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Category: Media Agencies

  • Dentsu Aegis Network to acquire Forbes Consulting Group

    Dentsu Aegis Network to acquire Forbes Consulting Group

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd. has acquired US-based full-service consumer insight firm Forbes Consulting Group.

     

    Forbes Consulting Group, which has strengths in the neuroscience domain, was founded in 1985 and specializes in both quantitative and qualitative research and analysis, providing consulting services based on its own research methods, data analysis, and consumer insights.

     

    The company has an established reputation for providing insights into what emotional motivations drive the purchasing behaviour of consumers. The MindSight analytic tool that CEO David Forbes introduced in academic journals in 2011 has earned high praise from many leading companies.

     

    The MindSight tool uses groundbreaking non-cognitive techniques to identify the underlying and often unconscious motivations that govern consumer behaviour and to measure the extent to which a brand’s communications and customer experience are activating these motivations.

     

    The Dentsu Group has to date provided market research services to clients in the US through its marketing strategy consultancy Copernicus. Post-acquisition, Forbes Consulting Group will become part of Copernicus and Forbes will be appointed to the position of its chief innovation officer. The addition of new services and capabilities to Copernicus will enable the provision of enhanced value-added solutions to Dentsu Group clients.

  • WPP buys Medialets to measure mobile campaign ROI for clients

    WPP buys Medialets to measure mobile campaign ROI for clients

    MUMBAI: WPP has acquired US based mobile ad serving and measurement company Medialets Inc.

     

    Medialets offers software tools to help marketers manage and measure the complete return on investment of mobile ad campaigns.

     

    This acquisition continues WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growing sectors such as digital. WPP’s digital revenues were $6.9 billion in 2014, representing 36 per cent of the Group’s total revenues of $19 billion. WPP has set a target of 40-45 per cent of revenue to be derived from digital in the next five years.

     

    Medialets’ clients include American Express, HBO, Johnson & Johnson and Sky Sports television. The company employs almost 50 people and is based in New York with sales operations in Los Angeles, Chicago and London. Medialets was founded in 2008.

  • Leagues propel Indian sports industry to Rs 48,069 million in 2015: GroupM

    Leagues propel Indian sports industry to Rs 48,069 million in 2015: GroupM

    MUMBAI: From being a country that thrived on a single sport namely cricket, India has come a long way in the last couple of years. The country witnessed a sports boom of sorts with the mushrooming of various sports leagues. And with that came in the moolah in terms of sponsorships and advertisements.

     

    According to a report by GroupM ESP and SportzPower, the overall sports industry in India has grown by 10 per cent – up from Rs 43,725 million in 2013 to Rs 48,069 million in 2015. However, cricket saw a dip in on-ground and cricket team sponsorship. While on-ground sponsorship fell from Rs 5083 million to Rs 4647 million, team sponsorship was down to Rs 3478 million from Rs 3892 million.

     

    The growth in the industry has come mainly on the back of the emergence of new sports leagues – Indian Super League, Pro Kabaddi League, World Kabaddi League, Champions Tennis League and Indian Premiere Tennis League. FIFA was the big factor for the increase in TV spends.

     

    The second edition of GroupM ESP and SportzPower’s report on sports sponsorship captures the emergence of new leagues in India along with other key highlights. The report captures the trends and developments in advertising and sponsorship in the Indian sports industry in 2014.

     

    Speaking on the future of sports marketing in India, GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas says, “Sports marketing is finally coming of age in India. Even though cricket has shown the way and continues to be the dominant sport, newer leagues are helping broad base sports and make it a great platform for brands. Digital, especially social media, is helping build a fan following much faster. At GroupM, we made inroads into sports marketing some years ago and are now scaling up our practice.”

     

    The second edition of report examines:

    • Emergence of five new leagues in India.
    • Advertising investments and sponsorship in Indian sport from four angles: On-Ground, Team Sponsorship (subset franchise fees), Athlete Endorsement, and On-Air spends
    • Investments in sports besides cricket
    • 10 trends in the sports broadcast industry

     

    Focusing on the key developments that are expected in 2015, GroupM ESP national director, sports & live events Vinit Karnik says, “The key highlights of this report are on-ground sponsorships, team sponsorships and franchise fees, social conversations and endorsements. The sports industry has grown by 10 per cent in 2014 and seen the formation of newer leagues and successful franchises. From a single sports country to a multi-sport country, India is witnessing a boom, which will benefit the sports business ecosystem. In 2015, we predict to see a change in the way consumers interact in the realm of sports and entertainment.”

     

    SportzPower co-founder Thomas Abraham further discusses the future of sports broadcasting in India. “Other sports are emerging gradually with the onset of many new league styled sport events. Even though FIFA was a big factor in the increase in TV spends in 2014, cricket yet dominated Indian sports TV broadcasting with back to back cricketing sports tournaments like the World Cup and IPL, although there was a rise in viewership of other sports too,” he says.

     

    Key Observations:

     

    · From a single sports country to a multi-sport country; India is witnessing a sports boom.

     

    · The entertainment value adds the necessary pull for the new leagues, as audiences are being offered a wide platter of sportainment that is being relished by one and all.

     

    · Split beam: India being a diverse regional market with large linguistic preference, networks have begun to offer feeds in regional languages too. This will grow further with split beams leading to ad-versioning with even regional advertisers getting a slice of the pie.

     

    · TV & Digital: The lines are now blurring. The ICC Cricket World Cup had more than 25 million views on digital. IPL is slated to surpass that in the current 2015 season.

     

    On Ground

     

    · Dip in cricket on-ground numbers are mainly due to lesser matches being held in India in 2014 – only eight cricket matches were played in India in 2014 vis-?-vis 21 matches in 2013. IPL also had no new central sponsor, resulting in a flat year for IPL ground sponsorship.

     

    · New leagues contributed in driving the growth for on-ground sponsorship. While ISL had 10 sponsors at the central level with almost Rs 500 million sponsorship amount; Coca Cola – IPTL was the landmark deal.

     

    Social Conversation

     

    · IPL had over 550,000 social conversations. In spite of the first season, ISL had around 200,000 conversations. 

     

    · PKL (70,000) has more conversation than IPTL (32,000) & HIL (11,000) put together, even though Kabaddi is the least talked about sports in India.

     

    · Pepsi received 41 per cent visible mentions with IPL, whereas 29 per cent associated with Hero Moto Corp with ISL.

     

    Team Sponsorship & Franchise Fee

     

    · Indian cricket team sponsorship price was reduced to Rs 20 million/match from Rs 33.3 million/match with the new sponsorship of Star India. Also IPL 2014 team sponsorship money saw a dip in 2014 from Rs 2750 million to Rs 2537 million, because of the tournament partly shifting to UAE.

     

    · Other sports have also contributed in growth of team sponsorship & franchise fee due to the new sports league. While Football registered a 227 per cent increase from Rs 265 million to Rs 603 million powered principally by the ISL, it was the emergence of other leagues – notably IPTL, CTL, PKL, and WKL that saw a spectacular 1,064 per cent jump from Rs 70 million to Rs 745 million.

     

    · Social & search data depicts different trends for different leagues – while the popularity of IPL led the Search and Social data trends independent to each other; Social and Search data for the other leagues were almost parallel to each other.

     

    Endorsement

     

    · A 14 per cent dip was seen in overall sports celebrity endorsement from Rs 3822 million in 2013 to Rs 3278 million in 2014.

     

    · While the new kids like Virat Kohli’s endorsement fee and number of endorsement brands are going up steadily, for the old boys like Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, the number of endorsements and fee per endorsement have gone considerably down.

     

    · Moving off cricket and the top earners are all women of substance. Boxer Mary Kom, tennis ace Sania Mirza and badminton queen Saina Nehwal (in that order) are the Big Three of Indian non-cricket sports brand endorsements.

     

    · Tiger Woods endorsing Hero Moto Corp is first-of-its-kind in non-cricketing sports industry– Rs 500 million per year.

     

    · Social & Search Data – While Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were the most talked about & searched on digital media athletes in 2014; Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom and Sania Mirza are keeping the flame alive for non-cricketing sports.

     

    Year 2015:

     

    · Non-cricket sports are likely to expand the sports business ecosystem.

     

    · Live match content is being repurposed in multiple ways to facilitate social consumption. This trend is slated to grow even bigger in 2015.

     

    · Sporting entities will evolve by building digital and social assets to drive their valuation.

     

    · Sports businesses are predicted to build strong grassroots engagement through experiential programs.

     

    · In stadium experience will be more social and thus, more enhanced. Given that 70 per cent of fans bring a mobile device to the stadium or arena, they are expected to use it during a game too.

     

    · Pro Kabaddi League is the one to watch out for!

     

    Conclusion:

     

    In 2015, non-cricket sports are likely to expand on the lines of various trends all around. Live match content will repurpose in multiple ways to facilitate social consumption. Sports businesses will build strong grassroots engagement through experiential programs. In stadium experience will be more social, more enhanced, as a large majority of fans bring a mobile device to the stadium or arena and will be expected to use it during the game.

     

  • Dentsu launches corporate VC fund with $42 million corpus

    Dentsu launches corporate VC fund with $42 million corpus

    MUMBAI: Advertising behemoth Dentsu Inc has established a new corporate venture capital (VC) fund called – Dentsu Ventures Global Fund I, with a total capital of approximately $42 million (five billion yen).

     

    With companies in the US, Europe and Asia as its main targets, the fund will not only provide businesses with capital but will also focus on providing entrepreneurs with extensive business support that leverages the problem-solving resources cultivated by the Dentsu Group to date in order to help them bring innovation to the world.

     

    The changes in the business environment surrounding the Dentsu Group and the advertising industry itself are accelerating, and the importance of open innovation through business collaboration with promising external partners is increasing even more. Under such circumstances the Dentsu Group will, through this fund, promote investment in ambitious venture companies that will create an as yet unseen future as well as open up new areas of development through the provision of business development support to the investees.

     

    The Dentsu Group has to date made proactive investments in venture companies and promoted business collaboration through the Dentsu Digital Fund, a fund managed by its subsidiary Dentsu Digital Holdings Inc. Through investments mainly in venture companies outside of Japan as well as seed and early stage investments in Japanese companies, coupled with the building of a complementary relationship with the Dentsu Digital Fund, Dentsu will accelerate open innovation across the Group as a whole.

     

    The fund will have a seven-year period of operation from April 2015 until March 2022.

     

    Dentsu is looking at investing in areas that can change the marketing and communication business in a broad sense. The VC fund is interested in companies that look at new areas that have a high potential for innovation.

  • WPP launches marketing foresight consultancy Gain Theory

    WPP launches marketing foresight consultancy Gain Theory

    MUMBAI: WPP has launched Gain Theory, a marketing foresight consultancy that will bring together data, analytics, technology solutions and consumer-insight capabilities.

     

    It combines WPP’s intellectual capital in media, marketing, data and technology to create a consultancy that will help brands make smarter, faster, predictive business decisions.

     

    According to a recent independent qualitative research study, marketers feel swamped by the sheer volume of data and technology solutions in the marketplace. Marketers also highlighted the need for a partner that would help them navigate this landscape, offering the insight and intelligence required to integrate, predict, plan and model marketing decisions effectively.

     

    Led by worldwide CEO Jason Harrison, Gain Theory will address this need by providing solutions that tackle a set of pain points faced by marketing and insight professionals today in achieving the desired ROI from their marketing activities. These pain points include:

     

    · Difficulty discerning actionable information from an expanding set of data and technology

     

    · Confusion around terminology and jargon

     

    · Multiple answers to a single business question

     

    · The need for faster, smarter predictive insights

     

    “At Gain Theory, our goal is to give clients the confidence to make the best marketing decisions now and in the future. Gain Theory’s predictive analytics and global team of specialists help simplify the process, distilling complex data and providing a holistic perspective to improve marketing results. I’m honored to lead such a dynamic team of smart problem solvers,” said Harrison.

     

    The Gain Theory team comprises 200 marketing effectiveness consultants, analysts, data experts and engineers. This team offers insight-backed recommendations so that brands can adjust their marketing programmes for maximum business impact.

     

    Gain Theory APAC CEO and worldwide chief strategy officer Sunder Muthuraman said, “At Gain Theory we will offer marketers thorough bespoke analytical solutions. Our solutions will bring intellectual capital in marketing analytics, big data, technology, media and customer relationship management to drive successful marketing decisions. Our goal is to create a new, independent and unbiased consultancy that will help marketers on the journey from data to outcomes and make smarter, faster predictive marketing decisions.”

     

    He further added, “Gain Theory service will include a number of new exciting products that will be launched shortly – marketing ROI management platforms;   visual analytics platforms, customer engagement management services, marketing forecasting and more.”

     

    With key hubs in New York, London and Bangalore, the global operations will be supported by Manjiry Tamhane as worldwide COO and CEO, EMEA and Muthuraman.

     

    “There’s no denying that technology today offers us more access to data than ever before but, in doing so it can also create paralysis for companies that need to act quickly. As an independent, third-party consultant, Gain Theory is a trusted partner that can help brands move forward confidently with the right marketing strategy,” said Harrison.

     

    Globally, Gain Theory serves a host of premier global businesses across multiple geographies.

  • Rentrak signs TV ratings deal with Discovery Communications

    Rentrak signs TV ratings deal with Discovery Communications

    MUMBAI: Rentrak has inked a TV ratings and automotive segmentation agreement with Discovery Communications.

     

    Discovery will adopt Rentrak’s TV ratings and IHS Polk Automotive data, providing more comprehensive measurement of advertising campaigns running on Discovery’s portfolio of networks.

     

    “Rentrak’s automotive data will increase our ability to deliver custom insights, targeting, and accountability measures to our clients,” said Discovery Communications senior vice president, market research, ad sales Beth Rockwood.

     

    “Rentrak is pleased that Discovery Communications is joining the growing list of network groups subscribing to our TV services. We look forward to being a strong partner for their networks,” said Rentrak CEO and vice chairman Bill Livek.

  • GroupM forms R&D partnership with Singapore Economic Development Board

    GroupM forms R&D partnership with Singapore Economic Development Board

    MUMBAI: GroupM has inked a new R&D partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the lead government agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global business center.

     

    The three-year plan will support the set-up of a global R&D team in the Singapore market with a focus on developing new data science technologies that extend GroupM’s leading position in media investment management.

     

    Under the terms of the development plan, GroupM will increase the number of PhDs in data sciences and analytics it hires for its Singapore operations, as well as expand its relationship with the country’s advanced science and technology institutions, through a strategic investment by EDB. The collaboration will enhance Singapore’s position in attracting the world’s most talented data scientists through new jobs in the Singapore market. Against a backdrop of fierce global competition for these experts, the partnership will further support Singapore as a key destination for data science and analytics professionals, providing skilled candidates with industry-leading opportunities to develop their careers as part of GroupM.

     

    “The rapid worldwide growth of data-driven advertising has driven a corresponding, and massive, demand for PhD level data scientists to design and implement these next generation media technologies. With today’s partnership, GroupM gains a valuable advantage in attracting the most astute and promising minds to our Singapore R&D operations while advancing Singapore as a world center for the development of the industry’s most advanced media products,” said GroupM Analytics chief data officer and CEO Harvey Goldhersz.

     

    The agreement is unique in the media industry, recognizing GroupM’s preeminence in the data and analytics areas and providing an increased number of data-science jobs in Singapore outside of the academic realm. GroupM’s R&D operations will leverage Singapore’s infrastructure and talent pool to provide professionals with favorable conditions in which to develop their careers.

     

    The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) has been working closely with the industry to build up a comprehensive ecosystem as part of its vision for Singapore to become a regional digital marketing hub.

     

    Singapore Economic Development Board assistant managing director Kelvin Wong added, “We welcome the establishment of GroupM R&D in Singapore, and the transformative effect it will have on how brandowners plan and buy media. It will also create opportunities for analytics talent to work in the exciting and fast-moving space of media investment management, and contribute to EDB’s goal of developing 2,500 analytics professionals in Singapore by 2017.”

  • Kyoorius launches ‘Melt’; says not competing with Goafest

    Kyoorius launches ‘Melt’; says not competing with Goafest

    MUMBAI: “Today there is a lot of talk about digital media, technology and data, but ultimately ours is an “ideas” business. And it’s great ideas that build great brands,” announced GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas. 

    Clinging on the same lines has witnessed the birth of a festival of creativity – Melt 2015, at the convergence of advertising, digital, media, marketing and emerging technology.

    Launched by Kyoorius in partnership with the three lords in the media and entertainment sector – D&AD, GroupM and Zee Entertainment Enterprises, the two day festival is an attempt to fill the gap, which addresses the blurred lines of advertising, marketing and digital space.

     

    “We felt there is nothing happening in India that stimulates the entire marketing and communications industry at large. So while there is something happening for the marketing, advertising and digital independently, it does not happen at the convergence of all these three put together,” said Kyoorius CEO Rajesh Kejriwal. 

    Elaborating on choosing the name Melt for the event, Kejriwal said that the lines are blurring today. “The media company is also doing creative and digital work and then there are digital agencies that are doing creative work. Advertising agencies have opened their own digital houses. It has all become a melting pot and so the name.”

     

    The festival doesn’t have sponsors, but has partners. These include: Hindustan Times, Happy Finish, Afaqs, Pepperfry, Future Laboratory, Hyper Island, The Partners, BrandMusiq, One Eyeland, Maxus, YouTube, Google, BARC and many more in the pipeline.

    To be held on 21 and 22 May at Nehru Center and NSCI at Worli, Mumbai, the festival will be filled with seminars, exhibitions and workshops, which will culminate with the Kyoorius Advertising and Digital Awards Night on 22 May to be held at NSCI Stadium. 

    Kyoorius expects close to 5000 delegates and 60 speakers attending the event across the two days. The event could also see close to 25 partners. “Next year will be larger wherein people from South East Asia will also be participating,” informed Kejriwal. 

    A lot of research has gone into creating the festival. “We met a number of marketing people and understood their problems and the terms that they didn’t understand, which could range from content marketing to brand activation. Through the research we found that there was a common problem between the media and the marketing people and so we wanted to put content that addresses their core issues,” added Kejriwal. 

    The sessions will address all issues across platforms. Starting with a creativity conference, which is aimed at the advertising community, day one will also see learning for the media people, for Facebook and Twitter marketing, session on measurement with the coming in of new ratings body amongst others.

    “Different partners have come onboard to curate content. There will be workshops like the Sonic branding workshop, YouTube workshop on launching a YouTube channel, on being a YouTube star etc,” informed Kejriwal. 

     

    According to GroupM’s Srinivas, the benefit of an event like this is that it can attract talent. “The biggest challenge as an industry is to be able to attract talent and then sustain them, because over a period of time advertising doesn’t remain an attractive career option. It is through events like these that we will bring the advertising sector back on the radar of young talented people and show them how attractive the sector is.”

    Talking about the reason for GroupM’s association with Zee Melt 2015, Srinivas said, “We wanted to play a role in showcasing what the industry does overall, especially the creative side of the industry, to get the young talent excited about the industry and hopefully to improve the talent quotient of the industry.”

    On Zee’s association with Melt 2015 Zee corporate brand head Roland Landers said, “When Kyoorius pitched the idea, we felt that it blended with what Zee does as a corporate brand.”

    Zee currently boasts of two brand intellectual properties: Zee Leadership series, targeted at CFOs and Zee Mindspace targeted at the CMOs. “When we looked at the Kyoorius event, it looked like a longer version of the Zee Mindspace event,” reasoned Landers.

    The network on day one will look at crowd sourcing of content. “We are a content company and we believe that anybody who has a good content idea can come to us with the idea. We will evaluate that through our screening process and the short-listed ones will be further evaluated by our senior team at the venue. If we like the idea, we can back it as well,” informed Landers.

    Zee has in the past partnered with a number of events from Goafest to AAAI, but this one is too close to its heart. Landers explained, “In events like Goafest, we are merely a presenting sponsor or title sponsor but beyond that we don’t get an opportunity to use our creative talent anywhere. With Melt, we believe it is the partnership that will evolve because we are integrating our own IP into this.”

    Many in the sector feel that the two day festival is in direct competition to the upcoming Goafest. When quizzed about the same, Kejriwal said, “There is a need for not just one or two but four such events.”

    He added, “Goafest is a great event, but then we do need more such events. The industry has 25,000 people, Goafest gets some 2000 to 3000 people, Melt 2015 should get close to 5000 people, but there are so many more people and learning doesn’t stop.”

    Kejriwal also feels that considering such events are targetted more at the younger lot, it is important to have an event of this scale in different parts of the country. “Not everyone can go to Goa and so we decided to keep it in Mumbai,” said Kejriwal while adding that since Delhi is a growing market, Kyoorius will be doing an event sometime next year in Delhi as well. 

    Echoing the same, Srinivas said that the industry can do with a lot more events like Goafest and Melt. “As an industry, we are still very young and there is a long way to go. We don’t see anyone competing with the other,” said Srinivas.
     

    The list of final speakers and the public announcement with regards to the event will be done between 15-20 April.

  • Maxus ESP innovates with Mahakosh Cooking Oil for ‘Farah Ki Daawat’

    Maxus ESP innovates with Mahakosh Cooking Oil for ‘Farah Ki Daawat’

    MUMBAI: Colors’ food show Farah Ki Daawat hosted by Farah Khan has brought to the fore memories about food and anecdotes of A list celebrities. Created and produced by Wizcraft Television, the food show features celebrities using their trusted cooking companion – Mahakosh Cooking Oils. To take this show to newer heights, Maxus ESP has partnered with Wizcraft for Farah Ki Dawaat and devised a complete marketing plan that will create a powerful engagement for the brand.

     

    Talking about this association, Maxus ESP national director Shailja Vohra said, “Mahakosh’s association with Farah Ki Dawat on Colors is an example of how content can take center stage and showcases how Maxus ESP is able to get content in the center of communication planning. The partnership proves how large and premium brands such as Mahakosh Cooking Oil have instilled their continued faith in Maxus, which has been able to deliver robust and triumphant strategies. This campaign is an extension of that as over the next four months we have lined up a host of innovations.”

     

    The content rollout plan includes specially created TV vignettes, print ads, a well compiled recipe book, along with consumer contest and product seeding with India’s top celebrities, among other things. This show is also being promoted on social media platforms and a variety of recipes will soon be uploaded on the Farah Ki Daawat YouTube channel, and an on-air contest too is part of the blitzkrieg marketing plan. A promo video for the contest with Farah Khan has also being filmed.

     

    Wizcraft International Entertainment director Wiz Sabbas Joseph added, “Not only is the brand integration seamless, the idea to use and reach out through multiple platforms and use multi-channel engagements is what makes this a winner.”

     

    As part of the sales-led contest aptly named ‘Mahakosh Daawat-E-Khas Contest’, consumers of Mahakosh Cooking Oils will be provided to not just cook a meal with Farah Khan, but also win a host of exciting prizes by buying a pack of the oil brand and messaging the code under the cap, to a designated number. We are sure the Maxus team will do a fantastic job in meeting upto our expectations and delivering the results,” added RSIL (Popular Division) head of marketing Alok Mahajan.

  • Madison Media wins Gold for Saffolalife World Heart Day campaign

    Madison Media wins Gold for Saffolalife World Heart Day campaign

    MUMBAI: Madison Media has proved its might by winning a Gold at the festival of Media Asia-Pacific Awards held in Singapore last week. The agency won a Gold for its innovation for Saffolalife World Heart Day under the category ‘Public Service Award’.

     

    To top it all, it also won a bronze for the same campaign under the category of ‘Best Launch Campaign’.

     

    Madison Media SVP Shekhar Banerjee said, “The media strategy not only delivered strong uplift in mind measures but we are proud to say that we saved lives. Over 24 corporate houses encouraged their employees to go for the test and over 1.35 lac individuals finally took cholesterol test.”

     

    For the record, World Heart Day (WHD), which falls on 29 September every year is a time when Saffolalife makes Indians wake up and take note of their heart health using disruptive media campaigns. With WHD falling on a weekday, the strategy was to influence the decision-makers of the organizations, to influence the decision-makers of the households into action and to get men to take a break from their busy life for their wives and take them for a free cholesterol test.