MxMIndia

Tag: Mindshare South Asia

  • 90% consumers use only mobile devices in their path to purchase for Travel, Music and Movies*

    Yahoo-Mindshare study analyses online shopping behavior of Indian consumers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Yahoo and Mindshare announced the findings of their joint study of the India market: ‘Mobile Consumer Journey – 2016’. The study is based on research of users’ shopping behavior across devices for 31 different categories including travel, electronic devices and consumer packaged goods. Findings highlight the dominant play of mobile devices in the consumer’s purchase decisions.

     

    The study throws light on the role of mobile in a consumer’s purchase journey – how the devices get used in different stages, key drivers and barriers to the final purchase decision, consumers’ preferences of how to buy and where to buy, top selling categories on mobile, and cities that see the most mobile transactions. The study aims to equip marketers with insights on India, to sharpen their digital and mobile commerce initiatives and build a strong mobile strategy.

     

    Commenting on the findings, M A Parthasarathy, Chief Product Officer, Mindshare South Asia said, “The ecommerce landscape in India is perhaps the most dynamic in the world, largely due to the rapidly evolving mobile ecosystem. This research highlights the role of mobile from the top of funnel to the bottom and how it varies across product categories. It will help us develop sharper, more connected communication strategies for brands.”

     

    Francis Che, Head of Insights, APAC, Yahoo added, “The study shows that the consumer path-to-purchase is turning more complex and nonlinear, with mobile at the center of this evolution. As mobile devices become more important in the consumer’s last mile of purchase decision, brands need to build targeted, more seamless shopping experience across all channels to strengthen sales and acquire new customers.”

     

    Key findings from the study:

    1. Drivers and barriers of online transactions:

    a. 31 per cent of online shoppers cite saving time or effort as their main reason for shopping online.

    b. Attractive discounts and promotions is another key driver as stated by 28 per cent of online shoppers.

    c. 21 per cent cite the convenience to shop anywhere, anytime as a big draw.

     

    The barriers that keep them away from shopping online include – non-authentic goods, unreliable delivery and lack of quality control.

    2. A city-wise break-up for mobile transactions show that 75 per cent online shoppers in Kolkata are open to mobile transactions followed by Chennai with 64 and Delhi with 57 per cent. Surprisingly online shoppers in metros like Mumbai & Bangalore seem more ‘cautiously open’ with less than 35 per cent of them preferring mobile transactions over other mode of payments.

     

    3. Mobile “browse” tends to convert to mobile “buy”

    a. Of the total number of consumers browsing for products on mobile, 79% prefer buying on a mobile device compared to 9% on PC/laptop and 12% in a physical store.

    b. Clearly, brands have a big window of opportunity – from creating awareness to final purchase decision – to connect and engage with their target audiences on mobile devices.

     

    4. Distinctive consumer journeys by category Online shoppers are more likely to use their mobile device to make regular or impulse purchases rather than expensive, high consideration purchases.

    a. Over 90% of the consumers use mobile devices for quick and frequent purchases of Travel, Music & Movies.

    b. 36% consumers prefer buying high-consideration products like Insurance on their PC/ Laptop. 24% consumers prefer buying health supplements on PC/ Laptop.

    c. Categories with significant in-store purchases include Personal Hygiene (30%) & Luxury Accessories (27%).

     

    5. Categories on the high growth quadrant – ranked by number of consumers buying them on mobile over other modes – include apparel, electronic devices, baby and pet care products. Users are less likely to buy financial services products on mobile as they see these as more complex purchase decisions.

     

  • Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia speaks on Mindshare's excellent showing at the Media Abby

    Prasanth Kumar: Focus on breaking clutter & fragmentation

    Winning ways continue for Mindshare. After an emphatic win at the Emvies last year…

    Yes, we will make sure that continues forever. We finished 2015 in great style. We won about 176 awards. This year has also seen an excellent beginning. Goafest has been a great opportunity for us to show some of our great work, many more clients, and many more brands.

     

    Are you happy with the work this year? Also, the fact that there was no Grand Prix in Media must be a disappointment?

    Good work across categories were observed but maybe the Grand Prix required greater push or needed more out-of-the-box thinking. For me, it was good to find the works of some 11 or 12 clients shortlisted. I simply look at how we can get more and more awards across categories, trends and work.

     

    Does winning against sibling Maxus makes it sweeter?

    Being a winner is always delightful. I don’t look at it from the point of winning against A, B or C.

     

    Media Abby vis-a-vis the Emvies… what do these mean to you?

    At the Media Abby at Goafest, there is a lot of focus on creativity and inventiveness. The Emvies looks at things from a business perspective, in addition to all of these. More and more, I find people who are looking at both sides, which is not something distinct. They have to be more closely linked and work hand-in-hand. Any work you do, should be for the brand.

     

    Is the focus is on doing work that’s different and ‘hatke’?

    Yes, the emphasis is on providing innovative solutions to clients, to break the clutter and fragmentation.

     

    The Emvies are not far away. Do you hope to do an encore there?

    Certainly, and it’s not just hope. As you said, the winning continues. We will ensure that we do some great work…

     

  • Mindshare topped the metals with 17 awards tally followed by Maxus with 7. Lodestar UM and Madison Media bagged six metals each

    Winnning ways for Mindshare

     

    Media agency major topped the metals tally at the Media Abby awards held on Day 1 of Goafest 2016. Mindshare was awarded two Golds, six Silvers and nine Bronze metals. The first runner-up was sibling Maxus with seven metals (one Gold, two Silvers and four Bronzes).

     

    The parameters we were looking for was work that is fresh and unique, said Pratap Bose, Jury Chair of the Media Awards, adding that the jury did not find any of the shortlisted entries making the cut for a Grand Prix, the highest level of the awards.

     

    Lodestar UM and Madison Media secured six metals each with four Silvers and two Bronze awards. New entrant The Social Street won two golds and two silvers.

     

    There were a total of 76 agencies which participated in the Media Abby, sending in 1015 entries this year. The number of jury members was 86 and a total of 77 metals were awarded (11 Golds, 36 Silvers and 30 Bronzes).

     

    For Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia, it is a continuation of the agency’s winning ways after the agency coming out tops at last year’s Emvies Awards of the Advertising Club. “Yes, we ended 2015 with 176 awards and this year has also been equally spectacular,” he said, adding that the emphasis is on providing innovative solution to clients to break the clutter and fragmentation.

     

    Along with the Media Abby, the Publisher Abby awards were also presented. Dainik Jagran newspaper was presented 10 of the 17 awards.

     

     

     

  • The agency won 12 awards across multiple categories, markets and clients in the regional competition

    Mindshare wins big at FOM APAC Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare has been named the Agency Network of the Year at the Festival of Media Asia Pacific Awards 2016.

     

    The agency won 12 awards across multiple categories, markets and clients in the regional competition, and took home the most Gold trophies on the night:

    :: Best Targeted Campaign (Gold) for KFC – How KFC Won with China’s Gamers, China

     

    :: Best Use of Mobile (Gold) for Heineken – Where Next? Let Heineken Lead You, Malaysia

     

    :: Best Use of Mobile (Bronze) for Unilever, Sunlight – Sunlight Mobile Campaign, Sri Lanka

     

    :: Best Content Creation (Bronze) for Brooke Bond Red Label – Stories of Togetherness, India

     

    :: Best Social Media Strategy (Silver) for Showcase – Foxtel Game of Thrones -Home of Thrones, Australia

     

    :: Best Use of Digital Media (Silver) for KFC – How KFC Won with China’s Gamers, China

     

    :: The Creative Use of Media Award (Silver) for Walt Disney, Marvel – Marvel’s Ant-Man: Heroes Don’t Get Any Bigger, Singapore

     

    :: Best Experiential Campaign (Silver) for Hindustan Unilever, Surf Excel – Eco Ganesha, India

     

    :: The Effectiveness Award (Silver) for Hindustan Unilever, Kissan Tomato Ketchup – Kissanpur – Where Experiences Happen, India

     

    :: The Utility/Public Service Award (Silver) for Hindustan Unilever, Surf Excel – Eco Ganesha, India

     

    :: Twitter Live Marketing (Gold) for PepsiCo, Lay’s – When Google Maps went beyond giving directions to people. It unlocked a treasure. Thanks to Lay’s, India

     

    :: Twitter Live Marketing (Silver) for PepsiCo, Pepsi – Pepsi’s Preemptive Strike on Social Media, India

     

    In addition to the APAC title, Mindshare India was also awarded Agency of the Year.

     

    Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman & CEO of AMEA & Russia/CIS at Mindshare said: “I’m delighted to see work being recognized from such a large number of our offices in the region. It underlines the fact that our network continues to be streets ahead of others on quality and depth of talent in this part of the world and lead the market. The India team was outstanding again. It was also great to see the caliber of the winning and shortlisted work from China, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, the small yet highly talented Sri Lanka team. Big congratulations to our teams and equally to our clients who back their ideas, and encourage their creativity. ”

     

    Prasanth Kumar

    Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia commented “It is a great honor and encouragement to have competed and won against some incredible work across the APAC media industry.  The effort of each and every team member has contributed to our success at the Festival of Media Awards 2016. It is our constant endeavor to raise standards, challenge staus quo and innovate marketing frameworks to create landmark campaigns for clients.  We have had a fantastic 2015 and the agenda for 2016 is to keep the momentum going.”

     

  • Within two months of launch, the app has already gathered over 2 million users and continues to grow rapidly

    Mindshare bags the media mandate for Byju’s Classes

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare has been appointed the media partner for Byju’s – The Learning App. This account will be handled out of the Mumbai office.

     

    Byju’s – is India’s largest education technology company and a subsidiary brand of Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd. It was founded by Byju Raveendran and is backed by Sequoia Capital and Dr. Ranjan Pai and T.V. Mohandas Pai of Manipal Group. Byju’s – The Learning app is disrupting the way millions of students learn across School Education and Test Prep. Within two months of launch, the app has already gathered over 2 million users and continues to grow rapidly.

     

    Prasanth Kumar

    Commenting on the win, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia said, “We are extremely glad to associate with Byju’s Classes. With the growth seen in the digital industry, we are channelizing our services and talent towards frameworks and tools that include adaptive and real- time marketing, giving our clients the edge in an ever-evolving media market.”

     

    Byju Raveendran, Founder CEO said, “Mindshare demonstrated their ability to transform consumer understanding in to a strategic vision for the brand and bringing it alive through their original thinking framework. This partnership with Mindshare will definitely be a positive one and we look forward to building Think and Learn as the largest online education institution”.

     

  • This account will be handled out of the Mindshare Chennai office under the leadership of Sriram Sharma, Leader – South, Mindshare

    Mindshare wins media duties for HCL TalentCare

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media agency Mindshare has bagged the media duties for HCL TalentCare, part of HCL Corportion, and will hence be looking into the media planningand buying services for the brand.

     

    Commenting on the win, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia said, “ We are absolutely thrilled to be working with HCL Talent Care. Mindshare has always been a forerunner in innovating media solutions for our clients and look forward to adding value to this iconic brand and delivering notable solutions.”

     

    Commenting on launch of the first campaign with Mindshare, Vijay Iyer, Chief Business Officer, HCL TalentCare said, ‘’Mindshare has provided us the right platform to reach out to our audiences and provide good visibility to  our campaign ‘Life Badlo Boss’. Life Badlo Boss is all about this transformational journey that a student undergoes with us at HCL TalentCare and sums up our efforts to be a career launch pad for students and offer Talent on Demand to enterprise clients.’’

     

    This account will be handled out of the Mindshare Chennai office under the leadership of Sriram Sharma, Leader – South, Mindshare.

     

  • The film along with its entertainment quotient aims to project a message of inspiring positive change in the society

    Eros partners Bagpiper Soda for Marathi movie ‘Guru’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros International Media Limited (Eros International) announced its one of a kind content partnership with United Spirits’ Bagpiper Soda, for the upcoming Marathi film ‘Guru’.

     

    Starring multi-talented actor Ankush Chaudhary and Urmila Kanetkar, ‘Guru’ will be directed by Sanjay Jadhav, based on a script by Ashish Parte. A film that dares to break the mould and take certain issues head on, ‘Guru’, is expected to go on floors by November 2015.

     

    The film along with its entertainment quotient aims to project a message of inspiring positive change in the society – the very purpose that Bagpiper Soda stands for. Through a unique association with Eros International, Bagpiper Soda will be an integrated partner across the film’s content, promotions and performance. Mindshare handles the media mandate for United Spirits Limited and has conceptualized this association for Bagpiper Soda.

     

    The association will see Bagpiper Soda promoting the film through a specially created TVC ad campaign with the lead actors and aligned with the basic plot of the film. The TVC will be on-air on regional Marathi channels through the production and promotion phase of the film. The movie will also include a song that resonates the film’s theme and Bagpiper Soda’s iconic message.

     

    Commenting on Bagpiper Soda’s new venture, Debashish Shyam, Sr. VP – Marketing, United Spirits said, “Bagpiper Soda has its soul entrenched in culture and there is no bigger medium that reflects popular ethos than Indian cinema. By becoming an integral part of a film like ‘Guru’ we will be able to spread Bagpiper Soda’s message of positive change to a much wider audience and also take our long-standing relationship with cinema to the next level. We are very happy to have excellent partners in Eros and Sanjay Jadhav for this venture.”

     

    Commenting on the association, Sameer Gogate, Chief Development Officer, Eros International Media Ltd said, “We are keen on partnering and promoting the best talent from the Marathi film industry. The association with Bagpiper Soda for ‘Guru’ will help drive the underlying message of the film which is to bring a radical change in society. ‘Guru’ promises to be an interesting journey and we are looking forward to supporting and nurturing such strong content driven films”.

     

    Prasanth Kumar, CEO Mindshare South Asia added, “We are very excited to have conceptualized and executed this ambitious and never done before initiative of co-creating a film with an iconic marque. Our strategic partnership with Bagpiper Soda and Eros International will change the game from content revolution to a new era of content evolution.”

     

     

    Sheela Foam Group

  • A quick chat with Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia after Mindshare won the Agency of the Year title at Emvies 2015

    This is something which belongs to us: Prasanth Kumar on Emvies win

    After last year’s loss to Maxus, this must be a huge win, right?

    Last year was just an aberration. It was one of those years when probably a ‘no ball’ situation happened. This is something which belongs to us.

     

    What does an Emvie mean to successful media agency like Mindshare?

    It means a lot to us. Wherever we’ve demonstrated our work, it’s been acknowledged by most of our clients. As you’ve seen, we’ve won awards across different categories and clients. That shows that a lot of team effort goes into every single brand. We’re quite happy with our performance and we’re going to celebrate hard.

     

    And how do you think clients view wins?

    I’m sure clients appreciate great work on their brand, and the fact that we can provide solutions. Clients do get attracted to the best of talent, the best of the tools and the best of products and processes. And this is one display of how great things happen and it’s a no-brainer: Clients see lot more meaning in working with teams like this.

     

    Maxus won last year but couldn’t beat you this year. Madison almost got there. The competition out there is quite stiff. So what’s your mantra going to be for Emvies 2016?

    For us, it’s simple: Every work needs to be the best work. And for us, it’s not the competition. We need to be shaping the market. We are the leader by a large margin and it’s because of a lot more talent focusing on lot more great work. That shows in every single research that we’re doing. We want to ensure that every single brand that we work on, gets more success. For us, that is the bigger [aspect of] pride. And this is just encouraging us to do that.

     

    For you personally, it’s a big night, right?

    This team in Mindshare is one of the best in whatever it does. I feel lucky to have been able to facilitate this entire thing. I’m looking to do this magic more and more, and even better it. It’s just proving to me that I’ve been able to facilitate this, and it’s just the beginning.

     

  • The agencies will look into the media planning, strategies and media audits for this campaign

    Mindshare bags mandate for ‘Make in India’ & Grofers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare has bagged the media mandate for the “Make in India” initiative, along with WPP’s Kinetic Worldwide. Both Mindshare and Kinetic Worldwide have been signed on for a period of three years. The “Make in India” campaign is a government initiative, which aims to encourage manufacturing within the country and promote India as an investment destination.

    The agencies will look into the media planning, strategies and media audits for this campaign while the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) will buy media in India and overseas directly through the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity.

    Prasanth Kumar, CEO of Mindshare South Asia, said, “It’s a privilege to be working with the government of India and we will be pulling in our collective experiences from all counterparts to deliver value on this campaign.”

    The DIPP campaign is likely to tap into other regions like South Africa, Middle Europe, the US and Africa in the near future.

    Meanwhile, Mindshare has also media duties for Grofers, a local e-commerce platform. Commenting on the win, Prasanth Kumar said, “We are extremely glad to partner with Grofers and look forward to collectively building the brand. With the rapid growth in the ecommerce and digital industry, we are channelizing our services and talent towards frameworks and tools that include adaptive and real- time marketing, giving our clients the edge in an ever-evolving media market.”

  • The adspending was Rs 43,490 crore for the calendar year 2014, an increase by 12.5% over 2013, according to GroupM

    Adspends to increase 12.6% in 2015: GroupM

     

    A Correspondent

     

    Leading media marketing services conglomerate GroupM released its biannual advertising expenditure futures report This Year Next Year (TYNY), forecasting India’s advertising investment to reach an estimated Rs 48,977 crore in 2015. This represents a growth of 12.6% for the calendar year 2015 over the corresponding period in 2014.

     

    As per GroupM the adspending was Rs 43,490 crore for the calendar year 2014, an increase by 12.5% over 2013. This growth was attributed to the heavy adspending due to the General and State Elections and industry categories like ecommerce and telecom.The FMCG sector, which contributes to nearly a third of the AdEx, had a steady year, growing broadly in line with the industry average.

     

    CVL Srinivas

    Said CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia, “With a new government coming to power, the negative sentiment has lifted but there is still some bit of caution amongst advertisers.We continue to operate in the same zone as last year at an overall level. Digital, TV and Cinema are expected to be the high growth media channels. We are seeing a lot more confidence amongst local businesses to invest in brand building than before. This is a positive sign for the industry. Penetration of smartphones coupled with the popularity of online video is making FMCG spend more on digital. Another trend is the emergence of categories like e-commerce and the increased competition in telecom both of which are aiding the growth of traditional media channels including Print and TV apart from digita.l”

     

    E-commerce is expected to lead the charge in 2015 in terms of ad spend growth although from a relatively smaller base than more established categories, according to GroupM’s forecast. There is increased competition in this sector and no dearth of funding. FMCG, Auto and Telecom are expected to do better than the previous year. More multinational entrants under single brand retail are likely to add to ADEX spending in the retail category. The recent rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India will stimulate the banking sector, reactions of which are evident on a buoyant stock market. This year will possibly see a number of IPOs as there is a sense of stability in policy and investors are willing to take more risks. The market will also see higher spends from the Central Government as they showcase their new initiatives.

     

    Prasanth Kumar

    Added Prasanth Kumar, Managing Partner, Central Trading Group, GroupM South Asia and CEO-designate Mindshare South Asia: “Over the last few years, Indian media has been in a state of change. The next three to five years will be about embracing technology, which will allow both advertisers and media owners to customize distribution to a premium niche audience with very nominal margin of error. In 2015, programmatic buying will see an impetus, as all media in the future will see automation, backed by smart data and analytics.”

     

    As per GroupM’s in-depth research of the Indian media industry, digital media continues to show the maximum growth with 37% in 2015. Digital has been growing at an average rate of 35% over the last two of years. This year within digital media Video, Mobile and Social will be the biggest growth drivers.

     

    Television shows a higher growth percentage in 2015 compared to last year with 16 percent. TV channels will especially be bullish with cross media integration via their own digital platforms. The big ticket event this year is the ICC Cricket World Cup in February and March, with scope for programming and advertising innovation during the tournament.

     

    Even with pressures on advertising revenues, the print medium shows an increase by 5.2% as against the 2014 estimate of 7.6%; however print magazines continue to be on the decline, as several are looking at digital delivery mechanisms.

     

    The surprise element in the media mix has been cinema advertising which finally closed 2014 with a 25% increase. This year too, GroupM estimates this media category to grow at 20%, as multiplex chains consolidate, leading to a more organised and accountable environment. With technology fuelling exhibition and distribution, especially in smaller towns, consumers will get a better viewing experience.

     

  • Gowthaman Ragothaman (better known as GMan), COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific, speaks on the priorities ahead of Mindshare South Asia’s CEO-designate Prasanth Kumar

    Structure, Talent and Innovation are action points for PK at Mindshare, says GMan. Exclusive to MxM

    Gowthaman Ragothaman

    Given that both CVL Srinivas, CEO GroupM South Asia and Prasanth ‘PK’ Kumar, Managing Partner, Central Trading Group, GroupM South Asia and CEO-designate Mindshare South Asia were busy with the presentation of the ‘This Year Next Year’ report, they preferred to not speak on the latter’s appointment to the top job. But since PK will also report into Gowthaman Ragothaman (better known as GMan), COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific, Pradyuman Maheshwari spoke to GMan in Singapore and requested him to respond to a few questions via email.

     

    It’s been three years since you moved out from direct responsibility of South Asia. From a regional perspective, what are the broad challenges facing the India office?

    We have to treat India/South Asia as a region. No other market/office in the world has so many offices. We have Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Lahore, Dhaka and Colombo. While all other markets are structured for a “one office leadership”, as we have expanded and grown across offices, our “speed to market” was significantly tested in the last few years – this is an internal dynamic. As an industry, I realised, when I moved out into the region, India is very inclusive and try to do/invent all things inside when a lot of best practice can be just replicated or brought into the country. I also realised that the talent drain from India to the region, has sort of depleted some good quality talent in the country. So Structure, Talent and Innovation – are the three broad challenges.

     

    Prasanth Kumar is a seasoned GroupM hand. What are the specific targets you have for him?

    Pretty much the above 3 points. And you will see some of these happening quite fast and quick.

     

    In your statement on PK’s appointment, you speak about getting leadership talent from within the group. But, don’t you think that for achieving something out-of-the-box or hat ke, as they say in India, you need to bring in talent from the outside?

    Totally agree with you. We continue to diversify out talent pool at all levels – and the constant churn in the industry helps us to manage this, especially when you flip it as an opportunity instead of a problem. Almost all the recruitments we have made in Mindshare in the past 2-3 years are external talent. And at the same time, if you look at the challenges that I have mentioned in the first point, our considered view is to groom local talent to leadership positions as they come with tremendous insights of the organisational issues. It is  a considered choice…but not necessarily a permanent choice for all the times.

     

  • Mindshare appoints Prasanth Kumar as CEO, South Asia to take over Ravi Rao who is rumoured to be moving to sandier pastures

    It’s PK as the new Mindshare South Asia boss!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The poster of the Aamir Khan film PK was the first thing that came to our minds when one of the A&M media’s favourite sources alerted us of the winds of change that were blowing across the GroupM South Asia headquarters in North Mumbai.

     

    Expectedly, the otherwise very responsive dramatis personae clammed up. Calls and text messages received no reply. Whatsapp messages got those two blue ticks, but not even the ‘typing’ indicator in response. But while we were sure of the news, we couldn’t carry it without a confirmation. So it waited from Wednesday to Thursday to the weekend.

     

    There were also other things that were also grabbing our attention.

     

    Prasanth Kumar
    Ravi Rao

    And then on Sunday evening, our inbox alert beeped. The message curiously asked us to embargo the news till 9pm. The news confirmed our earlier info: Leading media agency network Mindshare has appointed Prasanth Kumar as CEO, South Asia. He will take charge with effect from March 1, 2015. Ravi Rao, who is currently CEO, will be transitioning into a new role within GroupM, the details of which are to be announced soon.

     

    So where’s Ravi Rao going? Back to the Gulf, we were told. If not within the fold, outside of it. The communiqué says he will transition to a new role within GroupM, but which clearly means negotiations are still on.

     

    CVL Srinivas
    Gowthaman Ragothaman

    Kumar or PK, as he’s known in the fraternity, is currently Head of WPP-owned GroupM’s Central Trading Group and a member of the South Asia Executive Committee. As Mindshare South Asia leader, he will report into CVL Srinivas, CEO GroupM South Asia and Gowthaman Ragothaman, COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific. And who takes over from him, we asked the GroupM spokesperson. There are no names yet, but last year Jai Lala and Sidharth Parashar were elevated in the CTG team.

     

    Meanwhile, this is what Srinivas on the announcement: “Prasanth was a unanimous choice for this role.  In the past 10 years, he has played a stellar role in ensuring GroupM’s scale is leveraged to maximise value for our clients. I’d like to thank Ravi Rao for his contribution and wish him the very best in his new role within the network.”

     

    And here’s what Ragothaman (better known as GMan) commented on the change: “Ravi has done a fantastic job in growing our business in India in the last three years. India is at the inflexion point on digital, content, analytics, e-commerce and measurement and in Prasanth we have a seasoned veteran to lead Mindshare to the next level. And I am particularly happy that we continue to groom and grow talent from our larger GroupM ecosystem with diverse talent and experience to leadership positions, which speaks highly about our talent in the market place. In the past 10 years Prasanth Kumar has done a tremendous job scaling up GroupM’s CTG practice in South Asia, and developing strategic partnerships for GroupM that contribute to the successes of all GroupM agencies.”

     

    Big Story image inspired by poster of the Raj Kumar Hirani film PK. Imaging by Rafiq, Poster courtesy: PK, the film, poster