Category: Marketing

  • Euro RSCG bags Rohit Surfactants’s creative biz

    Euro RSCG bags Rohit Surfactants’s creative biz

    MUMBAI: Euro RSCG has won the creative duties of Kanpur-based detergent firm Rohit Surfactants Private Limited (RSPL) that owns the Ghari brand.

    The size of the account is estimated at Rs 250-300 million and was awarded following a multi-agency pitch.

    Euro RSCG will create communications for both personal care and home care products of RSPL.

    “We are in the process of finalising some more deals with the company and the announcement will be made soon,” a Euro RSCG official said.

    After winning Mitsubishi Motors‘ big-sized account, this is another important addition to the company’s client roster.

    Besides Ghari powder and cakes, RSPL also owns Xpert (dishwashing bar), MR2 (detergent powder) and Venus (toilet soap).

    The company is in an expansion mode. It has recently set up a unit in Haridwar to manufacture personal and home care products such as shampoo, hair oil, toothpaste, moisturiser and toilet cleaner.

  • Synovate integrates analytic and strategic biz units

    Synovate integrates analytic and strategic biz units

    MUMBAI: Custom market research company Synovate has integrated two of its global analytic and strategic business units, Marketing Management Analytics (MMA) and Synovate Management Analytics (SMA).

    The single unit is designed to merge traditional and emerging analytics with “mind of the consumer”attitudinal and behavioural data. It will be branded as MMA.

    Synovate SMA CEO Patrick Cummings, a former Accenture partner who led the development of its North American marketing sciences practice, and the former president of Global Analytics at SymphonyIRI will become CEO of the integrated companies.

    Doug Brooks, who has been leading the transformation of MMA, will become executive vice president of the combined entity, and will report to Cummings.

    Synovate in North America CEO Scott Miller said the power of the combined MMA and SMA business lies in its ability to directly link predictive analytics with consumer attitudes and behaviours, helping companies drive significant gains in incremental value through more effective product development, marketing and sales.

    Integrating the two companies‘ analytic approaches is aimed to enable brands to connect predictive analytics and econometric data with near real-time attitudinal and behavioural insights to drive brand and product innovation while also significantly improving planning and forecasting processes on a global scale.

    MMA focuses on brand, marketing and media performance, including digital and social media. For over 20 years, it has been working in the areas of predictive, automated modeling that supports a range of business process integration techniques for planning and forecasting.

    SMA has developed solutions that support clients‘ global portfolio investments, innovation and product life cycle solutions. These capabilities apply analytic techniques, econometric data and consumer attitudinal and behavioural insights to build stronger brand performance.

    Cummings said, “The merger of these two powerful sources of insight will provide a disruptive set of solutions capable of solving some of industries‘ most elusive and challenging problems. Traditional analytics capture the “what, where and how”behind key enablers of business performance. Consumer market research encapsulates the “who and the why”of consumer decision making. By finding the intersection of these two powerful insight sources, these truths can be integrated to provide a more holistic view of companies‘ business and consumers. This new combination of insights will allow global organisations to achieve better results through more predictive and relevant decision making.”

    “Many companies have struggled to establish a single view of their business due to the siloed nature of current analytic solutions, data and business functions. By combining the capabilities of MMA and SMA we have established a highly experienced analytic consulting team with a business- relevant set of solutions that enables the integration and translation of complex analytics into easy-to-use and actionable brand and board room strategies that result in real and measureable value creation for our clients. We call this ‘Disruptive Analytics‘,”added Brooks.

    Averred Miller, “Too often analytics and consumer market research are managed separately. But by combining the recency and relevance of consumer market research with traditional analytics, companies can achieve an unparalleled level of accuracy and predictability for planning and forecasting. An integrated MMA/SMA puts Synovate on the leading edge in terms of developing the next generation of value creation in analytics and market research.”

  • Sanjoy Chakrabarty joins ZenithOptimedia as managing partner

    Sanjoy Chakrabarty joins ZenithOptimedia as managing partner

    MUMBAI: Sanjoy Chakrabarty has joined ZenithOptimedia as managing partner.

    Chakrabarty will be based in Mumbai, and moves in from Dentsu media, after spending nearly five years with the agency.

    Talking to Indiantelevision.com Chakrabarty said that he joined ZO a week back.

    Chakrabarty started his career, with Mudra Communications as AVP – media, in 1984 and worked there for 11 years.From here he moved to HTA / JWT Delhi as VP media services for a five year stint.

    He also worked with GroupM as national director, sports and live entertainment, before joining Dentsu in 2006 as COO. Later in 2010, Chakrabarty was elevated as CEO.

  • Cut the Crap bags Paras’s personal care portfolio

    Cut the Crap bags Paras’s personal care portfolio

    MUMBAI: Paras Pharmaceuticals has moved four personal care brands toCut the Crap (CTC).


    The account size is estimated to be Rs 50-70 million.


    Earlier, Mudra handled the creative duties of Set Wet, Recova, Zatak and Eclipse.


    Nearly one year ago, Livon was moved from Mudra to CTC, and evidently, the work done by the agency on the brand has made Paras shift these brands as well.


    As Euro RSCG is Reckitt Benckiser‘s global agency, the entire
    healthcare portfolio of Paras Pharma has been handed over to the agency, following Benckiser‘s takeover of Paras.


    Cut the Crap founder and creative head Jagdish Acharya said, “The brand was struggling due to its positioning, which made it compete with big brands‘ conditioner brands. We changed its positioning to a serum that can be used everyday, even when the hair isn‘t washed.Thisthought was based on the insight that most Indian women don‘t wash their hair, everyday.”


    This worked for Livon and according to market sources the sales of the serum has gone up by 50-60 per cent.


    Moreover, the media duties of Paras is handled by ZenithOptimedia.

  • Allied Media ups BalaKrishna as COO

    Allied Media ups BalaKrishna as COO

    MUMBAI: Allied Media, the media buying and planning arm of Percept Ltd, has elevated PM BalaKrishna to the position of chief operating officer.

    BalaKrishna, who was vice president, will take charge of the entire operations of the current Rs 10 billion franchise that Allied media manages.

    Balakrishna had joined Allied Media along with Shripad Kulkarni – the CEO of the company since its inception in April 2007. Soon, Balakrishna was promoted as the VP of the company.

    According to the company, Balakrishna has played a key role in building a formidable team to service all the group clients of Percept, including North and South Regions.

    He has been an intrinsic force for the company in forging business relationships with a varied mix of clients such as Panasonic, Toyota, Canon, Hirco, Nahar Group and Sahara Group.

    In his 20 years of experience, Balakrishna has worked in sales and marketing with media houses like Times of India – Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd and Zee Network.

    Kulkarni said, “BalaKrishna has been the key resource of Allied Media since its inception and has played a pivotal role in the super success story of the company. As we grow at a breakneck speed, we strongly believe in nurturing and growing in-house talent. We believe in building leaders from within.”

    BalaKrishna added: “I am excited with the challenging opportunity to drive the company to newer heights. We have established a strong presence in India in a short span of time and our association with Point Logic – The world leader in marcom planning tools and analytics – we are now ready to take on the best in the industry.”

  • Nielsen acquires Marketing Analytics

    Nielsen acquires Marketing Analytics

    MUMBAI: Nielsen, a global provider of information and analytics around what consumers watch and buy, has acquired Marketing Analytics, Inc, one of the pioneers of marketing mix modeling and a recognised leader in analytics and advanced planning software.

    Nielsen will acquire all the assets of Marketing Analytics, including 52 employees, software and ongoing client projects.

    The acquisition enables Nielsen to provide marketers of fast moving consumer goods with the most complete and timely view of the impact of media and marketing – a distinct advantage when developing marketing plans across multiple channels, such as online and offline advertising, in-store promotions and consumer promotions..

    Nielsen president, CEO Consumer US John Lewis said,”We are committed to providing insights and innovative solutions to help our clients drive effective marketing programs with quantifiable returns on investment. Fast moving consumer goods marketers require advanced, real-time, predictive analytic insight. By combining Nielsen’s global reach with Marketing Analytics’ expertise and advanced modeling and scenario planning applications, we can drive increased value for our global clients seeking the optimal marketing mix and spending level to maximize their sales.”

    Marketing Analytics founder and CEO Ross Link said,”Huge possibilities open up with the integration of our people, expertise and industry-leading software with Nielsen’s vast data assets and broad professional services footprint. We’re joining a great team I am proud to be part of at Nielsen. Together, we can set the standard for helping clients examine what’s possible and what’s best for their marketing mix.”

  • Sony in hot pursuit, eyes No.3 spot with KBC

    Sony in hot pursuit, eyes No.3 spot with KBC

    MUMBAI: Zee TV is under attack. For the third time in the year, Sony Entertainment Television is trailing behind by just three GRPs (gross rating points).

    The problem for Zee TV is that Sony‘s flagship game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) will make its appearance from 15 August. The Amitabh Bachchan-hosted show at 8.30 pm is positioned as a gateway to Sony‘s primetime programming.

    Sony expects its two fiction shows – Saas Bina Sasural (10 pm) and Bade Acche Lagte Hain (10.30 pm) – to get a lift.

    “We are confident that KBC will deliver again. With or without KBC, Sony will reach the No. 3 position by the year-end,” said Set senior EVP and business head Sneha Rajani.

    For week ended 6 August, Set is at fourth place on the GEC ladder with 187 GRPs (last week 190), as per TAM data for Hindi speaking markets (C&S, 4+) for the week ended 6 August. Zee TV is ahead with 190 GRPs (208 last week).

    Meanwhile, Star Plus continues to lead with 304 GRPs (last week 345). The loss of 41 GRPs comes after the IIFA Award telecast.

    Colors is ranked second, comfortably ahead of Zee TV. Colors ended the week with 269 GRPs (last week 266). Balika Vadhu has once again topped the charts with 5.69 TVR.

    Sab clocked 124 GRPs in the week, one less from last week‘s ratings. Imagine TV collected 70 GRPs, while Star One and Sahara One are at the bottom with 36 and 33 GRPs respectively.

  • Marico to cut ad spends

    Marico to cut ad spends

    MUMBAI: FMCG major Marico has said that it would further slash advertising spends to offset input cost pressure and avoid price hike.

    “Commodity prices are a big challenge for us…We have to manage cost in such a manner that we do not increase prices. So we have to look for other ways on how to cut cost,” Marico chairman and MD Harsh Mariwala told PTI.

    Mariwala also said that to reduce costs, the firm will probably cut down its advertising expenditure to about 9 per cent of the sales of the company.

    “There will be impact on our advertising spend. We have to cut down on the other expenses in order to meet the challenge [input costs pressure],” he added.

  • UK riots make Levi’s postpone ad launch

    UK riots make Levi’s postpone ad launch

    MUMBAI: Levi‘s has temporarily postponed the launch of its first ever global campaign in the UK, saying that the visuals of the ad bizarrely resemble the images of current unrest in the country.


    The company said that the ad featured ‘risky‘ scenes of rioting and, hence, not appropriate to launch in Britain in the current point in time.


    Entitled ‘Levi‘s Legacy‘, the video was released on social networking site Facebook yesterday morning. But since then Levi‘s has decided against airing the ad on TV or in cinemas in the UK.


    The ad was shot during May Day in Berlin, and the crowd scenes are uncomfortably similar to rioting currently going on in the country.


    The American agency, Wieden & Kennedy, handled creative for the campaign, which also includes digital, print, outdoor and in-store media.

  • WPP to outsource finance jobs to India

    WPP to outsource finance jobs to India

    MUMBAI: Cut and snip. That‘s what global advertising agency group WPP is resorting to in the midst of rising costs and a tough economy.

    It is proposing to outsource the jobs being done by those being chopped from its North American operations – mainly in the finance and billing area — to India, reports Ad Age. And the likely Indian beneficiary: Genpact.

    The report in Ad Age stated that all together around 100 professionals will be eased out of the agency network in the US in the coming months, and it covers Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, Grey, Y&R and Wunderman.

    Ogilvy is expected to drop 85 professionals in the next 18 months; Grey as many as 30 people beginning in mid-2012, while JWT could dunk 16 people or fewer.