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Tag: GroupM

  • Kishan Kumar joins Star TV as executive director

    Kishan Kumar joins Star TV as executive director

    Mumbai: Media veteran Kishan Kumar has joined Star TV Network as executive director. In this role, he will lead the channel business for Malayalam GEC Asianet. 

    Kumar is armed with 22 years of experience with most of it spent on the media agency side of the business. He was associated with GroupM’s Maxus Global for 13 years.

    In his most recent role, he was associated with media agency Wavemaker India as chief growth officer for more than three years.  

    An alumnus of MICA Ahmedabad, Kumar’s expertise lies in strategic planning, business development, trading, new media, product development and talent management. He was one of the key architects in building Maxus into one of the biggest media agencies in the South of India. He led the South business across Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala and Hyderabad for Wavemaker India.

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  • Amin Lakhani elevated as Mindshare CEO, Parthasarathy Mandayam is GroupM CSO

    Amin Lakhani elevated as Mindshare CEO, Parthasarathy Mandayam is GroupM CSO

    Mumbai: GroupM, the media investment group of WPP on Tuesday announced the appointment of Parthasarathy Mandayam (Maps) as GroupM South Asia’s chief strategy officer (CSO) and Amin Lakhani, who is elevated to the role of Mindshare South Asia’s chief executive officer (CEO), which was earlier led by Maps.

    GroupM continues to invest in its talent, creating a strong leadership pipeline for the future driving the GroupM transformation journey for clients, partners, and internal teams, said the media company in a statement. “Both Maps and Amin have also helped m/SIX, Neo India, and Neo GDS grow significantly and become significant players within the industry,” it added.

    “We have witnessed a significant consolidation of existing businesses, with deeper penetration of our new core offerings under their tutelage,” remarked GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar. “Both have been instrumental in strengthening and reinvigorating the agency as it stands today. I have the utmost confidence in their expertise and know that both Maps and Amin will continue to drive innovation and further transformations in their future roles.”

    With more than 25 years of experience in the advertising and communication industry, Maps has successfully managed multiple leadership roles in Mindshare – across data, analytics, strategy, client leadership and business unit leadership. Starting his career with Mindshare in 2009 as head of the newly created ‘business planning’ function, he went on to lead the North, East, and South offices. Later as chief product officer, he led specialist teams in driving strategic initiatives and creating bespoke tools that delivered client delight and recognition. He helped create diverse communities and a culture of learning and sharing. He has also been integral to the Mindshare new business powerhouse over the past decade.

    The role of GroupM’s chief strategy officer will be to channel data, technology, consumer understanding to chart the growth and transformation agenda. Map’s appointment into the new role is part of the strategy that envisions doubling the focus with a significant shift on new-age technologies, products and offerings that require a transformation of both GroupM and client businesses. He will report to Prasanth Kumar.

    “I am extremely grateful to have such an amazing journey at GroupM. I think learning and change have always been a part of my career here. Furthermore, as our offerings become more specialised, we need to ensure synergy and seamless flow of expertise between the various players both internal, WPP and external to get the full benefits of both scale and specialisation,” said Parthasarathy Mandayam on his new role. “As I steer through this journey I will continue to push forward with the growth and transformation agenda to bring in significant synergies between new-age data, technology, consulting, products and offerings for our clients and internal stakeholders.”

    Lakhani has more than 20 years of experience in various roles in Mindshare and GroupM. In his previous role as Mindshare South Asia’s chief operating officer, he has been instrumental in driving the best practices and strengthening key client relationships. Earlier in his career as the leader for Mindshare Fulcrum South Asia, he successfully led the integration of the digital business of Unilever in India, leading the team to the most coveted win of a Grand Prix at Cannes. 

    “We want to build on this existing momentum and drive Mindshare ‘Good Growth’ for our clients,” stated Amin Lakhani. “New age data, technology, creativity, research, consulting, and products will play a major role in this journey. As marketers, we need to take charge and lead this journey for our clients and brands. I am excited for this next phase of my journey.”

    Lakhani has extensive cross-functional experience in media, marketing, product management, leading large teams and has worked with various clients like Pepsi, GSK, ICICI, Castrol, HSBC, BYJU’s, Muthoot, Kellogg’s amongst others. He plays an active role in industry bodies like Barc and AAAI. In this new role, he will report to Prasanth Kumar and Mindshare Asia Pacific CEO Helen McRae.

    “Both Maps and Amin are distinguished leaders who have brought energy, skill and leadership, to the Mindshare Group over the past few years in office. They have both led the agency with their invaluable expertise bringing immense value for our clients and internal teams,” commented Helen McRae. “Mindshare’s achievements and client success journeys over the last few years narrate the business acumen of both Maps and Amin. I congratulate them both and wish them the very best for their new roles!

  • m/Six names Sahil Sachdeva as national digital head

    m/Six names Sahil Sachdeva as national digital head

    Mumbai: m/Six, GroupM’s youngest outcome-based agency has announced the appointment of Sahil Sachdeva as the national digital head on Monday. He will be based out of Gurgaon and will report to m/Six India head and senior VP Saket Sinha.

    In this role, Sachdeva will be responsible for managing the agency’s national digital services and helping existing and new clients transform their digital processes and marketing strategies as well as achieving ROI-driven marketing outcomes, said the company. He will focus on strategic and innovative solutions, this will include the continued development of integrated and ‘always-on’ digital strategy that cuts across programmatic, paid, social, search and e-commerce, it added.

    “Sahil has been a part of the family for a long time now. He brings with him in-depth knowledge and great expertise in the digital field,” said Saket Sinha. “I am confident that Sahil will play a key role and help us elevate our business offerings and deliver the best to our clients in the digital space.”

    Sachdeva comes with rich and vast experience in the digital industry and is known to design and deliver strategic direction to digital initiatives for brands like SonyLiv, Emami, Burger king, Revv, Veeba, Harley Davidson, Noise, WhiteHat Jr etc. Over the past 14 years, he has held various roles across planning, programmatic and digital marketing joining the m/Six family in 2017.

    “It’s an exciting time for the industry where marketing today is data-driven and digital-first. I look forward to working with brands to explore and co-create cutting-edge & innovative digital media solutions, not only to reach their consumers more efficiently but also to deliver business and brand outcomes,” stated Sahil Sachdeva. “I am grateful and proud to be part of the m/Six family that has given me such an amazing growth opportunity and looking forward to working with the entire team to deliver the best of digital strategies to the clients.”

  • Mindshare onboards Prashant Nandan as digital lead for North & East

    Mindshare onboards Prashant Nandan as digital lead for North & East

    Mumbai: GroupM’s flagship agency Mindshare on Wednesday announced the onboarding of Prashant Nandan as digital lead for the North and East region. He will be based out of Gurgaon and will report to Mindshare India senior vice president – North and East Ruchi Mathur and Mindshare South Asia digital head Gopa Menon.

    In his new position, Nandan will be responsible for digital strategic direction and leadership within the digital group to deliver the most effective and innovative communications plans. His role will focus on building a high-growth business and driving revenue strategy for Mindshare India, said the statement.

    The appointment is key to Mindshare as digital is on the rise and this will help the agency to achieve higher levels of business performance, innovation, and digital solution-led strategies for the clients.  “The shape of our business is changing. While we continue to partner with our existing clients in their transformation journeys, we are also seeking new clients from the brand new world,” commented Ruchi Mathur. “Prashant with his experience and passion will play a key role in driving this new, seamless and good growth narrative for us. Extremely excited to have him on board and look forward to getting into 2022 with a bang.”

    “Prashant comes with diverse experience in digital marketing, media planning and trading. He will play an important role in driving the digital growth for Mindshare North and East,” said Gopa Menon. “As Mindshare now re-orients its business around the pillars of Acceleration, Outcome and Good Growth, I am looking forward to working with him to shape the continued phase of growth and transformation for our clients.”

    Nandan comes with over 13 years of extensive industry experience in multiple strategic roles. Before joining Mindshare, he was associated with dentsu International as VP – digital trading and buying.

    “I am incredibly thrilled and happy to be part of the Mindshare family and take it to greater heights with the combination of media, data, commerce and technology,” said Prashant Nandan on his new assignment. “It is critical to map, plan and build the right tools of communication in this ever-evolving digital space for our clients to thrive into the future. I look for to building on Mindshare’s reputation of delivering the best results for its clients.”

  • GUEST COLUMN: One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions

    GUEST COLUMN: One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions

    MUMBAI: Management guru Peter Drucker once said, “Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two — and only these two – basic functions: marketing and innovation.”

    Marketing is more important today than ever before as it leads to brand creation, which is the growth driver of the business. A brand is the biggest moat and one of the most powerful intangible assets a business has. Today around 11 per cent of a company’s revenue is spent on marketing. The second most important quote of Peter Drucker was, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” And, how true is this even today in this age of data overload.

    Around 70 per cent of marketing spends are on media. Advertisers have never been under more pressure to prove ROI. TV has been leading and digital has been growing over the years. Together they contribute to around 80 per cent of spending. Measurement of both remains important, but it’s critical to focus on the right metrics which can drive action.

    TV viewership has undergone changes over the years, especially with digitisation, NTO & OTT. The pandemic has led to increasing the overall TV viewership with rural growing faster. If one has to look at genre level, then News, FTA & Regional has been on a continuous growth & Niche has been facing challenges. The good part about TV is that it has an industry-accepted third-party measurement system which drives most of the decisions on planning and investment. However, the industry needs to sort the recent ambiguity on news measurement.

    The consumer looks at TV and digital as a continuum. The majority of OTT content is TV shows, acting as catch-up TV. Growth of connected TV has been fast, though on a smaller base and with NTO 2.0 closer, it’s an indication that TV might keep tilting the balance towards rural & OTT will emerge as new Urban TV. The question is “When”? The audience being the key, can TV take a step further towards digital with improving targeting capabilities at a geo level as well as consumer interest and affinity?

    Digital has been growing and the launch of 4G and Jio has accelerated the growth. Specific measurement is possible at the customer level due to the availability of large data sets; however, digital comes with the challenge of a common currency and a heavy reliance on self-claimed platform level data.

    Platforms do not talk to each other leading to higher inefficiencies in planning. Over the last 18 months, digital spending has been moving to lower-funnel actions driving purchase and conversion. Evolved businesses do understand the need to balance the spending across the funnel (TOF) to get more efficiency on performance marketing without compromising on brand building.

    One of the major changes over the last few years is the advent of the creator economy. Scale is a challenge here and the industry needs to enable this. There is a need to move beyond views and likes. Coupon codes and affiliate links are solving the attribution question. However, the focus should also be to measure brand advocacy.

    With large data sets and extremely sharper targeting capabilities, digital also faces the wrath of privacy which is now being spoken at various industry forums and is at a cusp of change with regards to customer opt-in and usage of data.

    Hence TV & digital will have to come closer and there is a need for standardisation of the measurement mechanics, for improving the investment decisions. While the basic measures like monitoring reach, frequency, views, etc. are important to track, other outcomes remain critical like brand searches including marketplace, direct traffic, time spent, footfalls, etc. Tracking customer satisfaction, mind metrics, and NPS is also a key measure of brand health.

    While today’s consumer is multiscreen, measurement of media is operating in silos and the absence of single-source data adds to the woes. The industry has to take steps to arrive at a cross-media third-party measurement currency that helps measure effectiveness as well as efficiency of marketing spending.

    And finally, brand metrics across the marketing funnel, like awareness, consideration, and purchase intent will remain critical varying from business to business depending on customer engagement. The power of the brand will be determined by the ability to charge a price premium, loyalty, and advocacy, and it is imperative to measure these continuously.

    (Rahul K Shah is general manager, Motivator at GroupM. The views expressed in this column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • Xaxis elevates Dimpy Yadav to general manager, India

    Xaxis elevates Dimpy Yadav to general manager, India

    Mumbai: Xaxis, GroupM’s outcome media specialist, on Thursday announced the elevation of Dimpy Yadav as general manager of Xaxis India. She will be based out of Gurugram and will report to GroupM India president of data, performance, and digital products Atique Kazi.

    In this new role, Yadav will be responsible for leading the agency and its clients through India’s rapidly growing digital media landscape. This includes an online retail market that is expected to triple its volume over the next five years, stated the agency.

    According to a statement, she will focus on three main areas of strategic development: Integration, Intelligence, and Innovation. This will include the continued development of advanced, omnichannel digital media solutions optimised with data and artificial intelligence technology to help brands earn valuable business outcomes.

    “In line with global trends, we are dedicated to driving cutting-edge omnichannel solutions powered by seamless integration of data-driven creative solutions that will help brands extract the maximum value from their media investments,” said Yadav. “I’d like to thank Xaxis for having the faith in me and I look forward to helping our clients address the growing complexity of the media landscape and earn real business outcomes.”

    Yadav’s journey with Xaxis began in 2017 as an engagement manager and evolved through several roles; her most recent position was national head for client engagement.

    “Dimpy has a first-rate knowledge of data, integration, and new age media. She has been leading client engagement for Xaxis India proficiently and has driven impactful solutions for our clients,” stated Atique Kazi. “She has always stayed ahead of the curve with her expertise and continuous innovation in client solutions. We are confident that she will play a pivotal role as the lead for Xaxis India.”

  • 80% buying will be ‘digital’ influenced this festive season: Report

    80% buying will be ‘digital’ influenced this festive season: Report

    Mumbai: Consumer sentiment ahead of the festive season remains positive with 50 per cent of consumers likely to increase their festive spends this year. Digital channels will continue to be crucial to the purchase decision with a whopping 80 per cent consumers’ journeys being ‘digital’ influenced, of which 77 per cent endemic journeys will involve amazon.in, according to a festive season industry playbook released by MMA, GroupM and Amazon Advertising.

    As per the handbook for marketers on expected consumer sentiment along with recommended strategies for Diwali this year, consumers are still not fully decided on their purchase, with 62 per cent of consumers currently undecided about the product/brand choice. The playbook titled ‘Decoding Consumer Behaviour and Winning the 2021 Festive Season’ further advises brands to leverage multiple touchpoints. Be visible across touchpoints leveraging connected TV, video, search advertising etc to drive active/passive discovery and leverage ‘efficiency’ related metrics to assess performance holistically, recommends the report.

    The 2021 Diwali festive season will be an unprecedented test for marketers, as per the study. As consumption is on a natural upswing post-pandemic restrictions, brands are looking to stand out and capture the mindshare among the new-age ‘digital’ consumers.

    Multiple brands have deferred their product launches and are counting on the festive season to drive incremental reach and sales, as per the report. As a result, shopping aisles will be choc-a-bloc with new launches supported by high-decibel marketing campaigns. At the same time, consumer journeys have become more complex and non-linear, and the role of digital has become more prominent across the journey. As a result, this festive season will require marketers to re-think their media strategies in order to be successful, says the study based on findings from consumer surveys, brand marketer surveys, and inputs from key opinion leaders.

    MMA India country head Moneka Khurana commented, “76 per cent of marketers mentioned they will be allocating more spends for digital as compared to last year. Hence it’s key to understand omnichannel users better in the changing times as we continue to drive the narrative of shaping the future of marketing.”

    GroupM South Asia president of growth and transformation Tushar Vyas stated, “Digital influence in consumer journeys has increased significantly while the e-commerce adoption has accelerated in the last 18 months. Hence, digital is no more a support media platform but is core to media plans.  E-commerce platforms offer brands the opportunity to hand-hold consumers across the purchase funnel by not only aiding in active/passive brand discovery but also in closing the loop by measuring performance objectively.”

    Amazon Advertising India director of ad sales Vijay Iyer shared, “E-commerce portals act as gateways to this world that we are so quickly embracing and are playing a crucial role in brand and product discovery. For marketers, this presents an unprecedented opportunity – to be able to identify and leverage customer intent at an unprecedented scale. This playbook will help brands in not only sharpening their online strategy but will redefine how they measure and drive business outcomes.”

    The playbook aims to help brands in making efficient decisions around their media strategy during the festive season. It captures insights around consumer sentiment and marketer expectations for the upcoming festive season, along with implications and recommendations for advertisers.

  • Online retail market in India to rise 3X in next 4-5 years: MMA & GroupM study

    Online retail market in India to rise 3X in next 4-5 years: MMA & GroupM study

    Mumbai: The online retail market in India is set to rise three folds in the next four to five years, majorly driven by under-penetrated categories like grocery, education, and health, as per a new study conducted by MMA India and GroupM.

    Online video spends have seen the highest growth rate of 46 per cent in 2020, as compared to other media channels. Online content consumption grew 35 per cent post Covid, with a total growth of 13 per cent in time spent on OTT from January 2020 to January 2021.

    The industry playbook titled ‘Modern Marketers Guide to Connected Consumer Journeys’ launched by MMA India on Tuesday, along with the AMMP Council and GroupM India is a compilation of learnings and insights by multiple industry experts and an analysis of the e-commerce landscape in India. In the context of the accelerated adoption of online channels, the playbook provides marketers with insights into the changing e-commerce landscape and the factors driving this shift. It also delves into the evolving customer buying journey and purchase patterns, sales-driving technologies such as Voice, AR/VR driving sales and effective channel strategy for improved business ROI.

    According to the playbook, ‘Voice’ is at a nascent stage Indians are leapfrogging on Voice adoption and the market is expected to grow by 40 per cent by 2022. Not just on Google Assistant, voice is rapidly growing as a preferred medium of input across Search and YouTube, driven by vernacular internet users’ preference of voice, who find it to be a more natural way of interacting with technology, helping reduces friction, found the study. Hindi on voice assistants is second biggest globally; 72 per cent Indians prefer non-English language.

    Urban internet users are relying on online platforms for product research. At least 62 per cent of urban users are researching products online before making any purchase either online or offline, as per the guide. As many as 50 per cent of offline shopping across categories involves online product research.

    The biggest retail trend is the increasing popularity of the direct-to-consumer or DTC model, according to the handbook. D2C brands are witnessing a high number of subsequent funding rounds and strategic sales to incumbents. Brands with a DTC model can leverage direct relationships through loyalty programs, special discounting and promotions, and unique and category-specific shopping experiences, says the study.

    The study also highlights that online retail is shifting from electronics to grocery and 73 per cent of customers have purchased through online shopping platforms in the past 12 months. The deciding factors, as per the guide are – product quality ( 63 per cent), price (55 per cent ) and product information (55 per cent), return and cancellation policy, and product warranty.

    There has been an interesting purchase pattern in the consumer journey in the last three months where Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra were the top three online shopping destinations, notes the study. Groceries, fashion and health, beauty, and personal care were the most searched product categories.

    India today has 622 million internet users (8 per cent growth over 2019) and is expected to touch 900 million users by 2025. With affordable data prices, consumers are increasingly becoming more “digital Conversational Commerce, Voice Search, Video Streaming and Augmented Reality will also help brands drive their e-commerce strategies, says the guide.

    MMA India board member; country head – India, MMA Moneka Khurana said, the playbook outlines how organisations and digital business leaders can improve their understanding of the shift in consumer behavior and solutions that will drive the next phase of growth. “Consistent digital exposure, combined with the presence of available omnichannel touchpoints has resulted in the development of a new consumer purchasing process. MMA through its e-Commerce Council aims to build an overall understanding of the ecosystem and address cluster-specific issues improving capability in omnichannel marketing. We hope this playbook will assist marketers and brands to effectively re-strategise their market approach – from the customers they target to the channels they sell-through,” said Khurana.

    GroupM South Asia president – growth and transformation, Tushar Vyas said the growth in internet users, reduction in data prices, and changing consumer behavior are the key growth drivers for the evolution of eCommerce in India. “We understand the changing online retail market and how it is set to grow 3x in the next 4-5 years mainly driven by underpenetrated categories like grocery, education, health. Considering the emergence and growth of eCommerce platforms, this handbook provides A-Z solutions on how marketers can use eCommerce as a platform to enhance a brand’s reach in these rapidly evolving times,” said Vyas.

    According to Tata Industries Ltd. executive director, KRS Jamwal, going forward, platforms and brands will need to differentiate by providing customers with a better, preferably personalised, yet holistic buying experience that enhances the browse and purchase journeys, and even attempt to bring aspects of the in-store experience online, leveraging tech. “The MMA report provides an overarching view on consumer behavior shifts as well as identifies challenges those organisations may face as a result of those shifts, with best practices and possible solutions”, he added.

  • Essence launches Essence Data Health Check consulting service

    Essence launches Essence Data Health Check consulting service

    Mumbai: GroupM’s Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency, on Tuesday announced the introduction of its Essence Data Health Check (EDHC) consulting service, developed to help brands achieve effective business outcomes from their digital marketing activities by advancing audience data strategy.

    EDHC is a service product developed through Essence Global Ventures, the agency’s Singapore-based innovation, research and development hub. The product was built to be a strategic and tactical aid for marketers to accelerate their digital marketing transformation and business growth. In addition to helping brands navigate the seismic shifts in data, identity and privacy due to the confluence of changes in user sentiment, regulations and technology, the offering enables marketers to maximise value from their audience data and optimise consumer brand experience, the company stated. The features of the product are informed by years of providing data services for brands across APAC, including those from the technology, retail, travel, luxury and financial services sectors, the agency said in a statement.

    Part of Essence’s consulting solutions, EDHC provides a meticulous review of marketers’ technology stack, data collection setup, audience management approach and data deployment practice, along with actionable recommendations to increase the effectiveness of data-driven paid and owned marketing activities. This review is done with respect towards current and future shifts in legislation and technology pertaining to consumers’ online identity and privacy. Designed for both in-house marketing teams and external agency service models, the offering also recommends measurable implementation roadmaps to track progress and capture value. 

    Essence VP- data strategy, APAC, Vincent Niou, said, “Data has never been more integral to more aspects of marketers’ businesses, but the space has never been more confusing and uncertain. With Essence Data Health Check, we are excited to help marketers navigate these shifts, while applying our best practices to drive campaign impact and business growth from their audience data, as well as provide the best possible brand experience for their customers across both paid and owned channels.”

    Essence VP, advertising operations, APAC, Shane Dewar said, “With consumer sentiment, public policy and the advertising industry as a whole moving towards an ecosystem that puts privacy at the forefront of how it operates, brands and advertisers will be challenged to ensure that the people, processes and tools they have are capable of navigating the new privacy-first world. Essence Data Health Check is designed to help marketers evaluate what they are doing well in, provide a roadmap to improve their data strategy, and ultimately, enable brands to achieve their goals.”

    Essence executive VP Kunal Guha, who oversees the strategic direction and delivery of Essence Global Ventures’ research and development efforts, said, “We are now at the dawn of a new era of marketing – one that is defined by consumers’ expectations around their data and privacy, and an industry looking to bring more personalised experiences to their consumers. Essence Data Health Check will underpin the foundations for this privacy-first world, where the ethical compass on consumers’ data is paramount. Through Essence Global Ventures, it is our ambition to continually innovate solutions that will ensure marketers globally can lead with new strategic advantages, today and in the future.”

    Through Essence Global Ventures, the agency will further develop and incubate marketing technology products that use predictive data signals and automation to improve business performance, customer experience and brand governance for companies. Similar to Essence Media Health Check and Essence Data Health Check, these solutions will be commercialised and deployed across APAC and globally via Essence’s network of offices, the agency said.