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Tag: Dentsu Aegis Network

  • Carat ranked No 1 agency in the 2014 India Business League: R3

    Carat ranked No 1 agency in the 2014 India Business League: R3

    MUMBAI: Carat has been named the number one media agency in India in the 2014 New Business League table, published by R3. Conducted across 14 of the Asia Pacific’s leading media agencies, the New Business League is a market-wise monthly tally of the agencies’ new business acquisitions. In India, the tally was conducted across 17 of the region’s leading media agencies.

    For the record, R3 is a global marketing consultancy, focused on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of marketers and their agencies. Founded in 1972 in the US, and 2002 beyond the US, it works with eight of the world’s top 20 global marketers. Herein, R3’s methodology for New Business League is a compilation of the most recent data supplied by 26 multinational agencies on a monthly basis. The report is balanced against client estimates, Nielsen ADEX (advertising expenditure), discounted to appropriate levels and then converted to revenue estimates.

    Commenting on the announcement, Dentsu Aegis Network south Asia CEO and chairman Ashish Bhasin said, “This is a very proud moment. Carat has been steadily gaining scale in India and I congratulate Kartik and his team for this achievement. New business is the best indicator of the health and vitality of an agency, and this should give us encouragement that Carat is in a good place across the region.”

    Added Carat Media India MD Kartik Iyer, “2014 has been a watershed year for Carat in India. Thanks to the great work by the teams and huge support from our network, we have won quite a few very large and important businesses. With a healthy mix of Local and Global pitches, the wins are a result of some great strategic work by the team and outstanding support from our network. We are absolutely delighted by the response received from our clients on the innovative solutions and strategic thinking we presented to them. We look forward to continuing in the winning ways and a great year ahead.” In India, Carat has added some of the largest accounts of 2014 including General Motors, Microsoft, Nokia, British Airways, Mastercard and Ayurwin to name a few.”

    And it’s not just India where Carat has managed to grab the number one spot in the 2014 New Business League table but has also been named as the number one media agency across the Asia Pacific region. Apart from India, the agency has been adjudged as the number one media agency in Thailand, Korea, Japan, Hong-Kong and Australia.

    Carat, the world’s largest independent media communications specialist, is part of the global operating unit – The Dentsu Aegis Network, which also includes Vizeum, Posterscope, Brandscope, Hyperspace, psLive, PSI, Isobar and iProspect Communicate 2. The network also encapsulates Dentsu and Dentsu Media along with the local brands Webchutney, TaprootIndia and Milestone Brandcom.

    Click here for the entire ranking

  • iProspect Communicate 2 wins AEGON Religare’s social media account

    iProspect Communicate 2 wins AEGON Religare’s social media account

    MUMBAI: iProspect Communicate 2, the global digital performance agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has won the additional mandate to optimise social media platforms (SMO) for AEGON Religare.

     

    The agency already handles the SEM (search engine marketing) and SEO (search engine optimisation) domains for the life insurance company joint venture between AEGON, Religare and Bennett, Coleman & company. 

     

    Speaking on the win, AEGON Religare chief operating officer Yateesh Srivastava said, “As an organisation we truly understand the impact that social media has on our brand and on our reputation. It is a very powerful way to engage our customers and prospects in an authentic and useful manner. In iProspect we believe we have found the right match since the agency has been doing very well on our performance campaigns and we are sure they will do the same with Social Media, as well. The holistic approach will ensure uniformity in messaging across the digital space and will engage customers in a manner that creates maximum impact.”

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 CEO Vivek Bhargava added, “We are glad to deliver our expertise to AEGON Religare in the social media domain, after a successful stint in both SEO and SEM. We have some extremely ambitious plans for the SMO activities of the account and look forward to strengthening our business bond by executing these plans and exceeding all expectations.”

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 specialises in result-driven campaigns and comprises an established team of certified digital and social media marketers. With a purely content driven strategy, iProspect Communicate 2 aims to engage and connect with users across various social media platforms. The account will be handled from the Mumbai office, thus ensuring complete integration of AEGON Religare campaigns across the digital space.

  • Dentsu Aegis Network acquires majority stake in WATConsult

    Dentsu Aegis Network acquires majority stake in WATConsult

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network today announced the acquisition of WATConsult, one of India’s leading social and digital media agencies, with over 160 professionals in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. WATConsult will become part of  Isobar, Dentsu Aegis Network’s global digital marketing agency and will be referred to as “WATConsult – Linked by Isobar”.
     

    Founded in 2007, WATConsult has rapidly grown to become one of India’s most awarded social media agencies, with more than 48 awards received in 2014 alone.
     
    WATConsult’s growth has been led by CEO, Rajiv Dingra, a digital entrepreneur and recognised thought leader in social media.
    Having evolved from being a social media agency to a full service digital agency, WATConsult also provides its client base with creative and technology services across mobile, digital and video. Other specialist areas include an in-house analytics capability with dashboards and tools for social and digital media. Clients include the Godrej Group, Nikon, Tata Chemicals, Bestseller Group, Bajaj Allianz and more than 70 other national and global brands.

    Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific CEO Nick Waters said, “The acquisition of WATConsult marks another significant step for our group in India.  This is a high quality award winning market leader specialising in one of the fastest growing and critical segments of the market.  Alongside Isobar, iProspect, and WebChutney we have created the largest and highest quality digital services capability in India.  We view India as a priority market and will continue to seek scaled and quality investment opportunities here.”

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO south Asia Ashish Bhasin added, “Having WATConsult, a leader in social media, as a member of our family will further enhance our digital offering to our clients and support our growth in the market. WATConsult, will join iProspect, Isobar and Webchutney in making our digital offering the most comprehensive in India.”

     
    WATConsult CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “We are delighted to join hands with Dentsu Aegis Network, and our entire team are looking forward to taking WATConsult – Linked by Isobar to even greater heights. We are confident that by becoming a part of a digital focused network like Dentsu Aegis Network we will gain a competitive advantage in the fast consolidating Indian market. As an agency we see huge growth opportunity in digital advertising, particularly social media, digital video and mobile, and we are geared to capitalising on it.”
    Dingra will continue as CEO of WATConsult – Linked by Isobar, reporting to Bhasin. His key management team, including WATConsult COO Nipun Kapur and CFO Heeru Dingra, will also continue in their respective roles. Dingra will also join the Digital Council of Dentsu Aegis Network India, alongside the CEO’s of Isobar, iProspect and WebChutney. Digital specialists at Dentsu Aegis Network in India will now exceed 600 professionals, making it the only network in India offering end-to end comprehensive digital services in this scale.
  • iProspect Communicate2 bags four metals at IAMAI Awards 2015

    iProspect Communicate2 bags four metals at IAMAI Awards 2015

    MUMBAI: iProspect Communicate 2, the global digital performance agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has been named the runner-up in the Agency of the Year category for 2014 at the fifth edition of the IAMAI Awards.

     

    The agency has also won one Gold and one Silver for the Dynamic Landing Pages campaign for its client Cleartrip. Additionally, the agency also went on to win one Bronze for the iLive Inventory Checker Campaign for Koovs.

     

    The digital performance company picked up a total of four IAMAI Awards at the event that was held in Delhi. These awards aim to highlight outstanding contributions, in terms of creativity and innovation in the digital world. The organization receives entries from all the top players in the field.

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 was nominated in four categories and has been successful in converting all of them into victories; for their Cleartrip and Koovs campaigns. The digital marketing agency won two out of three in the Search Marketing category.

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 CEO Vivek Bhargava said, “We dominate the search market domain in the country, and winning these awards simply spells our prevalence entrenched in the market. Winning all the awards we were nominated for, which includes Gold, Silver, Bronze and runner-up Digital Agency of the Year is more than a testament to this fact.”

  • Carat predicts global ad spend growth at 5% in 2014 & 2015

    Carat predicts global ad spend growth at 5% in 2014 & 2015

    MUMBAI: Carat, a global media network, published its updated forecasts for worldwide advertising expenditure in 2014 and 2015, with market optimism demonstrated through strong global and regional forecasts.

    Based on data received from 59 markets across America, Asia Pacific and EMEA, Carat’s latest forecast shows overall global advertising revenues accelerating by +5.0 per cent in 2014, an increase on the +4.8 per cent predicted in March 2014, and reaffirming positivity for 2015 with year-on-year growth predicted at +5.0 per cent.

    From a regional perspective, Carat predicts further positive momentum in 2014 for North America and Western Europe, compared with figures announced in March 2014. The US continues to show strong on-going market growth, with levels of advertising spend in North America expected to exceed the pre-recession peak in 2007 for the first time by the end of 2014. Western Europe is predicted  to see a return to positive growth of +2.7 per cent after two consecutive years of declining advertising spend, driven by a strong UK advertising market forecast to grow by a robust +7.5 per cent, this year.

    Whilst forecasts show a slight decline in growth when compared with predictions from March 2014, Asia Pacific and Latin America are still both forecast  to outperform global predictions, with growth rates for 2014 of +5.4 per cent and 12.1 per cent respectively, and the only regions to see double digit growth in some markets.  Carat’s data also highlights that the outlook for 2015 continues to be encouraging with all key markets forecast to return to positive growth.

    In media, digital outperforms previous predictions for 2014 with year-on-year growth forecast at +16.1 per cent. Digital  will also increase its total share of spend, reaching 20.5 per cent in 2014 and 22.6 per cent next year, when it will outpace the combined Magazines and Newspaper global share for the first time. Whilst the steady decline in print is expected to continue, all other mediums are predicted to achieve year-on-year growths of approximately 3-5 per cent in 2014 and 2015.

    Dentsu Aegis Network CEO Jerry Buhlmann said, “Carat’s latest advertising forecast gives us increased optimism for the outlook of global and regional advertising spend. With the global recession further behind us and a healthy trend of 5 per cent year-on-year global ad growth, there is positive momentum building across the industry.”

    He added, “Whilst Digital continues to headline market trend discussions, the components within this dominant media now provide the interesting chapters, with the opportunities in mobile leading the debate. With changes and trends in consumer behaviour driving business opportunities, brands need to deliver innovative and integrated solutions to reap the rewards ahead.”

  • Dentsu Aegis Network appoints Harsha Joshi as EVP- group trading

    Dentsu Aegis Network appoints Harsha Joshi as EVP- group trading

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has appointed Harsha Joshi as its executive VP- group trading. Joshi will report to Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO south Asia Ashish Bhasin.

     

    Joshi is an industry veteran who brings with her over 23 years of experience in media buying & planning, branded content and media audit and advisory.

     

    She has been the head of media buying at Fulcrum (Mindshare), headed media buying at Madison Media for 12 years. She also served as CEO – media & international at Spatial Access Media Solutions and her last stint was at McKinsey, India as media advisory.

     

    Bhasin said, “The remarkable growth that the Dentsu Aegis Network has had has resulted in our scale growing rapidly. To ensure our clients get the best global practices in the extremely important area of Trading, we decided to invest in a very senior resource. After evaluating several candidates, we were delighted to have Harsha join us. She brings with her unparalled experience in the area of Trading and we will use her expertise across the Dentsu Aegis Network. Trading is our strength and Harsha will help us maintain that edge.”

     

    Sounding excited about her new assignment, Joshi added, “I am truly looking forward to this role. With three strong media agencies, Carat, Vizeum and Dentsu Media in our group, and with so many large local and global clients, I am sure that we will be able to add value to our clients like no other agency can. Their professional and transparent approach, backed by best-in-class people, global tools, learning and systems attracted me to join Dentsu Aegis Network, which is India’s fastest growing advertising & media network for the second year in a row.”

  • iProspect Communicate2 partners with Google

    iProspect Communicate2 partners with Google

    MUMBAI: iProspect Communicate2, from the Dentsu Aegis Network, is entering into a strategic agreement with Google to become a Google Analytics Premium certified partner. Google Analytics Premium (GAP) offers deeper data insights and quick data processing, allowing brands to optimise their online marketing strategies.

     

    GAP is an analytics solution made with large enterprises in mind. It offers all the features of Google analytics as well as additional benefits like quick processing of higher volumes of data, increase in monthly limits, guaranteed uptime and additional custom variables. It is developed to provide extra processing power, in-depth analysis and 24×7 support. 

     

    In order to ensure that brands get a superior and well-rounded experience, iProspect Communicate2 has developed a team of certified marketers who are dedicated to offer complete GAP support in terms of implementation guides, training and audits.

     

    As a part of a global network, iProspect Communicate2 has adapted the latest trends that are being used in the world of digital marketing. These technologies coupled with the power of GAP will help brands reach and supersede targets.

     

    iProspect Communicate2 CEO Vivek Bhargava said, “Lots of companies need an enterprise version of Google analytics and have been waiting for GA premium to be launched in India.  Our data led approach to digital marketing has always delivered superior RoI to our clients and I believe this development will further grow our competitive edge in the market.”

  • Advertising agencies keenly await Budget 2014

    Advertising agencies keenly await Budget 2014

    MUMBAI: Thanks to elections, the year started with a bang for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry.

    The political parties didn’t hesitate to spend on the various mediums – print, TV, digital, OOH – to woo the voters. Various studies by media agencies also estimated that advertising by political parties will boost the AdEx by up to +2.5 per cent.

    This apart, the year is estimated to be good for the industry. With ad spends of most FMCG companies on the rise to ride on the back of higher disposable income due to election spending and recent RBI policies leading to a more favourable business environment, the industry is hoping for healthy year even with various issues (digitisation, ad cap, service tax, FDI etc) gripping it.

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to various advertising agencies heads to know what they are expecting from the budget.

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman & CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin

    Service tax should be rationalised, the surcharge on it should be removed and also the quantum of it should be reduced a bit. It can be noted that the process and procedure of collecting service tax is cumbersome. What we as an industry want is transparency in this process. I am also keen to watch some FDI in media in the coming days.

    Perfect Relations founding partner Dilip Cherian

    Undoubtedly, there are high expectations from the Budget and it remains to be seen how Finance Minister Arun Jaitley goes about restoring growth while reining in the deficit. We need something that in the next six months will start generating revenue for the long run. A push in the infrastructure sector is vital because that will help growth of the core sectors — steel, cement, construction etc and create jobs. I would like to see Jaitley spell out his plans for this vital sector, which will also have a long lasting impact on the economy. The introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) has been delayed for far too long. Though this is a point of contention between the Centre and the states, I would be happy to see some positive movement on this front.

    FCB Ulka Group chairman Nagesh Alai

    The days of seeking specific tax sops or concessions are really over, more so when over the years a fair amount of tax rationalisation has already happened. How do you expect the government to run the country? However I do expect the government to stick to its promise of withdrawing the one time surcharge of 10 per cent which was imposed for the FY 2013-14, but there has been no notice of that withdrawal yet. Secondly, the authorities should also honour their commitment of timely refunds to assesses rather than putting counter pressures in the months running up to March every year by arbitrary add-backs and demands, which is just a ruse to keep refunds on hold.   In the interest of avoiding short termism and addressing the macro-economic issues effectively so that the fiscal and revenue deficits can be plugged, we should seriously consider having a fixed budget for say three or five years. This will bring about a stability of tax regime and also help all constituents plan better, including the government. The annual budget exercise has perhaps become a lobbying exercise for political and power brokers.  Lastly, agriculture income should be brought into the tax net. It is an anachronism – and is perpetuated for the benefit of the few rich politically powerful people.

    Madison World chairman and MD Sam Balsara

    I don’t think my expectations from the budget are unique or different from what the nation expects. I expect the budget to do more than its bit to grow the economy which is the major need of the hour. Whatever is required to give a shot in the arm to the economy, the budget must do. This year’s budget is going to be specially important because it is the first budget that the BJP will present after its landslide victory and all Indians, as well as global businesses are going to evaluate it and form an impression about the future of India. The Finance Minister is keenly aware of this and being an intelligent and practical man, I am sure he will not miss this opportunity, nor will he try to pull wool over our eyes. Whatever it takes to spearhead growth, he should do, be it GST, divestment, roping in more tax payers especially at the top end or abolishing retrospective tax loss, etc. What is good for the economy is good for the advertising industry.

    Global Advertisers MD Sanjeev Gupta

    After achieving a historic victory in General Elections 2014, we have high expectations from the newly-elected Modi-led government. From an outdoor advertising industry perspective, we believe that our growth is the reflection of development in our country.  Better infrastructure, improved road connectivity, advance transport mediums, enhanced public spaces give us opportunities to connect with end consumer. India is likely to emerge as the world’s largest middle class consumer market with aggregated consumer spends of $ 13 trillion by 2030. With increasing population and their demand, it has become essential for MNCs / SMEs to be visible on different advertising mediums to promote their services / products. Therefore, outdoor advertising industry needs government support to grow in the future. We would like the center government to focus on creating new opportunities for us, allow FDIs, develop transparent policies and reforms, and address tax issues and licensing procedure of public structures. We wish to see changing India, growing India.

  • Ashish Bhasin wins 2014 Business Excellence Award for Media CEO of the Year – India

    Ashish Bhasin wins 2014 Business Excellence Award for Media CEO of the Year – India

    MUMBAI: Winners of the prestigious 2014 Business Excellence Awards were announced in London and Ashish Bhasin has received the ‘Media CEO of the year – India’ award.

     

    Voted for by a worldwide network of professionals, advisers, clients, peers and business insiders, the Acquisition International Business Excellence Awards celebrate the individuals and firms whose commitment to excellence sees them exceeding clients’ expectations on a daily basis while setting the bar for others in their industry.

     

    The awards, open to businesses from any sector or region, are handed out solely on merit. They are given to only the most deserving businesses, departments and individuals who have consistently demonstrated outstanding innovation, performance and commitment to their business or clients over the past 12 months and who have received independent nominations from their clients or industry peers.

     

    Speaking about the awards, AI Global Media awards coordinator Siobhan Hanley said, “Our Business Excellence Awards are quickly becoming one of our most popular, with businesses all over the globe eager to showcase the amazing work they’ve been doing to achieve stellar results for their clients while really setting the standards for what can be achieved in their sector.  We’re proud to be able to showcase some of the most innovative and committed organizations from across the business world and the winners can be rightly proud of the game-changing work they’ve been doing over the past 12 months.”

     

    Commenting on receiving the award, Dentsu Aegis Network- South Asia  chairman & CEO Ashish Bhasin said, “I am honored to receive the 2014 Business Excellence Award for Media CEO of the Year. I am lucky to have such a wonderful team at Dentsu Aegis Network.The award is for my team’s efforts, I am just receiving it in my name.  It’s been an amazing journey for Dentsu Aegis Network in India but the best is yet to come.”