Category: Media Agencies

  • iCubesWire bags digital mandate of Janhit Jagran

    iCubesWire bags digital mandate of Janhit Jagran

    MUMBAI: Digital agency and product development organisation, iCubesWire, has bagged the digital mandate of Janhit Jagran, the initiative of Dainik Jagran. The agency will be responsible for building strategies, creating campaigns, media buying, and handling social media accounts of the brand namely Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

    Commenting on the win, iCubesWire founder and CEO Sahil Chopra said, “We are delighted to onboard another prestigious client to our kitty. Janhit Jagran opens doors to newer opportunities as their beliefs and objectives differ from what we have on our plate right now. Working for a brand that strives for the social welfare of the society will be exhilarating & we are geared up to put our best foot forward.”

    Jagran Prakashan senior VP – strategy, business development and brand Basant Rathore said, “We are pleased to partner iCubesWire and believe they are well placed to handle the digital mandate for our Janhit Jagran programme. This programme encourages social entrepreneurs to come up with ideas that have the potential to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face in contemporary times. I truly believe that iCubesWire will intensify the digital presence of the brand.”

    Janhit Jagran is an initiative for social entrepreneurs that focuses on seven concerns of the society namely educated society, water conservation, managing population, poverty eradication, women empowerment, environment conservation, and healthy society. The initiative invites individuals to submit a project idea that solves these societal problems through entrepreneurial, creative solutions.

  • India is third largest contributor to Zenith’s 3-year global adex prediction

    India is third largest contributor to Zenith’s 3-year global adex prediction

    MUMBAI: Zenith has predicted that the global ad expenditure will grow 4.5 per cent in 2018, reaching $581 billion by the end of the year. For the coming years, the agency expects the advertising expenditure to grow behind the global economy and its forecast has mentioned 4 per cent growth for 2019, followed by 4.2 per cent in 2020 and 4.1 per cent in 2021.

    The forecast for 2019 is slightly down from its September prediction of 4.2 per cent growth.

    The report has indicated that regions in ‘Fast-track Asia’ (India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) are expecting the growth to rise to an average of 6.2 per cent a year to 2021.

    India has been ranked third (followed by USA and China) in the list of top ten contributors to ad-spend growth 2018-2021 and is expected to see $4,506 million in ad-spends, which is 6 per cent of the expected total global advertising expenditure

    North American ad-spend will grow 3 per cent in 2019 and will show an average 3.4 per cent growth each year to 2021 as the “ad market has been growing fairly steadily but unspectacularly since 2010”. Latin America is expected to record an average growth rate of 4.1 per cent a year to 2021. Combining “large scale and rapid growth” China will contribute 19 per cent to the global growth rate and will spend $14,461 million for advertisements.

    The forecast has further revealed that six of the ten largest contributors will be rising markets (China, India, Indonesia, Brazil,  South Korea and Russia), and they will contribute 37 per cent of new ad-spend over the next three years.

  • GroupM reveals 2018-19 ad investment forecast

    GroupM reveals 2018-19 ad investment forecast

    MUMBAI: GroupM, the investment group of WPP Media, has revealed its updated 2018-19 ad investment forecasts. The growth projections for 2019 are also mentioned from 3.9 per cent to 3.6 per cent, with total new investment anticipated to reach Rs 1.33 lakh crore ($19 billion) instead of the Rs 1.61 lakh crore ($23 billion) earlier predicted.

    The group revealed that the recent US dollar appreciation versus just about every other currency led to the suppression of the predicted growth. Stress on the auto category stood out in feedback from GroupM’s worldwide network, as did the absence of any rebound in CPG investment with traditional media.

    While China remains the largest contributor to the group, 2019 will be its sixth successive year with single-digit ad growth and mark its lowest growth rate yet recorded. Following China, the other top contributors are USA and India. India is expected to contribute Rs 9500 crore ($1.35 billion) of growth.

    GroupM futures director Adam Smith said, “GroupM’s still strong but slightly fraying 2018 view ties to macro questions: tighter money, China’s slowing growth, and the potential for pricey trade wars.”

    He added, “Real interest rates are edging up globally, but serious potential problems remain limited to a fragile five – Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, and Venezuela.”

    GroupM forecasts that ten countries will provide 83 per cent of all 2019 growth.

  • WATConsult becomes the ‘Highest Awarded Indian Agency’ at Epica Awards with 2 Golds and 1 Silver Metal

    WATConsult becomes the ‘Highest Awarded Indian Agency’ at Epica Awards with 2 Golds and 1 Silver Metal

    Mumbai: WATConsult, the digital and social media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network led the Indian tally at Epica Awards by winning 3 out of the 9 awards won by Indian agencies in total. WATConsult’s #PowerlessQueen bagged 2 Golds and 1 Silver metal, making it the best performing and highest awarded Indian agency at the award show. Founded 31 years ago, Epica is the only worldwide creative award show judged by journalists from the marketing, design and advertising press. The award show received 4020 entries from 69 countries this year.

    Not only this, but #PowerlessQueen also won under the category ‘Call to action’ along with 3 honours in 3 other categories at Shortys Awards for Social Good. Agency's another campaign, #WhyDontYou, also stood-out and bagged one metal at the Shortys Awards for Social Good. The former campaign, was also a winner for creative effectiveness and was a highly praised campaign for the category ‘campaign of the year’ at Mumbrella Asia awards 2018.

    So, in summary, it was a golden weekend for WATConsult as it bagged 6 awards along with 4 esteemed honors at three international award shows; Epica Awards, Shorty Awards For Social Good and Mumbrella Asia awards.

    Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WATConsult said, “It gives me great pleasure to share that WATConsult has won 6 metals and 4 honours in 3 international award shows across three continents in a span of just 24 hours! Most importantly, such recognition not only makes us proud at International platforms but also portray and raise the power of Indian digital work done globally. Standing out twice as the only Indian agency to have maximum wins, in Epica Awards and Shortys Awards for Social Good, shows how the passion of creating something out-of-the-box is growing at WATConsult. We are delighted and hope to keep raising the bar."

    Launched on the occasion of ‘Women’s Day’, ‘#PowerlessQueen, created for Project Nanhi Kali – an NGO that aims to provide education to under-privileged girls, has been creating a stir in the market since its launch. The campaign highlighted the plight of Indian women via a game of chess wherein one player had to play with a Powerless Queen, i.e. a queen who couldn’t move while the other player has a powerful queen. Queen being the most powerful piece on the chessboard, #PowerlessQueen was a metaphor for how real-life queens i.e. women in India are treated and rendered powerless.

    Rolled out as a #PowerlessQueen challenge across India, the campaign registered donations worth 40,000 hours of education for underprivileged girls with more than a million views on video. Many international Chess Grandmasters organically got involved and endorsed the campaign like; World Rapid Chess Champion 'Viswanathan Anand'; Hungarian Woman Grandmaster ''Anna Rudolf'; Hungarian Woman Grandmaster and Ambassador of Chess and Education & UN Planet 50-50 Champion 'Judit Polgar'; Two-time United States Women's Champion 'Jennifer Shahade'; Four-time Dutch Chess Champion 'Anish Giri' and Five-time Danish Chess Champion and current coach to World number one Magnus Carlsen, 'Peter Heine Nielsen'. School students from across schools participated in a Powerless Queen Challenge organized by The Chess School of India and The Coach Crew.A chess club in France hosted a #PowerlessQueen challenge. #PowerlessQueen will soon be rolled out as gender-equality teaching tool across schools in India.

    #WhyDontYou, a campaign/initiative that was launched on the occasion of 'World Donor Day' highlighted the importance of blood donation and how transgender community who wants to donate is unable to while people like us who have the privilege to donate, tend to ignore. For the same we partnered with Rudrani Chhetri and her transgender modeling agency to create a campaign video which urged people to get up and donate. The campaign recorded more than 5000 tweets, 31.2 Million organic impressions, 1.4 MN video views and 400 units of blood in a single day.

    Dominating the world across 3 continents, the agency clearly made the entire Indian ad fraternity proud. Conducted in 3 different continents including Netherlands (Epica Awards), New York (Shorty Awards For Social Good) and Singapore (Mumbrella Asia), these award shows aim at rewarding outstanding creativity in their respective fields every year.

  • White Rivers Media Ranked 25th, in Fastest Growing Tech, Media & Communications Companies on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2018

    White Rivers Media Ranked 25th, in Fastest Growing Tech, Media & Communications Companies on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2018

    Mumbai, 29th October, 2018: White Rivers Media today announced that it ranked Number 25 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2018, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in India.

    White Rivers Media’s Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Shrenik Gandhi credits all its stakeholders, team, media and clients for the company’s revenue growth over the past three years.

    He said, "It has been an amazing year for White Rivers Media and we are humbled to be featured for the third consecutive year in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 2018. This signifies that our work is being recognized and acknowledged by industry experts."

    "Making the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 is commendable in today’s highly competitive, fast-changing technology industry," said Rajiv Sundar, Program Director – Technology Fast 50 India 2018 and Partner, Deloitte India. "We congratulate White Rivers Media on being one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the India."

    White Rivers Media previously ranked at #43 (India) and #473 (APAC) in 2016 and #10 (India) and #173 (APAC) in 2017 Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

    Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India program selection and qualifications

    The Technology Fast 50 India program, which was launched in 2005, is conducted by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (DTTILLP), and is part of a truly integrated Asia Pacific program recognizing the India’s fastest growing and most dynamic technology businesses (public and private) and includes all areas of technology – from internet to biotechnology, from medical and scientific to computers/hardware.

    The program recognizes the fastest growing technology companies in India based on their percentage revenue growth over the past three financial years.

  • VMLY&R INDIA APPOINTED TO REVAMP ANITA DONGRE’S WEBSITE

    VMLY&R INDIA APPOINTED TO REVAMP ANITA DONGRE’S WEBSITE

    MUMBAI: Fashion designer Anita Dongre’s label House of Anita Dongre has appointed VMLY&R India, a full-service global digital marketing agency, to work on the user experience and creative revamp of the website.

    In over thirty years as a fashion designer, Anita Dongre offers bespoke bridalwear, couture, pret, menswear and handcrafted jewellery by drawing her inspiration from Rajasthan’s rich heritage. Showcasing Indian aesthetics with a modern sensibility through its different collections, Anita Dongre’s brand is a tribute to India’s handrafted traditions and fashions them into contemporary tales. Recognized for her aesthetic of effortless luxury, Anita Dongre is currently revamping her stores in New York and simultaneously launching her brand’s website. Anita Dongre partnered with VMLY&R India to undertake this new challenge.

    As part of the win, VMLY&R has been tasked to revamp the user experience and visual journey on the website for both – a US luxury consumer looking to shop for sustainable contemporary fashion (Grassroot) as well as an Indian consumer looking for rich ethnic wear without alienating one user from the other.

    In revamping the user experience and visual journey on the website, VMLY&R India has to bear in mind Anita Dongre’s two main targets. On one hand a US luxury consumer, looking to shop for sustainable contemporary fashion and on the other hand, an Indian consumer on the lookout for rich ethnic wear. The main challenge lies in not alienating one user form the other.

    Commenting on the appointment, Udit Bhambri, Country Head, VMLY&R India mentioned  ”VMLY&R has always come up with innovative ways and we are geared to deliver a more desirable user experience and out of the box ideas to revamp the website. It has been a delightful experience by working together towards one goal and that is by giving a better, more personalized user experience.“

    Talking about the association, Deepikesh Hira, Head – Ecommerce, Label Anita Dongre said “Here the objective is to nurture our treasure chest of handcrafted traditions by reviving, sustaining and empowering the arts and artisans by ensuring continuous work and creating livelihoods. With our new vision, digital plays a leading role and we have found perfect partners in VMLY&R India to work and deliver a better user experience and revamp the website creatively to give it an innovative touch. “

  • Ex MullenLowe Lintas’ Joseph George ‘Tilt-ing’ the creative agency model

    Ex MullenLowe Lintas’ Joseph George ‘Tilt-ing’ the creative agency model

    MUMBAI: A 150-year experienced team from across advertising, marketing, content, consumer advocacy, data analytics, storytelling, studio production, digital, media, qualitative research, behavioural science and video analytics have come together to offer consulting, communication, content and video production services for brands and businesses under the name Tilt Brand Solutions.

    Tilt Brand Solutions chairman and MD Joseph George says, “The context in which brands operate is everything. When that changes, everything about the brand outreach needs to change. What, where and how consumers buy, and what, where and how they consume content, have all changed. These changes cannot be responded to, by shoe-horning existing models into new structures. They need to be addressed by structuring a new; not re-structuring an old. Ergo Tilt.” 

    Tilt believes that brand and communication planning today is mostly “right brained”, predicated primarily on culture, attitudes and beliefs. And while these will continue to remain critical, the plethora of actual behavioural and consumption data available today cannot be ignored.

    Joseph opines, “Data analytics today sits only in digital, media or analytics agencies. At Tilt though, composite teams of left and right-brained strategists evaluate brand and behavioural data in human and cultural contexts and vice versa. Specialists in brand management, consumer behaviour, digital and media, data analytics, video analytics and communication planning work together to provide what we at Tilt call, full brained thinking.”

    Democratisation of data and proliferation of screens of all sizes, have resulted in Indians consuming more videos than ever before; contributing 50 to 70 per cent of all IP traffic and 75 per cent of advertising spends. Tilt believes thus, that getting right the conceptualisation and production of advertising and content in the video format, has become critical.

    Explains Joe, “Tilt’s creative philosophy of One Brand, Many Stories is built on the belief, that brands have, and need to tell many stories. More the stories, the more the brand begins to breathe and belong in people’s consciousness. The assumption that one video asset will work across audiences, objectives and platforms is flawed. Content creation and production needs to be tailored to each platform and experience across all forms of video-based advertising and content – from commercials to long, short and very short format video content.”

    The leadership team, Shriram Iyer chief creative and content officer, Srikanth Sarathy chief operating officer, Rajiv Chatterjee chief business officer and soon to join Kedar Teny as chief strategy officer is confident that Tilt’s strategy-story-studio offering, driven by its twin philosophies of full-brained thinking and one brand, many stories could well serve as proof of concept for brand owners and creative enterprises who are seeking to influence, engage and entertain consumers of today.

    The agency wants to sit in the union set of consulting, communication, content and video production; drawing inputs however, from the intersection set of brand building, communication planning, storytelling, analytics, media & digital strategy, behavioral science and production management.

    Joseph further adds, “We had to look at talent with specific experience and skills; and so, our starting team couldn’t be more diverse from each other, and different from norm in terms of careers and academics – Airtel, Culture Machine, Disney, Franklin Templeton, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, IIT, Infosys, ISRO, Leo Burnett, Lintas, London School of Economics, McDonald’s, Mediacom, NID, Omnicom Media, PWC, Sony Sports, Star TV and The Viral Fever.”

  • Truecaller Appoints DCMN India as Media AOR

    Truecaller Appoints DCMN India as Media AOR

    MUMBAI: DCMN India, the growth marketing partner for digital first brands, has bagged the media mandate for Truecaller, one of the leading global communications app.

    The account was won following a multi-agency pitch that involved several big agencies. The mandate includes managing the company’s TV media duties across different markets and campaign tracking using DCMN’s proprietary TV attribution technology, DC Analytics. Truecaller is a very popular brand that cƒuts across categories and geographies globally.

    The pitch process was held in New Delhi and the account will be handled from DCMN’s Gurgaon office. The business will be led by BinduBalakrishnan, Country Head, DCMN India.

    Truecaller is all set to launch its new TV campaign, which aims to communicate its new features that positions it beyond just a caller ID app. The app integrated video calling, instant messaging and even payments in March last year. The features have been embedded in the app to take into account the demands of a new-age user and over the last year, audiences have responded well to the updates.

    Speaking on same, Manan Shah, Director Marketing – India, Truecaller, says, “Over 150 million people use Truecaller in India alone, primarily to know who is calling. Over the last year Truecaller has transformed into a complete communication suite with video calling, a unique instant messaging utility called Flash and integrated UPI based payments and banking features. This is a story worth telling to our users so that they can find all these features in their most-loved app, without the need to use multiple apps.”

    During the pitch process, the synergies between DCMN India and Truecaller became apparent because Truecaller understood the importance of TV tracking, a unique offering from DCMN in the Indian market.  

    With the help of its flagship tool DC Analytics, DCMN India will analyse how consumers are using these top-end features of the Truecaller app in real-time across different locations.

    Speaking on the association Balakrishnan said, “I am very excited about this partnership as I am a Truecaller user myself. The idea of integrating video calling, payment and instant messaging into the app solves multiple purposes for any consumer. While awareness and downloads are already high, the brand is now looking at performance metrics as its main KPI for the upcoming TV campaign. Our strength lies in the experience we have in performance media marketing. DCMN’s performance approach includes data-driven media planning and tracking the direct response at a TV spot level with our proprietary TV attribution tool. We are looking at running a highly optimized media campaign for Truecaller.”

    “Using DC Analytics, DCMN India will track the growth and usage of the new features on the app once the campaign is launched. With the real time learnings, we will help Truecaller optimise its media spend and reach a larger audience. Our tracking tool is a unique offering to the Indian market.”

    Truecaller is one of the most used apps in the country. It began with solving a very basic problem of identifying the caller but in the process has become a huge communication tool for advertising. Several leading brands like Nestle, Airtel, and others use the platform to reach their consumers as the platform provides a very direct and uninterrupted connect with users. 

    Currently Truecaller has 200 million subscribers in India. The brand is rapidly growing in the country and has come up with several successful campaigns in the past to reach out to their consumers.

  • The Advertising Club announces the nominees for Marquees 2018

    The Advertising Club announces the nominees for Marquees 2018

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Club today announced the nominees for Sector Awards of Marquees 2018.

    Marquees, the foremost of all awards organized by The Advertising Club, celebrates excellence in marketing. Marquees 2018 is presented by Zee and powered by Colors and Republic TV. 

    Brands from twelve different sectors ranging from Auto (both 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers), Durables, Life Insurance, Banking, E-commerce, Handsets, FMCG (Foods, beverages, household and personal care) and Telecom Service Providers will compete for Marquees 2018, an award that recognises creativity and effectiveness in marketing.

    The list of nominees for Marquees 2018 are as follows:

    A three-step evaluation process of shortlisting, assimilation and selection basis product performance, presence and reach, promotions and the performance of the brand make the winner of each category a true ‘Marquee’. Each of the nominees are trailblazers in their respective sectors and have made an indelible mark on industry.  

    Apart from these twelve categories, there are also five special awards to be given out to brands which have gone beyond the call of duty. Efforts by some of these brands have benefited the sector as a whole, while some others have created a whole new sector. This year’s special awards are being awarded under – Breathing new life into a category; Creating a global impact; Re-imagining for the better; Carving out a niche and Digital media property of the year.

    The winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony at the St. Regis, Mumbai on August 29, 2018.

  • WPP increases India investments

    WPP increases India investments

    MUMBAI: Global media network WPP has announced increased investment in its business in India, in line with its long-term growth objectives in this important market. 

    As part of this, GroupM, the world’s leading media investment group, will move to full ownership of the mobile marketing agency Madhouse, from its current 50 per cent interest. Madhouse has offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and its clients include some of India’s leading brands. 

    Mobile marketing and media consumption is exploding with the growing access to devices, driven by lower cost of devices and data plans. This acquisition will provide GroupM clients enhanced access to innovative mobile solutions, ad products and targeting technology. 

    In addition, WPP companies Sudler, Wunderman and Y&R, which now operate as joint venture agencies with Rediffusion, will be developed as wholly-owned agencies, with WPP selling its stakes in the current Rediffusion joint ventures. There will be no change to Wunderman’s existing India businesses. 

    WPP India country manager CVL Srinivas says, “India is a key growth region for us and we have a well-defined roadmap and vision for what we would like to achieve here. WPP is home to some of the best marketing talent in this country and our plan is to steer our agencies to stay ahead of the curve – in terms of both market and client needs, by providing the best-in-class offerings.” 

    WPP in India will continue to cater to the market’s growing demand for integrated and innovative marketing solutions, through strengthening its presence in the areas of data, technology, content and creativity.