fortunate to work with many stars – have helped me learn the importance of ‘magic’ alongside ‘logic’ – the importance of iteration as part of the process of creation and the joy of seeing yourself as co creator rather than just the brief giver. Second, the clients who over the years I have seen as partners in this process and equal contributors to the process; so the best work comes from the quartet of client, creative, servicing and planning. And in the last decade, the planning and servicing people I have worked with have been stimulating. The Ogilvy planning team has been quite inspirational with the diversity of ways in which they approach problems and the breadth of understanding they bring. Much of what I achieved as a servicing guy in the ’80s and ’90s was enabled by wonderful servicing partners who worked seamlessly with me,” he said.

     

    “However, in planning in the last 10 years, I have learnt how strong servicing people can provide a bedrock for others to drive and deliver great thinking and work. Simply put, the Ogilvy teamwork has been perhaps the biggest influence – the biggest glue for me to the agency,” concluded Mr Sabnavis.

     

  • Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman and Country Head, Discovery and Planning, O&M India, is one of 12 new members appointed to the worldwide board of Ogilvy and Mather

    Madhukar Sabnavis on O&M’s worldwide board

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madhukar Sabnavis

    Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman and Country Head, Discovery and Planning, O&M India, is one of 12 new members appointed to the worldwide board of Ogilvy and Mather, in changes announced yesterday by O&M.

     

    Carla Hendra, Chairman of OgilvyRED, the agency’s global strategy and innovation practice, has been appointed vice-chairman of the board, a newly created position. Additionally, the agency announced a significant expansion of the board to include a more diverse and youthful group of leadership.

     

    Commenting on the12 new members who were elected to the board, Chairman and CEO Miles Young remarked, “These additions represent a wonderful range of our key talent and inject a significant infusion of new blood. Our board will now be significantly more diverse, and I believe, will be reflective of and useful for many of the debates about content which need to happen at the heart of our business.”

     

    Commenting on Carla Hendra, Mr Young added, “I am so very pleased to announce that Carla has been elected to the role of vice-chairman. Carla’s contribution over the years has been enormous, not least recently as the founder and driver of OgilvyRED. As our board continues to grow, we will need someone with Carla’s laser focus and drive to help harness the diverse talents and viewpoints within our board to the advantage of the entire agency.”

     

    The newly elected members are:

    Nelly Andersen, Executive Vice President of Global Brands, OgilvyOne Worldwide

    Lou Aversano, Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy East

    Brandon Berger, Worldwide Chief Digital Officer

    Shenan Chuang, CEO of O&M Greater China

    Annette King, CEO of OgilvyOne EAME and Chairman of OgilvyOne London

    Paul Matheson, Regional President Strategy and Planning of O&M Asia Pacific

    Jaime Prieto, President of Global Brand Management

    Ben Richards, Worldwide Head of Integrated Strategy

    Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman and Country Head, Discovery and Planning, O&M India

    Gunther Schumacher, Worldwide Chief Operating Officer of OgilvyOne Worldwide

    Steve Simpson, Chief Creative Officer of O&M North America

    Paul Smith, Regional Creative Director EAME