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How agencies deal with defaulters

Published

8 years ago

December 4, 2017

MUMBAI: The history of the advertising industry has its fair share of examples of client default on payments leading to agencies bleeding losses. A classic case is that of JWT Walter Thompson (Now known as JWT), having to wind up back in 1974 due to non-payment by clients. Although the company resurrected a few years later, it still shows that companies aren’t secure especially when clients declare themselves bankrupt.

In a fresh case that stirred the conversation about defaulting clients, media agency Madison Worldwide and creative agency Leo Burnett have filed a case against Chinese electronic brand LeEco over non-payment of dues in India. It failed to make payments for the period from January-December 2016, for which Madison is suing the company for Rs 39 crore plus interest in a Hong Kong court, while Leo Burnett has filed a case in the Bombay High Court for its dues of Rs 2.65 crore.

In a typical scenario, if an agency doesn’t pay the media on time, it stands to be blacklisted by the media and will lose its accreditation with the industry. This could be a deal-breaker for them since, without accreditation, agencies have to pay the media in advance for any further business. In such a situation, if the agency does not have a large amount of fund to spare, it might have to shut down.

Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin says, “Sometimes clients delay payments because there is a genuine reason but quite often, clients default on the payments deliberately and that puts the agency in a tight spot. Although there is a legal route, it is often cumbersome and long-drawn and agencies don’t have that kind of bandwidth. But if there is no option, that is what they have to do.”

Calling it unfair and need for stronger laws to be implemented for the same, Publicis Worldwide chief creative officer Bobby Pawar believes it should be illegal for clients to get away without paying for the services they’ve consumed. “It is very unfortunate as more often than not, it is the agency that has to bear the cost of it,” he says.

For print ads, the credit period is usually 45 days from the month of activity. Here, the agency has to pay media, irrespective of client payment and earns only when the client pays. Non-payment or outstanding can result in blacklisting of the agency and all activities for the agency across all clients.

For television and radio, the credit period is 60 days from the month of activity. The agency has to pay only after the client pays, and earns only when payment happens. Problematic clients or habitual defaulters are closely monitored by Indian Broadcasters Federation (IBF), the regulatory body for TV and radio. Serial offenders work mostly on advance while tripartite agreements are usually the norm.

For instance, if a client owed the agency Rs 7.65 crore at a certain point in time which was long overdue, at five per cent media commission, the agency retained only Rs 38 lakh. Now if the client still has an outstanding unpaid debt of Rs 1.56 crores, the net amount is a loss of Rs 1.18 crore.

Havas Media chief finance officer Pritesh Bhatnagar believes bad debts always hit the bottom line and its impact on P&L is always significant. “Agencies need to be more prudent in agreeing to the credit terms with clients. We ensure we follow our internal credit control guidelines and policies to safeguard our interests,” he adds.

Ad agencies must compulsorily approach the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) to recover outstanding debts but with no assurance of recovery. At best, the AAAI can prevent the media from taking any new contracts from the same client.

Extended credit lines are vital to maintaining a competitive edge and brands may be required to have credit insurance as part of a tender, to reassure stakeholders or satisfy the bank. Advertising and media companies face risks when selling and often rely on future bookings for media space and general advertising from a number of different providers. While credit checks are routinely conducted on new clients, it is impossible to track their status for the duration of the agreement. Remarking that the industry is starting to get a little more organised, Bhasin makes a point that stringent actions against such clients need to be taken not just by agencies, but also by involving various industry bodies. “It is important for agencies to do reasonable credit rating check for clients.”

Related Topics:defaulters Dentsu-Aegis IBF JWT Leo Burnett Publicis

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Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement

Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted

Published

4 days ago

February 4, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.

The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.

The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.

Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.

Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.

For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.

More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.

The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.

In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.

Brands

Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

Published

1 week ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

MAM

Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships

Published

1 week ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

SINGAPORE: Anuvrat Rao has taken charge as APAC head of commerce and signals partnerships at Meta, steering monetisation deals across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from Singapore. The former Google executive, known for launching Google Assistant, PWAs, AMP and Firebase across Asia-Pacific, steps into the role after a high-growth stint as chief business officer at Locofy.ai.

At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.

Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.

Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.