MxMIndia

Tag: WPP

  • With the war of words between NDTV and WPP never-ending, industry leaders must intervene… else the government will

    MxM Comment: Enough of trading charges. Industry needs to bring warring partners to the table

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    It’s the kind of content that’s been seeing our hit rates go up, but I seriously think enough is enough. It is time the industry gets together and brings warring partners to the table. It’s important that either an industry body like IBF or AAAI or someone who would earn the respect of all parties concerned were to convene this. MxMIndia would have been happy to take the lead, but we’d rather be an independent observer than a participant. Although both Star and Madison do have active linkages with NDTV and WPP respectively, I would think Messrs Sam Balsara and Uday Shankar would do well to take the lead. For, the current blamegame and exchange of unpleasantries can continue forever, and we could still be struggling for solutions.

     

    What’s worse is that Sir Martin Sorrell is himself being dragged into the war of words. So an NDTV statment rubbishes what Sorrell and WPP have to say. And WPP (and Sir Sorrell) haven’t hesitated from commenting on NDTV’s fortunes and its lawyers. Thankfully, Dr Prannoy Roy’s name hasn’t been pulled in yet. But for how long?

     

    Representatives from all stakeholders have privately confided to this writer and corroborated MxMIndia’s original standpoint that it’s the system that’s ought to be blamed for the mess the industry is in and not just TAM. I may even stick my neck out and say that from the information I have, the TAM management isn’t corrupt, though there one may not rule out the presence of some rotten apples in the rank and file. The only way to eliminate that is by a process that has a reasonable number of checks and balances.

     

    TAM’s problem is that for too long it has not had a joint stakeholder body (BARC, earlier Joint Industry Body) governing it and providing it a frame of reference for operations. In the recent past, with the exit of aMap, it’s been a monopolistic play but you can’t blame TAM for that. The industry didn’t patronise aMap well enough.

     

    News broadcasters are particularly peeved with the current measurement system because their demand for a stop to weekly ratings wasn’t accepted by TAM. TAM, on its part, said if all stakeholders – broadcasters, advertisers and agencies – were unanimous, they would make the switch.

     

    WPP is huge in India – Group M, Ogilvy and WPP and several other outfits. The aggregate employee strength is 12,000 and revenues are of around $500million. NDTV too has a reputation of being a quality broadcaster. I am sure neither is taking the Indian market lightly.

     

    Now let’s avoid a bloodbath of words.

     

    PS: I have another worry. The news broadcasters have already asked the Minister of Information and Broadcasting to intervene in the measurement issue. While one appreciates the sentiments of the NBA, asking the government to step in can be suicidal. If the government finds the war of words between statekholders never-ending, it may well do that and last week’s example with blocking Twitter ids is a fair indicator of how governments can act.

     

  • WPP responds to NDTV's statement which in turn had rubbised WPP's earlier statement

    Day 3: Now WPP responds to NDTV salvo

    So you read what NDTV said about WPP’s statement. Now here’s what we just received from WPP in Q&A form to make for better understanding of the situation.

     

     

    Q1. In its press statement, NDTV has said, while they claim that the suit has not been served, WPP surely knows, or should know, that service was indeed made on the 10th of August in New York, and processes under the Hague Convention are also underway. What is the exact situation?

     

    Answer:

    We are aware that the New York lawyers acting for NDTV have filed affidavits of service with the New York court claiming to have served the proceedings on various WPP companies. Despite this, valid service has not taken place and we will be drawing the Court’s attention to these inadequate and misleading statements in our motion to dismiss the claims in their entirety.

     

    There has been a faulty, and clumsy, attempt to serve on one company, but nothing on the others at all. No lawyer acting on behalf of any WPP company has made any such statement. In fact, Kantar Media (Research) UK is not even named as a party to any lawsuit.

     

    We are taking the unusual step of proceeding to dismiss the hypothetical lawsuit, despite the lack of any valid service, simply due to the attempted “trial by media”, which has been generated by the (unserved) lawsuit. In any event, there is no merit in the purported claims, nor do the US courts have any jurisdiction to hear any such claims.

     

    Any claim should be made properly, in India, in front of the Indian courts, which are more than capable of properly hearing any valid claim.

     

    NDTV appears to be blaming their poor financial performance on the ratings. NDTV’s financial state shows a dramatic decline, with its market capitalisation declining from around US $800 million in early 2008 to around US$60 million today. Over the same period NDTV’s share price has declined from a high of Rs 512.70 to around Rs 50 today. NDTV is operating in an extremely competitive market, and its competitors have also been in a difficult position. However, NDTV’s decline is not down to any perceived failures in TAM data.

     

    Q2.Where and when does WPP plan to file the defamation lawsuit?

     

    Answer: As referred to in its statement, WPP is considering an action for defamation and this consideration will include the appropriate jurisdiction.

     

    3. Why doesn’t the operating TAM file the case?

    Answer: TAM will be considering its own action.

     

    4. You say that WPP plans to file an application in New York to strike out the NDTV lawsuit. When will that happen?

    Answer: The application is imminent.

     

    5. What else do you plan to do?

    Answer: WPP is disappointed about the “trial by media” which has been initiated by NDTV. As we have said, TAM has been, and will continue to be, committed to working with the industry to improve the use of technology, coverage and transparency of the TAM data. A series of additional steps has very recently been agreed with the industry.

    WPP is committed to working with all industry stakeholders: we would be very happy to work with the mooted BARC structure: we work extremely well with similar bodies all over the world and would be happy to do so in India.

     

    6. You said in your statement “TAM has taken and continues to take stringent measures to protect the panel against repeated attempts at tampering by currently unknown parties and has recently agreed a series of additional steps with the industry to remove any question marks about the quality and reliability of the TAM data.” The timing of announcing these steps makes it look like TAM is responding to NDTV’s lawsuit. Why didn’t TAM take these steps earlier?

     

    Answer: In fact the steps referred to are just the latest action in an ongoing process of dialogue and improvement in the collection of data and not simply a reaction to the hypothetical lawsuit referred to in the press

     

     

    Now, don’t be surprised if you find an NDTV statement tomorrow… our inboxes are waiting! But, on a serious note, all of this is sad. And sad for the Indian broadcasting sector.

  • PR is clearly the main aim, as the WPP statement contains a number of legal flaws, NDTV notes, asking WPP to correct its "badly damaged and dishonest ratings system in India"

    Battle of courts spills to media statements, as NDTV rubbishes WPP claims

    By A Correspondent

     

    It was meant to be a battle fought in the courtrooms, but not unexpectedly, it’s now got down to the streets. It started with a statement issued by WPP on Wednesday, and on Thursday, news broadcaster NDTV too issued a statement.

     

    We publish it as is, so that none of the finer details are lost:

    NDTV is baffled and amused by the PR effort by WPP. PR is clearly the main aim, as the WPP statement contains a number of legal flaws.

     

    It is indeed strange that they term the suit as hypothetical as it is available for everyone to read in full on the website of the Supreme Court of New York (as reported first by the Hollywood Reporter and read by many since). In fact it appears as though WPP must have read it too as they refer too many details in the NDTV complaint and respond with several false denials!

     

    Moreover, while they claim that the suit has not been served, they surely know, or should know, that service was indeed made on the 10th of August in New York, and processes under the Hague Convention are also underway as is the normal procedure. Moreover, the lawyers for Kantar Media Research (UK), have already confirmed to NDTV that the service on their client was acceptable in New York. In fact, matters have progressed much beyond ‘service’; the lawyers for Nielsen have been in touch with our lawyers and have requested for an extension. In addition, the CEO of Kantar has been in touch with us and has acknowledged receiving the complaint. NDTV has affidavits to substantiate this.

     

    While many may attribute sinister motives to WPP’s Statement which is full of factual and legal errors, NDTV would give them the benefit of the doubt and assume WPP has made a silly error which simple cross-checking through their internal systems will soon correct. If all else fails, for details of the complaint we suggest they visit the Supreme Court of New York’s website where the “non-hypothetical” complaint is detailed in full.

     

    We suggest WPP refrain from using their massive PR machine to make baseless threats against NDTV. Instead we request that WPP should focus on honestly fixing (for want of a better word!) their badly damaged and dishonest ratings system in India – which in their Statement they acknowledge they have control over and is their responsibility.

     

  • Statement says WPP or its operating companies haven't been served any law suit as of yesterday

    WPP takes on NDTV, mulls defamation suit. Says NY courts have no jurisdiction on claims against it

    By  A Correspondent

     

    TAM Media Research’s part-owner WPP (via Kantar Market Research) finally broke its silence on the law suit filed by NDTV Limited in New York, USA.

     

    The statement asserted that the suit has, as of yesterday, not been served on WPP or any of its operating companies. And added: “There is no merit, whatsoever, in any of the claims made in the hypothetical Law Suit relating to the WPP Parties, nor do the courts of New York have any jurisdiction to hear any such claims.”

     

    “Despite the lack of any valid service, the WPP Parties are in the process of issuing an immediate application to strike out the hypothetical Law Suit and will be seeking their costs in so doing,” it said.

     

    Meanwhile, WPP is also active considering initiating legal proceedings against NDTV for defamation and has instructed its lawyers accordingly, the statement said further.

     

    The statement records the TAM being “proud of the service it has been delivering to the market for 14 years, and the way in which investment in technology has been applied to the service”. In a response to some of the charges levied in the NDTV suit, the statement says: “As recent developments indicate, TAM is committed to working with the industry to continuously improve the use of technology, coverage and transparency. TAM has taken and continues to take stringent measures to protect the panel against repeated attempts at tampering by currently unknown parties and has recently agreed a series of additional steps with the industry to remove any question marks about the quality and reliability of the TAM data.” The last bit pointing to the six action points that came out of the meeting with the ISA and AAAI last week.

     

  • No immediate impact in India as Dentsu's announcement of acquiring Aegis brings it closer to adland biggies WPP, Omnicom, Publicis & Interpublic

    Welcome,the new adland superpower:Dentsu

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s no longer watercooler chatter or just a whisper in the corridors. By gobbling up Aegis, Dentsu has made its intentions very clear. Sir Martin Sorrell and Maurice Levy, the Japanese are a-comin!

     

    Announcing the mega-deal: Tadashi Ishii, President and CEO, Dentsu Inc and Jerry Buhlmann, CEO, Aegis

    Dentsu’s $4.9 billion acquisition is being counted as the biggest in the advertising business. It’s the second buy of a British ad entity within a month. But, of course, Aegis is a large network while BBH (which sold out to Publicis) is just a creative boutique.

     

    There was nothing forthcoming from the Dentsu and Aegis offices in India, however, it’s set to be business as usual for the now. The nitty gritty will only be completed by the end of the current year, and the impact, if at all, will be more on shared services, sources tell us.

     

    There is a marked difference between our respective styles of functioning, an insider at Dentsu told MxMIndia on conditions of anonymity. “But that too is a global issue”.

     

    Another industry voice told MxMIndia that the scale which Dentsu attains will help it considerably. It’s not just the preserve of networks like WPP, Omnicom, Publicis and IPG any more. The rub-off will be very positive on both entities and pitches henceforth will see them as significant players.

     

    First some background:

    In July 2009, Dentsu announced its medium-term management plan titled “Dentsu Innovation 2013”, focusing on global business expansion and intensifying digital offerings, together with further strengthening its mass media business, to drive its business strategy as one unified group and to achieve strong growth. Looking to its clients’ and media agencies’ business landscape, Dentsu’s business exposure has been expanding globally, especially with strong focus on emerging markets including Asia.

     

    On the other hand, Aegis, a global focused media and digital communications group with highly competitive digital service offerings, enjoys a strong presence across Europe and increasingly in the US (clearly the world’s largest advertising market), and is rapidly growing its footprint across Asia and the Pacific. The combination of Dentsu and Aegis will be highly complementary, bringing together a global media platform with capabilities to provide integrated solutions, and offer enhanced quality services to clients.

     

    Both companies place “client centricity” at the core of their values and Dentsu’s corporate vision for “Good Innovation.” and Aegis’ to “Reinvent the Way Brands are Built” demonstrate the respective commitment to continuous improvement.

     

    The Rationale:

    Dentsu believes that a business combination between Dentsu and Aegis will deliver the following strategic and financial benefits:

     

    1. Expansion of global presence

    The geographical fit between Dentsu and Aegis is highly complementary. Dentsu has a leading market position in Japan’s advertising and marketing sector, an established presence across Asia, and an increasingly expanding business in the US, with mcgarrybowen as its core US subsidiary.

     

    Additionally, Aegis enjoys a leading position showing strong presence across Europe and increasingly in the US. Moreover, Aegis is rapidly growing its footprint across emerging markets, and has established robust positioning in Asia excluding Japan.

     

    Together, the enlarged group will be a stronger global competitor with the scope and scale to compete for and win international mandates across Japan, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. The combined network with a full range of advertising, media and marketing services will enable Dentsu and Aegis to provide highly integrated services for local, regional and global clients across multiple international locations.

     

    2. Enhanced service and integrated solution offerings

    Dentsu and Aegis each rely, in order to be competitive, on distinct service offerings and expertise, together with their creativity and integrity, to exploit best solutions with a variety of service offerings.

     

    Following the transaction, the combined group will have a strengthened ability to offer a wider spectrum of niche services and expertise as a full service agency. With both Dentsu and Aegis’s extensive experience and knowledge, the combined group will enhance its ability to offer integrated solutions to clients.

     

    3. Intensified digital capabilities

    The adoption of ‘scaled’ technologies by consumers has driven the proliferation of connected devices and advancements in communication technology, significantly affecting clients’ advertising and marketing activities. Dentsu faces strong client expectations to strengthen digital solutions.

     

    With the rise of digital consumption and client demand for digital services, Dentsu has successfully enhanced its digital solutions over the years. By integrating Aegis, with Isobar and iProspect’s digital strengths in creative origination and performance marketing, the combined business will provide a powerful global platform for media, content and digital technology, and will increasingly support client activities.

     

    The combination of Dentsu and Aegis, with its robust client portfolio, will count at least 71 out of the top 100 marketers as clients on a combined basis, and will provide global and local clients with a new, differentiated proposition to achieve their objectives, and also accelerate the drive to continuously create new innovations as one unified group.

     

    CEO-speak:

    Here are comments from the respective CEOs:

    1. Dentsu: Tadashi Ishii, President and CEO:

    I am pleased to announce this exciting and transformational combination between Dentsu and Aegis. Together, we will be able to deliver fully integrated and best-in-class services to our clients through a new global communication network born in the digital age offering a broadened service portfolio. Dentsu and Aegis will be the market leader in the Asia-Pacific region, enjoying a strong presence across Europe and the fastest growing agency network in the US.

     

    In recent years, under the leadership of Jerry Buhlmann and his team, Aegis has been recognised as the most successful independent media and digital communications agency with strong performance momentum and talented, client-focused employees. We look forward to working with our new colleagues with whom we already share a common “client-centric” philosophy. Jerry and I have huge ambitions for a truly client-focused global communication network built in the digital age, and are looking forward to further innovating our business and continuing to contribute to our clients’ success.

     

    2. Aegis: Jerry Buhlmann, CEO:

    This is a compelling combination of two great businesses that will create one of the world’s most dynamic marketing services groups – and the first to be born in the digital age.

     

    We at Aegis are delighted at the prospect of being able to play a full part in helping Dentsu create a platform for global growth and continued digital innovation. By forming the first communications group with true global reach, the growth strategies of both businesses will be enhanced as we provide more scale, geography, capability and investment to support clients.

     

    “For the people of both these great businesses, the combination offers continuity and the promise of working for one of the most exciting, high-growth companies in our industry. We have complementary geographic fits and aligned visions and strategies. Together, we have strengthened investment capabilities as we work to help more clients than ever before navigate the complex and converging media ecosystem.”

     

    The India angle:

    Market observers in India credit the team led by Sandeep Goyal for the initial salience of Dentsu amongst advertisers. The Japanese ad network is no longer an alien name, even though it’s not as big as WPP, Publicis, Ommnicom or IPG.

     

    In India, Dentsu has the following arms: Dentsu Marcom, Dentsu Communications, Dentsu Creative Impact, Dentsu Media and Dentsu Digital. And Aegis has: Carat, Vizeum, Isobar, iProspect, Posterscope, Brandscope, Hyperspace, Carat Fresh Integrated, PSI and Doosra.

     

    But the presence of Mr Goyal earlier and now Rohit Ohri has ensured that business keeps coming in to Dentsu, a senior media agency executive told MxMIndia. As for Aegis, the leadership of Ashish Bhasin means that the group has stability at the helm.

     

    For Mr Ohri: Ken Terasawa (Exec Vice Chairman), Soumitra Karnik (NCD) Narayan Devanathan (Dentsu Marcom), Titus Upputuru (NCD, Dentsu Marcom), Arijit Ray (Dentsu Communications), Glen Ireland (Dentsu Digital), Yutaka Kamoshita (Dentsu Digital) and Divya Gupta (Dentsu Media) and for Mr Bhasin: Kartik Iyer (Carat), Anand Bhadkamkar (CFO), S Yesudas (Vizeum), Haresh Nayak (Posterscope), Shamsuddin Jasani (Isobar), Zaheer Mirza (Doosra).

     

    While Mr Ohri is travelling and not available for contact, the information that MxMIndia received the morning after the announcement that the overall global structure will be unveiled only by the year-end, and following that regional and India-specific restructuring may happen. However, in the same breath, a source in a Dentsu international office told us that given the slowdown managements will be sensitive to overspending, so don’t be surprised if the process towards rationalization happens quicker.

     

    Suggested reading:

    Ad Age report: Not the ‘Big Four’ Holding Firms in Adland Anymore — Now It’s the Big Five

    http://adage.com/article/agency-news/big-holding-firms-adland-anymore-big/236001/

     

  • This report provides advertisers, agencies and major players of the digital industry detailed Profile Cards and various rankings of the Top 112 largest US digital agencies

    AKQA buy takes WPP to the top in digital: RECMA

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following the AKQA (a creative agency specializing in interactive marketing) acquisition by WPP, RECMA is pleased to announce the update of its latest USA report: the Top 112 digital agencies (published in July 2012).

     

    This report provides advertisers, agencies and major players of the digital industry detailed Profile Cards and various rankings of the Top 112 largest US digital agencies (based on staff figures 2012). These detailed Profile Cards and hierarchies are increasingly required by international advertisers seeking to consolidate their digital account regionally or globally. RECMA is read and used by 85 global advertisers, which appreciate our objective, homogenous and accurate information

     

    By investing $540 million, WPP bought one of the last independent digital jewel and has taken the lead in the industry. The RECMA report reveals the AKQA profile and the reasons why WPP offered such a package to Ajaz Ahmed and Tom Bedecarre.

     

    Now the question is which are now the last independent digital leaders in the USA left on the shelves to be acquired and which group holds an overly limited share of the industry and needs to reach the necessary competitive size?

     

    The table below shows the new WPP leadership in the USdue to the addition of the 600 US AKQA staffers. Previously WPP share was of 20.2, slightly behind Publicis 20.5.

     

    USA- Digital market shares July 2012
    Rank
    2012    		 DIGITAL
    STAFF    		 7 Group  owners and 61 agencies Digital shares
    1 8 328 WPP USA (8 agencies) 21.7%
    2 7 864 Publicis Groupe USA (7 agencies) 20.5%
    3 6 672 Interpublic  USA (12 agencies) 17.4%
    4 4 698 Omnicom Group USA (7 agencies) 12.3%
    5 1 370 Aegis Media USA (3 agencies) 3.6%
    6 1 099 Havas USA (1 agency) 2.9%
    7 825 DentsuAmerica (1 agency) 2.2%
    7 436 Independents USA  (23 agencies) 19.4%
    – 38 292 Top 112USAdigital agencies 100%

     

     

  • Launched a year back, Penn Schoen Berland has had an unstoppable run, say President Michael J Berland & South Asia head Ashwani Singla.

    Not PR, strategic communications advistory!

     

    Michael J Berland

    The communications space in India has been witnessing some high-decibel action in the recent past with players reporting above-average growth story and also with a host of players trying to break ground into India . At such times, it becomes challenging for a new entrant in the space to come up with innovative and unique ideas, while at the same time continue to charm clients with high-value solutions.

     

    Making a mark since its planned entry a year ago; Penn Schoen Berland, which defines itself as a global research-based communication advisory, has been having an unstoppable and impressive run in India . Credit for its super showing goes to its MD & Chief Executive -South Asia, Ashwani Singla, a familiar name in the PR and Communications space. He is joined in his quest by an unflappable team from diverse fields – including its first employee Shefali Khanna, who is the Director-Marketing for PSB in India.

     

    Ashwani Singla

    On the sidelines of an internal meet to assess PSB’s preparedness to launch in Mumbai next month and also to chart out the road ahead, Michael J Berland, President of Penn Schoen Berland took some time off his busy schedule to converse with MxMIndia’s Johnson Napier.

     

    He was joined by Ashwani Singla who was elated on the agency completing a gratifying year one of operations in India . Together they spelt out the reasons for the impressive growth story of PSB in India , on the USP that makes PSB a force to reckon with and what to expect from the agency in the next five years. Excerpts:

     

    While you have a number of agencies today that operate as full-service PR offerings, what was the positioning that you intended for PSB while you were formulating a strategy for its launch in India ?

    Ashwani: I would define PSB as a research-focussed strategic communications advisory that specialises in the area of politics, corporate and M&E. Under politics, we run campaigns for candidates – voter segmentation, messaging, and so on while for corporates, we do corporate imaging, corporate affairs and issues/crisis management, reputation monitoring etc. As for M&E, the focus is on movie marketing, movie positioning, and so on. So we are not a PR agency but a very niche communications advisory.

     

    We are different in the sense that we look at research or what we call the science of persuasion to be the cornerstone for all advice that we give to companies or to political candidates or media and entertainment clients.

     

    Did you use the global lineage of PSB to your advantage when you launched in India last year?

    Ashwani: This is probably the first PSB international office that I would call a cold start office. It means that we didn’t start because there was a client that was migrating to a country and wanted support or because we had global alignments and needed to have presence in India… it was a very conscious decision taken by Michael Berland and the management team to launch in India. We started because we felt India was an important market and that there was an opportunity to be sought here, and to the credit of the company when I made a case here for the fact that this should be a full-service infrastructure, they readily agreed to my demand. It’s now a fully indigenous operation with global expertise and talent that has migrated from diverse fields.

     

    Michael Berland: Coming from a core heritage where we have worked for clients like Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg and others, we take the lessons from the campaign trail and apply it to corporate situations. When you look at a campaign, it’s about one candidate versus the other – it’s all head to head and in real time where decisions and actions have to be taken or you lose. That’s the same situation you get to see in marketing where you have to go head to head and it’s important to gain to that level of immediacy.

     

    You have been in existence globally for over three decades, what took you so long to arrive in one of the most promising markets that the world is in awe of?

    Michael: There are four countries in the world that are setting the global standard – BRIC countries. So it’s important to have a presence in these countries. The office in India opened about a year ago under the leadership of Ashwani Singla, and in that span they have had the fastest growth in any of the PSB markets across the world. So there’s not only an opportunity from the client perspective, but there is also an amazing group of talent that is here in India. Our goal was to build an India n office with India n talent in India and take the tools and techniques and help the companies (clients) that need them. Very often talent is brought in from outside and we knew that that model wouldn’t work here in India.

     

    So many companies make a mistake of getting people from other countries to run an office in some other country. That’s not how we operate; we wanted to come in by buying a company and then trying to teach them. It has to be done through an organic route. We had our board meeting in Washington recently and it suffices to say that they were happy with the progress put up by India . The client roster includes the who’s who of the MNCs and other clients and we are operating at the highest level to help companies achieve their rightful place at the global stage.

     

    Ashwani: Frankly, there is nobody we compete with, so the space that we operate in is completely blue. In my view, the level of sophistication that clients are demanding, which I call the new communication normal, where clients want work that is rich in insight, has to be of the highest quality. In fact, we had done a poll last year where we asked clients as to what has changed in your world and that is what they gave us as an answer – high level of sophistication. I am actually delighted that we are shaping up exactly as what our poll had showed us last year. We got a very good roster of clients in Mumbai and so we thought it was about time that we launch here.

     

    Will Mumbai be the new hub for PSB as you seek to expand presence in India?

    Ashwani: We would be launching our Mumbai office in July and also would be launching a Capital Market Communications vertical. The new vertical would be about hardcore investor relations, but there would be only an element of engagement with investing community. The goal will be to help companies find and discover their true value.

     

    What is the growth that you managed to throw up in year one of your operations?

    Ashwani: We have grown fantastically in the last one year. Since there was no benchmark, I would say we have grown by over 2,000 per cent. For us it’s not the numbers game; it’s the value game. What we do is at the boardroom level.

     

    Michael: Also, the thing is that on a global level, we tend to focus on the Fortune 100 clients. Our goal is to not work for everyone, but it is to help provide high-value solutions to top clients.

     

    How do you plan to do that?

    Ashwani: There are three kinds of high-value problems that you tend to see from the clients’ end. One is negative reputation that is predominantly characterised by a lot of negative press. So we help understand the force of public opinion, we help understand how messaging must be done and what actions the companies need to take and communicate with their TG. The second problem is that of regulatory. If you look at the whole telecom scenario, natural resources etc, they are facing hurdles because of regulatory issues. We help manage and engage information-based advocacy. The third high-value problem that boardrooms have is lack of understanding of valuation or lack of understanding of the company’s inherent strengths and, therefore, an attack on the stock front, so how do we help CEOs and CFOs engage with those markets and manage the sentiment through rationale dialogue is what we specialise in. So that in a nutshell is the model that we work on.

     

    We spent the whole of last year refining ourselves and our corporate offering and have completed that portfolio of services. That by itself is an achievement as we have been able to establish a full-fleet capability. It’s very easy to say that we offer every service but if you do not have the talent and the process excellence behind it, then you cannot deliver it. So we have started work on a few political clients right now. Due to certain constraints I wouldn’t be able to name them. As for M&E, it has been parked for now. We will take it up in 2014-15. This year we will do the Mumbai office and it will take us a while to get the office together. We will be building up our business step by step. I am committed with my team to see that in the next ten years PSB becomes one of the most renowned brands in strategic boardroom consulting.

     

    With digital being highly sought after by clients for the purpose of communication, what is the plan that PSB has drawn up for this medium?

    Ashwani: We implement at a strategic level so if there is a digital need because that’s the relevant touch point then we have digital partners for the same. We would be able to offer solutions ranging from Search Marketing to Search to everything…

     

    Michael: In our line of business, you have to be communication agnostic so that you can use the best solution in the right circumstances. Having the flexibility to choose what is best for the client gives us the freedom to work with different mediums and agencies. Our business is not to advocate a certain solution; we look at each situation and decide what would be the best way to address the issue.

     

    The communications space is grappling with its share of challenges as well. What are the some of the challenges that you have encountered in the past one year since you started?

    Ashwani: The biggest challenge is the fact that we do not have a category; we are creating a category by ourselves. A lot of our work is about concept selling and the good news about that is that people get the concept, which I am pretty much surprised about. There are two or three things why we have been able to succeed despite the numerous challenges. The first is that we have a team that is very experienced and the best that you will find. The second thing is that working in a company like WPP they gave us complete freedom to do what we wanted to do. The third thing is that just the level of sophistication that we have been able to embed in our service – people have seen the difference in each and every proposal that we have sent. So that is what has been critical for us where we have been able to innovate something in the market and were able to move with speed. The challenge of creating a new category continues to remain but I think we are making a very good progress.

     

    If you say you are the first in the category that you operate in, how would you be able to judge your performance when you have no competition around?

    Ashwani: At the end of the day the respect the client gives you and the fact that he says you made a difference is the best assessment. I do not judge myself by competition, I judge myself by my stakeholders. If a client comes and tells you that you have done a fantastic job and are delivering the goods then that is the best thing to happen. I think we make a mistake by trying to drive our car by looking in the rearview mirror. We have to look through the front screen and drive and not worry what’s happening behind.

     

    Is the slowing economy a concern for PSB – both in India and globally?

    Ashwani: I am not worried about the slowing economy. I think the value proposition will have to be different. If we keep selling adverts or press articles then there is no value proposition but if you are able to help clients compete in a difficult economic environment and still win in the marketplace then there is no shortage of budgets for that.

     

    Michael: Historically our business has weathered economic downturns quite well because high-value problems happen no matter what state the economy is in. Often, the CEOs are looking for creative solutions and innovation that will help drive growth and business in tough times.

     

    What are the next emerging markets for PSB as you continue to expand your base across continents?

    Michael: We are analysing China and a few other markets, but I think India is the model that we look forward to. As you go to other markets there is a much more heterogeneous divergent environment but when you talk about Asia there is not just one Asia, there are many Asias and each one has a unique culture and business environment. So I think for now our focus would be majorly around India.

     

    What is the way forward for PSB in India?

    Ashwani: We have a clear five-year agenda. This business is not built on a quarter to quarter or yearly basis. I think in five years we would have created a niche for ourselves and so far we have done well in whatever we have handled.

     

  • He also hinted at boycotting Cannes next year if a proper investigation was not undertaken by the organizers of Cannes for this year's jury decisions

    I’m not sure if DDB will participate in Cannes next year: Amir Kassaei

    By A Correspondent

     

    DDB Worldwide Chief Creative Officer Amir Kassaei has indicted some Cannes Lions 2012 jurors of bias. Mr Kassaei alleged that judges of certain global holdings had been ordered to vote for work from their respective groups. In a video interview to Campaign Brief, Mr Kassaei said that the integrity of Cannes was at stake and the authority as well as the value of the festival was being undermined. In the same interview, he also hinted at boycotting Cannes next year if a proper investigation was not undertaken by the organizers of Cannes for this year’s jury decisions.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t27gPMSJND0[/youtube]

    Mr Kassaei said: “We (DDB) as the most awarded network in the history of Cannes will go into a very tough discussion about next year because we cannot accept that the people are willingly voting against the best work in the jury.”

     

    Mr Kassaei’s accusations follow claims by WPP’s Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell that Cannes judges could have been pressured into block voting, which has damaged his agencies chances of winning. Sir Martin Sorrell was quoted in The Guardian saying he had heard rumours of certain jury members being pressured into voting for selected entries and dismissing quality pieces of work from the judging process without due cause.

     

    The jury in question was chaired by Mainardo de Nardis, the Chief Executive of OMD Worldwide and Manning Gottleib OMD, Omnicom-owned media buying agency won the Grand Prix award for a Google Campaign.

     

    Reacting to Sir Martin Sorrell’s allegations that Omnicom somehow rigged the Media Lions award in favour of Manning Gottlieb OMD’s work for Google, Mr Kassaei said that WPP executives were ordered to discriminate against Omnicom agencies’ work in the jury voting: “I have since been notified by no fewer than 12 jury members that people from other holding companies this week are being briefed to kill Omnicom, especially BBDO, DDB and TBWA, this is a fact.”

     

    He added, “What differentiates Omnicom from WPP is the creativity and innovation. I would respect them if they did the better work. Just look at the objective facts, in the media category, WPP is doing better than Omnicom, so accusing us that we’re playing silly games is not right.”

     

    Furthermore, Mr Kassaei said: “The problem we have at the moment is that Cannes used to be the World Cup of advertising because of the qualification and the result of the juries, and at the moment I don’t have a feeling we are at the World Cup of advertising because a lot of people are playing politics instead of judging the best work of all.”

     

    In an interview to Afaqs on the judging of Media Lions, Dominic Proctor, President, WPP’s media holding company, Group M, said: “I’ve heard a lot of whisperings in bars and restaurants that there did seem to be some kind of strange voting…I heard rumours that certain blocs of votes were being encouraged. If that’s the case then it would be a worry because if Cannes wants to be taken seriously as a media and a creative platform, then we need to make sure that the process is not in any sense corrupted.”

     

  • Mobile Garage will give Mindshare clients a unique advantage in the race to harness the growing global trend of mobile device usage

    Mindshare & Google launch ‘Mobile Garage’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare and Google have announced the launch of ‘Mobile Garage’, a unique venture designed to use Google’s best in class mobile expertise to supercharge the use of mobile by Mindshare’s global client base.

     

    Mobile Garage will see the setting up of mobilehubs around the globe – initially New York, London and Singapore – where Mindshare clients will gain access via dedicated teams to mobile strategists and product experts. The hubs will consist of a mix of Mindshare and Google employees and will work across all aspects of the mobile eco-system, from search optimisation and app development, to strategy, planning and creative optimization.

    Nick Emery, CEO Mindshare Worldwide said: ‘We designed Mindshare to be open source and to work with the best partners for the benefit of our clients. It’s about trial, experimentation and speed to re-design our business. Working with Google on mobile will give our clients a competitive advantage in a key battleground both now and for the future.”

     

    Mobile Garage will give Mindshare clients a unique advantage in the race to harness the growing global trend of mobile device usage. Mobile search traffic has increased 400 per cent over the past 2 years, and its potential goes even further. The GSMA, the industry body for mobile operators, and research company Machina, predict there will be 24 billion connected devices by 2020 creating an industry worth $4.5 trillion and covering innovations such as connected cars, building automation and traffic management. In addition the venture will also give Mindshare clients competitive advantage in emerging markets, with KPCB’s Mary Meeker recently showing that mobile internet usage had surpassed desktop internet usage in India.

    Matt Brittin, VP, Sales and Operations, Northern and Central Europe at Google said: “We have adopted a ‘mobile first’ philosophy at Google to keep pace with the rapid acceleration in consumer mobile usage. We are delighted to team up with Mindshare on a similar strategy for their clients. Mindshare have already shown strong momentum in the mobile marketing space, and have a great opportunity to lead their clients to win on mobile in the future.”

     

    Mobile Garage will complement Mindshare’s existing relationship with WPP’s mobile agencies Joule and H-Art.

     

  • JWT acquires 51% stake in Hungama Digital

    From the MxM Infodesk

     

    Leading advertising agency JWT has acquired a majority stake in Hungama Digital Services, the digital and promotions marketing division of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment. Although the joint communique issued does not state it, MxMIndia learns that the JWT stake in Hungama Digital will be 51 percent.

     

    The new entity which will be called Hungama Digital Services Pvt. Ltd.will be a full-service digital agency specializing in digital marketing and social media solutions. As part of the acquisition, Hungama’s activations arm, Hungama Promo Marketing will become a part of Hungama Digital Services Pvt. Ltd. and provide an engagement platform linked to online and offline deliveries.

     

    Neeraj Roy

    Said Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, “With JWT, we are now part of the largest advertising network in the world. Hungama Digital Services is the coming together of two exceptional teams in a globally relevant market.” He added, “India is at the cusp of a digital revolution with the advent of 500+ million consumers getting online in the next 3-4 years. From augmented reality to developing applications for connected devices, Hungama Digital Services has been at the forefront of digital technology. With this partnership\ with JWT we hope to offer integrated digital and experiential services to our clients and prepare brands to connect, interact and now transact with their customers.”

     

    Hungama Digital Services has been a dominant player in the digital space for 13 years and is spread across six cities in India. The existing team of 120 people, who will join Hungama Digital Services, will continue to drive the agency, including servicing old and new clients and offer creative and promo marketing services, viral marketing campaigns, social media marketing and mobile marketing, applications, managing websites and video services.

     

    Colvyn Harris

    “Digital is our next new frontier.The idea of the partnership is to build a digital offering for our clients so we can live up to being a ‘single source’ partner across all their ‘marketing solutions’ needs. What will be most effective in the future is a new set of talented, digital high end specialists who will add new skills and capabilities to what JWT already offers to its clients. We want all our clients to be leaders in their respective categories.” said Colvyn Harris, CEO of JWT India.

     

    With this acquisition, Hungama Digital Services along with JWT Digital capabilities will be a digital thought-leader with delivery capability in digital ideation, production, and social media.By our association with many of India’s largest clients, Hungama Digital Services will be able to create the right traction and critical mass within the digital and business community in India.

     

    “We have greatly expanded our digital capability across the region, and we are not standing still. JWT will continue to hire new digital experts and explore possible acquisitions across the region this year,” said Michael Maedel, President, JWT Asia Pacific.

     

  • Ex-Google industry veteran charged with leading Havas Digital’s search responsibilities

    Havas Digital names Alan Boughen SVP Global Search Director

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Digital, the umbrella group that manages all of Havas Media’s digital assets, including interactive media group Media Contacts, mobile marketing specialist Mobext, and creative interactive network Archibald Ingall Stretton, amongst others, announced that ex-Google advertising Search expert, Alan Boughen has been named SVP, Global Search Director, effective immediately.

     

    Based in London, and reporting directly to Rob Griffin, EVP Global Director of Product Development, Mr Boughen is charged with managing and developing the Search product within the agency. Mr Boughen will be managing Havas Digital’s search partners and building stronger relationships with the agency’s global clients, with a strong focus on continued development of search services and teams.

     

    Mr Boughen joins Havas Digital from Google where he was a Global Agency Business Leader. He was responsible for managing Google’s strategy and relationships with some of the world’s largest media and advertising agency networks.

    Prior to joining Google in March 2008, Mr Boughen spent over 7 years in senior search marketing roles at WPP companies in the UK and US. Mr Boughen launched and led the US operations of NeoSearch@Ogilvy, the search marketing division of Ogilvy’s digital and direct media global network, where he managed a large team of search marketing experts running SEM campaigns for Ogilvy’s Fortune 1000 clients.

     

    Before working in search marketing, Mr Boughen held positions with AIG and Whirlpool where he gained a background in information technology, business analysis and project management.

     

    “The search landscape is evolving at an extremely fast pace and advertisers are demanding more sophisticated solutions in order to stay relevant. In order to meet the needs and requirements of our clients, we need best in class tools and the most knowledgeable professionals. We have known Alan for a long time, and we are convinced he will add a new level of strategic leadership to the team, and will help define our Search capabilities going forward,” said Mr Griffin.

    Mr Boughen added: “I look forward to becoming a part of the Havas Digital team. By combining my search experience with the advanced search capabilities of Havas Digital, I will ensure all of our clients get the results they’ve come to expect.”

  • Xaxis launches Asia-Pacific headquarters to provide global advertisers with audience targeting capabilities, nine-market roll-out planned over next six months with Michel de Rijk MD-APAC

    GroupM’s Xaxis to launch in India in 6 months

    By A Correspondent

     

    Xaxis, a GroupM company that is part of the WPP, has announced the opening of its headquarters in Singapore to serve the Asia-Pacific region.  With this launch, Xaxis is initiating an aggressive plan in the region with nine market roll-outs planned over the next six months – these new markets will include India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong.  The existing Xaxis operations in Australia will also come under the umbrella of the new headquarters, which represents the industry’s most comprehensive network of digital endpoints across online, mobile, social and video platforms.

     

    Global digital media executive Michel de Rijk will lead the practice, joining Xaxis as Managing Director, Asia-Pacific. Prior to Xaxis, Mr de Rijk served as a senior executive at digital ad firm EyeWonder, where he was responsible for launching operations in the Asia-Pacific, Benelux and Middle East regions.  During his four years with EyeWonder, Mr de Rijk served in several roles throughout each region and introduced the first ad-view-time metric to gain insights into the actual visibility of an ad. Previously, de Rijk worked for Dutch publisher De Telefoongids.

     

    “As the largest audience-buying company in the world, Xaxis has an unmatched understanding of the global digital media-buying space along with local presence and expertise in each market it operates in,” said Mr de Rijk.  “This combination allows Xaxis to deliver proven audience solutions that are custom-fit for executing targeted campaigns market by market.  From mobile in Indonesia to video in Taiwan, Xaxis offers maximum precision when delivering ads in all markets.”

     

    Xaxis provides audience buying solutions to more than 700 global advertisers, delivering over 300 billion impressions each year.  The proprietary Xaxis data management platform (DMP) houses the largest collection of unique anonymous audience portraits. Additionally, as a universal and neutral data management platform, the Xaxis DMP allows advertisers to measure attribution, offline ROI, audience insights and brand impact based on the entire digital plan, not just the Xaxis portion of the plan.

     

    “This commitment to expansion throughout the Asia-Pacific region follows a year of success and growth in North America, Europe and Australia,” noted Brian Lesser, CEO of Xaxis.  “Ad spend in the region is expected to reach $170 billion within the next two years with online ad spend making up 31 per cent of the growth. Our clients have asked us to apply our knowledge and experience executing audience campaigns to the region.  This launch displays the first step in our commitment to the region and will be followed with an aggressive expansion.”

     

    Mark Patterson, CEO GroupM Asia Pacific, commented: “We have ambitious plans with Xaxis in the region. Our drive for value and improved audience delivery for our clients, as well as ownership of that capability – versus outsourcing as many groups do – will help us deliver on both, securely and rapidly, for our clients across the region and the digital spectrum.”

     

    Through its proprietary platform, Xaxis offers advertisers a single, comprehensive resource from which to reach and engage with global audiences across the universe of digital media.  Xaxis, which offers its proprietary platform for Group M media agencies Mindshare, Maxus, MEC and MediaCom.