New Delhi: OMD India has bagged the communications mandate to service the new-age edtech platform, Cuemath.
The creative and marketing agency will drive Cuemath’s business by generating targeted campaigns based on audience data and making a positive impact on the potential customers’ brand recall.
Cuemath is a LIVE online math learning and coding program for over 2,00,000-plus KG-12th grade students across all school boards, spread over 20+ countries (UK, USA, UAE, Singapore, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and more). The Cuemath Program is designed to nurture future problem-solvers.
Leveraging OMD’s home-grown data platform, Omni, the creatives will be planned and optimized by analytics-driven insights to reach the target consumers through personalized communication.
OMD CEO Priti Murthy said she believes that the precision marketing and analytics platform will help meet the client’s business KPIs by creating targeted strategies to communicate to the audience in a familiar environment.
The Google-backed ed-tech start up has recently raised $40 million in Series C funding led by LGT Lightstone Aspada and Falcon Edge-managed Alpha Wave Incubation.
“We at Cuemath believe in making the world’s children great at math and coding and create invincible problem-solvers who will go on to solve humanity’s biggest problems. Since OMD is armed with the much-needed technological tools based on real-time, accurate, and representative data, we plan to use their strength to not only fulfil our mission but also create maximum impact,” says Cuemath, marketing director, Arvind Iyer.
Due to the disruption brought in by the Covid-19 pandemic and a significant increase in online learning platform consequently, OMD India plans to address the demand in the market by reaching the untapped geographies and how it can address the fear factors surrounding maths among most school-going children.
Mumbai: Nothing about our lives or the world we dwell in today is like what we knew it to be, till a little more than a year ago. This is perhaps a good enough incentive for brands and advertisers to adapt to the present world – Not ignore the elephant in the room and accept the irrevocable, undeniable truth of our reality today. After all, how long can the advertising world remain oblivious to the devastating changes brought by Covid-19 all around us.
Here are some brand campaigns which have chosen to take a different route as we endure a global pandemic. They have chosen to embark on the route of empathy, kindness, and most important of all, humanity:
Facebook India | More Together Hum Aaj Ek-duusre ka saath denge, toh ek behtar kal zaroor hoga. #MoreTogether
The campaign captures the grief and sense of loss many of us have gone through because of the devastation caused by Covid. However, it does not dwell on the grief for long, portraying brilliantly how a personal tragedy can transform an ordinary person into a do-gooder. While all of us watch out for the wellbeing of our loved ones, it’s only a few special ones who look out for others- not their own. It is this extraordinary message that Facebook’s latest ‘More together’ campaign brings out poignantly while also driving in the need to vaccinate oneself and the community we live in to make a safer world. The film succeeds in conveying a sense of hope and a sense of being in this together during these bleak times.
SBI Life Insurance: SBI Life #MummyKahanHain
The creative portrays a day in the life of a family in the new normal during the pandemic. It shows through the eyes of a child how she is initially upset to not have her working mom cater to her needs while at home, as the mother is busy working from home. For children, their mother is their sanctuary, and “#Mummy Kahan Hain” is the constant query thrown at the other members of the household if she’s missing for a moment. The heart-warming ad wonderfully depicts how during this pandemic, kids learned to adapt to ways of the new normal, and for every time that they asked #MummyKahanHain, they also realized the many hats a mother dons working from and for home. By the end, the child learns to truly understand and appreciate how a mother has an identity separate from motherhood.
Ariel’s ad of a transgender doctor Priya #MakeItPossible
Tough times never last, tough people do. Ariel’s new ad narrates the inspiring true story of Kerala’s first Transgender Doctor, V.S. Priya. Growing up in a conventional household and having lived all her life as a male, Dr. Priya took the bold and life-altering decision of embracing her feminine identity. Challenged by societal norms and stereotyped gender roles in families, she lived as a man for almost 30 years. Now, as Kerala’s first transgender doctor, she wants to be known for her work and is a beacon of hope not only for all transgendered people who want to be known for what they do but for everyone who continues to battle the odds and face impossible challenges. @Ariel India has been championing the cause of gender equality and celebrates these heroes who overcome the odds to #MakeItPossible.
TATA Steel Apno Ke Liye Aage Badho
It’s been just over a year since the pandemic changed our lives forever. While every festival that comes around brings a semblance of warmth and cheer, we need to remember the people who have lost their loved ones to this deadly nemesis. This film by TATA Steel celebrates and pays homage to the Covid warriors- those doctors and health workers who sacrificed their lives in the larger need of humanity. It reminds their loved ones to not stop living in their absence and celebrate the indomitable human spirit that fights against all odds and keeps moving ahead.
Ashok Leyland #AapkiJeetHamariJeet
One of the lessons the pandemic has taught us is the power and value of kindness of strangers. Ashok Leyland made a touching ad dripping with warmth, that shows how every celebration begins with caring and sharing. The film shows two people stuck up on a deserted road, with one of the person’s car breaks down. The video beautifully shows how sometimes it is important to rise to the occasion and go beyond one’s calling- purely in the name of humanity, empathy, and compassion. The underlying message being ‘Let us together spread positivity and goodwill.’
Colgate – Smiles always find a way
To sign off, here is a brilliant but simple concept by a brand that sells its product by displaying models with gorgeous smiles with the perfect set of teeth. However, in this International print ad, the brand chooses to demonstrate how truly warm smiles do not always need a perfect set of teeth. That, in fact, one can smile most warmly even by having a mask cover one’s face – the smile will find it through one’s eyes. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, face masks have become a part and parcel of our everyday lives. Gradually, we have got used to living with our smiles hidden behind a piece of cloth. But this Colgate print campaign, conceptualized by French agency VMLY&R, brilliantly conveys how you don’t need to see a smile to feel it. That a smile is more than just a curve- it’s a way of standing up and dealing with the adversities life throws at you. “Smiles always find a way”
Brands have an opportunity to shape a better, more accepting, and humane world and ads such as these hit us at a deeper level to be so. They go beyond mere advertising. And every effort accelerates a change, one step at a time.
New Delhi: Ad giant Ogilvy announced outgoing Leo Burnett executive Liz Taylor as its next global chief creative officer. With this, Taylor becomes the first-ever woman to hold the top position at the WPP’s creative agency.
She replaces Piyush Pandey, who is taking on a new role as chairman of global creative. He will continue to serve as chairman of Ogilvy India.
In her new role, Taylor will be responsible for overseeing Ogilvy‘s creative product across 132 offices in as many as 83 countries. She will also lead the agency’s five business units including advertising, public relations (PR), experience, health, and growth & innovation.
“Liz is a modern creative leader who leads from the front and understands that magic happens when we create and innovate at the intersection of our world-class capabilities and talent. I know her experience creating big, multifaceted ideas will only further strengthen Ogilvy’s ability to drive world-changing, life-changing, business-changing impact for our clients,” said Ogilvy’s global chief executive Andy Main.
I'm delighted to welcome @otherliztaylor to @Ogilvy. Liz is a modern creative leader who understands that magic happens when we create & innovate at the intersection of our world-class capabilities & talent. Let's change the world w/ borderless creativity. https://t.co/cMRVZp3buHpic.twitter.com/h9bfjb4fGw
She returns to the agency after a two-year stint at Publicis-owned Leo Burnett where she held the position of global chief creative officer till last month. An award-winning creative leader, Taylor has worked on a wide range of clients including Bank of America, Facebook, Boeing, Budweiser, Gatorade, Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, P&G, Walmart, among many others.
“There is something special about being able to come back to Ogilvy and join a team that is taking this iconic company into the future. Creativity has the power to change everything and I’m looking forward to working with Ogilvy’s incredibly strong global network of creative talent to inspire people and brands to have an impact on the world,” Taylor on her new role.
New Delhi: With people struggling with one of the worst health crises in recent times, the need for continuous blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring has become the need of the hour. Keeping this in view, the global smart-device brand OPPO announced the launch of its new Sleep Sign-in campaign for its consumers.
People can wear the OPPO Band Style while sleeping and connect it to the HeyTap Health app on their Android phones, for 30 days simultaneously. The company also announced that the first 500 lucky participants will stand a chance to win another OPPO Band Style, absolutely for free. Through its campaign, the brand is also encouraging people to have a good night’s sleep without having to worry about their blood oxygen saturation levels.
OPPO had also brand donated 5,000 units of OPPO Band Style to front-line warriors of Delhi Police and Greater Noida Authority, reinforcing that safeguarding citizen’s health and wellbeing has always been one of OPPO’S topmost priorities.
Starting 17 May till 31 July, all participants can sign in to ‘activity in the app’s Health tab. Post joining, they are required to wear the OPPO Band Style every night when they sleep. The data collected after 8:00 PM each day will be taken as sleep data. “When you wake up the next day, make sure your OPPO Band is connected to your phone via Bluetooth so that you can punch in on the activity page. You need to punch in 30 days in a row. Once you punch in, the day count starts. If you forget to punch in, the day count will reset automatically,” said the company during the launch.
OPPO will send a voucher to the Amazon account of winners within ten workdays after they submit their address and contact information on the prize page of the HeyTap Health app. Once they get the voucher, they can go to their Amazon account that has their valid delivery address in India, add to cart, choose the Payment method, add the gift card or promotion code and continue to finish the transaction.
KOLKATA: When the Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI)’s announced on 4 May, that it is indefinitely suspending the Indian Premier League (IPL) mid-way, the decision was backed by advertisers and broadcasters alike. The health and safety of players and staff was indeed paramount in wake of the current Covid crisis in the country.
But it also left media and advertising professionals guessing the impact that the suspension of one of the biggest cricket tournaments could have on the businesses, especially IPL’s official broadcaster – Star India.
According to a top Disney executive, there could be an immediate effect on Disney+ subscriber addition guidance for the next two quarters. Despite lesser revenue with a low ARPU, Disney+Hotstar contributes significantly to the overall subscriber base of The Walt Disney Co’s biggest streaming bet since Disney’s entry in India last year merging with existing Hotstar service.
While Disney+ paid subscribers have reached 103.6 million subscribers, Disney+Hotstar has nearly crossed around 34.5 million subscribers, which accounts for one-third of the overall base.
The company spokespersons in the earnings call revealed that they expect “fewer net subscribers’ addition in the second half of the year given the Covid-related suspension of the IPL season and the decision to move the Star+ Latin America launch to the fourth quarter.” After the launch of Disney+Hotstar in India, the network had taken the tournament entirely behind the paywall for the first time.
Other than millions of viewers who tune in to TV or OTT platforms to watch one of the biggest cricket spectacles, numerous brands also line up for quick reach and brand recall. Disney+Hotstar had roped in 14 sponsors for IPL 2021 and was expected to rake in higher ad revenue this year. But with the recent turn of events, IPL suspension could hit the advertising revenue too. “You could see a decrease in the ARPU and the subscribers in India if that plays out like we just said,” Christine McCarthy said during the earnings call.
The 14th edition of the IPL was suspended after the bio-secure bubble was invaded by the Covid-19 and several players and team staff contracted the disease. The fate of the tournament now hangs in balance, as BCCI now faces the challenge of finding a suitable window to play the rest of the matches this year. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has already made it clear that there is no option, but to play the remainder of the season outside India.
“About half of the 60 IPL matches that were expected to be played this season have already taken place. So you’re looking at the back half, 30 games to be played. So sure, if they were able to successfully relocate the tournament, we would hopefully see an impact, especially on advertising,” McCarthy replied while asked if rescheduling of IPL would change the outlook for the second half of the financial year.
With the second wave of Covid-19 ravaging the country, and a third wave likely, it remains to be seen how BCCI will navigate through the pandemic and schedule the remaining matches in a Cricket-packed year. The big-ticket events like ICC T20 World Cup are also scheduled for October-November 2021.
“The big issue is going to be when in the quarter and if it overlaps into q4, or if it goes into the first fiscal quarter, which starts for us and the beginning of October. So it would have an impact on it, it just depends on when it would come in. Let’s hope they can relocate it,” McCarthy added further.
MUMBAI: Garage Worldwide – the digital and design arm of Famous Innovations has appointed Manish Arora as head of business. At Garage, his main mandate will be growth and technology specialisation.
Arora has been in the business for more than 20 years, working with brands like Videocon, Pantaloons, Gitanjali Jewels & Lifestyle, MACHO Innerwear, Goa Tourism, Punjab Tourism, Rajasthan Tourism & Uttaranchal Tourism, SBI, LIC, Reliance Broadcast, Zee International, Godrej Agrovet, Mattel Toys (Hot Wheels, Scrabble, UNO), Asian Paints and across agencies like Quadrant, Ogilvy Mumbai, Percept and Saints & Warriors. He started his own firm Zebras Consulting a few years ago and was successfully leading the SBI brand.
“Garage brings with it the perfect blend of creative spark, technological innovation and media expertise. There is so much potential in all these areas in India and we may be at the tipping point of India’s digital explosion right now. The last year has really shown us the true power of digital, and I’m excited about harnessing that power at Garage Worldwide,” said Arora.
Garage Worldwide founder & CCO Raj Kamble said, “Manish’s diverse experience, including being an entrepreneur himself, make him the perfect fit for the culture at Garage. He brings a great balance of business, strategy and creative fervor to the table, and with him we look forward to taking our digital journey to the next level.”
New Delhi: Leading advertising and communication group Havas has partnered with global creative production agency Wellcom Worldwide to launch Havas Studios – a new, integrated global production business.
According to the group, Havas Studios’ capabilities will span film, audio, print, photographic and digital content production, encompassing content origination talent and a wide range of post-production facilities. It will also have dedicated teams supporting the integrated delivery of retail and e-Commerce platform-ready content.
The partnership agreement will see employees from both businesses transferred into the new entity, which will be headquartered in London. It will be led by Havas UK chief operating officer Paul Ward, who takes on the new title of global CEO, Havas Studios. He will be supported by an executive committee comprising both Havas and Wellcom senior executives, the agency announced on Thursday.
“Building better brand experiences means rethinking how content is managed. Now that digital is fully integrated into everything we do, it is content’s turn to become an organic part of our approach. By partnering with Wellcom we are now able to provide our clients with the best production capabilities in the industry,” said Havas Group, CEO, Yannick Bolloré.
A micro-network of integrated content studios will be created, first in London, New York, Chicago, and Kuala Lumpur, followed by further studios across Europe, Australia, China, India, Latin America, and the West Coast of the US.
According to Havas Creative, CEO, Chris Hirst, the new, global micro-network of studios, will offer clients an innovative, technology-first solution they genuinely can’t find anywhere else. “We know that it’s no longer enough to just make better ads – all clients, from the smallest to the biggest global brands now need smarter, more agile, more bespoke, and more cost-effective solutions,” he added.
Wayne Sidwell, Global CEO at Wellcom Worldwide said, “It’s an incredibly enviable model and I’m very excited to see the business continue to develop over the next few years.”
KOLKATA: The Indian Premier League (IPL) going into limbo due to the current Covid2019 crisis has thrown up a whole host of problems for the stakeholders involved. With only 29 games played and nearly an equal number of matches still in hand, advertisers who had struck ad deals well in advance or for the entire duration of the league were in a fix. Now, it has emerged that official broadcaster Star Sports has asked advertisers who had slots for the tournament airtime to pay only for the matches that have been played.
Star Sports has also reached out to title sponsors and advertisers which had bought airtimes with an option to continue the deals when BCCI orders resumption of the tournament.
“Given the unprecedented times, Star India has reached out to all their advertisers informing them and their agencies to only bill for the inventory consumed so far. The contingency plan gives brands the first preference to continue the ad deals if and when BCCI decides to resume the league at a later stage,” a PTI report stated quoting a source.
The source added that this option will enable brands to capitalise on the second leg and the transparency will ensure a minimum adverse impact on their business objectives.
Last Tuesday, BCCI decided to “postpone” the ongoing IPL season with immediate effect after several players and support staff tested Covid positive. For the first 26 matches played in IPL 2021, Star India network has garnered a cumulative reach of 352 million, as against the 349 million reach for IPL 2020.
NEW DELHI: Do you remember TV commercials that featured fans at crowded football games, or that focused around cities choked with people, or with celebrities doing every possible thing to woo their audience? You may call them the “before coronavirus” commercials/ads that no longer work in today’s scenario. With the onset of the pandemic, everything changed in a matter of hours, and TV commercials of various brands were no exception. As the Covid-imposed lockdown continues, Indian advertisers are completely relying on media-led brand building to reap long term benefits.
The rise of ad flexibility
As major live events, where TVCs played a pivotal role, were cancelled keeping in mind to curb the spread of the Coronavirus, advertisers had to regulate themselves according to their new programming slate. This has also been changing according to the scenario outside, making the ads more compassionate and caring towards their customers. Since the airing of many programs was also cancelled due to the pandemic, the TVCs mostly aired during the news broadcast or in the news channel.
Advertising in digital content
With the remote working and stay at home guidelines, the viewership of TV and OTT platforms is seeing an explosive growth. Though the advertising demand during this phase is being subdued due to the current situation, advertisement in certain categories like essentials, health and hygiene worked like never before. Brands across industries have responded to this situation quite promptly and started investing in TVC and campaigns for essentials and health and hygiene products across media. Whereas, non-essential categories didn’t fall behind and rather started their communications in digital medium by tagging alongside essential categories. Few companies have shifted to the basics and once again emphasised on brand building by highlighting their efforts towards combating the situation through their advertisements.
Brand building is the new focus
With a stepped-up viewership of TV and OTT platforms, lessened advertiser clutter and potentially lower rates due to lower demand, brands have realised that this is the perfect time to invest in brand building by emphasising more on the brand’s core values. Brands have once again started earmarking for BTL so that it can be redirected to deploy on media and have put consumer promos, offers among others on a backseat. They executed brand building by exploring higher ACDs (average commercial durations) and consumer-relatable storytelling.
New industries, new advertisers
As we have entered a much dreaded second phase of the Covid2019 pandemic, there is no clear timeline by when we will emerge out of the unprecedented situation. Therefore, brands need to engage in rigorous scenario-based planning, where they have to make an imaginary timeline of recovery, changes in consumer behaviour and upgraded budgets. The digital-first approach should be the first line of advertising for a brand in this ‘new normal’ situation. Brand’s media plans also need to be aligned with business strategy so that a balance can be made between opportunity and reality. One needs to keep in mind that whenever there is an extended lockdown, there is a downward pressure on consumer purchasing power and planned purchases will be on the lower side.
(The author is director, Bonn Group of Industries. The views expressed in this column are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)
NEW DELHI: Publicis Worldwide India has brought on Radhika Burman as vice president – strategic planning. She will be based out of New Delhi and will report into BBH-Publicis Worldwide India MD & chief strategy officer Sanjay Sharma.
In her role, Burman will lead the strategy mandate for the New Delhi office, spearheading the strategic planning function for existing clients as well as driving growth through new business for the region. She will play a crucial role in the agency’s growth ambitions with an objective to deliver solutions driven by a well-rounded view on consumer insights that can be translated into powerful and actionable brand insights.
Sharma said, “In today’s complex and fast changing world, our clients need strong strategic partnerships more than ever. Radhika is an exceptional strategic mind who has the experience, expertise and energy to partner our clients in providing the right solutions for today’s challenges. In the coming days I see her playing a pivotal role in driving the growth and creative agenda for Publicis Worldwide in New Delhi.”
Burman has over 11 years of experience both on the client side as well as across network agencies. In her last role, she was manager – strategy and consumer insights at Platinum Guild International and played a central role in the strategic planning process to build the platinum jewellery business for India by effectively analysing and translating consumer and trade research into insightful strategies. Prior to that, she has worked at FCB and JWT and was part of the strategic planning team that worked on brands such as Zee, PepsiCo, Hero, and Cargill among others.
“I am excited to be part of this new phase at Publicis, and very thrilled at the opportunity to work cohesively on an integrated communications approach to deliver growth and success for our partners,” said Burman. “The focus will be to create seamless and consistent experiences for the brands we work on, across multiple channels and touch points. Given the challenging times we are in, the need to deliver unified marketing and messaging strategies has never been stronger. Our efforts will be to give our partners just that.”
