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Tag: Ajay Gupte

  • Do we need 24-hour news channels?

    Do we need 24-hour news channels?

    NEW DELHI: The news television industry has been getting a lot of negative publicity these days, the prime reason being the inflammatory content they are airing. Not just viewers, but several advertisers and marketers have also highlighted their discontent with the journalism these channels are doing and some brands have already started pulling out their ad monies. While most people put the blame for this on the rat race for TRP and viewer interests, Parle Products Pvt Ltd senior category head – marketing Krishnarao S Buddha voiced an intriguing thought – do we really need 24-hour news channels these days?

    “I don’t think that the content degeneration on news channels happened recently. It’s been worsening for a few years now. I think the days when we had just Doordarshan, which had only three bulletins running, we had more semblance of propriety in the news content. I really want to understand whether there is a need for 24-hour news channels, from a programming perspective. If there is enough news happening across the globe that it requires multiple 24-hour news channels to cover,” he pointed out. 

    He added that this “mad requirement” of filling content slots for 24 hours has forced news channels to go overboard and serve content that is not only toxic but is also non-relevant. 

    Buddha was speaking at the recent brand safety webinar hosted by Indiantelevision.com in partnership with BBC World News and BBC.com. Other speakers on the panel – moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari – were Wavemaker CEO – South Asia Ajay Gupte, Future Group CMO – FBB Prachi Mohapatra, BBC Global News MD India Rahul Sood, PolicyBazaar head of marketing Samir Sethi, Accenture MD supply chain, network, and sales operations Shekhar Tiwari and Initiative CEO Vaishali Verma. 

    Contrary to Buddha’s view, Gupte stated that he doesn’t feel that there is more supply than demand for news in the current scenario, and it makes complete sense from a business perspective to have multiple 24-hour news channels. 

    Said he, “At the end of everything, this is a marketplace, which functions on the basic objective of demanding profitability. To achieve that, there needs to be an equilibrium in demand and supply, so that the pricing remains fair. I believe that there is really not more supply than the demand in the market right now. This is only from the business perspective and how the market forces generally work.”

    Buddha insisted that in that case, channels really need to work on their content strategies and come up with smart fillers based on investigative journalism. 

    “There is a stark need for creating differentiators within news channels based on content. If there is virtually the same telecast happening on each channel, then there is nothing much to differentiate them,” he interjected. 

    Gupte too agreed that news has a responsibility to serve and it defines the culture and thinking of any nation. “It is definitely important for networks to ensure that the content is right. It will create a better market too, in terms of delivery. People will then have the option to consume the content that suits them better. I would leave it to the channels to decide the content.”  

    Tiwari added that channels need to have the right strategy, the right talent, and the right investors to ensure great content. “There is a need for a good 24X7 independent news channel that covers current affairs, sports, entertainment, and everything else. Then we will have better content provided. It shouldn’t be working under the pressure of its investors or a government for that matter.”

    The panel highlighted several important factors that are contributing to the erosion of faith in news channels by advertisers and marketers. Vaishali Verma also highlighted that three out of ten clients of her agency have already said no to advertising on news channels, and the industry is in dire need of a course correction. 

  • ‘3 out of 10 brands are saying no to advertising on news channels’

    ‘3 out of 10 brands are saying no to advertising on news channels’

    NEW DELHI: News channels have always been a big part of the media mix for any advertiser; they enjoy a sizeable share of eyeballs and have been known as a brand-safe space to be present on. However, in the past few months, advertisers have become gravely concerned by the controversies around news content, as well as the TRP manipulation scandal that has come to the fore. The existing news space, especially on TV, has called for a strong inspection on advertisers’ part, and a few of them have already pulled out ad money from some channels.

    In a recently concluded Indiantelevision.com webinar called “Is Your Brand Truly Safe: Decoding The Right Brand Equity With The Power Of Trust” — powered by BBC World News and BBC.com, and moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari – leading marketers and advertisers unanimously agreed that their faith in news television has eroded to a great extent.

    Sitting in the panel were Wavemaker CEO – South Asia Ajay Gupte, Parle Products Pvt Ltd senior category head – marketing Krishnarao S Buddha, Future Group CMO – FBB Prachi Mohapatra, BBC Global News MD India Rahul Sood, PolicyBazaar head of marketing Samir Sethi, Accenture MD supply chain, network, and sales operations Shekhar Tiwari and Initiative CEO Vaishali Verma.

    Verma claimed that three out of every ten clients of hers has already said no to advertising on news channels.

    “As a consumer of news, I can say that the content has been sensationalised, there is no investigative journalism left, and as a result, we are seeing brands taking a different route when it comes to their media mixes. There definitely has been a loss of credibility,” she said.

    Tiwari noted that news is not news if one needs to go and validate it, but today the consumers are forced to do that. This has resulted in the lack of credibility that advertisers are also taking into account.

    Sood added that the environment around news television has been such of late that he can no longer proudly flaunt his association with the industry. “This says a lot about the state of media right now.”

    Buddha, whose Parle products will no longer advertise on some of the top news channels in the country, said, “News channels are going overboard, the content is toxic and the news they show is really not relevant. I do not want my brand to be seen with the content that these channels are peddling.”

    Earlier, news channels used to be a big part of their media mix given the credible and brand-safe environment that they created, shared Mohapatra. “The two core factors for us have been the viewership the news genre generates and the credibility it has, but if that is being compromised, we will definitely rethink our media mix.”

    However, not all brands are wary of their presence on any form of content, be it good or bad, in news media.

    Verma highlighted that every brand has its own lakshman rekha (boundary) that it follows. “Some brands have taken out their ad monies and that was absolutely right on their part. Some are still continuing to advertise and it is only because the medium is still relevant to them. They have their audience consuming that content.”

    Gupte, in the same vein, reflected that each news channel serves the content that their audience likes viewing. “It is delivering what is being consumed. And if there is a collective movement where people dismiss this kind of content and stop viewing it, the viewership will go down and it makes sense from a business perspective.”

    PolicyBazaar’s Sethi agreed and pointed out that news is a competitive genre and there is significant advertising demand there. “For a product category like ours where primary customers are male, we get that reach from news channels.”

    However, he added that news channels cannot shy away from their responsibilities of being a credible and trustworthy source of valid information.

    But could the continued association with ‘problematic’ news content impact the brand equity at large?

    The panel agreed that it has a long-lasting impact on any brand’s image and equity as customers are more sensitive and sensible these days. At the same time, it also depends on the level of association the advertiser has with the channel or a particular piece of content.

    Gupte stated, “The impact on brand equity hugely depends on the level of association. For example, it’s more difficult on platforms like YouTube where a single advertiser might be visible on the whole duration of the content. Also, it depends on the brand too.”

    Sethi added, “Obviously a sponsor is much more deeply associated with the content than someone who is doing vanilla spot advertising with maybe 20 other brands.”

  • Indiantelevision.com strives to decode brand safety in association with BBC World News

    Indiantelevision.com strives to decode brand safety in association with BBC World News

    NEW DELHI: Brand safety has emerged as a serious concern for the advertising industry, especially in the past few months, with content on television and web getting more controversial. From racist, misogynist, to inflammatory communal content, various publishers and broadcasters are facing flak from viewers and advertisers alike. In recent days, we also heard about several advertisers taking their money out of many news channels. 

    This has sparked a great deal of conversation, within all stakeholders involved, on how a trustworthy environment can be created for the advertisers and ensure them positive brand equity. From content operations to weighing in what other advertisers are present in the realm, everything is garnering a closer look. 

    To shed light onto the same and discuss the way ahead with leading advertisers and agencies, Indiantelevision.com, in association with BBC World News and BBC.com, will be hosting a webinar titled “Is Your Brand Truly Safe: Decoding The Right Brand Equity With The Power of Trust” on Wednesday, 2 December 2020 at 11:30 am. 

    The panel will include worthies like: Wavemaker CEO – South Asia Ajay Gupte, Parle Products Pvt Ltd senior category head- marketing Krishnarao S. Buddha, Future Group India CMO – FBB Prachi Mohapatra, BBC Global News MD Rahul Sood, Accenture director – supply chain, network and sales operations Shekhar Tiwari, and Initiative CEO Vaishali Verma. The panel will be moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. 

    Register now at https://lnkd.in/eyWJ8Bk 

  • Ajay Gupte talks about the fabulous three years of Wavemaker India

    Ajay Gupte talks about the fabulous three years of Wavemaker India

    NEW DELHI: It has been three years since two very successful agencies called MEC and Maxus merged to give birth to Wavemaker India. The fledgling venture from the house of WPP’s GroupM already enjoys a market share of anywhere between 12 and 15 per cent, as per reports. Boasting valuable clients like Vi, Mother Dairy, Mondelez, ITC, and Supr Daily, to name a few, the agency has made great strides in seemingly no time at all. As the agency celebrates its third anniversary today in India, Wavemaker South Asia CEO Ajay Gupte, who took over from Kartik Sharma earlier this year, talks to Mansi Sharma from Indiantelevision.com about the journey thus far, their future growth plans, and how 2020 has made Wavemaker a more tight-knit and hands-on family. Edited excerpts follow.

    On three-years of Wavemaker

    Wavemaker, in many ways, is a very special and unique agency because it happens very rarely that you get this opportunity to take two powerhouses and merge them to create something massive. Combining MEC and Maxus gave us the ability to invest in many things that we believed in and understood will be important for the future. With our combined strengths, we invested in data, tools, digital, programmatic, etc. and that really helped us in creating a strong bond with our clients. All these investments also helped us greatly in managing our business through this tough time of the pandemic.

    On the challenging year 2020

    2020 has been a massive experience for all of us in many ways. But for the agency, it came as a big opportunity to utilise and promote the many investments we made in the previous two years – be it in the data and analytics space, influencer capabilities, the effectiveness labs, etc, and give our clients the best services possible.

    On the team-level, we have gotten much more closer and understanding of each other. Earlier, our teams in various states could manage to meet once or twice a year, but now we are having at least two meetings every week. We are thinking about the future, the challenges, and how we can improve on our offerings. We also managed to do some amazing work for our clients, especially in the content space.

    On the new leadership panel

    I am very blessed to have such a phenomenal team here in India. The recent shifts in roles and promotions have only made it better for us. Premjeet (Sodhi) is an industry stalwart and getting him on board has added so much depth and intelligence to our work. Kishan Kumar has been with us for 17 years and he is extremely innovative. Mac Machiach is a fabulous resource for client relationships and I am very confident of him handling our one of the most valuable accounts of ITC. I am very proud of Sandeep (Pandey) who has now taken up a global leadership role. The best part is that he is based in India, so we can always approach him to help the teams.

    On his vision for future

    I am positive that 2021 is going to be very positive for us. I see it as a massive opportunity. We, therefore, want to strengthen our capabilities and investments in the data, content, and influencer capabilities. Our tools, analytics, and strategies are only going to be sharper.

    From a work culture perspective, it is definitely on our agenda to make Wavemaker India an inclusive workplace with gender ratios balanced. In fact, it is a wider WPP agenda that we are very seriously following to adopt here as well. We are taking small steps by making women feel more empowered and comfortable in the workplace, giving them much-needed respite when it comes to maternity or family roles. I am not saying that we are perfect, but we definitely are making strides in the right direction, towards becoming a good workplace for people of all sexualities and socio-cultural and economic backgrounds.

  • Wavemaker India announces key leadership changes

    Wavemaker India announces key leadership changes

    NEW DELHI: In a major rejig, Wavemaker India has announced changes in executive leadership roles.

    Kishan Kumar MS

    Kishan Kumar MS is elevated and has taken on a larger role as chief growth officer.  Along with his new mandate, Kumar continues to lead Wavemaker South businesses across Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala and Hyderabad. Kishan has been with Wavemaker for the last 14 years and has played an instrumental role in building Wavemaker as one of the biggest media agencies in South India. Kishan’s vast experience across categories clubbed with his passion and innovation for brand building; make him well-suited to take on the new role.    

    Premjeet Sodhi

    Premjeet Sodhi transitions into chief strategy officer from his earlier profile of chief growth officer. Sodhi had joined Wavemaker in April this year after a 2-year stint with Mindshare Fulcrum as the agency head. He has rich experience of over 25 years spanning across many leading agencies where he has managed clients like Amazon, Reckitt, Kraft Heinz, Infoedge, and many more. His understanding of evolving media and managing core client capabilities will continue to be a great contributor to his new role.

    Vishal Jacob

    Vishal Jacob returns to Wavemaker India as chief digital officer after close to 2 years with GroupM as a principal consultant – change planning & transformation. Jacob has been in the GroupM ecosystem for over 14 years and has played a key role in anchoring the digital initiatives at Wavemaker and GroupM. He is also an author and a certified executive coach with a keen interest in behavioural sciences. His rich experience across brands, industries and markets will further propel Wavemaker’s leadership position in the digital space.

    Sandeep Pandey

    Sandeep Pandey, who leads product and strategy has been elevated as global head of analytics where he will be driving Wavemaker’s global practice on analytics. Sandeep has been with GroupM for the last 15 years in leadership positions across APAC markets. Sandeep came on board with Wavemaker in 2014 as Asia Pacific head of marketing effectiveness. Pandey has served clients in automotive, pharma, banking, consumer goods, food & beverages, technology and other industries across India, Singapore, Australia, China, Malaysia, Japan, and other key markets in the Asia Pacific. He will continue to be based out of Gurgaon as he transitions into his global role.

    Wavemaker CEO south Asia Ajay Gupte said, “This has been an extraordinary year that has challenged us in many ways. These changes are designed to enhance our position and enable us to drive continuous growth for our clients, teams and other stakeholders. I am excited about these changes and look forward to creating some positive disruptions in the near future”.

  • Wavemaker India bags media mandate for Sun Pharma

    Wavemaker India bags media mandate for Sun Pharma

    MUMBAI: Sun Pharma today announced Wavemaker India as its media partner. Wavemaker India will manage integrated media mandate for Sun Pharma in India. 

    Wavemaker south Asia CEO Ajay Gupte said, “This is a proud moment for us. We are super excited to partner with Sun Pharma and confident that with our understanding of winning new consumer growth segments, backed by insights and precision capabilities, we can help Sun Pharma further strengthen its growth journey in India”.

    Wavemaker India CCO and head-west Shekhar Banerjee said, “We are delighted to start our partnership with Sun Pharma. Powered with our consumer journey data, our expertise in analytics and some great talent at Wavemaker India,  we believe we will be able to identify more growth levers for Sun Pharma brands. Extremely thrilled for an exciting journey ahead with Sun Pharma”.

    Sun Pharma is the world's fourth-largest speciality generic pharmaceutical company and one of India's top pharmaceutical companies.

  • Wavemaker appoints Ajay Gupte as COO, south asia

    Wavemaker appoints Ajay Gupte as COO, south asia

    MUMBAI: Wavemaker, the global media, content, and technology agency, today announced the appointment of Ajay Gupte as the Chief Operating Officer for Wavemaker, South Asia.

    Ajay joins from Wavemaker Indonesia where he was Managing Director of the agency. Ajay has successfully led the MEC-Maxus merger in Indonesia. Under his stewardship, Wavemaker Indonesia won several blue-chip clients and many global and local accolades for the agency. 

    Ajay has rich experience of over 23 years in media, sales and marketing spanning across markets like India, Africa and Indonesia. Prior to joining Wavemaker Indonesia, he has spent over 15 years in India with Maxus (now part of Wavemaker) handling clients like Nokia and Hero MotoCorp to name a few. Earlier to Wavemaker, Ajay has had extensive cross-functional stints with TVS Motor Company.  

    In his new role, Ajay will be located at Wavemaker Delhi office and will report into Kartik Sharma, CEO – Wavemaker, South Asia.

    Commenting on the appointment, Kartik Sharma, CEO – Wavemaker, South Asia said, “It is an absolute pleasure to have Ajay back in India. Under his leadership as MD of Indonesia since 2011, Wavemaker (erstwhile MEC) has grown exponentially and is now ranked as top 3 agency in the country. I am confident with his strong experience of agency and client domain, Ajay will be will be able to grow Wavemaker further as an agency of the future.” 

    Commenting on his new role, Ajay said, “I am very excited to be back in India. The media scene in India is vibrant and offers unlimited opportunity for marketeers. With our future-focused offering around Media, Content, and Technology, Wavemaker is uniquely positioned to deliver maximum impact for our clients. I am delighted that the next lap of my journey continues with Wavemaker where I can contribute to delivering this promise.”