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Tag: AAAI

  • The Advertising Club and AAAI announce communication program to fight violence towards women

    The Advertising Club and AAAI announce communication program to fight violence towards women

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Club (TAC) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) have once again come together to launch an important and much-required communication program that will address the issue of violence against women in society. The special campaign will be a part of the upcoming edition of India’s biggest and most inclusive Advertising and Marketing festival Goafest 2020. It will inspire the best advertiser and creators to design high impact behavior change campaigns to aid the fight against violence towards women. The winning campaign will be crowned with the newly instituted special award “The Red Abby” that celebrates the woman and her spirit.

    Speaking about the initiative, AAAI president Ashish Bhasin said, “Violence against women is an issue that has been a significant area of concern. It is critical that we as an industry that is responsible and renowned for driving awareness and building perceptions, use our collective capabilities for the betterment of society. We hope that this initiative will help us put together a high impact campaign that will empower women and help change mindsets.”

    The Advertising Club president Partho Dasgupta further added, " Addressing the Indian Merchants Chamber, I spoke on this very critical issue and committed the support of the Advertising Club to try and see how communication can be a force for good and help change things for the women in our lives.  I strongly believe that it is imperative that everyone from the industry comes together and leverages our circle of influence to bring about positive social change. “

    The most effective and impactful campaign will be recognized through a special award at the coveted ABBY’s 2020.  Leveraging the media linkages of The Advertising Club and AAA’s of I, the winning campaign will be amplified across media ensuring reach and impact. 

  • The journey of Star India’s Uday Shankar through his eyes

    The journey of Star India’s Uday Shankar through his eyes

    MUMBAI: He came. He spoke. They listened. He conquered.  That, in summation, defines how the Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific president, and Star & Disney India chairman Uday Shankar’s tryst with members and invitees of the Advertising Agencies Association of India’s Subhas Ghosal Memorial lecture “Why I have been in Media for 30 years” on 11 October 2019 went. The audience – consisting of a slew of senior advertising and marketing professionals – listened in awe, smiled, laughed throughout the Shankarspeak, which commenced around 9:30 pm in the Four Seasons Hotel in Worli, Mumbai. He spoke extempore, no teleprompters in sight, and his speech was fluency at its best, delivered with the confidence of a professional who knows what he has achieved and what he is setting out to achieve.

    Throughout his 34-minute speech, Uday constantly referred to the risks he has taken during his entire career. Like the time when he was grappling with being called upon by the Murdochs to head Star India as CEO and he asked his family whether he was taking a chance as he had had no exposure to entertainment or business having been a news man all of his life. To which his daughter quipped: “What risk? If anything, weren’t the Murdochs the ones who were taking the risk?”

    He went on to join the organisation, and the rest, of course, is history. Uday spoke about the time when – on being urged by his wife – he chucked his secure job at the publication Down to Earth and relied on his wife’s income for six months before securing a lower paying position at Zee TV. “I took a 50 per cent pay cut,” he revealed. “But I so wanted to do news television that I was willing to go that distance.”

    Uday then revealed how he switched to the Star Network when he was called upon by the Murdochs to clean up the mess that was Star News from his comfortable position at Aroon Purie’s Aaj Tak.

    “On the face of it, it was a bad career move,” he revealed. “Star News was as messed as it could ever be. All the success and equity I had created for myself at Aaj Tak and before was at risk. The sensible course was to run for my life. But instead I dived headlong into it and doubled down. Within a month I was both editor and CEO. Everyone thought I was going to break all records of disastrous stints as a media CEO. I knew nothing about running a business. But as a journalist I had learned one thing: when you do not know something, you go to people who understand it better than you. That’s what I did. I focused on bringing in good talent and content. And slowly the tide turned. Star News went from bottom to the top of the pile.”

    That’s when the Mudrochs spotted him as a potential leader of Star India. While at Star News he, at least, had command over news content, he did not have any experience of entertainment when he walked into Star India. There was an exodus in the organisation as two top-notch executives had left to launch their own channels, taking experienced professionals with them. He once again relied on his journalistic instinct which told him that a crisis could be tremendous opportunity.

    Once there, he concentrated on playing the long form of the game of cricket – test match vs the IPL, Uday revealed. His first focus was on hiring good talent. Deciding to discount experience, he emphasised on intelligence and youthfulness and irreverance. The leadership under him did not have previous media experience unleashing a really powerful force in the company. Simultaneously, he focused on getting rid of the slacker culture in Star.

    He then went about chipping away at edifices that had made Star Plus a success until then. He dropped all Ekta Kapoor and Balaji shows and dropped the successful Kaun Banega Crorepati and called in new producers to churn out differentiated content like Satyameva Jayate hosted by Aamir Khan to the annoyance of established ones. “Everyone thought we were crazy. Who would put a show like that on entertainment television on Sunday? It was a great decision. It made an impact on society. And it had an even bigger impact on the thinking at Star. Everyone thought that it was going to be my nemesis. But I survived Satyamev Jayate,” he highlighted.

    “We are in the business of content. It may surprise you to know how few companies have content at their core. The biggest contribution I have made at Star is that I have tried to push content closer and closer to the centre of the core so much so that the core of Star today is content,” he further explained.

    “If no one believes that it can be done, we will take a shot at it. This is a culture we have built at Star,” he says.

    The greater risk taken by Uday was the decision to take Star into sports – the graveyard of many media companies. He was not satisfied with the ICC rights, BCCI rights but acquired the IPL rights at aggressive prices as well. “No other media company invested in cricket like Star India did. In contrast to other networks which usually have commentaries in one or two languages, Star expanded it in seven languages which paid off as 86 per cent of their cricket sports viewership come from languages, only 14 per cent comes from English.”

    He spoke about Star’s move towards promoting kabaddi as a sport, wherein everyone thought his goose was cooked. “A friend told me the Murdochs had trusted me too much and that the company had too much money. With the best of intentions, he cautioned that both of these are going to end very badly,” said Uday. “However, we are making some money and I have kept my job. Our sports business is a work in progress as is the sports consciousness in this country. We are slowly building one of the most exciting franchises in the world.”

    Uday then went on the speak about Star’s next  foray with Hotstar wherein he launched the app in a data-dark market where the mobile handset was a device for talking. What gave him the confidence was India’s surprising ability to leapfrog. Once again, he hired the best talent.  He spoke about the risk he took during the Hotstar launch campaign, which ran across the Star network saying “TV is passe. Get over TV. Get Hotstar.”

    He further revealed:  “When we were launching Hotstar, a very senior executive at one of the global tech and video giants warned us that if you try, you will lose a lot of money, effort and time and then you will come begging to us to host your content on our platform. He said that we would still be kind to you. Now, it seems they can’t tire of hiring my talent. Not just one company that is hiring our talent as if it is going out of supply but every media and tech company that’s active in India seems to have one destination to pick up talent  –  Star India. I would make a lot more money if I ran a talent agency. It is annoying but it is also a tribute to our incredibly talented team that’s even more audacious than it is talented. A team that is committed to changing Indian media and content – making a difference to the lives of people. That’s why I am in media for 30 years. And it feels like I am just getting started. Over the years, we have become change agents for India. At Star, we don’t just believe in a better India, we believe in our duty to participate and shape that India. Of course, when a company like Walt Disney values and embraces the businesses we have built, it is extremely gratifying.”

  • Industry leaders share excitement about return of Goafest 2020

    Industry leaders share excitement about return of Goafest 2020

    MUMBAI: Indian advertising and marketing folks don’t need an excuse to hit the sun-kissed sands of Goa’s beaches. A whole lot of them are hence likely to head to the holiday paradise come 2 April 2020 courtesy the Ad Club and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) which are putting together the sixteenth edition of Goafest.

    Ad veteran Nakul Chopra has been re-appointed as chairperson of the jamboree with Jaideep Gandhi being named as the co-chair of Goafest 2020 organising committee. Well, the ever so ebullient IPG Media  Brands CEO and treasurer The Ad Club Shashi Sinha,  has the onerous responsibility of chairing the Awards Governing Council (AGC) of the celebrated ABBY awards 2020 once again.

    “Year-on-year, it is our endeavor to make Goafest the most sought after gathering of the Indian advertising & media industry both in terms of knowledge sharing and raising the bar for creativity. Goafest has been consistently putting India on the global map of a creative powerhouse and as we put together this edition as well, our endeavour is to bring the best of speakers, workshops and experiences to boost the next-gen of advertisers,” says AAAI president Ashish Bhasin.” “Nakul as an industry veteran has been adeptly handling Goafest and his vision for the industry is sure to translate into an engaging and inclusive festival experience for all."

    Adds Chopra:  “Goafest is the only premiere festival that is a holistic representation of the Indian advertising and media industry. Our focus continues to remain on driving up the ante of scale, inclusivity knowledge sharing.  The 2020 edition of Goafest will also focus on creating an experience that is immersive, transformational and continues to contribute to  enrich the ecosystem..”

    Explains The Advertising Club president Partho Dasgupta: “The purpose of Goafest is to bring forth a platform that encourages India’s A&M industry to engage, innovate and share cohesively. The three  days of Goafest sees the entire media and advertising fraternity breaking the barriers of organisation and come together to share common achievements, failures and learnings. ABBYs have always been recognized as a gold standard in creative awards and with Shashi at the helm, we are sure that the awards will continue to follow the highest standards of quality and due diligence.”

    “With the ABBY Awards, every year we try to widen the horizon and be more inclusive. Our belief has been to let works of excellence do the talking and this year too we will continue to look for campaigns that inspire change, make a difference and become an inspiration for the industry,” highlights Sinha explaining his vision for the metal competition this year.

    The ABBY AGC includes: Shashi Sinha, Ashish Bhasin, Nakul Chopra, Jaya Advertising  Director Jaideep Gandhi, Publicis CEO India Anupriya Acharya, Havas Group India  group CEO Rana Barua, Aditya Birla Capital Limited  chief marketing officer  Ajay Kakar, McCann Worldgroup vice chairman and MD Partha Sinha, MullenLowe Lintas Group  CEO Virat Tandon Group, Percept Limited  director Ajay Chandwani, and House of Cheer  founder and media Veteran Raj Nayak.

  • AAAI honours Madhukar Kamath with Lifetime Achievement Award 2019

    AAAI honours Madhukar Kamath with Lifetime Achievement Award 2019

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) honored Madhukar Kamath with this year’s AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award today in the presence of the who’s who of the advertising industry. This is the highest honour to be given to individuals in India for their outstanding contribution to the Advertising Industry. The Award, being presented annually, recognizes the individual's contribution.

    The award recognized Madhukar’s pioneering and outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the advertising industry in India. He played a vital role in transforming a traditional advertising agency into one of India’s most successful and diversified communication companies. Madhukar also played a key role in the Omnicom acquisition of the Mudra Group and the integration with the Global DDB Network. Subsequently, he facilitated the entry of Interbrand, the leading Global Brand Consultancy into India, and functioned as its Chairman.

    For his commitment to the cause of education and building talent for the marketing communications & services industry in India, Madhukar took forward the legacy of A G Krishnamurthy in building MICA and establishing it as India’s leading business School for Strategic Marketing and Communication Management. He was the Chairman of Mudra Foundation from 2003 to 2017.

    Speaking about his long journey in advertising, Mr. Madhukar Kamath said, “To join the ranks of the legends that I’ve always admired is truly humbling. AG Krishnamurthy, was the wind beneath my wings for well over a decade. I grew both personally and professionally in Mudra. From the legendary Keith Reinhard, the Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide, I learnt that building on a legacy is as important as looking to create one. Over my career of four decades, as the Industry changed, as market forces changed, the very construct of operations changed, the remuneration structures changed and so on, I learnt the importance of constantly reinventing and staying relevant. I treated it like a long distance run where it was necessary to stay the course and not look at it as a sprint. Perhaps, I am blessed. Or just lucky? To have had some truly life changing opportunities come my way.”

    President of AAAI Mr. Ashish Bhasin said, “Heartiest Congratulations to Madhukar Kamath on being conferred AAAI’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his vision and passion in transforming a traditional advertising agency into one of India’s most successful and diversified communication companies and his commitment to the cause of education and building talent for the marketing communications & services industry in India. He also played a vital role in bringing together the various constituents of the advertising industry to work with unity.”

    The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has been a practitioner of advertising for twenty-five years and had been in the top management position; has been or continues to be an active participant in industry bodies and or made significant contributions in shaping the industry priorities which enabled the advertising industry to grow, prosper and  become more professionalized;  individual  known for his integrity, ethical practice and leadership qualities;  contributed to his Company/Companies growth by innovative thinking and taking them in newer directions; involved in projects of social consequence which is seen as a role model for the industry at large and had been an industry veteran.

    This award was instituted in 1988 by AAAI and some of the past winners include Subhas Ghosal, Alyque Padamsee, Mike Khanna, Piyush Pandey, Sam Balsara, Prem Mehta, Ram Sehgal and others.

  • Ashish Bhasin re-elected president of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI)

    Ashish Bhasin re-elected president of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI)

    MUMBAI: Ashish Bhasin, CEO Greater South, Dentsu Aegis Network and Chairman & CEO India, has been re-elected as President  of the  Advertising  Agencies  Association  of India (AAAI) for the  year 2019-20. The announcement was made at the AAAI Annual General Body Meeting, held today.

    Also, Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Media India, has been  re-elected as Vice-President of the Association.

    Other elected members of the Executive Committee in alphabetical  order are:

    Anand Bhadkamkar     Dentsu Aegis Network
    Kalyan Sarkar             Standard Publicity
    Kunal Lalani            Crayons Advertising 
    Prasanth Kumar            Group M Media India 
    Srinivasan K Swamy    RK Swamy BBDO
    Vivek Srivastava     Innocean Worldwide Communication

    Immediate  Past  President,  Nakul Chopra  will be  the  ex-officio member  of the  new  AAAI Executive Committee.

    On this occasion, Mr Ashish Bhasin, President  AAAI, said “I thank the members of the AAAI for  reposing  their  faith  in me  by electing  me  for another term  as  the  President  of this illustrious organisation.   Along with my colleagues in the Executive Committee, I had set out on a mission to make  the  association  more  inclusive, diverse  and  future-ready. While we have  made  significant progress  in some  areas,  there  are  many areas  which require  more work to be done.   I am honoured to be selected  for the  second  term,  which will allow the Executive Committee and me to complete  the unfinished tasks. The tremendous support  and unity that the members of AAAI have shown, makes me proud of our Association!”

    The   Advertising   Agencies   Association   of  India   (AAAI)   is  the   national   organisation   of advertising  agencies,  formed  in 1945,  to  promote their  industry  interests  so  that  they continue  to  make  an  essential  and  ever-increasing  contribution  to  the  nation.  The  AAAI today  is truly representative,  with a very large number  of small, medium  and  large-sized agencies as its members, who together account  for almost  80% of the advertising business
    placed in the country.

  • BARC exhorts TRAI to strengthen existing TV audience measurement system

    BARC exhorts TRAI to strengthen existing TV audience measurement system

    MUMBAI: Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), the country’s premier TV audience data measurer, has suggested to the Indian regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that having more multiple measurement and ratings mechanisms may not be “advisable” and could create confusion. Instead, it was better to invest further in the existing currency with the goal to make it more robust.

    “Having more than one ratings service/currency would not be in the interests of industry, and, hence is not desirable. Instead of increasing number of ratings agencies, it would be advisable to invest in the existing system and make it even more robust and accurate,” BARC India has said in its submission to a consultation paper on TV audience measurement overhaul  floated by the TRAI.

    Making a case to further boost the functioning of BARC India, the organisation has said steps were needed to be taken to “increase the sample/panel through cost effective technologies” like sample return path data (SRPD).

    “TV viewership measurement systems across most mature markets are carried out by a single agency. The existence of more than one rating agencies (and currency) will create confusion and will lead to inefficiency in the market. When there are more than one data sets for a same set of channels, it leads to ambiguity,” BARC India has argued.

    TRAI had floated a consultation paper on ‘Review of Television Audience Measurement and Ratings in India’ on 3 December 2018 seeking feedback from stakeholders with a view to examine various aspects of the system, which is presently done by BARC India that is a joint venture amongst three industry organisations — the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). The original deadline for making submissions was extended on request from the stakeholders.

    Arguing against promoting more competition in the audience measurement eco-system, BARC India has cited international media reports relating to this particular issue in the Philippines.
    “Philippines presents a typical example of confusion and ambiguity in market due to presence of more than one measurement agency. TV measurement in the Philippines is conducted by Kantar Media Philippines and AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines. Data produced by the two companies are often used by competing channels to claim leadership,” BARC India has argued.

    Pointing out that accuracy of data can be ensured through larger panel that can, inter alia, be sustained by industry, BARC India has tried to put things in context by highlighting the US TV industry sustains a panel of 108900 individuals with a TV adex of $68 billion, while in India BARC India “runs a panel of 135,000 individuals with adex of approximately $4 billion”.

    However, for a more robust system to be in place, which will also strengthen BARC India, the organisation has said “regulatory and government support” was essential and the support should involve “mandating digital platform operators (DTH and cable), as well as TV OEM manufacturers (of smart TV sets), to share return path data from samples to measurement provider”.

    “To make data more accurate, there are steps required that go beyond the remit and domain of BARC. Legal and punitive framework to weed out panel tampering will go a long way in building further acceptance of our data,” BARC India has stated, reiterating its position on been backed by some legal teeth to fight attempts of data infiltrations and manipulation.

    While admitting that a high-tech landscape like audience measurement needed to constantly evolve as newer consumption and distribution modes and technologies were emerging (for example, digital consumption, proliferation of OTT platforms, etc), BARC India has made it clear it was exploring SRPD, second generation metre with newer detection techniques, and other technological solutions for TV measurement.

    “BARC India has also made progress in building capability to measure digital consumption with the goal of providing industry with cross platform and cross device video consumption: linear and time shifted, broadcast and digital. We have a strong foundation, established credibility and necessary transparency and accountability framework on which we can build further with emerging and suitable technologies,” the measurement organisation stated.

  • TRAI seeks stakeholders’ inputs on audience measurement overhaul

    TRAI seeks stakeholders’ inputs on audience measurement overhaul

    MUMBAI: Television audience measurement in India continues to remain one of the key subjects that evoke reactions from stakeholders. Given that advertising expenditures are typically guided by such data and, in the wake of the matter being raised at various fora, TRAI has come out with a public consultation on various facets of TV audience measurement and how the existing system could be made more robust.

    Telecom Authority of India (TRAI)’s move gains importance as stakeholders during meetings with the regulator, leading up to the present consultation, had conveyed that the present measurement system, spearheaded by a joint industry body Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC India), has done a credible job till now, but additional improvements could be made, including making data collection more robust and finding ways to curb panel infiltrations leading to possible manipulations. More so as the industry has already invested in the present system over the past three years and it would be improper to try find alternate mechanisms at this juncture.

    Keeping such views in mind, TRAI has raised issues relating to RPD(return path data) and whether set-top-boxes deployed in the country were technically adept at catching such figures — initiatives that would add to data robustness. The specific questions asked is: What percentage of STB supports transferring viewership data through establishing a reverse path/connection from STB? What will be the additional cost if existing STBs without return path are upgraded?

    Asking whether regulatory tweaks were needed to reduce the impact of manipulation of measurement panels — an issue red-flagged by BARC India itself in an earlier consultation — TRAI has sought comments on the country-wide panel size and also the size of the individual panels in rural and urban areas.

    The consultation paper highlights several such issues, including if BARC India, the organisation presently doing audience measurement, has been able to accomplish its purpose.

    Industry observers said though the regulator may have raised pertinent issues, some of them could be answered by the stakeholders only if they decide to take a firm view on them. For example, TRAI asks whether the present sample size of bar-o-meters employed to collect data is adequate. The answer is, maybe no. But to increase the sample size, the stakeholders need to commit more financial investments and give BARC India the go-ahead — though annually some boxes are added to live up to promises made at the time Ministry of Information and Broadcasting green-lighted the BARC project.

    The TRAI paper also seeks inputs from the stakeholders regarding shareholding/ownership pattern of BARC India and whether its credibility and neutrality can be enhanced further, while highlighting various methods of collating such data in other countries, including the US, the UK and France.

    Some of the other issues highlighted in the TRAI paper are the following:

    # Is there a need to promote competition in television rating services to ensure transparency, neutrality and fairness to give TAM rating?

    # What regulatory initiatives/measures can be taken to make TV rating services more accurate and widely acceptable?

    # Is the current audience measurement technique used by BARC apposite?

    # Does broadcasting programmes that are out of their category or in different languages for some time during the telecast affect the TAM (TV audience measurement) rating? If so, what measures should be adopted to curb it?

    # Can TV rating, based on limited panel homes, be termed as truly representative?

    # What should be done to reduce the impact of manipulation of panel home data on overall TV ratings?

    # What should be the panel size both in urban and rural India to give true representation of audience?

    # What method/technology would help to rapidly increase the panel size for television audience measurement in India? What will be the commercial challenge in implementing such solutions?

    # Should DPOs be mandated to facilitate collection of viewership data electronically, subject to consent of subscribers to increase data collection points for better TRPs?

    # What percentage of STB supports transferring viewership data through establishing a reverse path/connection from STB? What will be the additional cost if existing STBs without return path are upgraded?

    # What method should be adopted for privacy of individual information and to keep the individual information anonymous?

    # What should be the level/granularity of information retrieved by the television audience measurement agency from the panel homes so that it does not violate principles of privacy?

    # What measures need to be taken to address the issue of panel tampering/infiltration?

    # Should BARC be permitted to provide raw level data to broadcasters? If yes, how secrecy of households, where the people meters are placed, can be maintained?

    BARC India, set up in 2015, is a joint venture amongst broadcast and advertising industry bodies IBF, AAAI, ISA with Indian Broadcasting Foundation or IBF being a majority shareholder. India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati also sits on the BARC India board. Apart from TV audience data, BARC India is also exploring rolling out similar figures for digital platforms.

  • India’s internet market is no longer male, metro, millennial: Rajan Anandan

    India’s internet market is no longer male, metro, millennial: Rajan Anandan

    MUMBAI: Lightning speed – that’s how India’s internet adoption can be described. With an abundance of growth opportunities, India’s rural areas are leading the way for every company wanting to make a mark in the digital space.
    When the online space is turning into more class agnostic nature, the gender divide is also abolishing. Google (http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/marketing/brands/how-google-views-indias-internet-landscape-180531) vice president India and South Asia Rajan Anandan was speaking about new age internet users, notable trends and changes at the Subhash Ghosal Memorial Lecture recently. The veteran said that Indian internet users are no longer restricted to the metro, male, millennial phenomenon.
    Rajan highlights a gender disparity in internet usage that was prevalent in India three years ago, which wasn’t the case even in places like Africa or the Middle East. Just one in ten internet users was female. Several factors like lack of awareness and access worked in favour of the divide. Today, 37 per cent of India’s internet users are women which is expected to rise to 45 per cent by 2020.
    “If you go back even 8-10 months, you characterise India’s internet as male, metro and millennial. So millennial males in metro India was really what the internet was about. That has changed pretty dramatically. We see more women coming online. In fact, in terms of new internet users, there are many women than men actually and a lot of them are from rural India, small towns,” he commented.
    Speaking about megatrends in the Indian internet market, he said that voice, video, vernacular are grabbing high attention. Over the last 12-18 months, voice has shown the most surprising growth. There has been a 270 per cent growth in voice searches. “So, they (new users) are more comfortable speaking to internet than typing, tapping. India is going to be the world’s first voice driven internet market,” he said.
    Commenting on the vernacular(http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/social-media/google-assistant-becomes-bilingual-180901)growth, he said that almost 100 per cent of new Indian internet users access internet in local languages, not in English. The man with the statistics said over 200 million users access internet in regional languages. Moreover, there has been a 400 per cent growth in Hindi voice searches.

    Indian market went from a messaging first internet market to video first internet market over the time thanks to affordable data prices. “The journey of new age internet users has been pretty straightforward. They started with messaging, generally WhatsApp, then started using social networks, watched a little bit of video because data was expensive. That has actually changed. Almost every new internet user today actually starts his internet journey with video because they all understand video,” Anandan said. He also said 75 per cent of all traffic in mobile data in Indian internet actually comes from video, among which 95 per cent of total video consumption is happening in local languages.
    Indians are consuming higher amount of data, 8 GB per month, compared to developed markets like South Korea, the US and the UK. India is consuming more mobile data than the US and China combined. Even the smartphone quality has improved in India as 70 per cent of phones used here have a 2 GB RAM or more.
    The Google head said that the company is concerned with solving the problems of the common man. He said that the internet can even solve problems related to agriculture, financial institutions and health and education systems.

  • AAAI Subhas Ghosal Memorial Lecture 2018

    AAAI Subhas Ghosal Memorial Lecture 2018

    Mumbai: The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Subhas Ghosal Foundation (SGF) is pleased to announce the Subhas Ghosal Memorial Lecture by Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Google India and South East Asia on Thursday, September 20, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at Hotel St. Regis, Lower Parel, Mumbai.

    Mr. Rajan Anandan will enlighten the audience on what the new Internet User is like and what to expect in the Digital World we now live in, a few years from now. 

    Says Ashish Bhasin, President, AAAI says, “In a world that is rapidly being disrupted by digital, it will be extremely interesting to and important for everyone to prepare themselves. We at AAAI look forward to Rajan Anandan’s perspectives at the Subhas Ghosal Memorial Lecture.”

    Says Sam Balsara, on behalf of SGF, “Both Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants will find the lecture useful and enlightening.”

    All members of Advertising, Marketing, Media and Digital community are welcome. However, RSVP to Mr. Sudesh Kapoor at aaai@aaai.inis a must. If you need an invitation please send an email from your official email id to Mr. Sudesh Kapoor.

    This lecture is possible because of support from ABP LIVE, to whom the organisers are grateful.
     

  • Ashish Bhasin elected as president of AAAI

    Ashish Bhasin elected as president of AAAI

    MUMBAI: Media veteran Ashish Bhasin has become the new president of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2018-2019. Bhasin takes over from Nakul Chopra who will now be the ex-officio member of the new AAAI executive committee.

    Publicis Media India CEO Anupriya Acharya was elected vice president of the association.

    Bhasin has been a part of AAAI as the vice president and has now taken up a much larger role. He is also the chairman and CEO South Asia for Dentsu Aegis Network and a member of the Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific Executive Board.

    Outgoing president Mr Nakul Chopra stated, “I have been privileged to lead AAAI for two years – my sincere thanks to all my fellow members for their support. Hearty congratulations to Ashish on his election as President. He is not only a key influencer in our industry but also a AAAI veteran. I am sure that AAAI will only grow from strength to strength under his tutelage.”

    The announcement was made today at the St. Regis hotel, with Ram Sehgal being conferred with the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2018. 

    The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the Advertising Industry.

    The award was presented to Sehgal in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contribution to the advertising industry in literally establishing Delhi as a premier centre for advertising in India.

    It was this foundation that later led JWT Delhi to become the largest office in India and among the biggest in the world. Sehgal also helped in moulding Contract Advertising into one of the finest agencies and for leading AAAI and establishing one of the finest training programs in the industry ever. 

    AAAI is the official, national organisation of advertising agencies, formed in 1945, to promote their industry interests. The Association promotes professionalism, through its founding principles, which uphold sound business practices between Advertisers and Advertising Agencies and the various media. AAAI consists of small, medium and large-sized agencies as its members, who together account for almost 80 per cent of the advertising business placed in the country.

    Indian Television Dot Com exclusively spoke to the man of the evening, Ashish Bhasin to understand his goals for AAAI and the Indian media current state. 

    Goals you have set for yourself as president of the Advertising Agencies Association of India?

    Its a huge honour for me to be elected as the president of AAAI as we are in our 74th year. People who are so illustrious and stalwarts have occupied the position. My immediate past president Nakul Chopra has done a great job, So, the first goal is to live up to their standards.There is a complete change in the Media and Advertising industry and we have to change and adapt with times to make sure we continue to represent all constituents of our industry. And those constituents are constantly changing. Digital is now becoming pretty important today and we should encourage more digital agencies to be a part of AAAI. We also need to agile to the changing dynamics of the media industry and take up the industry’s issues as and when needed. 

    We also need to bring in younger people in the industry and also have more women on board. The vice president of the association this year is a female leader after a very long time. Anupriya Acharya is a very competent lady and its great to have her on board. 

    How do you view the current Indian advertising industry and what do you think are the challenges for the advertising industry?

    There is a complete momentum of change in the marketing and services business across and not just A&M. While there is an interplay between consumers going increasingly digital but we are lucky to be one of those few counties where all medias are increasing. Print and TV are still growing steadily in India. We also have to get out of the procurement and squeezing mindset so that enough resources are available with the agencies to invest in talent which they can use for their client. It is a period of change globally.  AAAI and the Indian industry should take this up as an opportunity and that’s where our focus will be. 

    What will the focus areas for AAAI this year?

    We want to be the apex body that best represents the advertising agencies along with other industry associations, the government or any other organisation. 

    AAAI is said to be the Big Boys Club. While we know there are fewer women in top leadership roles in the advertising industry, over the years we have never seen women as leaders or even participating much in AAAI. Why is that?

    It is a perception and we have to correct it. Some even call AAAI as “The Old Guy’s Club”. In an organisation, we need to have diversity and more women in the business as managers who take active roles. I am extremely pleased that after several years, we have  a female vice president and I hope and will work towards having many more women in the association. I hope our new EC will be a judicious mix of young and experienced because you need to have experienced people to have that continuity and wisdom which is gathered over the years. But we also need fresh and young blood in the organisation. We also want to include other agencies, be it big or small, so we are not labelled as a “Club”.