Mumbai: A silver jubilee celebration is one which inscribes the joy of making your mark.
In 1998, Omnicom designed and built its first truly specialist media operation from the ground up – combining planning, buying, insights and client service together, and launched OMD. Recently, the media network celebrated 25 years in business, a momentous event that resonates even more in Asia because OMD Hong Kong is OMD’s first standalone full-service operation in the world.
The agency has come a long way from when the first office opened in Hong Kong with just three employees. From this market, the OMD brand expanded and in 2000, it formally became a global network where all market operations were united by a common leadership and vision. Today, OMD has a headcount of close to 2,400 in 13 offices in APAC; and 12,000 in over 100 countries globally.
Named Cannes Lions Media Network of the Year 2022, OMD is currently ranked the best performing global media network overall by RECMA. Additionally, OMD is also the world’s most effective media agency network in the Effie Effectiveness Index and WARC Effective 100 Rankings.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with OMD India CEO Anisha Iyer to talk about the silver jubilee merriment of the network, the agency completing 16 years in India, the launch of the touted Apple stores in India, and much more.
Iyer is a steadfast right-brained strategist and a firm believer in agile thinking; she joined OMD India in January 2022 to lead the helm of affairs.
With a career spanning nearly two decades in the advertising business, with a niche in digital and technology, she is responsible for leading the organizational vision and steering strategic goals across the business, with a focus on leading future-ready teams, enhancing client relationships and delivering best-in-class solutions, by building a culture of creativity, innovation, and agility.
An empathetic thought leader, Iyer is future-forward and people-oriented. She has a knack for delivering exponential business growth seated in digital transformation. She has lent her expertise over the years, delivering cutting-edge solutions and strategies for clients spanning FMCG, pharma, auto, travel, telecom, e-commerce, food and retail businesses and her previous stints include working across Mindshare, Madhouse and Group M.
Iyer has been with Omnicom Media Group (OMG) since 2019; when she joined OMD Malaysia as its Managing Director before moving on to OMG Thailand in early 2021 as its Chief Product Officer – her previous stint before taking over the reins of OMD India.
A creative soul at heart, in her free time, she loves to travel, absorb new cultures and discover the joys of gastronomy one destination at a time.
Edited excerpts:
On the 16-year journey of OMD in India
OMD’s journey over the last 16 years has been irrefutably inspirational. Despite being a relatively late entrant into the market, we started off strong and have only gone upwards ever since. What has helped us not only keep the momentum going but also continuously evolve, is our strong leadership and a team of dynamic, passionate individuals. Moreover, we have had the privilege of working with a lot of our globally aligned OMD brands, as well as the benefit of witnessing what worked for other agencies that came with OMD India being a late entrant. This has helped us make more informed decisions, true to our ethos of making ‘Better Decisions, Faster’. As an inherently agile agency, change comes easy to us, unlike for legacy brands, and we are constantly evolving with time. In the last 1.5 years, we have undergone a massive transformation, which could be seamlessly executed because of this agility and adaptability. Over the last 16 years, we have hit some incredible milestones, while never losing sight of the big picture and our focus on business growth.
On OMD celebrating its silver jubilee, and the OMD global philosophies kept alive in the Indian office
OMD was formed to meet the evolving client demands that came from an increasingly complex media landscape. From the very beginning, we have aspired to be the foremost authority in media business, and have focused on channeling our passion for media and tech to grow at a global scale and deliver unmatched results to our clients. Throughout our 25-year journey, OMD’s values have been strongly rooted in the ethos of empathy, and OMD India is no exception to this. As a people-centric business with empathy at the heart of everything we do, we underwent a massive team transformation over the last 1.5 years that focused on driving better outcomes for clients by leveraging data and technology. We have a significantly young team tenure-wise, with a long-term vision of 5–7 years. I believe that the alignment of a person’s values with our culture is more crucial than them having an extensive skill set. Skills can be taught unlike work ethic and values, and this is something we have emphasized across all our offices.
On OMD completing 25 years globally, and 16 years in India, seeing India as a market on the global map, and India evolving into a global brand
One of our key focus areas this year is growth, and India is one of the 11 focus markets in terms of the growth agenda. Despite the growth rate going down in many developed markets, India saw double-digit growth last year and is expected to continue to keep this momentum. We have had at least six new business wins and the retention of two major accounts since January 2022. One prominent achievement for us is the successful retention of the Nivea account, which will turn our nine-year relationship with Nivea into a decade-long partnership. Two other big wins are the retention of the Mercedes account at the start of last year and the new media mandate for McDonald’s India (North & East) this year. We are not only setting audacious goals for ourselves but also meeting them. The impact of our transformation journey has been overwhelmingly positive, and I am confident that OMD India will be recognised as an agency that makes bold decisions on talent, clients, campaigns, and business growth.
On the big bang launch of Apple in India
Despite being the world’s second largest smartphone market, consumers in India have bought Apple products either online or through the vast network of resellers in the country. The launch of the retail stores signals the tech giant’s growing interest in the Indian market. Therefore, as a brand that has tremendous value attached to it beyond just the utility of the phone, Apple is trying to deepen its retail penetration in our country. The two newly launched retail stores can now give consumers the experience of browsing, discovering, and purchasing Apple products. The inauguration, which marks the beginning of a major expansion within the country, has received outstanding responses from people and the press, and we have big plans to continue to sustain this momentum.
On your roles with OMG in other markets apart from India – in Thailand and Malaysia, and the kind of similarities and differences in Indian markets
India is a lot more advanced in comparison to markets like Thailand and Malaysia. However, these markets also have an advantage in the form of very high digital penetration of about 90–100%. This makes it easier to scale in these countries. Despite this advantage, they have fallen short when it comes to truly harnessing the power of technology. In India, we have mastered ways to make the most of the technology at our disposal, which is something that, I believe, needs to be emulated by other Southeast Asian countries. On the other hand, they have immense respect for work-life balance, which India as a country seems to lack. They understand that time off is important and that efficiency can be attained when you give your best within your working hours, thus eliminating the need for any overtime work. It goes without saying that we all have innumerable lessons to learn from each other.
On India being a mobile-first country with the digital surging, and India becoming a digital-first country
The age of smartphones has propelled the ongoing digital revolution in India. The past few years have seen us build our own digital infrastructure, set up payment systems, and boost the start-up ecosystem, thanks to various government initiatives and the growth of a digital economy. Easy access to smartphones has completely transformed the way consumers think and function, turning us into one of the biggest mobile-first economies in the world. This widespread internet access has become a primary agent of digital transformation in the country, resulting in the reinvention of businesses across industries. Digital has become the preferred way of communication, causing marketers to reevaluate their strategies. The continuous and rapid growth in the adoption of digital technologies has led to a dramatic shift in the way we create, sell, and work. With significant growth opportunities opening up and businesses racing to make the most of the digital revolution, I’m certain that we are set to see tremendous growth in the Indian digital economy in the coming years.
On the evolution of connected TV advertising and linear advertising in India
Connected TV is not in minuscule numbers anymore; in fact, it is growing significantly in the country. While there may not yet be any audited data on the absolute number of connected TVs, channels that have reported the data show that a large number of households now have connected TVs. Therefore, cord-cutters have become a real problem today for broadcasters. All major broadcasters, including Star, Sony, and ZEE, will attest to this. Today, the penetration of connected TV must easily be over 20–25 million. As a nation with mostly single TV households, we are looking at an even greater number of people actually using connected TV. Even if we don’t quote the absolute number, third-party verified delivery of inventory on connected TV shows fairly high numbers. Therefore, connected TV advertising is not something that we should take lightly or categorize as trivial. Over time, connected TVs are only going to explode, probably even faster than the mobile explosion in this country.
On Jio being free for IPL, and brands capitalizing on this to reach tier II & III markets via connected TV
Jio is a new phenomenon with respect to IPL this year for multiple reasons. This is the first time that the rights to IPL have been distributed between two entities, making the ecosystem complex. Currently, a lot of brands are on Jio, either because the absolute cost of investment is lower than it is on TV or because of the higher penetration of mobile phones in the country. Brands, in general, have a lot of confidence in the use of mobile phones by the Indian consumer, which helps them reach a wider audience. However, when it comes to brands capitalizing on this to reach tier II and tier III markets, we will have to wait and watch what happens. The novelty of this phenomenon makes it difficult to predict future behaviors. With this being the first time that the nation has had the opportunity to have a far and wide reach of a native property such as IPL, the Indian in me is optimistic about the outcome. The more they can penetrate the country, the better.
On your vision and way forward for OMD in 2023
This year, we are focusing on one area – growth. The past year, we went through a massive transformation exercise that involved everything from product and processes to talent. All we need to do now is work towards the growth we’ve envisioned. We believe in keeping our agenda simple: we are only interested in growing and making our clients grow. We have discussed, brainstormed, aligned, and cascaded our growth agenda, which has been split into two parts: farming and hunting. Farming new clients will be done by plugging any leaks in the existing businesses, introducing new mandates, or developing new services. Hunting, on the other hand, involves targeting certain sectors or products. For instance, we successfully targeted a client specifically to become their ecom AOR and not their media agency. We are offering such specialist services in order to expand the business. At the end of it, what matters to us is growth, and that is what we are achieving.
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