ITV

Category: Media Agencies

  • Dentsu Communications names Vishal Nicholas as planning head

    Dentsu Communications names Vishal Nicholas as planning head

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Communications has roped in Vishal Nicholas as senior vice president – head of planning. 

     

    Nicholas will report to Dentsu Communications CEO Simi Sabhaney and will be responsible for the planning output across all its offices.

     

    Prior to this, Nicholas was Lowe Lintas, Bangalore VP – planning.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “Dentsu Aegis Network has already entered its next phase of growth and we are ready to add muscle to our might by supplementing our existing strong team with the right kind of talent. Vishal comes on board with immense industry exposure and I am very glad to welcome him into the network.”

     

    Sabhaney added, “The need of the hour is to devise interactive and engaging communication strategies that will create an impact on consumers… strategies that can weld together brand ambition and consumer needs. I believe Vishal Nicholas is a new age planner who is equipped to offer effective solutions in the changing communication landscape.”

     

    Nicholas said, “I have always believed in the need for planning to not only be interesting but also useful. I look forward to continue practicing that philosophy with the solid team here as well as in collaboration with the other integrated offerings under the Dentsu Aegis Network.”

  • WPP acquires 61% stake in STW for $512 million

    WPP acquires 61% stake in STW for $512 million

    MUMBAI: STW Group, Australasia’s marketing content and communications services group, comprising over 75 operating companies, is all set to merge with WPP’s Australian and New Zealand businesses.

     

    Martin Sorrell helmed WPP has acquired a 61 per cent controlling stake in STW for approximately $512 million, of which $387 million will be paid via new shares with STW assuming debt of $125 million.

     

    Post the merger, STW CEO Michael Conaghan will continue in his current post and Robert Mactier will also remain chairman of the company.

     

    Mactier said, “Bringing together the respective iconic brands and wonderfully talented people of STW and WPP Australia and New Zealand under a single common ownership and will unlock tremendous local and global capability, experience and efficiencies for our clients as well as establishing a fantastic platform for our people to prosper.”

     

    “The transaction is EPS accretive as a result of the issue of new STW shares at a premium to market and also delivers a material reduction in STW’s leverage and the opportunity to unlock a range of synergies thereby creating significant value for our shareholders. Importantly, binding governance protocols and shareholder protections have been agreed for the benefit of the continuing minority stakeholders. I consider this a genuine win-win transaction for all our stakeholders. Post completion, we look forward to working seamlessly with WPP as our major shareholder and strategic partner as we embark on the exciting journey that is in front of us,” he further added.

     

    Connaghan said, “To finally align our shareholdings in those existing partnerships (J Walter Thompson, Mindshare, Maxus and Added Value) and now to expand our relationships across the full STW and WPP Australia and New Zealand portfolio of companies is an amazing opportunity. WPP is the leading player on the global stage in our industry. We have the potential to create a group unparalleled in this part of the world, totally focussed on our home markets, but allowing our clients and people open access to the best thinking on a global level.”

     

    Sorrell added, “The merger of our Australian and New Zealand operations with STW, will give us a unique opportunity to offer our local and international clients a comprehensive set of services and to make sure we can offer the best talent through country management. It will also enable STW to focus on the Australian and New Zealand markets, which it knows best, with a structure that will strongly incentivise its people.”

  • Crayon Data collaborates with GroupM, Mindshare for India foray

    Crayon Data collaborates with GroupM, Mindshare for India foray

    MUMBAI: Mindshare and GroupM have inked a global alliance with Crayon Data for the latter’s foray into the Indian market. The development comes hot on the heels of last week’s announcement of Ratan Tata investing in Crayon Data.

     

    The Singapore based big data start-up has built a proprietary big data platform called SimplerChoices that allows it to ingest, curate and algorithmically predict the tastes of millions of consumers.

     

    Together, GroupM, Mindshare and Crayon Data aim to map the taste of millions of Indian consumers, which will allow enterprises to target consumers more precisely. 

     

    “GroupM is changing the way marketers approach the business of media. Together with the WPP data alliance, bringing the Crayon Data proposition to India reflects our ambition to know more deeply than anyone else the tastes of Indian consumers and use that to help our clients target them better,” said GroupM India CEO CVL Srinivas.

     

    Mindshare South Asia CEO Prashanth Kumar added, “Through this alliance, Mindshare’s proprietary data and research are further enriched with Crayon Data’s analytics. This will help us bring in both agility and adaptive solutions for our clients. Understanding the tastes and mind-set of consumers is extremely important and will be a great advantage for us especially since there is a strong focus on digital. In our journey to understand our consumers even better, this will be a great advantage.”

     

    Crayon Data founder Suresh Shankar said, “As life goes digital, and choices proliferate in every aspect of our life, we will move to a world centred around personalisation, where companies understand tastes and preferences at an individual level, and use that to make choices simple and relevant for their consumers.”

  • Amagi expands TV ad network to international markets

    Amagi expands TV ad network to international markets

    Indian advertisers can reach more than 200 million viewers worldwide on B4U Network and Zee Bangla across to US, Europe, Asia, GCC, Canada, Africa and Australia.

     

    MUMBAI: Amagi has expanded its India ad network to key international markets like North America, Canada, Africa, Australia and Asia. Amagi will now offer an advertising platform to Indian advertisers with B4U Network and Zee Bangla in these international markets. The company’s move will now enable Indian advertisers to reach more than 200 million viewers on these channels.

     

    The company’s ad network will be extended to Zee Bangla and the entire B4U network including B4U Movies, B4U Music, B4U Plus and B4U Aflam. This opens up doors for several brands within India to expand their advertising footprint across the globe in markets of their choice. While this will instantly help in expanding the consumer base of Indian brands, television networks will also benefit from increased ad revenues.

     

    Amagi co-founder and head of global operations KA Srinivasan said, “Our endeavor is to serve as a global TV ad platform for brands within India, helping them to penetrate and capture international markets essential for business growth; and collaborating with widespread networks like B4U and Zee Bangla, who are our long-standing partners, allows us to do just that. Indian advertisers, who were earlier restricted to Indian audiences alone can now advertise worldwide and reap the benefits of global exposure. Amagi hopes to see more such partnerships with TV channels and continue to bring more Indian brands on board for international advertising.”

     

    Amagi’s global ad network allows advertisers to target audiences across regions, while optimising ad budgets and increasing their return on investments. Advertisers can buy ad spots through Amagi across its international network and target consumers across markets.

  • Dentsu to acquire 70% stake in Philippines’ ASPAC

    Dentsu to acquire 70% stake in Philippines’ ASPAC

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has reached an agreement with the principal shareholders of creative agency ASPAC Creative Communications Inc based in Philippines to acquire a 70 per cent stake in the company, with an option in place that would allow expansion in steps to 100 per cent at a later date.

     

    Founded in February 1975 as ASPAC Communicators Inc., ASPAC is a creative agency of long standing in the Philippines with both local and international major companies as its clients. The services provided range from the formulation of brand strategy to the provision of creative ideas for the mass media, digital and promotional advertising domains.

     

    In its September 2015 worldwide advertising expenditure forecasts, the Dentsu Group’s media communications agency Carat announced that advertising expenditures in the Philippines grew 12.8 per cent in 2014 and are expected to continue to rise 10.2 per cent in 2015 and 12.3 per cent in 2016. The Philippines is the sixth-largest market in the Asia-Pacific region, after China, Japan, Australia, Korea and Indonesia.

  • Publicis undertakes major client-centric restructuring for 2016

    Publicis undertakes major client-centric restructuring for 2016

    MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe is undertaking a major client-centric restructuring of its business model, which will see agency breaking down its disciplines into four distinct ‘solution hubs’ with each client that will be led by a chief client officer.

     

    With effect from 2 January, 2016, the change also includes a new role for Leo Burnett’s APAC chairman and CEO Jarek Ziebinski.

     

    The Groupe’s disciplines will now be organised across four solutions hubs namely Publicis Communications, Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Healthcare.

     

    Publicis Communications will be led by CEO Arthur Sadoun and will comprise all creative networks: Publicis Worldwide, MSL, Nurun, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett as well as BBH and Marcel. It will also include the production hub, Prodigious.

     

    Publicis Media will be led by CEO Steve King and will bring together Starcom Mediavest, ZenithOptimedia, Vivaki, Performics, MRY, Moxie or RUN and all the associated entities. All clients will benefit from the economies of scale and research efforts, key elements in this field. 

     

    Publicis.Sapient is a platform designed for tomorrow’s world: a world of digital platforms. Led by Alan Herrick as CEO, this hub includes Sapient Consulting, SapientNitro, DigitasLBi, Razorfish and all the associated entities. Clients fully benefit from R&D investments, cutting edge technology solutions and the Groupe’s leading position in e-commerce, as well as new tools that will transform their marketing approaches and their business models. 

     

    Publicis Healthcare led by CEO Nick Colucci is a fully integrated Health and Pharma solution. It covers all of the Groupe’s clients’ needs, from a new product launch to the transition to generic branding, including digital applications and sales force management. 

    Each Brand, for instance Saatchi & Saatchi, ZenithOptimedia or DigitasLBi, will keep expanding, with its own culture and specific approach to creativity and services. The identity and the success of each of the Groupe’s brands will be preciously preserved and nurtured. 

    The Groupe generates more than 90 per cent of its revenue in about 20 countries. As a result, many other countries don’t get the attention they rightfully deserve and the Groupe footprint is often too fragmented. This is why all of these countries will now be managed through a dedicated Groupe entity, Publicis ONE, with will be led by Ziebinski as CEO.

     

    In the Publicis ONE countries, all entities will be reunited under one roof and one management team. This will ensure a better coordination of all client services while respecting strictly confidentiality rules. These structures will attract great talent, both through their scale and comprehensiveness. 

     

    Businesses all over the world, no matter their industry, are continuously faced with the upheavals brought on by digital and the constant evolutions affecting our society, the way we work, communicate and consume. In order to better advise and serve its clients, Publicis Groupe decided to radically modify its business model by putting the client at the heart of its organisation.

     

    The idea consists of reversing its current structure, built around the concept of worldwide networks, by breaking down silos in order to offer clients the Groupe’s entire know-how and expertise through the “Power of One”: all Publicis Groupe capabilities will be available to each of its clients – in a simple, flexible and efficient way. A bit like a smartphone: powered by sophisticated technology but very easy to use.

     

    From now on, the Groupe will gauge its performance using a new standard: client service, led for each client by a chief client officer. This person will be responsible for the entire range of services and skills the client can benefit from, no matter the discipline or the country. Whenever possible, the dedicated teams will be gathered under one roof.

     

    The teams of chief client officers will be supervised by a Groupe chief revenue officer. Laura Desmond will fulfil this newly created role. The mission will be to simplify the way clients access the range of solutions, without duplication or delay, and to accelerate the Groupe’s growth and development. Laura Desmond will also be responsible for the Groupe’s growth (new business and future developments).

  • GroupM ups U.K. ad growth forecast to 7% for 2015 & 2016

    GroupM ups U.K. ad growth forecast to 7% for 2015 & 2016

    MUMBAI: U.K advertising spending in 2015 is anticipated to grow by seven per cent, and in 2016 GroupM predicts strong demand for digital advertising will usher another year of strong advertising growth (also seven per cent), pushing total U.K. advertising investment above ?17 billion. 

    The new GroupM forecast released raises the prior 2015 estimate by one point (six to seven per cent) and raises the 2016 outlook by two points (five to seven per cent).

    If GroupM’s forecasts prove accurate, 2016 will mark the fifth straight year in which U.K. ad spending has outpaced the Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth (2012-2016). The U.K. is again the fastest-growing mature advertising market worldwide and is among the world’s fastest-growing markets full stop.

    “Digital technology and media platforms continue to expand the role media plays in marketing and as a result media investment is both growing and shifting. Digital advertising represents a tremendous opportunity for clients to create more targeted media campaigns that activate consumers, but it has also added enormous complexity and our group continues to solve this with strategy, innovation and investment. The year ahead is a promising one for growth of overall media investment as we work with clients to tap into empowering economic trends we see empowering U.K. consumerism,” said GroupM, United Kingdom CEO Nick Theakstone. 

    GroupM identified a number of economic factors underpinning its U.K. predictions. The nation currently enjoys the highest recorded employment rate in its history with 74 per cent of the working-aged populace in jobs. Additionally, workers’ real wages have risen near to their 2008 peak, while consumer-price inflation has not similarly risen, at least not yet. Low energy prices and property wealth are additional tailwinds for a very positive outlook on U.K. consumerism, and as a result GroupM believes U.K. consumers will be spending more next year. U.K. advertisers will marshal their efforts to seize this opportunity with a strong increase in media investment.

    GroupM’s forecasted distribution of advertising investment growth across media formats is detailed below:

    With this updated forecast, GroupM introduces a new category dubbed ‘Pure-Play Internet,’ which is ‘Digital’ minus TV and print content repatriated back to its parent media. This allows for broadcaster VOD and digital platforms to be considered together with ‘TV,’ and likewise for print media to have the benefit of their digital assets when viewing the pace of their contraction.

    GroupM believes this more sober view of how ad investment is shifting across categories better supports industry dialogue and trend analysis. However, while delineating Pure Play Internet gives legacy media a fairer consideration, the impact is slight on the still rapid growth of the internet category which is estimated to be 13 per cent in 2016. On like-for-like comparison, this is a slight deceleration from 2013 to 2014, but Pure Play Internet will still grow far faster than second-fastest-growing TV which will realize 7.4 per cent growth in 2016. It should be noted that the growth performance of TV is strong in its own right, and the prediction holds for a fractional share gain in 2015 and 2016.

    “The influence of digital is everywhere. It suggests that legacy media channels must think and behave like media brands or what could be dubbed ‘audience brands.’ Digital’s influence is also pulling trading toward a more common GRP basis versus the idiosyncratic variety of the present, creating urgency to discriminate between correlation and causality, and driving demand for better reporting standards,” said Futures director Adam Smith. “With this year’s U.K. forecast we seek to make better sense of the investment trends across categories with ‘Pure Play Internet.’ We feel this is essential as content continues to rise with the browsing appetites of our increasingly digital culture.”

  • United Mediaworks crosses a lakh seats per show across India

    United Mediaworks crosses a lakh seats per show across India

    Mumbai: Secured digital cinema platform United Mediaworks (UMW) announced that its ad network had attained 1,10,000 seats per show. The company gets its revenue from content processing charges, content distribution charges and advertising revenues. With this seating capacity per show, UMW says that its offering makes for a cost effective proposition for advertisers to promote their brands in semi metro cities as well as tier 2 and 3 cities and reach out to these upcoming towns. Also, the company says that it has shown great support for social causes by showcasing ads for the same at highly subsidized rates across its network.

     

    Commenting on the growing ad network of United Mediaworks, co-founder and joint managing director Ashish Bhandari said “We are delighted to witness the daily growth with our ad network. It is a pleasure to view this kind of response to the dedication and hard work of our team. We strive to provide the best services with a high level of security and aim to be one of the top digital distribution services in India. With this kind of response and growth, I am sure the day is not very far when we will be the first partner of choice when it comes to digital content and distribution.”

     

    United Mediaworks recently screened election ad campaigns across its network. The company has been screening corporate ads and has a number of brands on board including LIC, Gillette, Fortune Basmati Rice, SBI Life, Rural Electrification Limited, Bajaj Allianz, Chevrolet Enjoy, Manyavar, Emami, Tata Sky, Rupa, UTI, among others,. 

  • Dentsu Aegis Network celebrates Diwali with philanthropic activities

    Dentsu Aegis Network celebrates Diwali with philanthropic activities

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has initiated the “Joy of Giving” week to celebrate Diwali not just amongst its own employees but even beyond.

     

    As part of the initiative, Dentsu Aegis Network organised a week-long Diwali Mela across all its Mumbai offices, where NGOs were invited to set up stalls and showcase their artwork.

     

    “Kitchen Re-fill” project was their second initiative this Diwali, as part of which, more than 300kgs of rice grains and 40kgs of pulses were donated to St. Francais, an orphanage located in Borivali (Mumbai).

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network, SA, chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin said, “At Dentsu Aegis Network, we consider it as our responsibility to spread knowledge and joy amongst our employees and also give back to the society. Everyone here is special and therefore, on this festive occasion, we decided to reach out to our employees and their kids and also engage with the less privileged children from the orphanage we support. The objective behind hosting this fun day was to celebrate the onset of Diwali with happiness and to make everyone feel at home in their second home, our office.”

     

    In addition to the above, the Group also organised the “Newspapers Collection” drive for the NGO The Wasted Ones, which sells old newspapers and utilises the proceeds to provide meals to schools for the underprivileged children. Meanwhile, 30 children from Shelter Don Bosco were invited to Dentsu Aegis Network for a fun filled day on 9 November.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network’s Bangalore office conducted a blood donation drive and collected more than 50 bottles of blood. Employees also visited VKH Rainbow Home-Kodihalli Orphanage on 6 November to donate food grains and stationery.

     

    The network’s Gurgaon office collected funds from its employees’ salary to provide gloves, socks, caps and notebooks to the underprivileged children, which is supported by the Sankalp Welfare Society.

     

    In Kolkata, the Group’s employees decided to spend a few constructive hours with the boys of Dakshin Kalikata Sevasram, a home for the destitute.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network India CFO Anand Bhadkamkar added, “At Dentsu Aegis Network, we believe in creating an environment, which is not just responsible towards its employees and also the society and communities that we work in. As part of our Diwali celebrations, we decided to share the joy of festivities by partnering with various NGOs across offices, and thereby providing a platform to the Network employees to celebrate and share the joy of Diwali with socially and economically weaker sections of the society.”

  • Koovs appoints MediaCom as media buying agency

    Koovs appoints MediaCom as media buying agency

    NEW DELHI: Online fashion store Koovs.com has appointed MediaCom as its media buying agency. 

     

    The appointment is ahead of the launch of the brand’s first 360 degree ad campaign later this month. MediaCom India will be responsible for media planning and devising efficient media mix for the new campaign.

     

    Koovs.com CEO Mary Turner said, “MediaCom was an obvious choice owing to their out of box ideas and their credibility in the industry. The team has a clear understanding of our target customer and this we believe is a must to attain the right media mix. Their in-depth experience in building and strategising for young companies in the emerging sector was also one of the key factors of this choice and we look forward to a great partnership.”

     

    MediaCom MD Debraj Tripathy added, “Koovs has a unique offering and we feel privileged to partner them. My team and I look forward to working together in making Koovs a huge success in the fast evolving Indian e-commerce market.”