MxMIndia

Tag: Publicis

  • Sreekumar will report in to Hemant Misra, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Capital

    Sreekumar Balasubramanian appointed SVP at Publicis Capital

    By A Correspondent

     

    Publicis Capital announced the appointment of Sreekumar Balasubramanian as Senior Vice President. Sreekumar comes with a 19 year testimony of working with global marketing communications companies and successfully driving growth and thought leadership for iconic global and local brands. Sreekumar will report in to Hemant Misra, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Capital.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Hemant Misra- CEO Publicis Capital said, “It’s great to have Sree in our team. His mandate will be to focus on maintaining our high standards on existing businesses as well as on new business development. I wish him the very best!”

     

    On his appointment Sreekumar said, “It is always important for people to get out of their comfort zones and face new challenges and Publicis has provided me that opportunity. Publicis Capital is an innovative forward thinking agency with iconic brands and renowned talent. I see exceptional potential for leveraging their credentials on existing business and for growth. I look forward to being a part of this endowed team.”

     

    Over the years Sreekumar has worked with eminent agency networks like Leo Burnett, Lowe, Rediffusion and W+K, where he has worked on categories like Food and Beverages, Automotive, Telecom, Retail and services.

     

  • Will spearhead creative leadership responsibilities along with Bobby Pawar

    Joy Mohanty assumes NCD post at Publicis

    By A Correspondent

     

    Joy Mohanty

    Publicis Capital has announced the elevation of Joy Mohanty as the National Creative Director. Joy will continue to be based in Delhi and will report to Bobby Pawar- Chief Creative Officer, Publicis South Asia.

     

    Commenting on Joy’s elevation, Bobby Pawar said, “In the time that I have worked with Joy, I’ve found him making great ads and also finding brilliant solutions to our clients’ problems. He is also a really good leader. His elevation is recognition of the role he has played in improving our output in the past year and the role he will play in helping us raise our game even more.”

     

    Hemant Misra, Chief Executive Officer Publicis Capital stated, “Joy is an ideal partner – cool & collected, ever smiling, assertive and brilliant. He has the ability to attract talent and harness simple yet great ideas. His Kitna Deti Hai campaign for Maruti Suzuki is an appropriate example of this.”

     

    Joy Mohanty has been with Publicis Capital for over 9 years. In a career spanning 21 years he has done time at FCB Ulka, Bates Clarion, Leo Burnett and Contract.

     

  • The idea was to communicate and position WeChat as the starting point of all conversations and interactions

    WeChat uses humour to attract user attention

    By a correspondent

     

    App enabler WeChat has unveiled a series of campaigns under the #StartHere handle. The idea was to communicate and position WeChat as the starting point of all conversations and interactions.

     

    Created by Publicis, the challenge facing WeChat was to stimulate active usage of the app post download. Though the idea of sending voice messages had caught the people’s fancy, the usage tended to dip post download as people reverted to default behaviour of Whatsapp. WeChat therefore, needed to position itself as an innovative, fun and great to use application.

     

    As people, especially youngsters increasingly access the internet through their mobile phones, they began to be more selective with communicating and sharing. Sharing was about keeping in touch with the ‘gang’ or friends constantly – sharing their lives in pictures, song, voice or words with each other in real-time. Technology only enables and empowers the youth tospontaneously and seamlessly keep in touch in the real and virtual space.

     

    WeChat decided to tap into this need for constant contact and the sense of empowerment at being able to do so in new and engaging ways. To engage with the audience more effectively four new features needed to be advertised; radar – for easily adding people within close range, real time location sharing and tracking, video calling and favourite – to store your favourite pics, music, videos in the cloud.

     

    To get the message across the agency decided to make the conversation fun and engaging. They decided to tap into its observations of the ‘urban villager’ and thus was born the Jaat Guy and his beloved buffalo Katrina.

     

    The Jaat Guy is one who wants to embrace the world and connect with new people, but he will do it on his own terms, and in his own inimitable style. He is a symbolic embodiment of many young Indians who live and breathe through their smartphones – very proud of their roots and, at the same time, open to all the opportunities that our hyper-connected world has to offer.

     

    The team behind the campaign include Bobby Pawar, CCO; Joy Mohanty, ECD; HemantMisra, Annirudh Deb, Proteek Dey – Account Management; and production house Boot Polish.

     

  • The giants have announced their decision to terminate the proposed mega-merger of the advertising and marketing services giants

    It’s final. Publicis and Omnicom will not merge

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    There’s one man who must be guffawing at this piece of news. Publicis and Omnicom have agreed to terminate the proposed merger of equals.

     

    The much awaited merger of the two advertising and marketing services giants isn’t happening. A news release that MxMIndia received around dawn today gave a very clear message:

     

    “Publicis Groupe S.A. and Omnicom Group Inc jointly announced that they have terminated their proposed merger of equals by mutual agreement, in view of difficulties in completing the transaction within a reasonable timeframe. The parties have released each other from all obligations with respect to the proposed transaction, and no termination fees will be payable by either party. This decision was unanimously approved by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Publicis Groupe and the Board of Directors of Omnicom.”

     

    Maurice Lévy
    John Wren

    In a joint statement, Maurice Lévy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe, and John Wren, President and Chief Executive Officer of Omnicom Group, stated: “The challenges that still remained to be overcome, in addition to the slow pace of progress, created a level of uncertainty detrimental to the interests of both groups and their employees, clients and shareholders. We have thus jointly decided to proceed along our independent paths. We, of course, remain competitors, but maintain a great respect for one another.”

     

    When Mr Levy was in India in December 2013, he seemed very bullish about the merger. It had been cleared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and was awaiting similar clearances from the European Union, China and Columbia, Mr Levy said. He indicated that the merger should happen around the second quarter of 2014 and made light of the comments of arch rival and WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell on the merger as “part of his job”.

     

    When asked whether the Publicis group was on course of its target of doubling revenues by end-2014, Mr Levy said post the merger with Omnicom, it will be more than a doubling.

     

    Meanwhile, in an interview to Adveristing Age, Sir Sorrell said he wasn’t too surprised at the eventuality. When asked why they (Publicis and Omnicom) made the decision in the first place, he said: “I think it was an emotional decision. Wren and Levy wanted to knock WPP off its perches. Any deal was doomed to fail. Secondly, it was Gallic charm. Wren was charmed by Levy into believing Levy would ride off into the sunset. That clearly was not the case if you look at the structure. The third thing: Their eyes were bigger than their tummy. On the quarterly earning calls for Q1, both made the case for separate [companies] being as good as they are together, which begs the question, why did they put the deal together in the first place, if they’re as well off separately as they were before.”

     

    And what does this mean for WPP, Adage asked. Sir Sorrell said: “We obviously made hay while the sun was shining. [On new business] we won Marks and Spencer, Vodafone, E-Trade. There will be further opportunities as a result [of the collapse]. I’m sure there will be repercussions.”

     

    Evidently the last hasn’t been heard on the tu tu main main between the three. As for the various Publicis and Omnicom group agencies in India, it’s going to be business as usual. “For the last year-odd, things have been in a bit of a limbo and we weren’t sure of how we would be going in the months to come,” said a CEO of one of the group companies, requesting for anonymity.

     

  • Apart from having strong roots in India, the company has successfully forayed into Europe, Middle East, South-East Asia and African markets

    SH Kelkar awards creative biz to Publicis

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fragrance and flavour provider, SH Kelkar & Company has awarded its creative duties to Publicis Worldwide. The business was awarded to Publicis following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    The family owned business which started manufacturing fragrances in 1922 is a professionally run, fragrance and flavour maker in India. Apart from having strong roots in India, the company has successfully forayed into Europe, Middle East, South-East Asia and African markets with manufacturing units in India and Netherlands. SHK is credited with being the fragrance and flavour provider of many iconic brands, both International and domestic and across categories.

     

    Nakul Chopra

    Nakul Chopra, CEO South Asia, Publicis said, “We are extremely pleased to have an opportunity to partner a pedigreed company like SH Kelkar. Especially given that their business will provide exciting opportunities for holistic communication solutions. We look forward to working with them.”

     

    B. Ramkrishnan, CEO, SH Kelkar & Co, stated, “We are a mid-sized company with global presence- and the largest fragrance house in India – with aggressive plans for the future. I am extremely happy that Publicis is partnering with us in our quest to firmly establish our identity in the global arena.”

     

    Paritosh Srivastava, Executive Vice President, Publicis added, “Fragrance is a business where science and art of the highest order come together, we have a creative resonance between our teams that will hopefully result in some great branding, design and communication. We are proud to partner a company with a heritage of almost 90 years in India and expanding to the world markets. We hope to play a significant role in SHK’s future growth plans.”

     

  • Nestle's "Share Your Goodness" campaign is a great example of next generation storytelling, writes Rishad Tobaccowala

    Rishad Tobaccowala: Why Nestle’s “Share Your Goodness” is more than Good

    Rishad Tobaccowala

    By Rishad Tobaccowala

     

    Nestle has hit a nerve with its latest “Share Your Goodness” campaign. This series of heartwarming ads has emotionally resonated with millions of people in India, as well as a larger set of the global population via social/online media.

     

    If you haven’t seen the campaign yet, I’d encourage you to check it out. The first commercial is Adoption and the second Dabbawala.

     

    I share this campaign because it’s a great example of next generation storytelling and its message has resonated with many, largely because the campaign leveraged a number of new media tricks – from online video with extended versions to smart search optimization and seeding its own hash tag #ShareYourGoodness to enable sharing and discovery.

     

    But the campaign is a success for more reasons than just great storytelling and new media tricks. So why did this campaign succeed and what can we learn from it as global marketers? The lessons are surprisingly less about digital technology and more about analog humanity.

     

    1. Storytelling is critical: Both executions, particularly Adoption, is a well-honed story – a story with humanity that leaves enough unsaid that the viewer brings their own experiences into the experience and therefore it becomes more engaging.

     

    2. Human insights are key: The core insight is really about how food is central to human bonding and social experience. In both commercials, food serves as a bridge, a connection, an expression of love and understanding between siblings, husband and wife and just people.

     

    3. Smart marketers own the category benefit: Food is an effective way to share our goodness. This is the underlying emotional benefit of food, besides its ability to sustain us physically. By linking Nestle to this underlying category benefit, Nestle looks bigger, more purposeful and more relevant to life than just being a food manufacturer.

     

    4. Break The Mould: Somewhere a client or a series of clients made some bold calls. First, they decided to launch the campaign online. Second, they approved story lines where the brand is the hero without the product being the hero or appearing all over the story. Third, they approved scripts that took on out of the ordinary topics. And finally, they understood that we live in a connected world and had their agencies seed, enable and leverage sharing.

     

    5. Recognize  and leverage the power of new media: Many marketers see digital and new media – even today in India and often around the world – as an after thought, an add-on or something one does to claim it is in the plan. The reality is that in places like India, which is the second largest market for Facebook with 100 million users (also Twitter’s and Linked In’s second largest market) and a highly mobile (soon in India 250 million smart phones), new media is as much media as old media and can allow for far more flexibility to create and distribute an idea. Why not start with the idea first and then determine the media rather than starting with the :30 or the print ad?

     

    International appeal

    The underlying insight of human goodness linked to sharing food, combined with the realization that the digital world allows one the room to tell a story which can then be shared and edited for other media, is so big that I believe this campaign has an appeal for international audiences, making it possible to leverage this effort across the globe.

     

    In a connected world, the best ideas can come from everywhere and the Internet is global!

     

    Marketers and agencies need to realize that some of the old arts (storytelling, insights, understanding category benefits) and pure client and agency guts are very critical. So is the ability to seamlessly leverage old and new media in ways that get people not only to be viewers, but be part of the media distribution plan.

     

    Rishad Tobaccowala is a senior thoughleader in digital media and advertising. He works with the Publicis Groupe and is chair for Digitas, LBi, Razorfish for Publicis Groupe.

     

  • To showcase the new product and its value proposition, Kansai Nerolac has unveiled the campaign comprising of a TVC and digital campaign

    Kansai Nerolac unveils HD paints concept

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd has introduced a first-of-its-kind High Definition (HD) paint technology. Nerolac Impressions is the first range of premium interior emulsions in India that comes with a ‘High Definition’ color technology.

     

    To showcase the new product and its value proposition, Kansai Nerolac has unveiled the campaign comprising of a TVC and digital campaign. With this campaign, Nerolac reinvents its positioning through a new creative punch-line: “Jab Nerolac Impressions ka HD Paint lagega, toh ghar ke saath aapka bhi Impression badhega!”

     

    Enhanced with Micro-Embedded Brightness Boosters (MEBB’s), Nerolac’s Impressions range of interior emulsions offers a sharper look and superior finish. This technology makes the color of walls look brighter, richer and cleaner than other standard emulsions.

     

    “High Definition has become synonymous with our lifestyle today. Based on this insight, we aim to extend this technology to homes as well through HD Paints. Having launched several innovative products under the Impressions brand in the past we hope to provide customers with a larger than life experience and take our offerings to the next level,” said Anuj Jain, Director (Decorative), Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.

     

    Bobby Pawar

    Bobby Pawar – Director – Chief Creative Officer, South Asia at Publicis Worldwide said, “We wanted to change the conversation that the category leader was having, and we had a product that could do that. So for Nerolac Impressions HD paint we shifted the conversation from emotions and the effect of the color on relationships to the impact a great paint can have on the perceived value of your home and you. A great way to do it was a side-by-side perception demo.”

     

    The entire campaign is based on the insight of ‘how one’s home is an extension of one’s lifestyle and personality’. To reinforce this message, the TVC features brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, highlighting the difference between Nerolac Impressions HD Paint and Standard Definition Paint. It uses the humour element to subtly showcase how individuals living in HD Homes vis-a-vis standard definition homes are perceived. These HD paints replicate the color quality difference one would observe between a standard definition TV and a HD TV.

     

    Conceptualized and executed by Publicis Ambience, the film is also dubbed in Hindi and other regional languages and is currently being aired across all national channels.

     

  • Ambuja Cement has entrusted the creative duties for brand Ambuja to Publicis

    Publicis bags Ambuja Cement creative mandate

    By a correspondent

     

    Ambuja Cement has announced that they have entrusted the creative duties for brand Ambuja to Publicis.

     

    Vivek Deshpande- Head Branding, Ambuja Cements said, “We have very ambitious plans for our brand – we wanted an agency who would partner us at every step of the way forward. In Publicis we found both the strategic and creative quality that gives us confidence. We look forward to this partnership.”

     

    Nakul Chopra

    Nakul Chopra, CEO Publicis South Asia added, “Ambuja is an iconic brand; we feel privileged to partner them in taking their brand to the next level. That this opportunity will allow for media neutral ideas which could straddle traditional and non-traditional media – makes it even more exciting.”

     

     

     

    Partha Sinha
    Bobby Pawar

    In a joint statement, Partha Sinha and Bobby Pawar, Directors Publicis South Asia said, “We are delighted with this opportunity – we have some ambitious ideas for the brand and are currently in the middle of executing them. It’s a fantastic brand team to work with and we are confident of delivering big on this brand.”

     

  • Initiative takes over from ZenithOptimedia as Reckitt Benckiser's media planning and buying partner

    IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative bags Reckitt Benckiser mandate in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    When a top FMCG advertiser moves its media agency mandate globally, there’s a stir in the advertising marketplace. Reckitt Benckiser (RB), which owns 19 big brands like Dettol, Strepsils, Durex, Clearasi, Harper, Bang, Mortein etc, has appointed the Aegis, Havas, Publicis and IPG networks as its global media agency partners. In India, where RB is among the five biggest adspenders, IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative has been appointed the media agency.

     

    This follows a global review to ensure the company benefits from “best-in-class media planning and buying” across around 60 markets in which it advertises. RB had existing arrangements with Havas and ZenithOptimedia (Publicis). Aegis and IPG are new additions to its global roster. Initative takes over the mandate in India from ZenithOptimedia.

     

    Said Heather Allen, executive vice president global category development, “Our media investment is critical for our brands to engage with consumers around the world.  Reckitt Benckiser is one of the world’s fastest growing companies in consumer health, hygiene and home and we’re looking forward to successful growth for our agency partners and us going forward.”

     

    “The learnings that we have got on the RB business will stay with us and we are richer for these. We thank RB for their support and wish them and their new agency all the very best for the future,” said Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO, ZenithOptimedia India.

     

     

  • J K Helene Curtis Ltd's TVC and 360-degree marketing campaign will focus on the core proposition of a male-specific shampoo through a beer ingredient that men identify with

    Publicis launches 360-deg campaign for Park Avenue beer shampoo

    By A Correspondent

     

    J K Helene Curtis Ltd has launched an advertising campaign for its Park Avenue Beer Shampoo Adding a twist of beer into the modern man’s life, the campaign focuses on the need of personalized hair care for men, notes a communiqué.

     

    Created by Publicis South Asia, the communication reveals that men’s hair is different from that of women, and needs specialized care to keep it shiny and bouncy.

     

     

    Said Anil Kulkarni, Director, J K Helene Curtis Limited: , said, “In our research, we have found that men do not invest in personal hair care products and instead use female shampoos. With Park Avenue Beer Shampoo, we wanted to give the man a shampoo created specifically to meet his hair care needs and it’s time to revel in the glory of making men conscious about personal grooming.”

     

    Bobby Pawar

    Commenting on the concept, Bobby Pawar, Director, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis South Asia, says “For years we’ve sold the feminine idea of hair care. Our idea was to create a male counter-point to that, one that puts a beery twist onto typical hair-care communication. We tried to capture the same as an outcry ‘Cheers to man hair’.”

     

    Credits:

    Creative agency: Publicis South Asia

    Creative team: Bobby Pawar, Zarwan Divecha

    Account Management team: Chandan Jha, Dharal Goshalia

    Production House: Fleet Entertainment

    Director: Kay Kienzler

    Producer: Jignesh Maru

     

  • The Paris-based research firm releases its rankings on overall billings and network-wised billing

    How the media agency networks stack up post Publicis-Omincom merger as per RECMA

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading media agency research firm RECMA has released its Global Ranking 2012. While India-specific numbers are important, in a globalised order, the overall numbers are also noteworthy.

     

    A little background: since 1999, RECMA has been publishing annually the Global Billings Rankings report standing as the flagship report for the media agency industry. All major advertisers (media / procurement managers), consultants or media agencies use the global, regional or country rankings in their day-to-day business activities.

     

    This research is based on two metrics:

    1- the measurement of the buying billings based on the compilation of agency client lists with adjusted ad monitored spending allocated to each account

    2- the evaluation of non-measured media spending (or diversified services): a growing field which includes multiple areas from search to marketing strategy consulting.

     

    Five years ago, the sum of buying billings + specialized services (including digital) got RECMA to produce a new ranking based on the “Overall Activity” volumes. Hence, from now on, the report will be entitled “Overall Activity” – the term Billings (referring to buying media) being dropped.

     

    Notes a mail from the Paris-based founder Eudes Delafon and Olivier Gauthier, Partner, Director of Research and Sales Development Director: “Among the several improvements of this research, we paid a careful attention to the growth rates y-o-y to adjust the estimated Overall Activity volumes. This new point of analysis is now used as one of the 20 criteria in RECMA Qualitative Evaluations by country – a key benchmark for all industry professionals.

     

    Following the release of this report, we are updating the 50 country Qualitative Evaluations, starting with the Top 14 countries (to be available by the end of August). Details about the breakdown between buying Billings and Digital / Diversified services are not contained in this report. The Domestic reports as well as the Specialized Resources global report will provide data and analysis on this point.

     

    In the wake of the announcement that Publicis and Omnicom are merging, Recma has release a second table showing “how this historical deal overturns the hierarchy of the Groups of media networks”. Given the interest in the information, we place this table first.

     

    Industry shares 2012 in 6 regions
    following the creation of Publicis Omnicom group

     

    The Industry shares are calculated on the basis of the media agency Industry measured by RECMA.

    RECMA estimates Overall activity figure consisting in the aggregation of: buying billings (measured media spending) + non-measured spending (Digital & Diversified service).

    COMMENTS

    In Asia Pacific and in Others EMEA, the media arms of Publicis Omnicom group and WPP would hold a similar share.

    In Americas, Publicis Omnicom group would become a strong leader with a projected industry share of 41.6% versus 21.7% for WPP/GroupM.

    GroupM would remain the No 1 group in the Top 5 Europe markets, staying ahead of POG by four points.

    Finally, in the 14 countries (representing 75% of the media industry worldwide) the new POG media entity would weigh 36.8% of the industry against 27.1% for WPP/ GroupM: a 10-point gap.

    The three other groups, Dentsu Aegis Network, IPG/ Mediabrans and Havas Media-clearly stand a step behind.

     

    OVERALL ACTIVITY [BILLINGS] 2012 – Edition 13

    GLOBAL RANKING 2012 BY NETWORK

     

  • The newly formed Publicis Omnicom may narrowly topple the Interpublic group from its second spot in India

    Despite Omnicom-Publicis merger, WPP clear #1 in India

    By Samidha Sharma

     

    The $35-billion merger of American advertising and marketing group Omnicom with the Publicis Groupe will put the combined entity right on top of the global advertising industry in terms of revenues. But in India, Martin Sorrell’s WPP will maintain its No 1 position by far compared to its nearest competitor. Publicis Omnicom, the newly formed holding company, however, may narrowly topple the Interpublic group from its second spot in India, according to some industry estimates. These agency networks do not share their revenue numbers publicly in India.

     

    Most industry insiders said that the global merger will not have an immediate impact on the Indian market where the network’s agencies are expected to run independently. Both Publicis and Omnicom have upped their ante in the Indian market with acquisitions over the last couple of years to take on WPP head-on here.

     

    While Omnicom took full control of domestic biggie Mudra in 2011, Publicis has gone on to acquire smaller agencies like Convonix, Resultrix and iStrat, among others, in India. WPP, the clear No 1 locally with revenues topping Rs 1,500 crore, is still double the size of IPG and the newly formed Publicis-Omnicom here.

     

    Agnello Dias
    Agnello Dias

    “The combined entity will help in the Indian context when a global client of either Omnicom or Publicis decides to enter the local market. With a wider bouquet of offerings across creative and media agencies, the group will have higher chances of retaining these clients here,” said Agnello Dias, co-founder, Taproot, an independent agency which was acquired by Dentsu last year.

     

    Over the last few years, as traditional advertising mediums are being challenged by the likes of Google, the world’s largest online search firm, and social media platforms, consolidation has begun to take place rapidly across the advertising world. In 2012, Japanese ad network Dentsu acquired British media buying group Aegis to give it a much needed access to markets outside of its home country in a $4.9-billion buyout.

     

    The merger is unlikely to be a gamechanger in India until they get one head of the combined entity and cut flab which is not going to happen right away, said a CEO of an advertising firm who did not want to be named. Conflicting client interests – such as the one between Coke and Pepsi – is another issue which will be at the fore front for both the networks to handle going forward.

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    “The new entity has the potential of becoming a stronger player as well as a weaker one depending on how post the merger the group handles its clients and employees,” said Ashish Bhasin, chairman (India and CEO (South-East Asia) for Aegis Media.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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