MxMIndia

Tag: Mindshare

  • The GroupM boss unplugs to Anil Thakraney on commission (v/s fees), corruption, creatives & more

    Creative agencies have allowed themselves to be dumbed down: Vikram Sakhuja

     

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Vikram Sakhuja heads GroupM, India’s largest media buying conglomerate. In a long and animated discussion, the ace number cruncher shares with us insights from the Indian media industry. As well as his own organization’s approach to the various challenges staring at the media business.

     

    Fifty-year-old Sakhuja is an IIT/IIM grad, and he did a number of years in marketing before he shifted to the world of media in 2001, when he signed up as Managing Director of Mindshare Fulcrum. During our meet, I could see that the outspoken GroupM boss is extremely passionate about his work, and is someone who could get easily agitated over provocative questions. Thankfully, we had a smooth run. Guess it’s all thanks to Yoga which Sakhuja has recently taken up. 🙂

     

    You were a hard-core marketing man at one point. What prompted the switch to media?

    I believe in taking the career as it goes, and taking decisions at different points of time. Let me take you through my career graph to explain this. After IIM, Calcutta, I was pretty clear I wanted to get into the marketing side of things. So I joined P&G and did eight years there. When I joined them, Richardson Hindustan Limited (RHL) was becoming Procter & Gamble (P&G). So when I started out, the company had RHL values and very quickly the organization got Procterised.

     

    And you were not happy with that?

    I was happy with that, but Procter believed in the system of specialization. So the guy who gets into sales, stays in sales. The guy who gets into advertising, sticks to advertising. I was in research and they extended that to marketing services. I learnt a lot there, but later on I wanted to move to brand management and P&G wasn’t allowing me that. And I didn’t want my epitaph to read ‘Marketing Researcher’. So I moved to Coca-Cola which was more flexible in these areas. Out there I managed the entire brand portfolio. That worked very well for 5 years. I was reporting to Sanjeev Gupta in those days, and he was handling both, marketing and bottling. And later he went on to take up a bigger job. So they got Shripad (Nadkarni) to head marketing, and I felt my job would get undermined a little bit. And so I left to join Star TV.

     

    And you lasted there for just one year.

    It was a mistake. I call it jawaani ki bhool. Peter (Mukerjea) said they wanted to start a strategic marketing function there, and it would include marketing of the creative product as well as on-air marketing, which is where the bulk of the spending goes. But it didn’t pan out like that because the programming department had a territorial interest in the programming piece. So it became very clear to me this was going to be an off-air game, and that didn’t have too many legs. And I left Star without a job. Later, Ranjan Kapur introduced me to Andre Nair (this is year 2001) who was looking for people to start Mindshare in India. We had a drink and one thing led to another. I felt a little trepidation in the beginning because I perceived ad agencies to be a little unprofessional. But later I thought about it rationally and it made sense. And so here I am.

     

    There are large media shops under the GroupM umbrella. How do you manage to give personal attention to each one?

    I am running GroupM, I am not running Mindshare or Maxus. There are capable people running those. I am a management by objectives kind of a person. One aspect of my deliverable is Profit & Loss, there’s no getting away from it. I have told my guys we should get growth from our existing clients. We should have the source credibility to go to them and manage 100% of their marketing investments. That is the agenda I drive. Then, I have to create an eco system for technology, talent and on how to do things better. The scope of service has actually dumbed down, clients are paying peanuts and they are getting monkeys. So I go and tell my clients if they want the right kind of talent and want to get the value out of it, then this is how it works.

     

    I suppose you operate more as a coach than as a player.

    Do I meet clients? Yes, I do. Am I directly involved in the day to day plans? No, I am not. Unilever is our biggest client. So every year at least one or two deals I will sit in on. Also for other clients. I love to be there for the sheer passion of it.

     

    What is Sir Martin Sorrell’s brief to you?

    Martin is pretty hands-on in most of the businesses. I rely on him more for counsel. I whet my new plans with him. For example, I went to him with the idea of celeb endorsements. And he felt it wouldn’t work, but asked us to try it anyway. And it didn’t work. Then there was a time we were offered some sweat equity in the IPL Deccan Chargers team. I took it up to Martin and he didn’t think it was a good idea, because he didn’t know the nature of the animal. But he’s brilliant, he is one of the few guys who understands our business, he wants to get in deeper.

     

    What is your stand on the shift from the commission system to the fixed fee system for media agencies?

    I definitely support the fee system. Though I would prefer a balance of commission and fee. Because in a growing economy you win with commissions. But when spends are not looking good at all, as is the case this year, fee bails you out. In principle, however, I like the fee system.

     

    How are the clients reacting to it?

    The people who take their marketing seriously believe in the fee system in letter and spirit. The top notch companies like Unilever, Ford, Pepsi, etc, totally get this. I believe clients should pay us Cost + for service, and a factor of that for the value we are able to demonstrate.

     

    What qualities do you look for in a media buyer in today’s time?

    You must understand that in our organization we don’t just buy media. I would like to believe that our agencies are actually driving the marketing agenda, probably more than the creative agencies. Most of the creative agencies have allowed themselves to be dumbed down, most of them are only interpreting briefs in a TV commercial format. They are only driven by the tactical creative idea rather than a long term view of the brand. All these wonderful creative minds should spend a little time thinking brand stewardship. Out here, we want people who can think account planning and communications. People who can understand the brand, the consumer, and then have the ability to unlock all the media solutions. So the media person needs to understand content, activation, digital, conventional media, and then he has to see how all this comes together.

     

    Key challenges ahead for media agencies?

    The clichéd one of course is that the commissions we earn are not allowing us to invest in the best talent. But we have to all individually work ourselves, show value and then ask for stuff. The other challenge is in the digital space. The erstwhile DNA of the media companies excluded digital. I believe integrated media planning is the way to go. This is distinct from multimedia planning, which had the TV plan, print plan, radio plan, etc, all working in silos. But with the increasingly multi media environment, the key is integrated planning. And digital is allowing that seamlessness even more. We have embraced this some time back.

     

    And yet, the media buying business, after the unbundling, has got totally commoditized. Shashi Sinha said to me the media planner has become a zombie.

    I was the first guy to bring the AOR into the country. So you can blame me for the disintegration of the full service agency. (Laughs) I would say each of our agencies has its own planning way. Maxus has something called ‘Relationship Media’, MEC has got ‘Navigator’, and so on. Each of them talks the consumer journey. They talk much more about the communication challenge. I am actually finding the plans looking more different now than they were earlier. So I disagree with my dear friend Shashi Sinha. Maybe I am not cynical. The planner is alive and kicking. It’s in fact the most exciting time to be in the media because of the large amount of fragmentation and the large amount of media choices.

     

    You did a stint with television. Do you foresee threats to this medium in the near future?

    Yes. The problem with TV today is that it has become a media game of the value of the inventory. At the end of the day, there are only about four million commercial GRPs being broadcast every year at an all India level. And that’s growing at 2 or 3% per year. This is the market for TV eyeballs. So like it or not, you have to extract value out of this. Today, at last count, we have 500 or 600 channels, and it’s getting fragmented. If an Imagine TV dies, someone else will pick up ratings. And if someone else launches, there’s further fragmentation. So the problem is that the same money is chasing some eyeballs. Until the new ratings system comes up and there’s a tectonic shift, you are talking about a metastable equilibrium. Now if the value has to go up, either you have to deliver more reach, or you have to deliver some associated imagery or sponsorships or incremental value.

     

    When do you expect the shake-out to happen in television?

    We’ve been expecting a shake-out since 1996. I guess some people seem to be having deeper pockets. I am not a finance guy so I don’t know how it works. But I can’t imagine many of them are making money.

     

    Think the IPL is losing some of its sheen?

    No. The ratings this year were a tad higher than the last year. But for all practical purposes, have held on to last year’s levels. It has stabilized at about 5 rating points. In fact, this year was the best year primarily because of the games, which went down to the wire.

     

    And it’s a good investment for team owners?

    For them it’s going to be a slow burn. You have do it sensibly, like the KKR franchise does, and I think they make money. Whereas a large number of other people don’t make money. It’s about how you manage the entire franchise.

     

    There’s a perception that you guys are not passing on bulk rates you get from the media to your clients.

    We have something called the WPP Compliance. And we take it very, very seriously. So we are making sure that we do everything as per our contract with each client. In letter and spirit. We are definitely not holding back anything which is due to a client. We have a media owner invoice and it’s backed by an agency invoice. If the clients want to audit us, they are most welcome to do so. We are a global leader in this space doing global deals, we won’t mess around with something where there’s a breach of trust involved. We can’t afford that.

     

    Perhaps this was one of the reasons Reckitt Benckiser came up with the idea of agencies paying to pitch, and compensating them in case of a drop in ratings.

    They invited us to pitch and we asked them if they were being ridiculous. We turned them down. If somebody has an obscene point of view, I cannot subscribe to it.

     

    And yet, some agencies pitched for that account. Isn’t the industry united in these things?

    I thought we were united on that but obviously we weren’t. What do I say now?

     

    You’ve done many years in this business. Ever thought of starting out on your own?

    The thought has crossed my mind but I didn’t pursue it. I am not a very entrepreneurial guy. My philosophy is: Don’t fix it unless it’s broken.

     

    Does the lack of adequate talent in the media industry frustrate you? Is it a constant battle to find the right people?

    Yes, it is. But we have to be able to pay right to get the right talent. And for that we have to work our own internal financial structures. The level at which we work, there’s only so much we can afford to pay people at the entry level.

     

    Is there corruption in this business? There are allegations of planners taking money and other favours.

    One hears about these things from time to time. There is an opportunity for something like this, and clearly we have to plug it. This is where I believe organization culture is very important. If conversations in an organization involving integrity are strong, then the one or two people who entertain these thoughts will find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation.

     

    Have you ever fired people from your company because of this?

    Oh yes, I have.

     

    I saw a Youtube video of yours where you mention something about getting stressed out at work.

    I tend to be very animated and passionate, and I do get worked up. But I have been doing Yoga and stuff like that. And that’s helped. I have also started taking it a bit easier now, we have a good team. And at the end of the day, tension lene ka nahin, dene ka! (Laughs.)

     

     

     

  • WPP media investment management arm will roll out Buddy Media's BuyBuddy social ad software to all agencies

    GroupM selects Buddy Media as preferred social ad partner globally

    By A Correspondent

     

    Buddy Media, the social enterprise software for eight of the world’s top ten global advertisers, announced that GroupM has selected the company’s BuyBuddy social ad product as its preferred social ad management partner.

     

    “We are proud that GroupM has chosen Buddy Media as its preferred social ad partner,” said Michael Lazerow, CEO and Founder, Buddy Media. “Our self-serve social ad buying technology will make it easy for any GroupM agency to effectively scale and measure social spend for their clients.”

     

    GroupM will roll out Buddy Media’s BuyBuddy to all of its agencies, including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, Mindshare, M80 and other business units. It will also begin training on how to maximize the benefits of Buddy Media’s unified social marketing software solution across paid, owned and earned media.

     

    “After extensive evaluation of the marketplace, GroupM is excited to deploy Buddy Media’s social ad software to all of our agencies,” said Rob Norman, CEO, GroupM Interaction Worldwide. “Social media success is of critical importance to our clients, and Buddy Media is the proven self-serve solution in market that has a focus on empowering agencies and being a true partner. We will continue to work with other partners but believe this consolidation will offer our clients and teams the opportunity to develop consistent high performance in a rapidly developing market.”

     

    GroupM invested $200 million in Facebook advertising in 2011. Social network ad revenues will grow to nearly $10 billion in 2013, up from to $5.54 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer.

     

  • Exclusive extracts from RECMA's quarterly qualitiative evaluation of Indian media agencies

    Maxus leads in RECMA qualitatives for April 2012; Mindshare, LMG follow

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Group M agency Maxus is on tops of the much-respected RECMA qualitative evaluation of Indian media agencies in April 2012. While Maxus has scored 17 points, Mindshare has 15 points, whereas Lintas Media has 13 points. Both Maxus and Mindshare have a ‘Dominant’ profile and LMG has a ‘Good profile’. These are cumulative points across four categories.

     

    In competitive pitches, Maxus and LMG are found to be ‘successful’ and Mindshare is ‘stable’.

     

    The RECMA study is done four times a year. In December 2011, the following were the standings: Maxus: 15 points (Dominant, successful), Lodestar UM 13 points (Good, successful) and Madison Media 13 points (Good variable).

     

    And in December 2010, it was as follows: Maxus 17 (Dominant, successful), LMG 15 (Dominant, successful), Madison 12 (Dominant, stable).

     

    When compared over three periods – April 2012 vs December 2011 vs December 2010 – the Benchmark points for the three leading agencies of April 2012 are: Maxus (0), Mindshare (+4) and and LMG (-2). Maxus has had the same points in December 2010 and April 2012, while Mindshare and LMG have seen a change of +4 and -2 respectively.

     

    Ajit Varghese

    “RECMA is an important achievement for our agency as it is the only study that is authentic and is backed by numbers. On a global level, it is the numbers that do the talking and we are happy to have been performing consistently well,” said Ajit Varghese, managing director, Maxus. “It gives us an edge over our competitors and shows that we are not just a flash in the pan; that we are a dominant and successful agency. Yes, competition is pushing us to perform harder but we have been successful each time and this can be seen by our consistent performance at the top.”

     

    “Recma is an important benchmark for us as it is considered seriously by most advertisers around the world, ” said Lynn de Souza, chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group. “It is based on hard facts and data and not like the other studies that are based on perception. Also, the study cannot be manipulated and is therefore genuine to stand by.”

     

    Lynn de Souza

    As many as 19 media agencies were ranked in April 2012 with scores from +17 to -9; following a decreasing classification from ‘Dominant’ to ‘Good profile’, ‘Average profile’ and ‘Low profile’. This ranking is combined with a New Business qualification: ‘successful’, ‘stable’ or ‘underperforming’.

     

    This qualitative evaluation has been processed in 40 countries and gathers 14 criteria in four categories:

    1- Competitiveness: mainly measured by pitches results over the last three years (including a 2012 trend).

    2- Momentum measured by the activity growth, market shares growth over 3 years, new business activity and changes to the top management.

    3- Resources in Digital and Diversified Services (outdoor, branded content, entertainment, sponsoring/events, multi-cultural, retail, econometrics, etc.) as well as geographical coverage.

    4- Client Profile: number of big advertisers handled, number of local advertisers, share of the 1st client and the 3 biggest (exposure).

     

    “The factors that have led us to achieve such a ranking include our ability in growing in new segments and our ability to retain big clients. Vodafone, Nokia are a few examples where we have managed to retain them despite they belonging to different agencies worldwide,” Mr Varghese added.

     

    Said Ms de Souza: “We are pleased with our current performance at RECMA. We have topped the list of being the most ‘successful’ agency in the criterion of competitiveness,” This was largely due to our aggression in pitching for new clients and our ability to retain most accounts. There was a worry in 2011 when we lost one of our biggest clients in ITC but then we compensated for that loss by aggressively pitching for mid-sized clients and doing that specifically in Tier 2 and 3 towns and cities. Going by our strong performnace , I see ourselves becoming the No 1 or 2 agency at RECMA very soon.”

     

    Mindshare India Leader Ravi Rao was in meetings and not available for comment at the time of writing.

     

    The India Qualitative Evaluation report is the fifth edition, the first one having been released in October 2010. “The key benefit of this study is to provide advertisers a fresh picture of the competition throughout a qualitative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each player, ” said Eudes J. Delfaon, the Paris-based RECMA Founder and Director of Research and Michèle Le Bris, RECMA’s Regional Director APAC in Manila.

     

    “Revised and updated on a quarterly basis, the RECMA domestic reports stand as a powerful benchmark essential to all industry professionals in order to get a good and accurate understanding of the media agency landscape and deliver relevant credentials in their presentations,” he added.

     

    Imaging: Rafiq

     

  • The media planners are happy with the TVR of 4 and feel that it's a good start for the show at the morning slot

    Planners happy with Satyamev’s 4.9 TVR

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Star India’s much discussed show Satyamev Jayate which premiered across nine channels – Star Plus, Star Pravah, DD National, ETV, Star Utsav, Vijay, Star Jalsha, Star World & Asianet – on May 6 got a rating of an average 4 TVR for the CS4+ in the Hindi speaking markets and an average of 4.9 TVR for the All 4+, according to the TAM viewership data.

     

    The media planners are happy with the TVR of 4 and feel that it’s a good start for the show at the morning slot. “With Aamir Khan hosting the show and the whole secrecy about what the show is going to be, the show got its viewers. The slot worked too, as the repeat telecast has got a lower TVR than the morning slot. However, I was expected a rating of 5. In the metros the show has done extremely well but one cannot rule out DD’s reach too,” said Mona Jain, CEO, VivaKi Exchange.

     

    The show which marks the entry of Aamir Khan on the small screen does not fall into the typical ‘entertainment’ genre. The content is serious; however, it didn’t stop people from watching. The show reached 27 million people (All4+ category).

     

    “It’s a good TVR for a show at a Sunday morning time slot. But we’ll have to wait and watch if the show will be able to maintain it. However, without a doubt, one can agree with the fact that the time slot has worked for both the show as well as the channel,” said Jai Lala, Principal Partner – Exchange at MindShare.

     

    Agreeing with Mr Lala, Anil Sathiraju, Mudra Max Media, Head – South, explained that the 11am time slot on weekends is much better today: “The opening TVR for the show is 4, so it’s that context it might be around 3.2 or 3.4 in the coming weeks which will help the channel be on the top slot.”

     

    Sundeep Nagpal, director, Stratagem Media, predicted that the show might get a rating between 3.2 to 3.7 on Star Plus. According to TAM, it was able to get a rating of 3 on the channel: “It is unfortunate that the show got a rating of only 3. Social transformations cannot happen with a TVR of 3; it needs much more than that. It is a good property which advertisers should be happy to be associated with.”

     

    “For a show of such caliber and content, marketers should associate with it because it means quality viewership rather than the numbers,” said Mr Sathiraju.

     

  • The heavy vehicles business, said to be in the range of Rs25 crores, will be handled out of DDB MudraMax's Chennai office

    DDB MudraMax bags duties for Ashok Leyland

    By A Correspondent

     

    DDB MudraMax has bagged the media duties of Ashok Leyland – Heavy Vehicles. The incumbent agency was Mindshare. The size of the business is said to be in the range of Rs25 crores. This will be handled out of DDB MudraMax’s Chennai office.

     

    On choosing DDB MudraMax, Alok Saraogi, Head, Brand &Marketing Communications said: “DDB Mudra Group did a great job of viewing our business imperatives from a category, business and brand perspective and brought a refreshing view to our challenges. Their strategy is insightful and impactful and we are pleased to assign our media business to DDB MudraMax. It also helps that we consolidate all media business for the overall benefit of the group.”

     

    Sathyamurthy Namakkal
    Pratap Bose

    On the new win, Sathyamurthy Namakkal, President & Head – DDB MudraMax, Media, said: “This is a prestigious win for us.  With this alignment, DDB Mudra Max consolidates as the sole Media AOR for Ashok Leyland and we are very glad”.

     

    Pratap Bose, COO, DDB Mudra Group, added: “This win comes on the back of Ashok Leyland awarding us their LCV business last year and it is indeed gratifying that our client has reposed their faith in us again. For me, that is what I am most happy about.”

     

    Ashok Leyland is the flagship of the Hinduja Group and a leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles inIndiawith a turnover of US $ 2.5 billion. Ashok Leyland has associate companies in the Czech Republic and the UAE and a joint venture in Sri Lanka, besides exports to over 30 countries worldwide.

     

    DDB MudraMax (Engagement & Experience), provides multi-specialty expertise to help build brands in the age of convergence. DDB MudraMax comprises fourteen strategic business units under four disciplines – Media, OOH, Retail and Experiential. These SBUs provide clients seamless solutions across a wide array of media touch points.

     

  • He will lead the Britannia account in Madison Media Omega based in Bangalore

    Manish Bharil joins Madison Media as GM

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madison Media has announced the appointment of Manish Bharil as General Manager to lead the Britannia account in Madison Media Omega based in Bangalore.

     

    Mr Bharil has over 12 years of experience in media and joinsMadisonfrom Mindshare Bombay where he was Senior Director – Invention. Mr Bharil previously worked in Madison Bombay for 7 years.

     

    Gautam Kiyawat, CEO, Madison Media Group said: “I  am glad to have Manish join our team in Bangalore and I am sure he will be able to add a lot of strategic inputs to one of our leading clients – Britannia.”

     

    Manish Bharil, on his returning toMadison, said: “I am delighted to join back Madison and I am looking forward to this new role in leading the Britannia account.”

     

    Madison Media was recently in the news for winning the Crompton Greaves and Dixcy Textile’s Media AOR.

     

    At the recent Goafest 2012 awards, Madison Media won 4 awards, including a Gold for Best Use of Newspapers & Magazines for Parachute Advansed Ayurvedic Hair Oil; 2 Silver’s for Best Use of Internet & Digital Media for Airtel and Best Use of Branded Content for Cadbury and a Bronze for Best Use of Events and Stunts for Cadbury Celebrations.

     

    Madison Media Group is India’s foremost media agency handling media planning and buying for blue chip clients.  The gross billing of Madison Media is Rs3,000 crores.

     

  • Mindshare brought to life the new Lays proposition of 'Pal Banaye Magical' through an interactive augmented reality activity

    Mindshare makes thousands experience Lays Magic with Saif

    By A Correspondent

     

    Imagine being in a television commercial of a major brand like Lays with a superstar like Saif Ali Khan with thousands others. Imagine all your friends liking and sharing the YouTube video of that commercial on Facebook.

     

    That’s exactly what Mindshare set out to do when they brought to life experientially the new Lays proposition of ‘Pal Banaye Magical’ through an interactive augmented reality activity. Augmented Reality adds new dimensions by letting users discover emerging technology whilst enhancing brand awareness through virtual reality game play within their own everyday life environment.

     

    A first inIndia, in terms of scale, the activity saw thousands of consumers dancing  virtually with the Lays brand ambassador Saif Ali Khan and saw their own projection in the ‘Pal Banaye Magical’ commercial on a giant screen – across several malls in Delhi and Chandigarh- making their moment truly magical!

     

    The Mindshare Dialect and Digital teams worked on the campaign in handling the activation and its digital amplification respectively. The icing on the cake was the consumer videos of the AR activity, made viral on social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook by Mindshare Digital.

     

    Speaking about the concept, Rahul Thappa, Client Leader for Mindshare North India, said: “Augmented reality campaigns are an effective means of effectively engaging with the audience. This campaign provided an unforgettable experience for people present at the malls. The activation has helped us bring alive Lays new ‘Pal Banaye Magical’ proposition for consumers, the essence of the proposition being that Lays makes every moment magical!”

     

    The Augmented Reality experience was organized atNew Delhiand Gurgaon whereby more than a thousand consumers engaged with Lays and Saif. Such experiences provided the brand with the chance of interacting with consumers in an original manner.

     

    As a follow up, Lays is now engaging its consumers with another campaign fashioned around the IPL. Six big hitting cricketers have created six distinct flavours, and consumers have to associate the right cricketer with the right flavor. The entire engagement titled “Guess Whose Flavor” is driving participation to laysguesswhoseflavor.com

     

    Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of $27.8 billion (source: RECMA). The network consists of 114 offices in 82 countries throughout the North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, each dedicated to forging competitive marketing advantage for businesses and their brands.  Mindshare is a member of WPP, the world’s leading communications service group with $84.2bn in billings (source: RECMA), and is part of GroupM, the world’s leading full service media investment management operation, which was created by WPP Group to oversee its assets in this sector.

     

  • On Day 1 (Thursday being the Ad Conclave), awards for the Media Abby & 3 Creative Abby categories were presented

    @Media Abby: Mindshare bags Grand Prix; MEC, Lodestar sparkle too

    The Grand Prix-winning Mindshare team with Jury Chair Ashish Bhasin

     

     

    By a Correspondent

     

    Having put an embargo on declaring the results of the Abby Awards before the event was to be staged, the Goafest Awards committee rewarded the patience of the media by calling in a press conference to declare the results much before it was made known to the audience at large. But the criterion to release it after 10pm remained -a diktat which was honoured wholeheartedly by all.

     

    In keeping with its attempt to play up the awards in as simple a way as possible, the committee was generous in stating that there was no big winner for the Media Abbys – a decision which was left for the media to decide. The reason was simple. For the first time the organisers had introduced a Grand Prix in the Media Abby awards and didn’t want that award to deter the attention from the other noteworthy winners. The points too were not awarded against individual metals, leaving it open for the media to decide the winner for the night.

     

    So if one went with Grand Prix as the criterion for the award, it was Mindshare that emerged as the No 1 agency having bagged the only single Grand Prix at the Media Abby. But then there were no points allotted for the individual metals leading to no clear winner at the top. The total count for Mindshare read: 1 GP, 1 Gold, 2 Silvers and 2 Bronzes (total metals 6).

     

    If one went by the gold count, it was MEC that emerged at the top, bagging 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze. Lodestar was next having bagged a total of 6 metals (the same as Mindshare) leading by 1 Gold, 2 Silvers, and 3 Bronzes. Madison Media Infinity was next as it bagged 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze followed by Starcom bagging just 1 Gold. Maxus follows with 2 Silvers and 3 Bronzes. (full table below)

     

    The Grand Prix was bagged by Mindshare for Surf Excel in the Best Use of Branded Content, which also won the gold in the same category. The GP was chosen from amongst the Gold winners. Other Gold winners include MEC that won two including one for Reliance 3G in Best Use of TV and the other for Best Use of Newspapers and Magazines. Lodestar UM won a Gold in Pro Bono Marketing for Bombay Psychiatric Society.

     

     

    Ashish Bhasin, chairperson of Media Abby said that the attempt this year was to reward the hard work put in by agencies, and therefore the Grand Prix. There were 16-17 per cent more entries from 31 agencies that were received this year, totalling 628 – last year the number was 530. It involved the efforts of more than 61 juries in putting this act together.

     

    Reacting on the agency’s win, Nandini Dias of Lodestar UM said: “I think we have performed very well this year. The total number of awards this year is only 27, which I guess is quite a small number. But within that we have won 6 awards, which is amongst the highest this year. So all in all, we are very pleased with our performance.”

     

    Also staged at the same night were awards from three verticals in the Creative Awards category including Design, Digital & Interactive and Direct. While the other categories would be announced on day 3, these three awards were awarded on day two itself. Ogilvy emerged the big winner as it won the Grand Prix for Fox Crime in the category – Online Integrated Campaign. DDB Mudra, BBDO, Leo Burnett were the other notable winners across the three categories.

     

    In all there are 101 awards that were given out in the Creative Abby awards on Friday night. An ecstatic Shashi Sinha said that the Creative Abbys were different this year as they received a record 4,250 entries as against 3,600-odd last year but what was remarkable was the participation of agencies from South Asia including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In fact the big winner tonight from South Asia was Grant McCann Erickson that won two Silvers across two separate categories.

     

    The awards were validated by research firm KPMG who have been doing it for two years now.

     

    Photograph: Shailesh Mule/Fotocorp

     

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • In a multi agency pitch, Jabong.com has awarded its Media Mandates to Mindshare North.

    Mindshare wins media mandate for Jabong

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare North has won the media consulting and deployment duties of Jabong.com, following a multi-agency pitch, which took place in Delhi.

     

    “We are aware that we need sustained communication, delivered creatively in order to become the single “go-to” destination in our customer’s mind, when thinking fashion and lifestyle. Therefore the priority was to align with agencies that would be able to deliver that promise. Mindshare was certainly a strong runner right from the start, and we have finally decided to go with them for media deployment advice,” commented Manu Kumar Jain, Managing Director, Jabong.com.

     

    Says Rahul Thappa – Client Leader for Mindshare North India, on the win, “This win underscores our understanding of the e-tailing market consumer which we as Mindshare have been evolving over the last couple of years. We’re quite excited and proud to have been entrusted with helping to grow Jabong.com’s business model in India using our consumer and media knowledge and we’re looking forward to a long and fruitful association with Jabong.com in the years to follow.”

     

    The pitch to Jabong.com was led by Saket Sinha, Partner – Client Leadership and his team at Mindshare. The team’s grasp of consumer insights in the space of e-tailing coupled with targeting recommendations based on information from both proprietary studies such as TGI and that from external industry research helped Jabong.com understand the India market a lot better and swung the decision in favour of Mindshare Delhi.

     

  • Media services agency Mindshare in partnership with Brand Equity is organizing Compass 2012, a day-long marketing summit in Mumbai on March 27.

    Face the ‘Moments of Truth’ with Mindshare-Brand Equity Compass 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media services agency Mindshare in partnership with Brand Equity is organizing Compass 2012, a day-long marketing summit at Hyatt Regency, Mumbai on March 27, 2012. This year, the Conclave theme ‘Moments Of Truth’ dwells on the truth every brand must face and conquer to propel its growth. Every session will discuss new ideas that will redefine the marketing trends of the future.

     

    Mindshare India has been organizing this annual marketing event with leading business daily, Economic Times, from the past four years. Each year, the summit is attended and addressed by leading constituents from the marketing and advertising fraternity who provideinsights and the latest trendsinmarketing, media and consumer behavior, setting new directionsinbrand-building. This year Shantanu Khosla, Director and CEO, Procter & Gamble India and Marco Rimini, Leader, Business Planning, Mindshare Worldwide will address the audience. In 5 years, this summit has grown to become a coveted arsenal of marketing mantras.

     

    Sandeep Pandey, Principal Partner, Consulting, Intelligence & Aanlytics, Mindshare said, “Mindshare and Brand Equity have partnered for the last four years to bring the best of thought leadership to the business community through the BE Compass. It has proved to be the ideal platform for leadership discourses on the most relevant marketing issues that CMOs and CEOs face today. We work very closely with the leadership of some of the top companies in each industry to identify the themes, speakers and audience for this prestigious event. The outcome is a heady brew of game-changing strategies, approaches and stories that leaders can take back to their board rooms.”

    He added, “This year’s themes revolve around the truths and challenges that the C-Suite faces around consumer growth, leadership, communication, and market penetration, including rural markets, to run their businesses effectively. As in the last years, we are sure of overwhelming response to these themes this year too.”

    Over the years, The Mindshare-Brand Equity Compass has focused on a topical agenda, with the objective of addressing the key business challenges and discovering marketing strategies that align with business goals. This year, the conference theme ‘Moments of Truth’ will talk about why it is so crucial to b2b marketers’ ability to help drive the business.

    While the emphasis remains on addressing challenges confronted by the marketing and business community, the day long summit is aimed at creating a platform wherein industry leaders can discuss strategies that can be adopted to propel growth to the next level. The Summit is divided into various interactive sessions which will focus on topics ranging from CEO’s Truth, Consumer Truth, Communication Truth, Retail Truth and Rural Truth.

    The summit will address the challenges faced by CEOs as they rally around new set of business truths, be it allocating resources or best way to nurture people and brands in 2012. Finding the true consumer insight is undeniably the most important task faced by every marketer today. The session on Consumer Truth will analyze consumer’s relationship with brands, advertising and the role of innovation. With social networking sites gaining momentum Communication Truth is evolving every day, this session will focus on lessons for the future.

    Retail has moved from being viewed as a traditional sales function to being an important component of the marketing mix. The session on Retail Truth will witness marketers discussing diverse subjects such as different formats that work in a challenged economy, how to create price premium in retail and role of advertising amongst others. With more than 70 percent of the total households in India residing in the rural areas, understanding the Rural Truth is very crucial to derive and reap maximum benefits for the marketers.

     

  • Nine Indian entries across seven categories made it to the shortlist for the Festival of Media Montreux

    9 Indian entries in Festival of Media Montreux shortlist

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Festival of Media Global Awards 2012 received a record number of entries, with over 870 entries, from more than 50 countries. They celebrate the very best in media thinking from around the world and are a platform to promote the best in class, rewarding creativity and innovation that is at the very heart of effective media communications. India has had its share of mentions in the shortlist. Here goes:

     

    Best Communications Strategy

    Title: Change the game

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Pepsi

     

    Title: Making of a superstar

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Lux

     

    Best Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner

    Title: Making of a superstar

    Company: Gemini TV

    Brand: Lux

    Other credits: Mindshare

     

    Best Entertainment Platform

    Title: Little big film maker

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Surf Excel

    Other credits: Newscorp

     

    Best Use of Content

    Title: Little big film maker

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Surf Excel

    Other credits: Newscorp

     

    Best Use of Emerging Technology

    Title: Customising Technology to create world’s first light powered Facebook app, mobile app and billboard!

    Company: Maxus Bangalore

    Brand: Titan HTSE

    Other Credits: Titan, KRDS, Kinetic

     

    Title: Technology helped save 100,000 lives

    Company: Maxus

    Brand: Vodafone India

     

    Best Creative Use of Media

    Title: Auto rickshaws

    Company: Mediacom India

    Brand: Duracell

    Other credits: Mediacom India

     

    The Effectiveness Award

    Title: It’s a great time to be a family

    Company: Lodestar UM

    Brand: Microsoft

    Other credits: Excel Entertainment, Turner International, Star Plus

     

    In its sixth year, The Festival of Media 2012 will return to the Montreux, Switzerland on April 15-17, 2012. Billed as the world’s first celebration of media creativity and innovation, the Festival of Media sees global media specialists network with senior marketers, media owners and thought-leaders, to do business and debate the many changes in media that are altering advertising landscapes worldwide.

     

  • Mindshare has launched the first edition of its new quarterly trend series, Culture Vulture, which identifies the Entrepreneurial Spirit of Gen Y across 30 countries globally.

    Mindshare finds Gen Y Entrepreneurial Spirit in Trend Study

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare has launched the first edition of its new quarterly trend series, Culture Vulture, which identifies the Entrepreneurial Spirit of Gen Y across 30 countries globally. The report, which was led globally out of the agency’s Asia-Pacific hub in Singapore, examines over 300 Gen Y entrepreneurial businesses across 38 cities including New York, Buenos Aires, London and Shanghai to understand how the youth’s innovative ideas can inspire and fuel game-changing communication behaviour.

     

    “At the core of this first edition is the belief that businesses need a little bit of reverse mentoring from time to time- big blue chip companies can learn from the nimble and creative entrepreneurs of Gen Y,” said Catherine Williams who heads the series for Mindshare.

     

    The report identified 14 unique global trends that Gen Y-the consumer group, in the 17 to 32 age group (The generation born between 1978 – 1995) has been pioneering to great success in small to medium sized businesses. These include tips from trendsetting tech start-ups, channeling the power of advocacy, and creating a genuine value proposition.

     

    Commenting on the launch of the series, Marco Rimini, Mindshare’s Global Business Planning Leader said, “Understanding trends and popular culture actually tell us more about consumer behaviour than media consumption data ever could.  Our Culture Vulture series has been created specifically to better inform our clients and teams of these trends and inspire original thinking in our media strategies.”

     

    “Culture Vulture is a tool that we will be focusing on in India to dial up the cultural sensitivity of our strategy teams and deliver strong communication & media solutions that leverage cultural nuances. Mindshare is in the midst of executing a study, based on Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, that will bring richness to this endeavor,” said Alok Sinha, Leader, Strategy, Mindshare South Asia.

     

    The report itself draws on ideas and technologies employed by Gen Y entrepreneurs. It is being distributed as a free iPad app, an interactive PDF and as a videos series on Vimeo on Twitter and a Culture Vulture blog.