ITV

Category: Media and Advertising

  • IDC India ropes in Mahalingam Balaji as research director

    IDC India ropes in Mahalingam Balaji as research director

    MUMBAI: IDC India has announced the appointment of Mahalingam Balaji to the post of research director.

     

    Balaji joins IDC from Hewlett-Packard India, where he was director of strategy and planning for printing and personal systems group.

     

    He brings over 21 years of IT industry experience to IDC India, which has been gained while he was based in India and Singapore. He is an IT industry veteran with deep experience in printing, PC, servers, services, enterprise and commercial channels and various other domains. 

     

    In his previous roles, Balaji has held various leadership positions across sales, services, marketing and distribution functions, sales and marketing analytics (market modeling, next purchase likelihood, business and market intelligence and account revenue optimisation) as well as pricing analytics across enterprise, commercial and consumer markets. Academically, he is an engineer and an MBA in operations management. 

     

    “After spending two decades in various leadership roles in the vendor community, my decision to join IDC India was catalysed by its clear vision for building the best-in-class research and advisory firm in the country, the organisation’s customer centric approach and their innovative solutions for customers. I am looking to leverage my experience to enable the team to develop new and innovative solutions and serve our customer needs’ even better,” said Balaji.

     

    IDC India is strengthening its leadership team at an opportune time with it planning significant product expansions in city level quantitative research tracker programmes, cloud services and SMB and channels focused research. Since establishing its wholly owned subsidiary in 2011, the firm has made significant strides and has a large footprint in India with three offices and 32 analysts and consultants serve its clients through research and advisory services.

     

    Venu Reddy, the incumbent, has moved into a new role within IDC and is now managing the global IDC Center of Excellence based out of Bangalore in the role of a general manager. In his new role, he is leading teams which serve various strategic business units of IDC. He continues to also support the IDC India business episodically.

     

    IDC’s vice president and general manager– South Asia Jaideep Mehta said, “We are delighted by Balaji’s decision to join our team. He brings significant heft and gravitas to the research organization. Under his leadership, we plan to accelerate our product development cycles and bring new innovations to the market, faster. Balaji is a real talent and will add further depth and heft to the research and advisory team at IDC India.  I take this opportunity to wish him every success and welcome him to the team. I also take this opportunity to wish Venu Reddy well in his new role, and thank him for his invaluable contribution to the development of IDC in India and South Asia.”

  • Airtel ad: What’s wrong in cooking?

    Airtel ad: What’s wrong in cooking?

    At a party I attended recently, a woman narrated how at her job interview she was asked if she was planning to get married soon. The question angered us all, as we asked, “Why aren’t the men ever asked the same question?”

    The discussion led to Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi’s recent statement on work-life debate where she declared that women can’t have it all. Of course, her statements created a lot of furor; the feminists were the ring leaders as the ones, who after their 9-5 jobs go back home to cook for their families, wondered what the big deal was all about.

    But a question that hovers on my mind is why can’t we have it all? Why is it that we have to always choose?

    While I am still trying to figure an answer to that, there is a new debate that has been ignited and this time by a TVC. And I am sure, by now, everyone would have seen the latest Airtel data services advertisement. 

    The TVC shows a woman boss ordering her subordinates to finish an assigned job no matter what. It turns out that the woman boss is the wife who goes back home to cook for her husband who happens to be the junior she had ordered. The ad is about the telecom giant’s data services, but the buzz created by it on the social media has nothing to do with the services.

    ‘They couldn’t afford a cook?’ is the question everyone needs an answer to. As many applaud the first half of the ad for showing the woman as the boss, there is another set of people who can’t digest the fact that she went home and cooked.

    While people are criticising it, I ask what is wrong in that? What if it was one of those days when she wanted to cook for her husband? Is that a wrong thing? Most of us have seen our mothers do that for years and sometimes we do it too. Does that make us less of a feminist? She a boss and she loves to cook.

    Click here to watch the Ad

    Would we have the same reaction if the genders were reversed? Most of us would have gone ‘awwww’ on the man cooking for his wife.

    The question here isn’t about who cooks or not. What is needed is a changed mindset. The husband/employee is fine with a wife who is also his boss. This is a good move in a patriarchal society. So instead of debating on the latter half, we need to focus on the first.

    The ad is forward looking, it should, according to me, be applauded and not criticised. It is a reflection of the fact that a woman can have all that she wants. It’s a choice she makes, and no one can dictate her.

  • Facebook signs first agency deal in India with GroupM

    Facebook signs first agency deal in India with GroupM

    MUMBAI: During her recent visit, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, signed the company’s first agency deal in India with WPP’s integrated media and marketing company, GroupM.

     

    “Our partnership with GroupM will benefit clients to reach over 100 million people in India, 84 million on mobile — both smartphone and feature phone —  and custom audiences within the 100 million in urban and rural India.” said Facebook India head Kirthiga Reddy. “We’re excited about this wide-ranging collaboration which combines the strength of the world’s best global advertising platform with GroupM’s market-leading position to deliver personalised marketing at scale.”

     

    GroupM has been creating cutting edge digital solutions for clients and given its access to data and research and has been integrating digital with traditional media for its clients. GroupM south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said, “We are delighted with the Facebook partnership that can help unlock even greater value for our clients. We work closely with Facebook globally, regionally and locally. India is projected to be the largest country for Facebook by people very soon and we see exciting possibilities for our clients. This partnership adds to the set of enablers we have created over the years that can help drive digital adoption in our market.”

     

    For Nokia Lumia, GroupM pioneered the deployment of Facebook’s outcome measurement and leveraged Facebook’s sophisticated targeting capabilities to deliver a 54x return on Facebook ad spend.

     

    Once again, leveraging Facebook’s sharp targeting capability, GroupM delivered outstanding results for Arrow, a premium apparel brand. Arrow was running an end of season sale and wanted to drive a special discount promotion to an audience between 18 to 35 years old residing in metro cities. Arrow was able to deliver a 30x return on Facebook ad spend and a significant redemption rate from this exclusive Facebook campaign.

     

    To add to its digital offerings, last year GroupM India launched Mash Up, a digital content unit which has been creating engaging digital content solutions for brands, the most recent being the digital video campaign with Kapil Sharma for Honda Mobilio. GroupM also manages a specialist mobile advertising company, Madhouse, bringing brands together with mobile media publishers to unleash the power of mobile. Its full service digital marketing agencies Quasar and Blazar include end to end digital solutions for advertising across the web, social media, search, analytics and creative services. As part of the renewed focus on digital, GroupM in the past year has evolved its practices in content, movie activation, experiential marketing and analytics.

  • Snapdeal.com looks at inorganic expansion

    Snapdeal.com looks at inorganic expansion

    MUMBAI: Snapdeal.com has appointed Abhishek Kumar as its corporate development head. Kumar comes with a vast experience in venture capital investments, strategic partnerships, business management and M&A in technology and media businesses.

     

    Kumar said, “I feel fortunate to be a part of the young, energetic and dynamic team at Snapdeal. The platform is a remarkable example of a successful home-grown e commerce brand in India. I am extremely thrilled and excited to be a part of this company and contribute to its development going forward.”

     

    At Snapdeal, he will be responsible for acquisitions, investments and deep partnerships that can lead to mergers for the e-commerce giant. He will look at all avenues of inorganic expansion as Snapdeal moves towards the next phase on the back of heady organic growth over the last three years.

     

    “This is a very exciting phase for the e-commerce industry and we are seeing tremendous opportunities of discontinuous growth in the market. We recognise that no company can do everything well by itself, and hence we would look forward to working closely with the burgeoning ecosystem of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in India to build deep partnerships. Abhishek with his rich and diverse experience in venture capital and business management brings the necessary skills to take Snapdeal into newer orbits of success through strategic partnerships.” said Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl.

     

    In his last assignment, Kumar was investments head at Palaash Ventures where he led the investment team in deploying early stage capital in consumer internet, SaaS, Ad-tech, hardware and e-commerce enablers. He was earlier with TV18 Broadcast, leading the new ventures function for the media group.

  • Ipsos India appoints Amit Adarkar as its managing director

    Ipsos India appoints Amit Adarkar as its managing director

    MUMBAI: Ipsos India has found a new country head and managing director in Amit Adarkar, who will take charge from first week of September. He replaces Mick Gordon who successfully held the role and will now take up a senior regional responsibility within Ipsos.

     

    Gordon has been CEO of Ipsos India since November 2011 and managing director of Synovate India since September 2008. He has been responsible for substantial growth of revenue and profits over the period and merger of two large businesses of Ipsos and Synovate in India.

     

    Commenting on Adarkar’s appointment, Gordon said, “I am confident that with the experience and expertise of Amit, Ipsos will continue to delight our clients and he will prove to be an immensely capable successor.”

     

    “I am delighted to be appointed as Ipsos India’s new managing director. Ipsos is at a decisive point in its history and I am looking forward to working with the Board, the Regional Directors and Ipsos India staff to ensure we take this opportunity to create a stronger and more effective organisation for the future,” added Adarkar.

     

    Adarkar who had joined Ipsos InnoQuest, India as its managing director in January 2013 has been a member of the India management team ever since.

     

    He has been in the research industry for over 22 years, and has worked for organisations such as IMRB, Synovate, and Org-Marg. He was earlier MD at Market Probe, and a VP at Nielsen-Bases. He also has rich experience with a number of key Ipsos InnoQuest clients.

     

    He is a chemical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1987-91).  Post engineering, he completed Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM), from XLRI, Jamshedpur (1991-1993).

  • AKQA sets shop in India

    AKQA sets shop in India

    MUMBAI: Ideas and innovation company AKQA has expanded its presence within Asia by opening its first office in India. Excellence in engineering and creativity has always been at the heart of AKQA and opening an office in Gurgaon will play a pivotal role in that story. The India engineering team will integrate with AKQA global creative teams to deliver world-class digital experiences for global brands across borders.

     

    The initial phase will focus on AKQA’s deep relationships with the world’s largest platform vendors, and their already successful relationship with Adobe. Building upon already well-established excellence in delivery and creativity on the Adobe Marketing Cloud (AMC), Gurgaon will extend this capability and become the AMC Technology Centre of Excellence for AKQA. 

     

    AKQA chief technology officer Ben Jones said, “It’s a proud moment for AKQA to be established in such a vibrant and exciting market. Focusing on Gurgaon as a Technology Centre of Excellence has enabled AKQA to further advance and scale our relationship with Adobe. AKQA brings something different to a highly skilled technologist than our competitors, everyone benefits: our clients, the market and AKQA.”

     

    “Partnering with global companies like AKQA is strategic for Adobe as we continue to accelerate the adoption of our digital marketing solutions in new and emerging markets. AKQA’s new office in Gurgaon represents exciting opportunities for both companies to provide world-class solutions, upon the Adobe Marketing Cloud, across the globe,” mentioned Adobe vice president of global sales Jay Sampson.

     

    AKQA director of client services Anurag Bhatnagar added, “Consumer behaviour in India is changing rapidly, and our ability to drive cohesive, ideas-led experiences for brands across multiple touch points will remain the keystone of our DNA in India. I am truly excited and proud to be part of AKQA’s journey.”

     

    Gurgaon will rope in around 50 specialists by the end of the year. In June 2014the digital agency had announced the opening of its office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It currently employs 1,600 professionals across the globe.

  • We want to professionalise the Indian OOH industry: Ashish Bhasin

    We want to professionalise the Indian OOH industry: Ashish Bhasin

    MUMBAI: While many Indian outdoor agencies are still struggling to get their due recognition, there are a few that have changed the game. One name that is worth mentioning is Milestone Brandcom. According to sources, the five year old agency has annual revenues over Rs 320 crore and is a leading outdoor company based on billings.

     

    Things are going to get even better for the agency from now on. Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired majority share in Milestone Brandcom. With the acquisition of OOH agency, combined with Posterscope, a Dentsu Aegis Network’s global outdoor media agency, the network has strengthened its roots in this space.  

     

    Nabendu Bhattacharyya will continue as CEO and managing director of Milestone Brandcom and will report to Dentsu Aegis Network south Asia chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin.

     

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin mentions, “With rapid retail expansion and ever evolving transmit media there is a lot that can be done in the outdoor industry. We added Milestone Brandcom in our family because there is a fit. Nabendu and his team are extremely passionate about this space. We hope that the move will help professionalise the Indian OOH industry.”

     

    “This investment now establishes clear leadership for us in the medium, making us the leader in the OOH and OOH Retail space in India. We believe that OOH will play an increasingly important role for clients in years to come so we are delighted to be able to offer clients a market leading service,” adds Bhasin.

     

    Bhattacharyya is extremely thrilled to join hands with Dentsu Aegis Network. “The main idea behind this development is to understand global practices better and execute them here. Our philosophy is very similar to Dentsu Aegis Network’s and we are confident that as market leaders we will continue to be at the forefront in the business,” he says.

     

    With a 175 strong team of specialists, Milestone Brandcom is the most awarded OOH agency in India with clients like Colors, McDonalds, Axis Bank, L’oreal etc. The agency also has many other verticals such as event promotion, activation division, rural OOH activation, retail and digital OOH division.

     

    It was recently when Milestone Brandcom had launched ‘Milestone Optimizer’, a powerful tool which optimises OOH media plans by tracking 25,000 sites across India and providing Gross Impression Points of an OOH campaign, which is one of its kinds in the country. The company will retain its identity, branding and culture and share its knowledge in creative and OOH planning with the group.

  • GroupM’s market share increases to 41.2 per cent

    GroupM’s market share increases to 41.2 per cent

    MUMBAI: GroupM, WPP’s integrated media and marketing company, has topped the RECMA overall activity billings 2013 ranking of media agencies again. GroupM India increased its market share as per RECMA in the year 2013 to 41.2 per cent from 40.3 per cent in 2012. Globally, GroupM retained the number one position amongst media agency networks with a market share of 28 per cent. The RECMA report evaluates the overall activity – including buying billings and specialised services.

     

    Mindshare continues to lead in overall market share as the largest integrated media planning company in India, while the other GroupM agencies registered a healthy growth over the last year. GroupM agencies dominated RECMA’s qualitative evaluation with Maxus being the only media agency in India to be rated ‘dominant’, for the fourth year in a row. Mindshare and Mediacom were rated ‘high’ while MEC was rated ‘good’. Continuing its winning streak from 2013 where the network picked up over 80 new clients, GroupM agencies have so far won over 50 new clients in the first half of 2014.

     

    GroupM agencies continue to dominate all industry awards. Apart from that, GroupM is the only media agency network to have won the Porter Prize in 2013, ‘The Dream Company to work for’ in the media and entertainment sector and the ‘Best Employer’ at the World HRD Congress.

     

    Speaking on the year so far, GroupM south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said, “In recent years, GroupM has taken great measures to become future ready and give our clients an edge in a highly competitive media market. We no longer plan only media for them, but give them end to end integrated marketing solutions that bring digital marketing, content, data and analytics together with traditional media such as TV, radio and print. Our collaborations with global leaders in digital media, data, technology and research, coupled with years of collective experience gives our clients the advantage of working with a true thought leader and help them build highly successful brands. We were the first agency network with whom Facebook signed a partnership agreement in India and have a similar very unique partnership with Google that brings great value to our clients”.

     

    Over the last year, GroupM took a fresh approach to integrated marketing solutions with a program called New ME. This new approach resulted in several successful campaigns including the highly impactful launch of Honda Mobilio with Kapil Sharma led by digital content and the ‘Power of 49’ campaign for Tata Tea led by TV advertising, content, mobile marketing and social impact. In May 2014, Mindshare launched the Loop Room in Gurgaon and Mumbai to help media planners and marketers pick up insights in real time. Maxus recently launched Moribus, its behavioral lab.

     

    “GroupM agencies are at the cutting edge of media and we are preparing our teams and clients to not just move with the times but stay ahead,” added Srinivas. The New ME approach also helped expand business with new clients across industries ranging from e-commerce, banking & insurance, sports, retail, healthcare, etc.