ITV

Category: Media and Advertising

  • O&M worldwide chairman & CEO Miles Young to retire in 2016

    O&M worldwide chairman & CEO Miles Young to retire in 2016

    MUMBAI: Ogilvy & Mather worldwide chairman and CEO Miles Young will be retiring from this role next year to take up the position of Warden of his alma mater, New College at Oxford University. This appointment becomes effective September 2016.

     

    Until then, Young will continue in his current role at Ogilvy & Mather. Upon taking up his new position at Oxford, he will remain working closely with both Ogilvy and parent company, WPP, on a non-executive basis.

     

    Young, 61, has spent 32 years at Ogilvy & Mather, starting in the London office. He became chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific in 1995 where he spent 13 years building Asia Pacific into O&M’s fastest growing region. He assumed the role of global CEO in 2009 and his current role of chairman in July 2012.

     

    For the past six years he has led Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide to be the most effective and creative agency network in the world as recognized by the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Global Effie Effectiveness Index. 

     

    Young said, “This was a difficult decision, but the attraction of moving to a senior academic position in the UK was very great. Ogilvy & Mather and WPP have been part of my life for 32 years, and the intention is not to part company, but to be available to advise and consult, which I look forward to doing. My succession will be announced in due course. In the meantime it is business as usual.”

  • GroupM acquires Netherlands’ Greenhouse Group B.V

    GroupM acquires Netherlands’ Greenhouse Group B.V

    MUMBAI: GroupM, the global media investment management group of WPP, has acquired Greenhouse Group in The Netherlands.

    Greenhouse Group provides digital media and marketing services through its four operating companies: Blue Mango Interactive and Fresh Fruit Digital (online marketing agencies), We Are Blossom (social media), and Source Republic (SEO and content marketing).  

    Greenhouse Group was founded in 2007 and employs more than 150 people. Unaudited revenue for the year ended 31 December, 2014 was EUR 10.1 million, with gross assets of EUR 14.1 million as at the same date.  

    The acquisition will further enhance GroupM’s data-driven digital marketing capabilities. Greenhouse Group will operate as a stand-alone business within GroupM and will continue to be led by CEO Marion Koopman and CFO Frank Sanders.

    This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets and sectors and strengthening its digital capabilities. 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.  

    WPP companies (including associates) in The Netherlands generate revenues of around $300 million.

  • WPP ups stake in TAM analysis software company TechEdge to 49%

    WPP ups stake in TAM analysis software company TechEdge to 49%

    MUMBAI: WPP has increased its stake from 20 per cent to 49 per cent in TechEdge, a supplier of software that enables the analysis of TV audience measurement (TAM) data.

     

    TechEdge licenses a range of software products to broadcasters and media companies, enabling users to analyse, interpret and action respondent level TAM data. For example, broadcasters can review TV audience patterns, whilst media companies use TechEdge’s products to optimise advertising allocation by channel and time of day.

     

    TechEdge was founded in Denmark in 2000 by Andreas Velter (CEO) and Henrik Sahlholt (CTO). MEC, which is a part of WPP’s Data Investment Management division GroupM, invested in the company in 2001.

     

    TechEdge’s unaudited net sales for the year ended 31 December, 2014 were approximately $13.6 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately $6.3 million.

     

    This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets and sectors and strengthening its capabilities in digital media. 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.

  • GroupM acquires Chemistry Media in New Zealand

    GroupM acquires Chemistry Media in New Zealand

    MUMBAI: WPP’s wholly owned operating company GroupM has acquired New Zealand based media agency Chemistry Media Ltd.

    Chemistry Media is a media planning and buying agency with operations in Auckland and Wellington. Key clients include Bank of New Zealand, Fonterra, Nestlé, and Restaurant Brands.

    Since 2010, Chemistry has been affiliated with the MediaCom network, and currently trades under the name MediaCom. Following the acquisition, Chemistry will continue to trade as MediaCom. 

    This acquisition marks a further step towards WPP’s declared goal of developing its networks in fast-growth markets and sectors. In the Australia-New Zealand region, WPP companies (including associates) generated revenues of $1.2 billion in 2014, and employ 4,000 people.

  • Motivator appoints Debarshi Chakravorti as national head

    Motivator appoints Debarshi Chakravorti as national head

    MUMBAI: Motivator has appointed Debarshi Chakravorty as national head of digital communication and planning.

     

    Chakravorty has over 12 years of experience and will work from the company’s Gurgaon office. He will report to Motivator chief growth officer V Narayanan. 

     

    Narayanan said, “We are thrilled to welcome Deb. Motivator’s digital centricity has helped in building successful partnerships within WPP and outside breaking new grounds in marketing in a digital world. Deb harbours Motivator’s essential expertise to drive frugal interventions that affect clients business and effect social change.”

     

    Chakravorty added, “My formative years in advertising and my prolonged stint at my last digital media agency has helped me develop strong fundamentals around communications and digital. With the progression of media, there is a need to shift from delivering campaign centric solutions to business centric solutions for clients and partners. Motivator’s comprehensive vision for the future to provide business centric solutions, keeping digital at the center, seemed an interesting proposition and was right up my alley.”

  • WPP to acquire minority stake in Germany’s Hirschen Group

    WPP to acquire minority stake in Germany’s Hirschen Group

    MUMBAI: WPP has agreed to acquire a significant minority stake in Germany’s independent agency Hirschen Group.

     

    Following the investment, Hirschen Group will partner with WPP’s wholly owned agency, J. Walter Thompson Company. The stake acquistion is subject to regulatory approval.

     

    Hirschen Group employs over 500 people in nine offices and provides integrated campaign services including advertising, public relations, public affairs, consulting and strategy. Bernd Heusinger and Marcel Loko founded the company in 1995. Martin Blach joined as CEO in 2005.

     

    The existing team will continue to manage Hirschen Group, which will maintain its independent positioning, whilst being part of the J. Walter Thompson and WPP networks.

     

    Hirschen Group’s revenues for the year ended 31 December, 2014 were approximately EUR 37.3 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately EUR 17.0 million.

     

    This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets. Germany is WPP’s fourth largest market after the US, UK and Greater China.

  • Omnicom names Anil Jayachandran as communications planning head, Malaysia

    Omnicom names Anil Jayachandran as communications planning head, Malaysia

    MUMBAI: Omnicom Media Group has appointed Anil Jayachandran as head of communications planning in Malaysia.

     

    In his new role, Jayachandran will be working on key client accounts across OMD and PHD to drive thought leadership and best strategy practices.

     

    Jayachandran brings with him a diverse skillset on board, with over two decades of experience working across marketing, advertising, and research functions in strategy-related roles, including tenures at the likes of JWT, Unilever, Lintas, Ogilvy & Mather, McCann Erickson and Omnicom Group.

     

    With a career that spans geographies, Jayachandran has previously been based in India, Egypt, Malaysia, Bahrain and Dubai.

     

    He joins the Omnicom Media Group team from his role as strategy planning director at Leo Burnett.

     

    Omnicom Media Group Malaysia CEO Andreas Vogiatzakis said, “Anil’s incredible strategic mind, deep in-market knowledge and breadth of experience working alongside clients to produce innovative solutions makes him a valuable addition to the team. I am certain his hire will be instrumental in strengthening Omnicom Media Group’s strategic output for our clients, and we are more than delighted to welcome Anil on board.”

     

    Jayachandran added, “I am excited to be joining the talented team at Omnicom Media Group, and hope my experience and background will be able to complement current and future offerings.”

     

    Jayachandran reports to Vogiatzakis in his new role, and his position is effective immediately.

  • Dentsu to acquire UK e-commerce specialist agency eCommera

    Dentsu to acquire UK e-commerce specialist agency eCommera

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has reached an agreement with the principal shareholders of eCommera Global to acquire the company. The purpose of the acquisition is to strengthen the Dentsu Group’s capabilities in the brand commerce space where content and brand experiences are integrated with the consumer experience.

     

    eCommera started out in 2007 as a technical service provider of e-commerce solutions, and then functioned for a time as the technical services division of a company whose key product was order management software. In March 2015, the eCommera division became the independent entity eCommera Global Limited.

     

    eCommera has strengths in the brand commerce space, developing e-commerce solutions for major international retailers and consumer goods manufacturers as well as providing maintenance and consulting services. Headquartered in London, the agency’s team of specialists is active across the world, providing site management support for more than 150 e-commerce sites in 30 markets. The agency has established development centers in Bulgaria and India.

     

    According to Forrester Research Global business-to-consumer e-commerce sales reached $1.3 trillion in 2013, and are expected to grow to $2.5 trillion by 2018. As the e-commerce market expands, e-commerce sites are increasingly becoming the first point of contact between the consumer and the brand. In addition, along with the expansion of digital devices that support e-commerce as well as links between e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar stores, e-commerce itself is also diversifying. In today’s world where there is a variety of brand touch points, the challenge facing the marketing industry, including the e-commerce space, is how to maximize consumer engagement through a connected brand commerce experience.

     

    The acquisition of eCommera is intended to address this challenge. The deepening of the collaborative relationship between eCommera and full-service digital marketing agency Isobar, one of the Dentsu Group’s global network brands, will, through the integration of their respective consumer data analysis and brand-building capabilities based on creative design, user experience and e-commerce solutions technology, contribute to maximizing the value of client brands. Moreover, by utilizing the Isobar network, the Group plans to further expand its service area.