ITV

Tag: advertising

  • Guest column: Holiday spirit to spur demand for advertising

    Guest column: Holiday spirit to spur demand for advertising

    NEW DELHI: The pandemic seems to be behind us. Though it hasn’t really disappeared, a slight ray of hope and safety has emerged from the talks of a vaccine soon becoming available. The effect of the prolonged lockdown has impacted economies across the globe, with India being no exception to it. In fact, for an economy which was already reeling under fiscal pressures, the pandemic and resultant lockdown only exacerbated things further. 

    To put things in perspective, look at the dismal performance of the economy in Q1. GDP contracted by a whopping 23 per cent in the June quarter of FY21 after having expanded by a not so impressive 3.3 per cent in the last quarter of FY20. With the first two quarters being wiped out, the third quarter numbers are only expected to be marginally good compared to the ones preceding it. In fact, the GDP in Q3 had expanded by slightly more than 5 per cent in FY19 and 4.6 per cent in FY20. The prolonged lockdown which completely shut down economic activity will have a paralysing effect on the Q3 GDP growth too.  

    A depressed economic growth has an all-pervasive impact on sectors, whether primary or tertiary. The advertising sector too has taken its fair share of hits. Most of the festive season this year has been under the shadows of the pandemic. Bigger festivities have been a complete washout until Diwali. But from here on there seems to be a light of hope. 

    With the world slowly opening, advertisers are likely to spend the remainder of the festive season trying to cover up for what was lost during the lockdown period. A paradigm shift in the overall marketing scenarios following the pandemic will obviously need a change in advertising strategies, creatives and mediums. This is likely to bode well for the advertising world. 

    What will drive advertising going forward?

    With Diwali witnessing a slight uptick in activity, a lower spread rate of Covid2019 will help in maintaining the momentum from here on out. The focus now shifts to year-end festivities starting with Thanksgiving towards the end of November and moving towards Christmas and New Year. 

    One factor that will drive demand from consumers is the very fact that across the board they have been weary of spending big and focusing on saving in a scenario where job losses and pay cuts have been bothering them. Targeted advertising towards the consuming class will hence drive the fortunes of the industry over the next couple of months until New Year.

    The large swathe of middle and upper middle-class consumers are key in the Indian context. This is exactly the layer of society which has been able to weather the economic storm of the pandemic to some extent. With salary structures crawling back to normal, spending habits too can be expected to return to pre-Covid levels. 

    In the changed mindset that we are presently living, fine tuning advertising to the temperaments of consumers will become essential. While products suited to the changed environment, where safety takes precedence over all else will be in demand, pricing will be the next crucial element to target consumers. 

    Though a bumper season is not what it looks like, a rejuvenated spirit among advertisers will surely buoy spirits keeping them high enough to be prepared for a better festive season next year. After all hope is the only reality!

    (The writer is founder & CEO of VDO.AI. Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to his views.)
     

  • Pocket Aces creates cocktail anthem for Bacardi NH7 Weekender

    Pocket Aces creates cocktail anthem for Bacardi NH7 Weekender

    MUMBAI: Bringing the thrill of popular music festivals home, Gobble, a lifestyle channel by Pocket Aces, has created a cocktail anthem for Bacardi NH7 Weekender in collaboration with OML Entertainment. The endeavour features independent musician Ambika Nayak and acapella group Instrumen to demonstrate two easy yet delicious cocktail recipes that can be mastered at home using Bacardi Rum.

    The video, which was released ahead of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender on Gobble’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram pages, saw Ambika Nayak take viewers through quick cocktail preparations – an aam panna mojito, and a piña colada. She was accompanied by acapella artists from the Instrumen group who created the perfect sound using their beatboxing skills and vocals to emulate instruments and unusual beats while also lending their melodious voices to the lyrics. The sound of the track complimented the visuals of the video, bringing out the young and upbeat vibe of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender. Since its release, the foot-tapping video has caught the nerve of netizens.

    Bacardi India and southeast Asia senior brand manager Sameeksha Uniyal said, “For over a decade we’ve been hosting Bacardi NH7 Weekender, that brings alive different music, food and culture experiences for audiences to come together and do what moves them. In this year’s digital avatar, we wanted to leave no stone unturned in getting everyone in the Weekender state of mind. So, we partnered with Gobble for India’s first-ever cocktail anthem, that shows some delicious cocktails to get the party going.”

    Gobble channel manager Sonalika Mehra said, “This year’s Bacardi NH7 Weekender focused on bringing the community together in a virtual world with exceptional performances from indie as well as international artists. This fits well into Gobble’s ethos of being a platform for young talented independent creators to deliver engaging content that is fun, quirky, and relatable to our audience. When we came up with the idea for an acapella cocktail anthem, we were confident that this would work well with Bacardi NH7 Weekender’s positioning, while being able to generate the right buzz among its target audiences. The success of the cocktail anthem is an indication that we are on the right path, and the sky is the limit when it comes to our creative avenues to work with our partner brands.”

  • What happens when Google Assistant eats a 5 Star?

    What happens when Google Assistant eats a 5 Star?

    NEW DELHI: Over the years, Cadbury 5 Star has come up with a few memorable campaigns that immediately lights the bulb of brand recall among consumers. From the humorous Ramesh-Suresh TVCs to the quirky Do Nothing films, the brand always thinks up something out of the box. Now, Five Star has partnered with Google Assistant for its latest campaign ‘Ok Google Eat a 5 Star’. It urges audiences to say eat a 5 Star on their Google Assistant, which then further activates the Do Nothing mode on the device.

    Once the mode is activated, every further command that you give to it such as open app, call a friend, find a number etc is reverted with a different message that actually asks you to stop, take a break and chill for a bit.

    The assistant reacts differently to different users. The idea was to come up with personalised answers for the audiences.

    The innovative campaign is executed by Wavemaker India, Ogilvy India and team Google, and is being amplified via social mediums.

    The brand has also released a film for it.

    5 Star first launched its Do Nothing campaign in early 2020. The film opened with an aged woman asking a young boy to pick up her walking stick that's falls on the road while she is sitting on a roadside bench. Lost in the 5 Star bar he’s eating, he responds with 'Ji Maaji' but does not move. As the old lady gets up to pick the stick herself, a grand piano falls at the very spot where she was sitting. The lady ends up thanking the boy for not doing anything.

    It launched another film in September where in an office scenario, three young executives are working late with their boss at night. The latter cracks jokes and the first two execs share a laugh, however, the third exec is preoccupied with his 5 Star bar and forgets to pretend to laugh at the jokes. In the end, he is relieved of his duties and gets to return home while others continue to work. 

  • How ShareChat enables 150+ brands to engage with India’s heartland

    How ShareChat enables 150+ brands to engage with India’s heartland

    NEW DELHI: With over 530 million people connected to the world wide web and counting, India has the second-largest internet user base in the world today. Out of these, around 71 per cent come from lower-tier cities, according to a Statista report. Another study by Zinnov indicates that 81 per cent of tier-2 and 80 per cent of the tier-3 population choose mobiles as the preferred platform for consuming content. Naturally, these numbers are quite attractive to the marketing community. With growing awareness, a rise in disposable income, and access to information, these netizens are also their next set of consumers. But the question is, what’s the most effective way to reach them?

    ShareChat claims to have the answer. Founded in 2015 by three IIT-Kanpur graduates, Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan, ShareChat is a unique social media platform – it’s available in 15 Indian languages and dialects, but not in English. It hosts content ranging from love, devotional, entertainment, to great user-generated material. With more than 160 million active users, it’s fair to say the app has a direct line to India’s heartland.

    ShareChat director sales Satyajit Deb Roy shared, “Today, ShareChat is the only social media platform connecting language-first, new internet users at scale. We are at the forefront of the India's internet revolution. Users are coming to ShareChat to discover content, and also consume content in the comfort of their own language, societal norms and interests. Our user community is dominated by language-first internet users across the country, the majority of them hailing from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Exploring this space has been of utmost priority for brands, and ShareChat stays relevant with its capability to connect brands to language first internet users at scale, and in a targeted way.”

    He added that the app’s focus remains on driving good performance advertisements and solutions for brands. “We have built our adtech solutions after evaluating brands’ needs and understanding consumer behaviour insights that we gathered over the years. We work with brands and marketers to design customised campaigns, relevant to their target audience. Taking their product deeper into the country and engaging with audiences they haven’t been able to do it at scale.”

    Roy highlighted that within a year of starting monetisation, more than 150 brands have signed up and worked with them on multiple occasions. 

    “We have seen increasing interest from the companies belonging to e-commerce, consumer durables, FMCG, telecom, gaming, automotive and many more verticals. We are expanding our focus beyond these verticals and would like to cater to more than 25 consumer-focused verticals in the foreseeable future,” he elaborated. 

    Brands are open to partner with ShareChat not just because it has traditional advertising solutions in store for them. Rather, the platform brings in unique capabilities to drive maximum reach and retention for the advertisers. 

    Roy explained, “The intent is to connect brands with the targeted audience on our platform through every possible touchpoint. Apart from traditional digital marketing solutions like video/banner ads, we offer native ad formats, influencer-led conversational ads, user-generated content, creator-led ads, hashtags and impact options, et al.” 

    As brands demanded high impact for their campaigns on the platform, ShareChat introduced the idea of exit interstitial, which appears to the targeted users while exiting the platform. This generally includes a banner or a 6-second video. In addition to this, it has recently introduced a 360-degree solution called Divas. This drives engagement for the brands through branded user-generated content, hashtag challenges along with top creators and influencers on ShareChat to drive KPI's like sales, downloads etc.  “That said, we have also rolled out programmatic solutions recently and are experimenting with a selective set of brands,” he quipped. 

    The app’s success and popularity are attracting good investments too. Just last year, the platform won a 100 million dollar financing round led by Twitter. Other investors include TrustBridge Partners, Shunwei Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SAIF Capital, India Quotient, and Morningside Venture Capital. Reportedly, the company’s valuation today stands at 650 million dollar. Also, speculation is rife that Google is now eyeing to buy the platform. 

  • Honda celebrates Activa’s 20 glorious years of legacy

    Honda celebrates Activa’s 20 glorious years of legacy

    NEW DELHI: To mark the 20th anniversary of its flagship product- Activa, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India in association with dentsu One, has launched a special campaign to introduce the recently unveiled Activa 6G 20th Anniversary Limited Edition. 

    It is pertinent to note here that since its inception in 2001, Activa has consistently reactivated the scooter segment, and with every generation, continues to change the way India rides. 

    Preciously curated for customers, the 20th Anniversary Edition of Activa 6G gets distinctive design cues that accentuate its overall royal appeal. Two new colour schemes, Matte Mature Brown and Pearl Nightstar Black, matched with rear grab rails, make this limited edition a sure head-turner. The shiny embossed 20th-year anniversary logo and the precious golden Activa emblem make it instantly recognisable, and adding more visual drama to the overall design are stylish graphics. Additionally, the firm road grip is jazzed up with black steel wheels on both front and rear. Further accentuating the modern looks are the brown inner cover and seat. 

    Conceptualised and executed by dentsu One, the campaign aims to celebrate 20 years of priceless love and togetherness between Activa and its customers. The campaign personifies this love by capturing the precious relationship of a husband and wife on their anniversary, when the husband surprises her by bringing home the all-new limited edition of Activa 6G and says ‘Ek Naya Safar Shuru Karein!’ 

    The video ends with a heartfelt message that commemorates the 20-year long relationship of Honda’s Activa with its customers that have become even more precious with the Activa 6G anniversary edition. 

    HMSI director sales and marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria commented, “We are extremely happy and proud as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Activa. It is a celebration time for us and our extended family of more than two crore satisfied customers who have made Activa a part of their daily lives. The campaign presents the emotional connection between our customers and their beloved Activa, which gets a makeover to celebrate this special occasion. The distinctive gold embossed Activa logo of the 20th anniversary edition is the highlight and makes it worthy of a collector’s must-have.” 

    dentsu One NCD Titus Upputuru said, “I am grateful for the opportunity to work on this special campaign. Twenty years is a long journey and Activa is so special. ‘Zindagi do pahiyon se chalti hai’…and we wanted to celebrate this journey of two decades with a special story that not only reflects on the beautiful past but shows the promise of a special future. We thought it would be great to see the journey through the eyes of the husband even as he recreates the couple’s very first interaction inside the college library. It was good fun bringing the playful script to life.” 

    “Activa is not just a scooter brand for millions but a treasure of memories. Most of India would have taken a ride on an Activa since its launch in 2001. People grew from infants to adults, young love birds to married couples and from parents to grandparents – with many beautiful and cherished memories with this brand.  The 20 years’ anniversary edition of Activa marks this beautiful journey of a brand that has garnered the love and affection of Indians. The film shows the story of a couple that comes a full circle down memory lane with this anniversary edition. A lot of things in this long period might have changed but not the love, trust and this beautiful relationship with the brand,” added dentsu One EVP account management Abhinav Kaushik.

  • Social Beat’s Avinash Shenoy joins Tilt Brand Solutions

    Social Beat’s Avinash Shenoy joins Tilt Brand Solutions

    NEW DELHI: Avinash Shenoy has joined Tilt Brand Solutions as senior business director. He makes the move from Social Beat, where he was last serving as lead – business development and growth.

    At Social Beat, Shenoy was leading growth, focusing on brand strategy for business building communication, digital marketing, creative strategy, content marketing, and process control.

    Shenoy has over two decades of experience in advertising, brand management and marketing communications. In the past, he has worked with Pepsico and Reliance Capital and worked on execution of strategies for various marquee brands. On the agency side, he has managed key personal care brands for Unilever ads at Lowe and was part of a popular online jewellery brand where he worked towards delivering their growth hacking and digital marketing initiatives. Shenoy has also been associated with Famous Innovations, Publicis Groupe and Grey Worldwide.

    Tilt Brand Solutions was launched by former MullenLowe Lintas group CEO Joseph George in 2018. 

     

  • #Throwback2020: Big CMO appointments

    #Throwback2020: Big CMO appointments

    NEW DELHI: No doubt Covid2019 had an impact on nearly each and every category, but it could not deter the long-term objectives of brands. They ensured that work did not stop and it was business as usual, albeit under vastly different circumstances. As the lockdown lifted, several businesses started regaining pre-Covid sales and revenues, while others are still working their way to it with optimism.

    Even though there were layoffs at all levels, there were also those who picked up new roles during this challenging time. In the marketing domain, there were several big movements across brands throughout the year that surprised the industry and became the talk of the town. Some of these industry leaders joined emerging start-ups, vouching to scale them with their skills and market understanding; while others took charge of large and established brands, ensuring that their user base remains intact, and the communication with the consumer evolves further.

    Some of the noteworthy appointments include:-

    Kapil Grover, Burger King

    The quick-service restaurant space has witnessed rapid growth in India, though it, too, hit a stumbling block courtesy the pandemic. Home delivery and take-away options sustained the category, but with the fifth phase of Unlock underway, people have started dining out again. In order to further grow and consolidate its business, Burger King India appointed Kapil Grover as chief digital officer. He returned to Burger King after nearly two years at Jubilant FoodWorks’ Domino’s Pizza as CMO.

    Grover is a successful marketer with close to two decades in the industry. He has had stints with KFC India, Radico Khaitan, and Luxor Writing Instruments in the past.

    Aparna Mahesh, Great Learning

    The star of edu-tech continues rising in India, and competing brands are leaving no stone unturned to ensure their campaign outshines the rest. Amid this high-stakes fight, Great Learning appointed Aparna Mahesh to lead its global marketing strategy, development and delivery of brand communication, strategic marketing partnerships and user engagement. She joined from BankBazaar and has two decades of experience under her belt and a track record of building and nurturing successful brands nationally and internationally.

    Under Mahesh’s leadership, GreatLearning hit it out of the park this IPL with its Power Ahead campaign featuring Indian cricket’s golden boy Virat Kohli.

    Deepika Warrier, Diageo

    Liquor is one of the most difficult categories to market as the government does not allow any kind of advertising in it. The marketers in this category experiment with different formats to create a recall for their brand. This year, during the pandemic, Diageo brought ace marketer Deepika Warrier on board as CMO to lead its portfolio. Warrier has spent over two decades at Pepsico across different roles in India and markets overseas. 

    Gayatri Yadav, Sequoia Capital

    Star India’s former top executive and one of the most trusted hands at the broadcast network, Gayatri Yadav joined Sequoia Capital as chief marketing officer – India. Yadav spearheaded numerous initiatives at Star India and has over 20 years of experience in marketing across consumer products and media industries. She was last serving as president of consumer strategy and innovation at the broadcaster. Yadav has worked with brands such as Procter & Gamble and General Mills and was responsible for launching the Pillsbury brand. She is known in the industry for her leadership skills, brand management, business development, competitive analysis, business strategy, and keen customer insights.

    Gaurav Verma, PharmEasy

    Online medicine delivery is an extremely vibrant category that has only skyrocketed with the onset of the pandemic. It consists of several players competing for the mind space of consumers. PharmEasy, which accounts for 25 per cent of revenue in the e-pharmacy market, recently hired Gaurav Verma as CMO. He joined the organisation from Zomato, where he was working in the same capacity. Verma has over 15 years of experience and has worked at PepsiCo, TATA Tea, Lenovo and ITC.

    Suman Varma, Hamdard Wakf Laboratories

    Earlier this year, Hamdard Wakf Laboratories brought Suman Varma onboard to lead the marketing strategy for its extensive portfolio, which includes classical medicine, patented medicines, OTC products, and wellness centres. Varma is a veteran agency professional and marketer with over 30 years of experience. She has worked at J. Walter Thompson and Rediffusion Brand Solutions, and served on the boards of several brands as an independent director.

    Pradeep Hejmadi, Hathway

    Hathway Cable and Datacom appointed Pradeep Hejmadi as its chief marketing officer in April 2020. He joined the MSO from Aidem Ventures where he was serving as CEO. Hejmadi has over two decades of experience and has previously been with ZeeL, TAM, MTV India, Turner Research, Discovery Networks, BCCL, and J Walter Thompson.

    Avneesh Khosla, Vodafone

    Over the years, the telecom sector in India has expanded services across multiple portfolios – broadband, enterprise solutions, VAS, telecom services, cloud, security, cybersecurity, shared solutions, and others. Vodafone, one of the leading telcos in the country, elevated Avneesh Khosla as the brand’s chief marketing officer in April this year.

    Khosla is an old hand at Vodafone and was last serving as director, marketing. He has over 20 years of experience and has seen the transformation of Hutch into Vodafone. During his tenure, the company underwent yet another change in brand identity, as is now known as Vi.

    Meghna Apparao, Licious

    Industry stalwart Meghna Apparao joined Licious to grow the meat, meat-products and seafood brand as a chief business officer. From strategising for growth, to launching new categories, building business verticals, leading pioneering assignments across India and global markets to transforming consumer behaviour in the online space; Apparao has done it all. An able leader, she has led and mentored high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams throughout.

    Apparao came from Godrej Consumer Products where she was serving as a CMO. She has been associated with some of the biggest names in India Inc, viz, Hindustan Unilever, Amazon and Godrej.

    Kedar Apte, RBML

    A veteran marketer, Kedar Apte joined RBML, a 2019 joint venture between Reliance and BP for fuels and mobility in India, as CMO to lead categories such as fuel, convenience retail, and electric vehicles charging. He is a part of brand Jio-BP.

    Apte joined RBML from Castrol, where he was serving as VP marketing. He joined the firm in 2011 and spent a total of nine years at the lubricants giant. Prior to that he worked with HUL for nearly nine years.

    Manav Sethi, Octro

    With leadership experience across ecommerce, omnichannel marketplaces, local search, maps and classifieds, Manav Sethi joined Octro as global chief marketing officer.

    Prior to that, he was with Eros International, where he was working as group chief marketing officer. At Eros, he supervised growth of OTT platform and brand Eros Now. He was also the founding CMO for ALTBalaji. During his two-decade-long career, Sethi has worked with Zenith Infotech, PSI Data Systems, Webdunia.com, Reliance Big Entertainment, Bigmaps and AskMeBazaar.

    Karan Shroff, Unacademy

    The edu-tech brand which brought Karan Shroff from Xiaomi to lead the marketing function elevated him as the chief marketing officer for the brand. He is responsible for product growth, marketing, strategy, user retention, acquisition and several other portfolios. An ace marketer with sharp analytical skills, Shroff is an entrepreneur turned marketer. He founded his events company and then moved up the ladder step by step to reach this position. He spearheaded Unacademy’s first TV campaign ‘Let’s Crack It’, which became a viral success.

    Viral Oza, Mahindra Life Sciences

    A veteran marketer with experience across media, handset, FMCGs, realty, and technology sector, Viral Oza joined Mahindra Life Sciences as CMO. He has nearly three decades of experience and has worked with a variety of brands such as HUL, Nokia, BCCL, Microsoft, Lodha Group and others.

    Oza is leading the brands product portfolio, building deep market understanding and strengthening customer insight capabilities. He steers this transformation across the company’s residential and industrial businesses.

    Anupam Bokey, Allied Blenders

    India’s alcohol market includes domestic as well as foreign brands. With more disposable income in peoples’ hands, the category has been taking off of late and brands are launching newer variants, and marketing across multiple channels to connect with audiences. Allied Blenders and Distillers, which hosts brands such as Jolly Roger, Sterling Reserve, Officer’s Choice and others, roped in Anupam Bokey as CMO to lead marketing across its product portfolio. He joined from Too Yumm! He has over 25 years of experience and has worked with brands such as HUL, Britannia, and RPSG, to name a few.

    Meenu Bagla, Cyient

    Cyient, a digital technology and engineering solutions provider, appointed Meenu Bagla as VP and CMO. She is responsible for strengthening the brand reach, relevance, and advocacy to deliver accelerated business growth in new and existing markets.

    Prior to her Cyient stint, she was with Tech Mahindra as global head of. She has held marketing leadership positions at major multinational companies, including Quinnox, Wipro, Oracle, Aditya Birla Group, and CSS Corp. Bagla has evangelised and implemented a lean marketing strategy that is fuelled by digital technologies and powerful storytelling.

  • Digital media budgets, e-commerce selling surge in 2020: MMA report

    Digital media budgets, e-commerce selling surge in 2020: MMA report

    MUMBAI: The Covid2019 pandemic has triggered a definite shift in the consumer and business landscape. The advertising and marketing industry has had to quickly adapt to the new normal, realigning monies and deploying new tools and tactics to connect with audiences; in this regard, digital ecosystem has been the biggest gainer. In fact, digital media budgets have registered a 34 per cent increase over the past several months, states the Modern Marketer Reckoner report released by GroupM and MMA India.

    The report, which takes a deep dive into the business and media ecosystem of the country, underlines that 23 per cent of business respondents have focused on ecommerce selling this year.

    It further states that 54 percent of businesses in India have been impacted by the pandemic, of which retail, travel and tourism have been hit the hardest. It highlights that almost 90 per cent of people are more careful about how they spend their money in the new normal. 50 per cent of people have delayed big purchases and almost 38 per cent have cut down on day-to-day expenses.

    Most affected by consumers' tightened purse-strings are the discretionary categories – 77 per cent have reduced eating at restaurants, while 55 per cent have cut down on purchasing clothes and fashion accessories. Further, 48 per cent respondents have reduced spending on consumer electronics.

    What has seen a positive impact are the areas related to health and hygiene – 29 per cent are exercising more at home, 24 per cent are consuming more vitamins and supplements, and 23 per cent are spending more on groceries.

    With the onset of the pandemic, people stepped out of their comfort zones, tried something new, picked up diverse skillsets. Among the digital-first timers – 45 per cent streamed movies, 33 per cent used an e-learning app, 28 per cent purchased grocery online, and 22 per cent consulted a doctor online. As work from home became the norm, 43 per cent respondents utilised software to smoothen the workflow.

    This year’s Modern Marketer Reckoner report focuses on two major perspectives – the consumer lens and the marketer lens. The consumer lens focuses on the theme “Nothing Is Certain” and it captures the uncertainty and the changes which happened in 2020 at various levels from a consumer’s point of view. The first half of the report talks from a consumer sentiment perspective and the impact it has had at a socio-cultural level. It also highlights the media consumption perspective, with a special focus on digital and mobile app ecosystem. This looks at the growth in the mobile and digital ecosystem in the last few months and how it has leapfrogged. And lastly, it highlights the shopping perspective, focusing on how the shopping basket has changed for consumers, the shift towards essentials and the huge increase in ecommerce as a mode of shopping.

    The second half of the report – ‘Everything is Possible’ – focuses on providing a modern marketing reckoner to marketers on the key strategic tentpoles they should look at, so as to navigate the ambiguity and the uncertain business and economic landscape. It highlights the strategic pillars of modern marketing which marketers should deploy to not only deal with the current uncertainty but is a reckoner, even beyond. This part focuses on how the way consumer content has been changing and therefore how the content ecosystem is seeing the emergence of new formats and trends. Thus, it showcases and discusses how brand communication has moved from creativity to proliferation and thereby what should brands do to retool their strategies. It also highlights the growing importance of accountability in marketing and why it is more critical at times like this.

    GroupM south Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar said, “The advertising and marketing industry has been encountering some fast changes in the past few years with the advancement in innovation and technology. In this current wave of uncertainty and ambiguity, it becomes even more critical for marketers to measure ROI and therefore, invest in data and technology to do the same. This year with the report we wanted to decipher the changing face of content and influencers, new communication formats and channels, and the ways to build powerful brands.”

    “The reckoner underlines the marketing industry’s certainty when it comes to the rapidly expanding mobile channel,” said MMA MD APAC Rohit Dadwal. “The industry, on the whole, recognises that the modern era of the market is upon us and we need to embrace it. This new age of marketing is going to be built on tools and technology that this report helps to outline along with great examples through the lens of various industry leaders who are the torch bears of this change… helping shape the future for marketers and agencies in India and abroad.”

    GroupM south Asia president Tushar Vyas said, “One of the biggest areas of impact that has emerged is the digital ecosystem. It plays a huge part in the way the business landscape of today has unfolded. We believe that modern marketers will have an advantage if they can apply deep insights to understand the changing landscape. In this period of uncertainty, we need to be more outcome-driven and mobile aligned to usher hope and dynamism into the life of the consumer again. With this report, we wanted to address the huge changes in the industry and talk about the new ways to embed data into every part of the business and decode them to get powerful insights which in turn can help brands communicate better.” 

  • We want to be a differentiated platform first company: Wondrlab’s Saurabh Varma

    We want to be a differentiated platform first company: Wondrlab’s Saurabh Varma

    NEW DELHI: Saurabh Varma along with two other co-founders – Rakesh Hinduja and Vandana Verma – launched his own martech agency Wondrlab in November this year. Within no time, the firm announced a slew of appointments in leadership roles, and registered some account wins. However, the biggest surprise came when Varma announced the acquisition of Amit Akali’s What’s Your Problem. Akali, an old hand in the agency business, became the co-founder of Wondrlab. The development clearly stated that Varma, a hardened marketing professional with over two decades of experience, has a vision beyond just starting another agency.

    Indiantelevision.com’s Devesh Gupta got into a conversation with Varma and Akali to understand more about how their synergies matched, what led to the acquisition, plans for the Indian market, and the way forward in the near future. Excerpts from the interview:-

    On the reason what's Your Problem (WYP) partnered with Wondrlab.

    Amit: I have been analysing the developments before and after the acquisition and I don’t think that WYP could have partnered with anybody else. The kind of work we do, our partner also needed to have the same vision and hunger for great work. We are five years old, a completely flat structure team, entrepreneurial in nature and with a mindset of a startup.

    We have always focused on integrated solutions and Wondrlab from day one had the same vision. It is the only agency that has everything. In terms of vision, the future is in technology, creating products, and platforms. Currently, all the networks are servicing clients but they are not creating products, platforms, and that is our intention here at Wondrlab. I obviously went for the vision and there was a certain vibe and chemistry between the co-founders.

    On how, why and when the acquisition talks began.

    Saurabh: Amit and I have been friends. The discussion started at a pitch where I was representing a client. We had invited various agencies and got the opportunity to see the WYP team in action. When my turn came to comment on which agency to select, I said that the best understanding for this problem is with WYP and I made a casual comment: "I should buy them out." I had no intention of doing so at that point of time, but it bothered me — I made a statement like that and I could do nothing about it. So, the next day, I called up Amit and told him, "Let's do something together." I shared with him our vision and we found common ground.

    On who designed the logo and crafted the name of the agency.

    Saurabh: After I decided to go on my own, several industry friends offered their help. The brand name was courtesy of former Leo Burnett executive chairman Mark Tutssel. I wanted the name to reflect a combination of magic and technology because that is what we are. When I told Mark about Wondrlab, he said this is it. So, the name and the tagline are a gift from Mark. And the logo and identity came from Amit (WYP).

    On the skillsets that WYP bring to the table for Wondrlab.

    Saurabh: We were very clear that we did not want a traditional set up and the great thing was that WYP was not traditional. Their frame of reference has always been problem-solving. I have always mentioned that your solution is only as big as your problem. So, first we agreed on that philosophy of problem-solving. It was built in a way that I would have built a content agency. It had in-house production. We did not want to be glorified scriptwriters but content creators and own our production house.

    Also, there is a huge component of new age and digital in WYP. The structure of WYP was design integrated. If you look at the mid-level start-ups and some of the agencies, none of them are structured for the new age apart from WYP. Or they are not good with the understanding of branding. WYP has both.

    On how WYP will operate under the Wondrlab umbrella.

    Saurabh: WYP would be a separate entity within Wondrlab. It's become a Wondrlab company and we retain it in totality. Amit becomes a part of the co-founding team and he comes on board to shape our future and will be at the helm irrespective of what we acquire. So, between WYP and Wondrlab, there are close to 80-85 people and then there are another 15 people making the total strength of 100.

    It is high time that somebody builds an Indian network that exists in India. There is so much talent here but why can nobody build a network? Somebody has to make that effort.

    Amit: There has never been an Indian network. There is a French, British but never been an Indian network in India or anywhere. Indians typically founded agencies and that is what even I did. Our intention is to create a network and grow it by acquisition.

    On the size of the acquisition.

    Saurabh: As an industry practice, it is difficult to talk about the acquisition because these are multi-layered and multiyear deals. 

    On whether Wondrlab will take the merger and acquisition route for growth.

    Saurabh: It is one tool that is available and we can use it as and when it fits in the strategic framework. There is a lot of organic growth and key leaders are driving that growth for the various pillars we have. There are a lot of tools available that help in creating what we call a platform-first company.

    On the investors in Wondrlab,.

    Saurabh: There has been lots of gossip and rumours in the industry around who our investors are. Let that come out over a period of time. We need to take specific approval from investors before commenting anything about them.

    On whether Amit’s roles and responsibilities will expand.

    I am the chief creative officer at Wondrlab, of which WYP is a part.

    On how the team will ensure that technology remains at the core of integrated solutions?

    Amit: It is our vision from day one. The first credential we wrote – the agency that offers strategy like a traditional set-up basis technology will be the agency of the future. We are very used to thinking integrated and offer tech solutions. This partnership has helped us create an inhouse technology production platform. We have always thought of ourselves as people who integrate technology with creativity and strategy, and with Wondrlab, we can now go out and put this into practice.

    On whether Wondrlab plans to get on the media side of the business?

    Saurabh: Of course. We have already started with digital media, which is simpler and efficient. There are many components of digital media done in-house that are already offered to our clients.

    On the targets, you have set for the next fiscal year?

    Saurabh: The ambition is to set ourselves as a platform-first company and that essentially means a differentiated offering. The acquisition of WYP is a great first move but over the next 12-18 months, a lot of the tech platforms that we have been working on will start to reveal themselves and that distinction in the market place – which adds a very different kind of value to the client – is what we want to establish in the first year of business.

  • SBI’s quirky commercial pushes for EMI on debit card offering

    SBI’s quirky commercial pushes for EMI on debit card offering

    NEW DELHI: SBI has launched a campaign titled #KhushiyanOnEMI to promote its EMI through debit card facility. Through this facility, consumers can make high ticket purchases like new durables, electronics or even jewellery items and convert them to easy monthly instalments, without causing much of a dent in their finances.

    Facilities like these were previously only available through credit cards, consumer durable loans or personal loans, which involved longer processes and stringent financial background checks. This made it impossible for a section of the population to afford them. With the debit card EMI, consumers can get pre-approved loans with no documentation and KYC Verification.

    Conceptualised by Rediffusion Brand Solutions, three quirky films have been rolled out highlighting the offering. The first film opens with a father installing a new TV at home. The son is taken aback, followed by the father revealing that a new TV will help make a good impression on his son’s special friend who is visiting the next day. The second film showcases a humorous mother-in-law and daughter-in-law duo, in which the daughter-in-law gifts the former a new tablet to complain to her son. The third film features a pair of siblings, of whom the sister is vegetarian and the brother non-vegetarian. The brother asks why there is a new double door refrigerator in their kitchen. The sister explains that one door is hers and the other his, so no more bickering for fridge space.

    Rediffusion Brand Solutions executive creative director and Mumbai creative head Pramod Sharma said, “What happens when you have the power of EMIs on your debit card? Buying things for loved ones becomes easier than ever. Through three quirky films we have tried to establish this fact.”

    The films have been released on the digital platform and will soon be taken to television to ensure greater reach amongst the intended target group.