Category: Digital Agencies

  • Nike emerges as ‘Social Star’ during ICC World Cup: TO THE NEW

    Nike emerges as ‘Social Star’ during ICC World Cup: TO THE NEW

    MUMBAI: Events like the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2015 are becoming opportunities for brands to leverage the euphoria generated by cricket crazy fans.  A lot of these brands have launched innovative campaigns on social media channels, by spending oodles of money and engaging social users especially the millennials. 

    Digital analytics company TO THE NEW Digital has come up with an innovative framework that helps brand measure their “Social Impact Index” to gauge the effectiveness of their digital media campaigns. The report also mentions the social media strategies they can use to reinvent and recalibrate their campaigns to ensure a visceral brand connect with their target groups.

    The Social Impact Index of Brands has been calculated by plotting a bubble chart of social media mentions and social sentiment score of various campaigns run by 14 brands* across four categories namely FMCG, Consumer Electronics, Auto and Sports. It has considered only B2C brands in its sample study to facilitate a like to like comparison. (*If a brand is running more than one campaign then the consolidated numbers of those campaigns have been considered for the analysis.)

    For example, if Pepsico has a total of 33,024 social media mentions and **Net Sentiment of 18 per cent, then the Social Sentiment Score is 59,44,32. 

    **Net Sentiment = Positive Segment – Negative Segment

    -Some of the insights from the framework are as follows:

    Nike is a “Social Star” as it enjoys a huge number of social media mentions as well as a high net sentiment in those mentions. It recommends that Nike has everything going in the right direction for its campaign but it can work on further optimising its ROI from social media spends to maintain its status quo of a “Social Star.” 

    It further says that Star Sports and Pepsico are “Social Question Marks” as they have done fairly well on the social mentions front but their net sentiment is low. The recommendation for these two brands in this category is that they have done well but can invest in online reputation management exercise to converge from Social Question Marks to Social Stars. 

    A large number of brands like Cadbury, Castrol, Hyundai, Sony, Intel and MRF have been categorized as “Social Laggards” category as they enjoy a high net sentiment. It is recommended that these brands have done well but can invest in online reputation management exercise too, so that they converge from Social Laggards to Social Stars.

    Meanwhile a few players like LG, Reebok, Nestle and Dominoz have fizzled out in their social media campaigns and have been put into the category of “Social Duds” as they have low number of social media mentions as well as a low net sentiment.

    TO THE NEW CEO Deepak Mittal stated that brands in this category need to invest heavily in improving their outreach in the form of mentions by investing in paid campaigns and also engage in online reputation management exercise to improve their net sentiment. “They can also think about evaluating their campaign further and move to a new positioning for their brand on social media front,” he added.

    Category Scorecard

    Evaluation Framework- The Social Impact Index of all the 14 brands were plotted on a X-Y axis Bubble Chart. The average of Social Media Mentions of all the 14 brands has been used as a demarcation for High-Low social media mention score. Similarly the average of Social Media Sentiment of all the 14 brands has been used as a demarcation for High-Low social media sentiment score. Therefore a bubble chart is divided into four quadrants to evaluate the success of the campaigns run by these brands.

  • Publicis Groupe acquires Expicient

    Publicis Groupe acquires Expicient

    MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe has acquired Expicient, one of the leading global omni-channel services firm with significant expertise in inventory and order management systems (OMS).

     

    This is a capability that clients increasingly need to manage inventory, pricing and offers across channels for today’s connected consumer, who moves fluidly across digital and physical stores. Expicient will be integrated into the Publicis.Sapient platform under the Rosetta brand.

     

    “Today’s always-on consumer makes no distinction between devices and channels. As a result our retail clients are increasingly looking for us to build systems inventory, supply chain, omni-channel commerce that enable the experience a 2015 consumer demands. Expicient joining Publicis.Sapient allows us to significantly strengthen our client’s ability to integrate offer information, order information, inventory information and pricing information across channels, which is a significant change from a world where the on-line stores and physical stores operated separately,” said Publicis.Sapient CEO Alan Herrick.

     

    Expicient’s omni-channel Order Management Systems (OMS) capabilities and strong expertise in managed services, inbound/outbound supply chain, logistics, in-store clienteling applications and strategic technology consulting will strengthen Publicis.Sapient’s marketing, commerce and consulting offerings. In joining the Publicis Sapient platform, Expicient will be led by the Rosetta team and will contribute to Publicis.Sapient’s Global Distributed Delivery model, whereby the platform creates significant shared service capabilities accessible to all its clients.

     

    “Rosetta is perfectly positioned to lead the integration of Expicient and help accelerate the benefit for Publicis.Sapient clients. SapientNitro, Razorfish Global and DigitasLBi are all highly recognised as leaders in omni-channel commerce, and together through the Publicis.Sapient platform we are unmatched. Expicient’s impact on our total business will be significant,” said Razorfish Global CEO Tom Adamski.

     

    The announcement comes weeks after Publicis Groupe announced the completion of the Sapient acquisition and the formation of Publicis.Sapient. Publicis.Sapient is a digitally centered platform focused exclusively on digital transformation and the dynamics of an always-on world. The creation of Publicis.Sapient combines global leaders SapientNitro, Razorfish Global, Rosetta and DigitasLBi, with the deep industry expertise of Sapient Consulting.

     

    Expicient and Publicis.Sapient brands SapientNitro, Razorfish Global and Rosetta have previously collaborated on a number of global omni-channel commerce assignments with clients, including Staples, Target, Kroger, Fast Retailing, Marks & Spencer, Belk and Ralph Lauren. The agencies expect to quickly and seamlessly merge delivery capabilities and increase the value that can be offered to clients. Expicient’s capabilities will be shared across the Publicis.Sapient platform so that all clients benefit. As a result of the acquisition, Publicis.Sapient will now have the deepest OMS offering in the market, with expertise in IBM/Sterling, Manhattan and SAP/hybris.

     

    “The opportunity ahead of us, to create differentiated customer experiences is tremendous. We are living in an unprecedented time of connected consumers and commerce. For Expicient, combining forces with Publicis.Sapient will allow our teams to deliver a full range of marketing and commerce solutions while significantly expanding our global reach. We’re excited to be a part of Publicis.Sapient and to meaningfully add to global commerce capabilities already recognized as the best in the world,” said Expicient founder and CEO Darpan Seth.

     

    Founded in 2008, Expicient is based in Andover, Massachusetts, with additional offices in the United Kingdom and India (Gurgaon and Bangalore), where Publicis.Sapient also has a significant presence. Expicient serves a global roster of leading brands, including: The Aldo Groupe, Argos, Bed Bath & Beyond, BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, DHL, eBay Enterprise, Guitar Center, J. Crew, Lily Pulitzer, Lockheed Martin, Marks & Spencer, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Staples, Target, Tesco and Williams Sonoma, among others.

  • Pakistan cricket team loses face in front of their fans: TO THE NEW analyses

    Pakistan cricket team loses face in front of their fans: TO THE NEW analyses

    MUMBAI: It’s just the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and it has gone from bad to worse for the Pakistan cricket team. Almost everything has gone against them starting from key players being banned from international cricket to losing two critical matches in the start of the tournament against India and West Indies that have brought them to the bottom of the Pool B Points Table. To add to this, they are now hit by fresh scandals like the fake retirement announcement of Younis Khan and their chief selector– Moin Khan doing the rounds of casinos post his team losing the match.

    TO THE NEW Digital, a digital services company carried out a detailed social media research on how these events have led to a total let down of the Pakistan cricket team in the eyes of their fans. The report analysed more than 105,648 mentions on various social channels like blogs, forums, news and Twitter and found a net negative sentiment of – 62 per cent against the team.

    The Pakistan’s Team Report Card clearly labels captain Misbah-ul-Haq for his bad decisions in both the matches and Sohail Khan for his bad bowling performance against West Indies as the top villains with a net negative sentiment of – 56 per cent and – 55 per cent respectively. The next on the card, are the undesired ones for Pakistan who have now aged a bit to fit into the team – Younis Khan with a negative sentiment of – 47 per cent and Shahid Afridi with a negative sentiment of – 43 per cent.

    Amongst the lineup of events that have pushed Pakistan to further criticism, Younis Khan’s fake news of retirement after the Cricket World Cup 2015 received the most negative mentions with a net negative sentiment of – 86 per cent and Moin Khan’s casino visit received 18,500 mentions across social media channels with a net negative sentiment of – 65 per cent. The onus now lies with the Pakistan team to turn the tables with their performance in the upcoming fixture against Zimbabwe on 1 March, 2015. 

    TO THE NEW Digital CEO Deepak Mittal said, “Social media sentiments are true reflection of how the audience reacts offline. Sentiment analysis on various social channels can help not only the national teams in Cricket World Cup to analyze the mood of their fans but the scope will also expand to events like IPL and EPL. This would definitely help clubs in these leagues to strategize their social positioning by identifying their true fan base, analyzing the kind of social media buzz that leads to positive and negative sentiments across their follower base.”

  • Havas wins digital mandate of Ranbaxy’s consumer healthcare brands

    Havas wins digital mandate of Ranbaxy’s consumer healthcare brands

    MUMBAI: Havas Media Group India has started 2015 on a positive note. The agency has won the digital marketing mandate of Ranbaxy’s consumer healthcare brands post a multi-agency pitch, which included the incumbent as well as other digital agencies.

     

    Ranbaxy Consumer Healthcare vice president and head – global Subodh Marwah  said, “In Havas Media we saw a perfect partner- one who is equally innovative and passionate about building brands. Their ‘digital at core’ philosophy was impressive and that translated seamlessly in their strategic approach and category understanding.”

     

    Speaking on the win, Havas Media Group India and South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar added, “We are delighted at the win. It’s a great way to start the New Year. We believe in creating meaningful brands and Ranbaxy is an excellent example of such brands. Look forward to a great partnership.”

     

    “Digital is the future and Havas Media Group’s digital at core philosophy provides us the capability of driving this growth in the Indian market. We are proud of the win and look forward to working with Team Ranbaxy,” said Havas Media managing director Mohit Joshi.

     

    “Ranbaxy is a great brand to be associated with. Consumer healthcare is today one of the most meaningful categories. We look forward to a great ‘Digital’ year at Havas Media,” added Havas Media head of digital Ranjoy Dey.

     

    Havas Media Group had recently won the integrated media mandate of OCM India, Assetz Property Group, Borosil Glass Works, World Kabaddi League, Yepme.com, retained MTS India and also took on the digital mandate and won the digital duties of XOLO Mobile and Businessworld magazine.

     

  • Video ad views show growth in last quarter of 2014 as against 2013

    Video ad views show growth in last quarter of 2014 as against 2013

    NEW DELHI: Video ad views grew 30 per cent as against 2013, according to FreeWheel’s Q4 2014 Video Monetisation Report that revealed yet another quarter of strong growth and evolution in the digital TV market.

     

    Contrary to the negative predictions the industry has heard about the television marketplace, the report reveals that the TV ecosystem continues to expand.

     

    Viewers have not abandoned their favourite content but rather found new ways to access it. Not only did Q4 2014 cap off a full year of 30 per cent and 27 per cent growth in ad and video views respectively, publishers also succeeded in drawing audiences to their most premium content.

     

    Several new trends emerged this past year as viewers and publishers continued to modify how they watch and monetise their shows, sports, clips and more.

     

    Live viewing grew 297 per cent year-over-year, driven by strong growth in Sports streaming and News simulcasts.

     

    First-run broadcast shows attracted far more viewers this quarter than the year prior, as seen by a 67 per cent increase in digital video ad views.

     

    OTT streaming devices, overwhelmingly used for long-form and live viewing, overtook tablets, accounting for eight per cent of all video ad views.

     

    Viewers are accessing current season content throughout the television season. Sixty-four per cent of viewing occurred over a week after that content’s original air date.

     

    Authenticated viewing grew 591 per cent year-over-year, as 56 per cent of all video ad views on long-form and live content now come from behind authentication walls. 

  • FoxyMoron bags the digital duties of &TV

    FoxyMoron bags the digital duties of &TV

    MUMBAI: FoxyMoron has bagged the digital marketing duties of the yet-to-be-launched Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) – &TV.

     

    To be launched from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) stable, the mandate comprises managing the channel’s presence on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and YouTube. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder Suveer Bajaj said that this win established its foothold in the television entertainment industry and also brings along the creative opportunity to build an entirely new brand. “As a digital partner, it will be our aim to make the channel scale from the very beginning. With soaring engagement for brands in the entertainment industry, we have great aspirations for this new channel,” he said.

     

    FoxyMoron will work towards creating and executing content revolving around the central belief of the channel – Jashn Jeene Ka (celebrating the spirit of living). It will also create programme-specific content for their flagship shows in order to utilize the ever growing populace of the digital space.

  • Razorfish bags five awards at Global Youth Marketing Forum

    Razorfish bags five awards at Global Youth Marketing Forum

    MUMBAI: Razorfish India bagged five awards at the ‘Social Media Summit & Awards.’ The agency won the ‘Social Media Campaign of the Year’ award for Van Heusen, ‘Best Use of Twitter’ award for Allen Solly, Van Heusen and Alto #25LakhAltos and ‘Online Game of the Year’ for Alto – K10 Get-Set-Chase.

     

    “We feel immensely proud and delighted to partner our clients in this journey of success!” said Razorfish India COO Gaurav Pathak.

     

    “We are delighted that the recognition comes in, in just less than two years of our operations in India,” he added.

     

    Razorfish is the digital AOR for Maruti and has also set up and drives “The Epic Center” housed within Madura Fashion and Lifestyle for responsive social listening and interventions.

     

    Razorfish India CEO Charulata Ravi Kumar said, “Clearly, when the client encourages the agency to drive innovative business solutions and the agency delivers it through an integrated approach of strategy, technology and creativity, it’s already a winning team. And these awards corroborate just that.”

     

    Maruti Suzuki India VP (marketing) Manohar Bhat added, “Maruti has already been ranked the topmost Indian brand and has the highest SOV in the social media space. But we like to constantly challenge ourselves to keep doing something innovative and engaging with our consumers and Razorfish aligns itself very well to this ambition. This award is a reflection of this partnership.”

     

    Allen Solly COO Sooraj Bhat informed, “With the all-pervasive presence of the digital medium, brands will need to continuously look at how they engage with consumers. From an era of manufacturer speak, brands have had to move to a more human level, especially when the consumer is in charge of conversations. Allen Solly has been working closely with Madura Fashion and Lifestyle’s Listening Center – The Epic Center, to look out for opportunities where the brand can find a role. ‘How Allen Solly said Sorry’ was one among many such campaigns we have run in a little under a year. In this, I am proud that the team at Epic Center showed the presence of mind to come up with a response, completely in the brand’s tone of voice.”

     

    Van Heusen COO Vinay Bhopatkar said, “This is a huge moment of pride for us. Van Heusen looks at the digital medium very seriously with the objective to engage and build associations with its consumers. The brand is constantly striving towards innovation and exciting ways to connect with its consumers on this platform. This recognition reaffirms the work we are doing.”

  • Biscoot bags ‘Innovation in Supply Chain’ award

    Biscoot bags ‘Innovation in Supply Chain’ award

    MUMBAI: Biscoot, an offline app store initiative by Shotformats Digital, has won a place in ‘The 2nd Inc. India Innovative100 Award.’ The conference and awards ceremony, presented by Inc. India Magazine, is an initiative to identify and recognize top 100 innovative mid-sized companies in India. Biscoot was judged winner under the ‘Innovation in Supply Chain’ category.

     

    The app store bagged the award for its completely revolutionary distribution model. Its brick and mortar mobile app stores ensure that movies, songs, games and apps are available with ease, throughout the country. Biscoot has nearly achieved pan India presence through its 7,000 plus outlets. They are targeting a presence across more than 12,000 outlets by the year-end and more than 40,000 outlets by end of 2015.

     

    At being recognised amongst the top 100 innovators in India, Shotformats MD and CEO Niyati Shah said, “To ensure innovation is embedded in the company, we keep sharing results and impact of the practices the teams introduce keeping them excited and motivated.”

     

    In the past, the company has won similar award for its unique distribution model.  Shah, herself had bagged the award of a ‘Women Leader’ in the Telecom sector for bringing in the path-breaking concept in the mobile space and hence taking the innovations to higher levels.

  • Razorfish China is ‘Leader’ among digital agencies: Forrester Research

    Razorfish China is ‘Leader’ among digital agencies: Forrester Research

    MUMBAI: Razorfish China has been named as the ‘Leader’ among digital agencies in China.

     

    Razorfish China was among the eight select companies that Forrester Research invited to participate in The Forrester Wave: Digital Agencies in China – Strategy and Execution, Q1 2015. The 26 January, 2015 report was authored by analyst Xiaofeng Wang.

     

    The report identifies four “waves”: leaders, strong performers, contenders and risky bets – evaluated on the range of digital services offered, understanding of the Chinese market and client retention and acquisition. Razorfish China received a ‘Leader’ status, with among the highest score in the ‘account management’ category.

     

    Razorfish India CEO Charulata Ravi Kumar said, “We are very excited with this news! China has been much ahead as a market in adopting digital at the core and so allowing Razorfish to fully explore and demonstrate its capabilities at the cutting edge. This is Razorfish’s mission everywhere, as also in India. To lead business transformation for its clients through innovative digital solutions – creatively and technologically.”

     

    “We have worked hard to offer our clients a full spectrum of services across digital marketing, and to help transform their business in the region. We feel honoured that Forrester has recognised Razorfish as a ‘Leader’ in the The Forrester Wave for Digital Agencies in China,” added Razorfish China CEO Esther Yang.

  • iProspect Communicate 2 wins AEGON Religare’s social media account

    iProspect Communicate 2 wins AEGON Religare’s social media account

    MUMBAI: iProspect Communicate 2, the global digital performance agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has won the additional mandate to optimise social media platforms (SMO) for AEGON Religare.

     

    The agency already handles the SEM (search engine marketing) and SEO (search engine optimisation) domains for the life insurance company joint venture between AEGON, Religare and Bennett, Coleman & company. 

     

    Speaking on the win, AEGON Religare chief operating officer Yateesh Srivastava said, “As an organisation we truly understand the impact that social media has on our brand and on our reputation. It is a very powerful way to engage our customers and prospects in an authentic and useful manner. In iProspect we believe we have found the right match since the agency has been doing very well on our performance campaigns and we are sure they will do the same with Social Media, as well. The holistic approach will ensure uniformity in messaging across the digital space and will engage customers in a manner that creates maximum impact.”

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 CEO Vivek Bhargava added, “We are glad to deliver our expertise to AEGON Religare in the social media domain, after a successful stint in both SEO and SEM. We have some extremely ambitious plans for the SMO activities of the account and look forward to strengthening our business bond by executing these plans and exceeding all expectations.”

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 specialises in result-driven campaigns and comprises an established team of certified digital and social media marketers. With a purely content driven strategy, iProspect Communicate 2 aims to engage and connect with users across various social media platforms. The account will be handled from the Mumbai office, thus ensuring complete integration of AEGON Religare campaigns across the digital space.