ITV

Category: Media and Advertising

  • Unilever’s Rahul Welde: Consumer communication in a digital world

    Unilever’s Rahul Welde: Consumer communication in a digital world

    SINGAPORE: “Advertising and campaigns are not dead,” said the red-frame bespectacled executive on stage. “Whosoever says that is foolish. The TV commercial is changing from three seconds to as much as three minutes or six minutes. Its form may change but advertising and campaigns are here to stay.”

     

    Most professionals in India are familiar with this gent. Rahul Welde is Unilever vice-president Media for Asia, Africa, Middle east, Turkey and Russia, and he is seen as a media tour de force in the world as he controls ad spends running into billions of dollars for a large part of the emerging markets for the consumer giant.

     

    Welde was speaking at the closing session of Social Matters in Singapore. He said he welcomes the explosion; the fragmentation in media. “I believe it has brought with it tremendous opportunity.  It allows to not go by classical reach and frequency approach that we have to do with mass media where we do a shot gun spray gun approach. It allows us to specifically target specific audiences. But we need to ride all the platforms – TV, print, outdoors, radio, online, social and what have you.”

     

     He pointed out that Unilever is constantly listening to whispers in the digital social universe. “We are constantly on the alert. We are listening. We are reacting to what consumers are saying. It helps us tweak products; attributes and helps build brand love amongst consumers,” he stated.

     

    He spoke about a campaign that Unilever ran in India on the day of the election results on 16 May on Facebook. “We knew everyone was going to be on Facebook to comment, give their views on the election results. The reach block we resorted to asked engaged Facebook users to embrace the change that is coming. We got 35 million impressions; 165,000 reacted and interacted. It was very effective,” he explained.

     

    Welde said that digital is also permitting Unilever to deliver on “target moments.”

     

    For instance, he said that if the weather prediction is that the temperature is going to rise four days from a specific date, then he can choose to flood the various social and digital sites with advertising or messaging pushing ice-creams.

     

    “Let’s take this further,” he said. “This month is Magnum ice cream’s 25th birthday in Singapore. I can reach out to all those who are celebrating their birthday this week or this entire month individually and help create a personal touching moment for each of them with their brand which is Magnum. In the old world of print and television, I could have never done this. “

     

    He also spoke about the Dove Real beauty sketches campaign which was conceived in Latin America but broke in Australia. The idea of the campaign was to convince 96 per cent of women who think they are not beautiful that their beliefs about themselves are untrue.

     

    As part of the campaign, a forensic artist asked women to describe themselves and he drew them without ever taking a look at their faces. The next day a stranger – who had met the women – then described the women sketched the day before to the artist who once again drew them. In almost all’ the cases, the women’s description of themselves and their beauty was not as charitable as the strangers and it showed in the two version sketches.

     

    “The video which was produced by our agency Ogilvy went viral wildly,” says Welde. “We wanted every woman to know and believe you are more beautiful than you think and I think it worked very well.”

     

    Welde and the Unilever team are obviously pressing the right levers.

  • Halonix makes the streets of India safer through its outdoor campaign

    Halonix makes the streets of India safer through its outdoor campaign

    MUMBAI: It is a well documented fact that there is a strong correlation between crime and darkness. The incidences of crimes like rape, muggings, carjackings etc are higher post sunset. Given this, Halonix – a leading lighting brand – hit upon an ingenious idea of converting advertising billboards (Hoardings) and bus shelters into street lights post sunset. The hoarding would carry an advertising message by day. By night, the lights of the hoarding would be turned outwards, pointed towards the street rather than just on the advertising message. So a dark, potentially dangerous street could be turned into a bright, well-lit one.

     

    To kickstart the effort, Halonix invited the citizens of Delhi to name streets or area in their neighbourhood that needed better lighting. The facebook page of Halonix registered many such suggestions. The top suggestion was identified by a poll. As a test run, a Halonix hoarding was put up in VasantKunj. Encouraged by the response, the company installed hoardings at more locations in Delhi.

     

    Given the encouraging feedback from Delhi, Halonix has co-opted outdoor companies to take this idea across cities. Currently Halonix has made some streets in Delhi, Mohali, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Mathura, Allahbad, Lucknow, Trivandrum and Chennai feel safer through this initiative. More cities are in the offing.

     

    Speaking about the initiative, Mr Rakesh Zutshi – Managing Director, Halonix Technologies Ltd said “We at Halonix believe that brands need to have a conscience and should continuously attempt to make the world a better place. Our brand idea – The Right Light – is not limited to the fact that we pursue excellence in our products and their quality. It represents a broader view of impacting life and society positively through the use of light.”

     

    Nima Namchu – Chief Creative Officer of Cheil, Halonix’s advertising agency, who came up with the idea added “This is a great example of the medium becoming the message. The power of the idea lies in the fact that, without spending a penny extra, every brand that takes a front lit or back lit hoarding, can implement this idea and make our cities feel safer. We hope more brands and outdoor agencies take this idea forward.”

     

    To know more about the safer city project visit:  www.facebook.com/halonixsafercity

  • ACK Media elevates Manas Mohan as CEO – Publishing

    ACK Media elevates Manas Mohan as CEO – Publishing

    MUMBAI: The ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) Media Group which is expanding its portfolio of media business and creating new paradigms of growth, has elevated Manas Mohan to the role of CEO-Publishing.

     

    In his new role, he will continue to report to ACK Media CEO Vijay Sampath.

     

    The publishing vertical of ACK is growing at an exponential pace with several initiatives in the pipeline and the elevation will provide strategic leadership and growth momentum to the vertical.

     

    Prior to this, Mohan was the COO at the company and oversaw the direct marketing and e-commerce business, The National Geographic business, licensing and merchandising, advertising sales and the strategic marketing leadership of the brand. It was in January 2012 that he was elevated to the post of COO.

  • Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    MUMBAI: Mindshare, part of GroupM, has appointed Vinod Thadani as its chief digital officer – south Asia. In his new role, Thadani will be responsible for managing the agency’s full-service digital offerings for existing clients as well as bringing in new business to the agency.

     

    With over fifteen years of media experience, Thadani is responsible for setting up the largest mobile practice at GroupM in 2008 and winning media awards in the mobile category across all major award functions – IDMA, Emvies, DMA, IAMAI, Goa Fest, Campaign India, MMA, Yahoo Big Chair and Festival Of Media.

     

    Prior to moving to Mindshare south Asia, he was the chief executive officer of Madhouse India (a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China) and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company. He worked closely with over 100 clients like Intel, Idea, VW, Panasonic, Titan, Britannia, Google, LIC, Siemens, ITC, Flipkart, Nestle, Make My Trip, Hungama.com and media conglomerates such as GroupM, OMG, Percept & Ignitee.

     

    Welcoming him to the team, Mindshare south Asia leader Ravi Rao said, “Vinod has always managed to stay ahead of the curve with his in-depth knowledge and continuous innovation. We are extremely glad to have him on board and are confident he will take Mindshare to greater avenues.”

     

    Thadani said, “With the eminent growth of over 40 per cent in digital advertising, the future of marketing lies in seamless integration of core traditional media with digital and mobile media. Mindshare boasts of an impressive client roster with some of the biggest brands in the world, and I look forward to working with each of them and the team on their digital mandates.”

     

    Thadani is also an empanelled member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and plays a pivotal role in the MMA’s South Asian operations. He has been a regular speaker and conference chair at several domestic and international industry events, giving his point of view and expert opinions in the role of mobile in the marketing value chain.

  • Laqshya Advertising ropes in Sai Nagesh as CEO

    Laqshya Advertising ropes in Sai Nagesh as CEO

    MUMBAI: Laqshya Media Group has announced that it has appointed advertising veteran Sai Nagesh as chief executive officer of Laqshya Advertising. In addition to this, he will also be heading strategy for the group as chief strategy officer.

     

    Laqshya Advertising is the latest venture from the group and is being set up as a new-age advertising agency to provide cutting edge solutions through digital media as well as communication solutions that cut across the fast blurring lines between paid, owned and earned media.

     

    The new appointment comes at a time when Laqshya Media Group has diversified and expanded its services to include activations, event IPs and advertising.

     

    Laqshya Media Group managing director Alok Jalan said, “The kind of expertise and experience Sai brings to the table is immense and we are excited to have someone of his calibre on board with us. I am certain that Sai will offer valuable insights at a time like this when our company is exploring new opportunities and avenues for growth.”

     

    “Having been an intimate part of the Digital Ecosystem for the last couple of years, I have realized the awesome value addition that an Agency with integrated offerings can deliver. Our solutions will be embedded in an Omnichannel approach straddling all screens and will give our clients a 360 degree view of Marketing and Advertising campaigns (both Digital & Offline) as well as customer behavior, lifecycles and lifetime value. I have known the Laqshya group for the last 15 years; this familiarity combined with their vast network and expertise is a huge advantage that we are starting off with,” added Nagesh.

     

    In a career spanning a quarter of a century, Nagesh has sold advertising space for newspapers, helped launch television channels and worked with leading advertising agencies. He was also part of the team that launched GroupM in India. His last assignment was as CMO for bedbathmore.com

  • Is it right of Congress to blame Denstu?

    Is it right of Congress to blame Denstu?

    MUMBAI: It was early this year that Congress started its Rs 600 crore blitz ad campaign. The campaign started with the slogan ‘Mein Nahi, Hum’ which caught itself amidst allegations from the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) which said that the slogan was first used by Narendra Modi at a rally.

    Then came ‘Har Haath Shakti, Har Haath Tarakki.’ The campaign conceptualised by Dentsu was meant to position Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as a young and dynamic leader who could empower the common man.

    BJP’s campaign, ‘Abki Baar, Modi Sarkar’, which went on floor a few months after Congress’ communication line, portrayed Modi as the saviour who could change the game of Indian politics.

    Both the campaigns created a stir not only amongst the experts but also amongst the common man as everyone had something to say about them – good, bad or ugly.

    The D-Day, 16 May, proved which ideology and promise voters believed in. BJP came out as a clear winner, while Congress’ performance was of sheer disappointment.

    Since then, the Congress has been ‘introspecting’ to find what went wrong. However, its latest reason for the debacle is the campaign, itself. The party is now blaming the creative agency by saying that its campaign was weak.

    When we contacted Dentsu India Group executive chairman Rohit Ohri, who is travelling abroad, sent an official statement of the agency through an email.

    The statement reads, “Dentsu India was hired by the Congress party for their 2014 Lok Sabha campaign, for advertising services, after a publicly announced request for proposal by the Indian National Congress. Dentsu India bagged the mandate after a rigorous pitching process involving several iterations among top Indian agencies. While Dentsu India worked rigorously on an ad campaign as per the client’s brief with approvals at every stage, the other aspects of the campaign eco system such as PR, media relations and online strategy were not within the ambit of Dentsu’s scope of work as mandated by the client briefing. Throughout the campaign, Dentsu India enjoyed a good working relationship with the Congress party.”

    “The agency maintains the highest standards of creativity and professionalism and adheres to global standards of ethics and compliance. The agency shares cordial relationship with all its clients, and shall endeavour to maintain the same.”

    We at Indiantelevision.com, ask creative fraternity if it is right to blame the agency for the dismal performance of the political party?

    Bang in the Middle managing partner and chief creative officer Prathap Suthan

    This is a bit of a deja vu for me. Considering that some leaders in the BJP did exactly the same thing when India Shining didn’t work as a political multiplier in 2004. That aside, elections are purely won on the basis of performance. On a limited scale, one could overcome inefficiency by hyperbole and exaggerating the potential of the future.

    But this was the national elections. On the back of a long winded story of scams, misgovernance, corruption, lack of leadership, slow economy and what have you. However the campaign, for all its advertising polish and gloss, did not address issues that people wanted answered. There were no admissions. No apologies. No responsibility for incompetence.

    Instead what we saw was campaign that was divorced from the need of the hour. They pushed a campaign that presented a hollow and shallow picture of supposed happiness. More importantly, Rahul Gandhi hardly came through as an honest, well meaning, and effective leader. His own media exposure wasn’t very kind to him.

    So when you have invested in a campaign that didn’t speak what was required, and projected a story that was far away from the truth, it is bound to fail, and has obviously failed. It is absurd to blame an agency. They only delivered what they were contracted for. I am sure they advised otherwise, but ultimately the client is always right.

    It is ridiculous to imagine that the party didn’t agree to the communication. Everyone saw it and everyone approved it surely, if they didn’t agree they wouldn’t have run the campaign. The agency doesn’t and will not create and release an unapproved campaign. There are a lot of signatures that need to approve media releases. And if they have spent all that money behind a donkey in a horse race, you really can’t turn around and blame the jockey.

    Lowe Lintas & Partners NCD Arun Iyer

    One shouldn’t take too much credit if a campaign goes viral or flak if it flops. Of course, at the end of the day if a campaign doesn’t work then the agency is to be held responsible, but everyone is kept in the loop. It is a well kitted effort and everybody involved is responsible for the outcome. I don’t think what Congress is doing is right. It shouldn’t have done what they did, especially publically.

    Infectious director Nisha Singhania

    It is not fair to blame an agency if the end product fails to deliver what it promises to the consumers. The purpose of an advertising campaign is to popularise a product but if consumers’ don’t have good experience rejection is obvious. The same thought applies in this situation too. 

    Curry-Nation director Priti Nair 

    How can they blame anyone or anything for this except themselves? This goes for each and every product; if your product is bad even Santa Claus cannot help you. Agencies build a brand and make people choose so as to go and use it, so agencies help to choose. A product has to deliver on the use bit. Unfortunately here people had already experienced the product, and it had failed so miserably that no amount of brand building could resurrect it. In fact if you ask me the outdoor, the films (if that is what Dentsu did) were pretty good and looked and seemed even nicer than the BJP campaign, which looked more like the usual political campaign. Except that the BJP campaign thought was far more powerful and true. You can fool some people all the time or you can fool all people sometime but you can’t fool all the people all the time.

    Origin Bean Stalk co-founder Upendra Thakur Singh

    I personally feel that the agency can be blamed only if it, for any reason, goes totally off the brief. Not if the client and agency have been hand-in-glove while developing the communication and approving the same before release. Today’s consumer is more aware and smart and doesn’t often buy into a bad product even if the campaign is good. 

    Having said that, fingers are always pointed when the campaign doesn’t give you the desired response or when you lose. Owning to that fact that your product offering is bad is a good thing but blaming the agency for sticking to the brief and executing such a high-cost visible campaign is very unfortunate.

  • Tangerine Digital launches analytics driven content solution for travel industry

    Tangerine Digital launches analytics driven content solution for travel industry

    MUMBAI: With more and more sectors moving to digital platforms to engage audiences, Tangerine Digital has announced the launch of analytics driven content services to aid travel companies enhance their customer engagement across digital platforms.

     

    The uniqueness of this offering is backed by analytics that will drive a brand’s content strategy. Tangerine Digital has expanded its existing range of services across the content marketing spectrum from content creation, content management, content aggregation and crowd sourcing services to analytics for content strategy.

     

    Leisure travellers seek travel inspiration online and want to stay connected and share experiences while traveling too, according to ‘The 2013 Traveler study’ from Google and Ipsos MediaCT on US travelers.

     

    About 80 per cent of people begun researching online for their next holiday vs. the 62 per cent who took tips from their friends; 42 per cent were more likely to use their smartphone or tablet for travel- or vacation-related information while on a trip. Once at a destination, 58 per cent of leisure travellers rely on online sources to evaluate local activities.

     

     With this launch, Tangerine Digital will now enable brands in the travel industry in India with travelogues, destination guides and videos, advanced photo shoots, user generated content, expert reviews and ratings, celebrity feeds, travel blogs, itineraries, traveler reviews and hotel description.

     

     Tangerine Digital CEO Kesavan Kanchi Kandadai said, “Today companies like to be constantly connected with digitally-savvy customers at every step of their travel planning. The travel industry greatly depends on reviews, advices from other travellers and the spread of opinions on digital platforms. Content strategy backed by analytics will allow travel companies to empower their customers with customised and personal experience, driving brand loyalty and ROI. Over the content offering we ensure that all relevant metrics are pulled out from various digital platforms on the content trends that help brands drive engagement.”

     

    Having an array of clients in several sectors, Tangerine Digital is now aggressively focusing on growing the business in the travel sector. According to a new report by Waggener Edstrom Communications released in January 2014, an astonishing 97 per cent of the Indians surveyed follow their favourite brands on social media. The study also stated that Indian consumers who follow travel and tourism brands spend up to 187 per cent more on these company products per year.

  • RAPP India launches McDonalds Royale Burger through McDElections campaign

    RAPP India launches McDonalds Royale Burger through McDElections campaign

    MUMBAI: McDonald’s and RAPP India have recently launched the #McDElections campaign for the launch of two premium burgers – the Grilled Chicken Royale and the McPaneer Royale, in their menu.

     

    Phase 1 of the campaign kicked off with all the McDonald’s foods seemingly electing the leader amongst their candidates. The cast included a number of participating candidate burgers each with an interesting personification and McDonald’s foods that play their supporters. With the just to be launched Royale Burger duo threatening to sweep the polls.

     

    Each of the candidates had a manifesto (on www.mcdelections.in) that was designed to help them win the McDElections in the light of the threat from the new Royale Burger Duo. The prelaunch viral video, done for Phase 1, mimics a classic TV interview of two of the candidates McSpicy Paneer and Chicken Maharaja Mac.

     

    Facebook posts and banners set up the context of the McDElections with the candidates and their supporter foods all campaigning for victory.
    But the inevitable happens, and the Royale Burger Duo wins the McDElections and forms the McDSenate. And the campaign moves to phase 2.

     

    The Phase 2 Viral video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJMVxrH8wI) had the first interview of the Royal Burger Duo after they swept into power. The Royale Duo talk about their manifesto and the many “Right to Taste” bills that they intend to pass like ‘Burgers must be eaten with two hands’ and how one should enjoy eating a burger like a king, and savour each bite. But even as they have come into power the voices of dissent can be heard and the Chicken Maharajah Mac and the Spicy Front are quite vocal about the fact that they will either give the Royale Duo a tough time from the opposition or skeptical about how long the Royale Duo will last in Power.

    Two interesting aspects of this campaign are the Breaking News section and the Twitter campaign.

     

    The Breaking News section which constantly refreshed captured the action in the McDElections eg – ‘McVeggie Burger calls for all Veggies to unite in a bid to fend off the Royale Challenge’ or ‘Royale Duo mobbed in Mumbai’. It also got featured on Facebook and on www.mcdelections.in
    The twitter campaign drew inspiration from the action in the Lok Sabha Elections using #mcdelections tweets crafted around real life stories of the current elections.

     

    The latest from McDonald’s India is the ‘Know Your Royale Burger’ contest to check how well the people know their Royale Burgers. There will be 40 lucky winners announced everyday, who can win their Royale burger vouchers.

     

    The McDonald’s India Twitter handle (@mcdonaldsindia) will also launch the ‘Right To Taste (RTT)’ and many more exciting competitions shortly.
    Says Rameet Arora, Senior Director Marketing & Menu Management, McDonalds India “Capturing the mood of the customer and the buzz in the air is always a trick that elevates campaigns and gives them life. The McDelection campaign did just that! The Royale burgers launch got a fitting launch platform through this highly engaging and interactive digital campaign”.

     

    Says Venkat Mallik, President RAPP India, “The McDElections campaign has provided us with a fantastic platform that helps us set up the food value of current and new Royale Burgers from McDonald’s mixed in with the spice that the election brings in. The wide cast of characters with 7 candidates and many supporters has helped us build a property which can potentially go on for a really long time ahead. The campaign lends itself extremely well to all parts of the digital landscape and we have used Facebook, Viral Videos, Youtube, a Microsite, Twitter and Banners”

  • RIP David Abbott, you will be missed!

    RIP David Abbott, you will be missed!

    MUMBAI : If you are someone who keeps a keen eye on British advertising then you will surely know who David Abbott was. Abbott, a British advertising executive and founder of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, passed away on Saturday, aged 75.

    Abbott started his career in advertising as a copywriter at Mather & Crowther and later got associated with DDB, London. It was in 1971, when he founded French Gold Abbott. After seven years he headed to establish Abbott Mead Vickers (AMV).

    Abbott got his due recognition when he was in AMV. The veterans in the industry know Abbott as a person with wit and sharp vision. He is known for creating some classic campaigns for brands such as Volvo, Sainsbury’s, Ikea, Chivas Regal, The Economist, Yellow Pages, and the RSPC. In 1991 BBDO acquired a stake in AMV and appended its name.

    He is also known to have authored a book titled, “The Upright Piano Player” in 2010.

    Take a look at some of the popular work done by Abbott:

     

     

     

     

     

    According to international news portals, it is understood that D&AD plans to pay tribute to Abbott at its awards ceremony this week.

    (Images sourced from Twitter)