Category: Media and Advertising

  • Adobe and Publicis Groupe team up to deliver a global marketing platform

    Adobe and Publicis Groupe team up to deliver a global marketing platform

    MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe and Adobe have announced a strategic partnership to deliver the Publicis Groupe Always-On Platform, the first end-to-end marketing management platform from Publicis Groupe that automates and connects all components of a client’s marketing efforts.

     

    The platform will standardise on Adobe Marketing Cloud, and all agencies across Publicis Groupe will be able to create engaging content, access marketing intelligence, identify and build audience segments, deliver campaigns, and track and measure marketing performance through a unified technology and data structure.

     

    It will be anchored in VivaKi as an open framework so that every agency can deploy and brand it uniquely for use.  Agencies currently slated to access the system include BBH, DigitasLBi, Leo Burnett, MSLGROUP, Publicis Worldwide, Razorfish, Rosetta, Saatchi & Saatchi, Starcom MediaVest Group, VivaKi and ZenithOptimedia.

     

    The collaboration is expected to drive growth across the two companies, and accelerate Publicis Groupe’s goal to make combined digital and emerging market revenue 75 per cent of its multi-billion dollar business by 2018.

     

    “Adobe and Publicis Groupe are a powerful combination and we have been delivering marketing innovation together for more than two decades,” said Adobe president and CEO Shantanu Narayen. “The massive scale of agency services across the Publicis networks, coupled with Adobe’s unique leadership in digital marketing solutions, will enable Publicis clients to develop best-in-class digital marketing capabilities that drive growth.”

     

    “By embarking on this journey with Adobe, a powerhouse in creative and marketing solutions, Publicis Groupe will be the first agency holding company to offer clients an integrated set of digital marketing solutions across all key marketing and creative agencies” said Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Levy. “We are solving a core marketing dilemma for our Clients by enabling them to more personally interact with their customers and tell relevant, powerful stories at scale, while successfully navigating the complex digital landscape.”

     

    “We are essentially creating a new operating model stitching together multi-agency services, technologies and workflows to the benefit of our clients,” said VivaKi’s chief growth officer Stephan Beringer.  “By converging the forces of marketing technology, data, creativity and strategy, we eliminate silos, optimize delivery and maximize the investments made in ad budgets, talent and consumer engagement.”

     

     The platform is scheduled to provide Publicis Groupe agencies and their clients with four solutions to solve current marketing challenges:

     

    1.      Multi-touch Attribution. The Always-On platform will move the market beyond “last click” attribution by providing options for a multi-touch model that identifies and assigns true value to specific marketing components – online and off line – that help spur customer action. Publicis Groupe agencies will be able to enhance their attribution and planning solutions with Adobe’s Master Marketing Profile and Media Mix Modeling, as well as Adobe Analytics, to measure the most effective touch-points across channels and model investments.

     

    2.      Unparalleled Audience Understanding. Always-On encompasses a data management platform (DMP) which will produce a robust set of customer profiles, segmentations and vertical insights.  VivaKi will also develop a data co-op where clients, and ultimately publishers, can opt in and contribute data in exchange for even richer customer profiles, vertical insights and customer intelligence.  Adobe Audience Manager and Adobe Media Optimizer will drive optimal targeting and cross-channel campaign performance.

     

    3.      Campaign/Marketing Automation.  As screens and devices proliferate, Always-On is expected to automate marketing effort across multiple channels. With the goal of integrating Adobe Campaign with analytics and segmentation tools, the platform will empower Publicis Groupe agencies to drive campaign efficiency and engagement across the full customer journey to reach audiences that matter at the highest moments of receptivity. The automated integration will allow all marketing functions to coordinate efforts by acting on the same data. This includes an agreement across the agencies for cross channel campaign management for search and social buy side optimization through Adobe Media Optimizer.

     

    4.      Content and Experience Management. The digital asset management capability within Adobe Experience Manager is expected to enable teams, wherever they sit inside the network, to easily and effectively create, manage, and control valuable digital assets. From the moment an asset is created to the point of delivery, the platform will enable workgroups to create and manage assets through the entire lifecycle of global branding and multichannel distribution with a single, easily accessible digital repository.

     

     Both Adobe and Publicis Groupe will invest in joint sales and marketing, including retaining a dedicated team of strategists and business development specialists to innovate and bring the platform to market.

  • Starcom MediaVest Group India bolsters its senior team

    Starcom MediaVest Group India bolsters its senior team

    MUMBAI: Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) India has bolstered its senior leadership team with the hiring of two key executives.  Natasha Kapoor joins the agency as SMG Mumbai VP and Gautam Surath as strategic planning VP.

     

    In a newly created role, Kapoor will be responsible for client service, product delivery and growth for the Mumbai market. Kapoor has more than 15 years of media experience. Her last job was at Samsung India, where she handled investment, brand activation and strategy for its media procurement and process audit division. Prior to that, she was a media purchases director at Mediacom where she handled television buying for the Procter & Gamble team. She also has worked on the Unilever business at Fulcrum and Mindshare.

     

     “I believe SMG offers a unique opportunity in the market for staff and clients alike. Nowhere else in India can you find a world class Digital and Data and Analytics practice coupled with great media tools, systems and thinking resulting in a great all round product. It is a wonderfully challenging assignment and I am looking forward to it,” said Kapoor.

     

    Surath will be responsible for strategic planning, training and guiding the digital transition of SMG’s clients across its offices. He is an SMG veteran having worked for the company from 2003 in both India and China. For the past four years he has been at SMG China business director, where he was strategy lead on multiple categories of the Procter & Gamble business. His responsibilities included the development of tools and systems to improve productivity and focus on product development. Prior to his posting in China, he spent six years on the P&G planning AOR team in India.

     

     “Quite frankly, having started my career at Starcom and having worked here ever since, moving back to the India office from China was a bit of a no-brainer. Having seen the company evolve with evolving consumer trends, I have no doubt that our vision is the right one. Exposure to the global marketplace has only strengthened my belief in this regard. Exciting times in India and it’s great to be back home!” said Surath.

     

     “Natasha and Gautam bring key skillsets to complement and enhance our offering to clients in India and both Malli and I look forward to working with them,” said SMG India chairman Hanley King.

  • McCann Worldgroup promotes Prasoon Joshi to APAC chairman

    McCann Worldgroup promotes Prasoon Joshi to APAC chairman

    MUMBAI: McCann Worldgroup has promoted Prasoon Joshi to McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific chairman.

     

    In this position, he will focus, along with McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific president Charles Cadell and, McCann Worldgroup Greater China CEO Jesse Lin, on driving client businesses through collaboration and integration across one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

     

    Joshi is currently McCann Worldgroup South Asia president as well as McCann Worldgroup India CEO. Joshi, Cadell and Lin will focus on delivering integrated approaches and communications solutions for clients by leveraging all of McCann Worldgroup’s broad capabilities and resources.

     

    McCann Worldgroup chairman and CEO Harris Diamond said, “Prasoon has built a model for the network by delivering integrated ideas to drive growth for our clients across India. His brand-building talent has been acknowledged globally. With our clients increasingly looking for multiplatform communications solutions to drive growth, the combined leadership team of Prasoon, Charles and Jesse will help all of our agencies in the region to take full advantage of these opportunities.”

     

    Recognised as one of the advertising and marketing communication world’s top creative leaders, Joshi this year headed the Cannes Lions Titanium and Integrated Jury.

     

    Joshi first joined McCann India in 2002 as executive VP and national creative director. In 2006, he was named McCann Worldgroup South and Southeast Asia executive chairman and regional CD. Under his leadership, McCann Worldgroup India has built its position as the most creatively awarded agency in the market while also expanding its multiplatform capabilities. As part of this expansion, last year it acquired the direct marketing and database company End to End Marketing Solutions which, like McCann, has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

     

    Joshi said, “We are extremely well positioned for continued growth and I look forward to building on the momentum we’ve seen across the network. McCann Worldgroup is boldly entering this new era of advertising with leadership who realise the value in globalisation. Our capacity to effectively craft local communication with global leverage means we can solve our clients’ biggest marketing challenges.”

     

  • Narendra Ambwani is the new chairman of ASCI

    Narendra Ambwani is the new chairman of ASCI

    MUMBAI: At the board meeting of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), Agro Tech Foods director Narendra Ambwani, was unanimously elected chairman of the board.

     

    As a member of the board of governors for seven years, he has provided active support to self-regulation in the advertising movement.

     

    Benoy Roy Chawdhuri, was elected vice-chairman while Shashidhar Sinha was appointed the honorary treasurer.

     

    The other members of the new board of governors are: Hemant Bakshi, Arvind Sharma, Dilip Cherian, SK Palekar, Jayant Singh, Subhash Kamath, Srinivasan Swamy, Rajan Anandan, Shantanu Khosla, Abanti Sankarnarayanan, I Venkat, Arunabh DasSharma and Partha Rakshit.

     

    During the year 2013-14, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) met 41 times and considered complaints against 1937 advertisements. Of these, complaints against 1520 advertisements were upheld, while 414 were not upheld and 3 were considered non-issues.  In more than 90 per cent of the cases, where a complaint against the advertisement was upheld, the advertisements have been voluntarily withdrawn or modified as per the CCC’s decisions.

     

    The outgoing chairman of ASCI Rakshit said, “Last year has been a very eventful and successful year for us. ASCI’s effective action towards reducing the complaint processing turnaround time to just 12 days has led ASCI to win the prestigious EASA Gold Award for Best Practices. There has also been more than 90 per cent compliance towards the advertisements wherein a complaint against an advertisement was ‘upheld’. These advertisements were either withdrawn or have been appropriately modified. In a noteworthy achievement, ASCI issued guidelines on skin lightening and fairness products which ensured that these advertisements do not depict people with dark skin as somehow inferior to those who are fairer. Also recently, government took notice of ASCI’s efforts to curb Teleshopping ads that violate ASCI code and ensured a strict compliance of the advertising code in the Cable Television Networks Act (CTN).”

     

    Ambwani said, “There has been tremendous change in ASCI’s approach towards advertising content and adherence to the ASCI’s guidelines by the advertisers. Earlier, we acted primarily on complaint received from the public or the industry body. In the coming year, we hope to promote ASCI’s guidelines more vigorously among advertisers and creative agencies, so that new ads meet ASCI’s standards at the creative stage itself. We also hope to collaborate strongly with the regulators and consumer groups to ensure fairness and responsibility in advertising”

  • ISA elects Marico’s Saugata Gupta as chairman

    ISA elects Marico’s Saugata Gupta as chairman

    MUMBAI: The newly elected executive council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) met on 11 September and elected Marico’s managing director Saugata Gupta as its new chairman.

     

    He takes over from Hemant Bakshi as he relocates to Unilever Indonesia as the CEO.

     

    Gupta has been lending his support to the ISA for a long time as his colleagues from senior levels in marketing and media have been active in different committees of the ISA.  An MBA from IIM Bangalore, Gupta has rich FMCG experience of over two decades having worked through ascending career rung in Cadbury (India & UK), ICICI Prudential & Marico. Currently, MD of Marico, he believes in an empowering work culture that would create ownership and make a difference in to the entire business ecosystem.

     

    Gupta said, “Our focus would be on making industry partnership stronger and in particular to extend all support that is needed to help BARC come up as soon as possible with industry wide accepted and accurate TV audience research data representing viewers across the country. I am looking forward to the exciting times ahead for Advertisers, industry partners and fraternity associations to work as a stronger team to harness overall growth of advertising which in turn will help grow businesses and the Indian economy.”

     

    The ISA has advertiser members from across industries who contribute to over two-thirds of the country’s national non-governmental ad spends.  ISA, which is member of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), continues to partner with other industry bodies that connect to the advertisers such as initiating the formation of BARC.

     

    Other members of the Executive Council are:

     

    Tata Services Group Corporate Communications Corporate Affairs VP Atul Agrawal

     

    Thomas Cook (India) Marketing and Service Quality head and chief innovation officer Abraham Alapatt

     

    Agro Tech Foods director Narendra Ambwani

     

    Bajaj Corp Business Development director Jimmy R Anklesaria

     

    Infogain India director JC Chopra

     

    Raymond strategic advisor Paulomi Dhawan

     

    Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care brand director Sonali Dhawan

     

    Aditya Birla Management Corporation Group Corporate Services and Strategy director Rajiv Dube

     

    Godrej Consumer Products chief operating officer – Sales, Marketing & SAARC Sunil Kataria

     

    Bajaj Electricals vice president & head advertising and brand development Beena Leji Koshy

     

    Tata Global Beverages managing director and CEO Ajoy K Misra

     

    Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

     

    Mondelez India Foods Chocolate Category and Media director Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    Birla Sun Life Asset Management independent director Bharat V Patel

     

    ITC divisional chief executive Sanjiv Puri

     

    Nestle India Communication head Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan

     

    Polycab Wires vice chairman, joint MD and group CEO R Ramakrishnan

     

    Hindustan Unilever Personal Care Products executive director Samir Singh

     

    Hawkins Cookers chairman Brahm Vasudeva

  • Digital Quotient launches audience marketing platform – ‘arQ’

    Digital Quotient launches audience marketing platform – ‘arQ’

    MUMBAI: A data-driven social and mobile marketing firm, Digital Quotient, has launched arQ, a audience-marketing platform that analyses integrated data from various sources and creates real-time actionable – audience marketing intelligence.

    arQ’s audience marketing intelligence helps marketers to create customised digital user experiences. The marketing intelligence derived from arQ can be integrated across multiple mediums – social, mobile, web and video, ensuring maximum impact and ROI.

    The key differentiator for arQ is its holistic analysis and transformation of gathered data into real-time unique audience buckets. These buckets enable marketers to segregate the target audience and reach out to them with the right message at the right time. This approach eliminates all the guesswork and media spillover of the traditional digital marketing approach based on inventory. 

    “In a world where consumers are using multiple devices and are flooded with endless choices, it is not surprising to note increasing spends on digital advertising by brands. There is a paradigm shift occurring in the digital marketing world which now demands customised marketing experiences not functioning in silos but integrated across multiple platforms. At Digital Quotient, we are committed to improve the user-experience across multiple mediums by focusing on the audience rather than inventory. arQ promises to translate online user behaviour into actionable intelligence for marketers. Thus, helping marketers to make the most effective business decisions and strategies by incurring the minimum cost,” said Digital Quotient (DQ) COO Vinish Kathuria.

    arQ deep dives into the user’s digital journey and transforms heaps of complex data into valuable real-time marketing intelligence. This precision of marketing intelligence, we believe is a revolutionary step in the current scenario. The innovation team at DQ is always focused at solving the intricate issues of digital marketing, delivering the best results and ensuring high ROI,” he added.

    With the launch of arQ, Digital Quotient focuses on an audience-first approach in all marketing strategies. arQ aims at reducing the time and effort required by marketers to deliver impactful, functional and engaging user experience which converts a user into consumer. In a complex and crowded Digital ecosystem this turns out to be a rather pressing need for most CMOs and marketers. arQ not only provides to run cross channel campaigns,  but also enables real-time bidding and audience buckets from which a marketer can find its most relevant target audience and reach out to them bang on time.

    Digital Quotient says that in the current stage, the arQ platform will offer a reach of 50 million monthly unique users globally, with plans to expand  reach in coming months. Digital Quotient has been able to recruit top tier talent from IITs & other premier institutes for this initiative  who are focusing on Data Science, Machine Learning & Statistical modelling aspects. Company plans to scale up though build, partner and buy approach and is in active discussion with partners and investors.

     

  • ThoughtBuzz launches cross-platform to identify ‘influencers’

    ThoughtBuzz launches cross-platform to identify ‘influencers’

    MUMBAI: The digital platform has become much more than just an end medium to market a product, today. Brands are conserving with the consumers directly through the platform to build a better and stronger relationship between the two.

    However, though there are many tools in the market that offer social media management, none of them provide a dashboard where a user can view not just fan growth, engagement rates but also see content performance, influencers and do competitor benchmarking.

    Hence, keeping this insight in mind, ThoughtBuzz, the analytics arm of TO THE NEW, launched a unified social media management and analytics platform for brands and enterprises.

    The platform is aimed at helping businesses to monitor, engage and identify influencers across all major social media platforms, namely Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The self-serve product compliments ThoughtBuzz’s enterprise grade OmnioG solution, which in addition also allows exhaustive external monitoring of brands and products on blogs, forums, news and review sites and completes its range of social intelligence solutions.

    Only a handful of tools provide image and video analytics, and since the new platform can analyse both, it differentiates from the rest. Key features of the new platform include influencer identification, cross platform analytics, competitor benchmarking, content performance, Instagram and Twitter analytics.

    “The new platform allows community and brand managers to understand what content works best for them. You can compare content performance across Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter simultaneously. This is a powerful feature for community managers to engage more with their audience,” said ThoughtBuzz CEO Anshul Jain.

    ThoughtBuzz COO Ashok Patro added, “As ThoughtBuzz is Asia’s only mobile first social analytics platform, we will be able to provide brands with the latest information and insights, empowering them to effectively manage their social media accounts and businesses in real-time.”

    A team of four worked on the product which promises to not invade consumers’ privacy. All the data that is crunched is public data; it doesn’t track any private data of any user on any platform. Secondly, all the analysis is concentrated on data from fan pages for Facebook specifically.

    The product can be used by simply logging on the digital agency’s website and selecting a plan – free as well as paid plans.