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Tag: GroupM

  • Football is a game not be spoken, but seen: Vinit Karnik

    Football is a game not be spoken, but seen: Vinit Karnik

    FIFA being a marquee event that happens once in four years is certainly growing in India in terms of both viewership and fan following. The non-followers also contribute to the viewership along with the core football following lot. A high quality and closely fought game will lead to a bigger audience base and this is what we should aim from this tournament.

    FIFA as a property has performed well in the last two editions in India. And with the buzz around football growing in India, this edition is expected to perform even better. With Sony Six launching two football shows, there has been a huge media hype created around the game.

    With properties like the IPL and now the FIFA World Cup in their kitty, this should provide the head start the channel is looking at but unlike the IPL, football is less of entertainment and is more structured. It is a game that is to be seen rather than to be spoken about.

    From a marketers’ POV, a good performance by the property is good news as it opens doors to a newly found consumer passion point for them to leverage. With Sony Six tying up with restaurants like Hard Rock café football today is clearly a gen-next sport. My estimation is about a younger audience getting engaged to the sport. Eight year olds, 10 year old as well as 14 year olds have been captured by the spirit of football.  And such tie ups help groups to come together and enjoy the game.

    Any engaging show on football will help build hype around the sports will eventually help to increase the audience base. With a huge fan expected now, it will also help the Indian Super League which slated to begin in September. The ISL is a brilliant combination of investment and money by corporate sand celebrities. This will be a big developmental aspect for the game in India and I am sure this will go a long way in promoting the game at the grassroots level which is where most of the football fans are based.

    (These are purely personal views of GroupM ESP national director – Entertainment, Sports & Live Events Vinit Karnik and indiantelevision.com does not subscribe to these views.)

  • Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    MUMBAI: Mindshare, part of GroupM, has appointed Vinod Thadani as its chief digital officer – south Asia. In his new role, Thadani will be responsible for managing the agency’s full-service digital offerings for existing clients as well as bringing in new business to the agency.

     

    With over fifteen years of media experience, Thadani is responsible for setting up the largest mobile practice at GroupM in 2008 and winning media awards in the mobile category across all major award functions – IDMA, Emvies, DMA, IAMAI, Goa Fest, Campaign India, MMA, Yahoo Big Chair and Festival Of Media.

     

    Prior to moving to Mindshare south Asia, he was the chief executive officer of Madhouse India (a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China) and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company. He worked closely with over 100 clients like Intel, Idea, VW, Panasonic, Titan, Britannia, Google, LIC, Siemens, ITC, Flipkart, Nestle, Make My Trip, Hungama.com and media conglomerates such as GroupM, OMG, Percept & Ignitee.

     

    Welcoming him to the team, Mindshare south Asia leader Ravi Rao said, “Vinod has always managed to stay ahead of the curve with his in-depth knowledge and continuous innovation. We are extremely glad to have him on board and are confident he will take Mindshare to greater avenues.”

     

    Thadani said, “With the eminent growth of over 40 per cent in digital advertising, the future of marketing lies in seamless integration of core traditional media with digital and mobile media. Mindshare boasts of an impressive client roster with some of the biggest brands in the world, and I look forward to working with each of them and the team on their digital mandates.”

     

    Thadani is also an empanelled member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and plays a pivotal role in the MMA’s South Asian operations. He has been a regular speaker and conference chair at several domestic and international industry events, giving his point of view and expert opinions in the role of mobile in the marketing value chain.

  • GroupM appoints Steve Williams as Maxus North America CEO

    GroupM appoints Steve Williams as Maxus North America CEO

    MUMBAI: Maxus has appointed Steve Williams as chief executive officer North America. The announcement was made by Maxus Global CEO Vikram Sakhuja. Williams will be based in New York and he will join Maxus on 1 June. He will report to Sakhuja and to GroupM North America CEO Kelly Clark.

     

    Williams is currently president of PHD New York, a position he has held for the last two years. He was previously CEO of OMD Group in the UK, where he led a team of 550 professionals.

     

    “Steve has a great reputation as a leader and a client partner,” said Sakhuja. “He has a terrific track record of success in both the UK and the US, and he is a perfect fit for the ambitious Maxus culture.”

     

    “We are confident that Steve will help us take Maxus to a new level,” said Clark. “I know from competing against Steve that he can be a very potent force, so I’m delighted he’s now on our team.”

     “I am excited to be joining Maxus and GroupM. I am thankful for the incredible journey with Omnicom Media Group, but I’m now looking forward to a new journey with Maxus, who are uniquely positioned to grow locally and globally. I love the team’s energy and ambition,” mentioned Williams.

  • GroupM elevates Jai Lala and Sidharth Parashar

    GroupM elevates Jai Lala and Sidharth Parashar

    MUMBAI: GroupM has elevated two of its senior executives of the Central Trading Group (CTG). The company elevates Sidharth Parashar as head, Pricing & Investments, and Jai Lala as head, Trading & Partnerships.

     

    Both Lala and Parashar will report to CTG south Asia managing partner Prasanth Kumar.

     

    Prior to his promotion, Parashar was the agency buying head for Maxus, for over five years, where he was a valued member of the leadership team, working on media mandates for brands such as Google, Nokia, Vodafone to name a few. In his new role Parashar will be responsible to facilitate and execute GroupM investment mandates across media. His key focus will be on the GroupM trading products that should continue to offer the edge to our clients. All the GroupM agency trading heads and cluster heads will now report in to Praashar.

     

    Prior to Lala’s elevation, he was the agency trading head for Mindshare, where he worked on media mandates for clients such as Pepsi, GlaxoSmithkline, ICICI, Aditya Birla Group and Nike. Going forward Lala will be managing all trading mandates at GroupM. He will also be heading a team of all the heads across verticals: Proprietary media, DTH, Xaxis, Syndication, GME and Special projects and maximize value for our clients. He will also work closely with Parashar and the agency trading heads on delivering the maximum ROI on media investments.

     

    Speaking on the new structure, Kumar said, “As we move into a growth phase largely driven by converging synergies across the group and driving client satisfaction it has become critical that we create more focus, especially in the area of media investment. With the development of new concepts of integrated media, merging traditional and digital media, we are also looking at reforming the way we plan our investments as a central hub. This new structure in our core function will deliver unparalleled client delight and value.”

  • IAA exhorts youth to vote in teaser campaign

    IAA exhorts youth to vote in teaser campaign

    MUMBAI: The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) has launched a teaser campaign aimed at making the first time voters exercise their franchise.

     

    The initiative takes the form of a creative with a QR code which if scanned on a smart phone would reveal a video. 

     

    IAA president Srinivasan Swamy said,“This is yet another important initiative that shows what the communications industry can do societally. The IAA has been trying its best through various efforts to champion causes like the environment, women’s issues and now social change. The creative uses a teaser approach to communicate a very important message. I hope it will will trend virally on social media.”

     

     
    Posters of this are being put up in 40 colleges across Mumbai. 10,000 newspaper supplements are being distributed at a major youth event.

     
    LINE, a Japanese proprietary application for instant messaging on smartphones and personal computers, who have over 400 million users worldwide have agreed to spread the word to their entire India user base.

    Opera Software, the makers of Opera browsers for desktop/ PCs and mobile devices has agreed to partner with IAA and will support the initiative by spreading awareness of this campaign to millions of Opera Mini users in India.

    Group M, through their Dialogue Factory have created the campaign and many media houses will be carrying the it as an advertisement. It will also be sent to all IAA members to display as a poster.

     
    Volunteer For A Better India, an NGO, has been partnering the IAA on the ground in this campaign.

  • MediaCom appoints Rathi Gangappa as head west

    MediaCom appoints Rathi Gangappa as head west

    MUMBAI: MediaCom has brought on board Rathi Gangappa as head west.

     

    She will report to MediaCom India MD Debraj Tripathy and will oversee P&G along with rest of the west businesses that include the VW group, HRI, Vespa and others.

     

    Tripathy said, “I am delighted to welcome Rathi to the MediaCom family. I am confident her varied experience across organisations, both agencies and advertisers, and across categories will help us deliver greater value to our clients. I wish her the very best for a long and enriching career with MediaCom”

     

    Prior to joining Mediacom, Gangappa was at Vodafone as the head of media and was subsequently in charge of developing Vodafone’s mobile marketing product. She has been instrumental in building Vodafone’s leading media identity and driving their strategic media solutions.

     

    Gangappa started her career in Lintas Media after which she moved to Maximize (now Maxus) when GroupM India was formed. In a career spanning over 18 years, Gangappa has worked with clients like Unilever, Hutch/ Vodafone, Tata Motors, Britannia and Walt Disney.

     

    Gangappa said, “I am excited to be joining the talented team at Mediacom and working with some of the most prestigious brands in India. MediaCom has been growing fast and has produced some of the best work in the industry. It is a challenge to keep up the pace and I am looking forward to it.”

  • Germin8 raises $3 million venture funding from Kalaari Capital

    Germin8 raises $3 million venture funding from Kalaari Capital

    MUMBAI: Germin8, a Big Data analytics company, has raised USD 3 million in Series-A funding from Kalaari Capital. The funds will be used to strengthen Germin8’s position in India through increased sales and marketing, and fuel its foray into international markets. A significant portion of the funds will also be deployed for R&D and new product development.

     

    Since the launch of its first product in 2012, Germin8 has leveraged its proprietary technology platform and algorithms to build and reinforce its position as a leading Big Data analytics firm. Germin8, through its proprietary tools, helps companies make more informed decisions in real time, based on what their stakeholders are saying in the public domain including social media and news, and in company-owned sources like emails and chats.

     

    Germin8’s technology platform is, today, used across marketing, corporate communications, customer care and sales functions at over 100 leading brands such as MTV, Marico, ICICI Prudential, Godrej Industries, Johnson & Johnson and Asian Paints. Germin8’s technology is also being used by several national and international media and advertising agencies including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu Aegis, Rediffusion and Ormax Media.

     

    According to Kumar Shiralagi, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital, “We believe that in a competitive, evolving landscape, Germin8 has all the ingredients to be a global player especially because of the strength and flexibility of its technology platform, and its strong focus on innovation and customer satisfaction”.  Underscoring the importance of this investment, Kumar added, “Today no company can afford to underestimate the impact of social media on its business and Germin8 allows companies to monitor, analyse and take the right business decisions in a timely way.”

     

    Germin8 was founded by Dr. Ranjit Nair, a PhD in Computer Science from University of Southern California, and Raj Nair, a strategy consultant and alumnus of IIT-B and IIM-A. Germin8 now has a team of over 50 experienced professionals from top engineering and management institutes.

     

    “This is an important milestone for Germin8. Since our launch in 2012, we’ve been adding value to our customers in India by delivering actionable insights and analytics. With this investment by Kalaari Capital, we hope to make our technology available to companies outside India as well, even as we aim to consolidate our position as a significant analytics player in the Indian market,” says Ranjit Nair, CEO of Germin8.

     

    Kalaari Capital invests in early-stage technology-oriented companies in India. Their focus is on companies which are capturing new markets, providing innovative solutions, and creating wealth for entrepreneurs and investors. Mosaic Capital acted as the exclusive advisor to the company. Mosaic Capital (www.mosaiccap.com ) is a boutique investment bank specialised in M&A and Private Equity, with offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

  • Leo Burnett’s Arvind Sharma grills Group M south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas

    Leo Burnett’s Arvind Sharma grills Group M south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas

    It was in early 2012 that CVL Srinivas (fondly called Srini) succeeded Vikram Sakhuja as GroupM South Asia CEO. At the time, GroupM AP CEO Mark Patterson and Srini’s boss had said that he was their first choice for the role, and that he had the skills, personality, relationships and attitude to build the business on strategy, and with his own style and ideas as well.

     

    For Srini, it was an opportunity to go back to an organization where he had learnt the ropes and mastered the rules of the game. Since Srinivas took charge, a lot of changes were made in the agency to up the ante in the competitive market scenario. Indiantelevision.com’s Guest Editor of the day, outgoing chairman of Leo Burnett, Arvind Sharma spoke to his old friend, Srini, to see how the agency has done so far…

     

    Srini, it has been just over a year since you took over as CEO of Group M in the country. What was the strategy and what were the priorities you set as the new CEO?

     

    Clearly, our agency brands are the real heroes in the market. GroupM is only the support structure that leverages the overall scale of the business. The first priority was to help our agency brands to leverage the knowledge and expertise of GroupM, support them with best practices, and help push their business further.

     

    The next priority was and still continues to be our focus on the New Core, that is,  Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing, with a greater focus on Digital. Digital is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but is an integral part of a brand’s communication strategy, content and plans. We started our digital practice 12 years ago, and have the early mover advantage. However, in 2013, we really scaled it up to a much higher level with the ‘New Me’ initiative, beginning with a change in mindsets. We laid out a three-year plan, and we have made incredible progress in year one.  It is a continuous effort that integrates traditional core media practices with the new core like digital and social media, content, search, analytics, etc.

     

    Our third focus area has been our younger employees, who really are the future of the industry.  We introduced the YCO (Youth Committee) last year that works very closely with the EXCO (senior leadership) at GroupM. This project was in fact piloted in India. The YCO has made a significant contribution in the very first year. These bright young minds from our agencies and specialist practices are now part of the decision-making process. They are really our feet on the street, bringing in a slew of fresh ideas and insights.

     

    Did execution of this strategy involve structural changes at the agency? What were they?

     

    Keeping in mind our ‘New Me’ vision in 2013, there was greater organizational focus on the New Core- Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing. We began embedding New Core talent within our agency brands and will continue the effort in 2014 as well.

     

    We also looked at a more simplified structure to ensure focus on new core areas. For example, as our business evolved, we realized that certain units need to be restructured to create a lean and agile team. We merged two of our units, Dialogue Factory and Dialect, to build a single activations powerhouse – Dialogue Factory. Today, Dialogue Factory has the expertise to plan and execute any and every aspect of experiential marketing, ranging from high-end luxury events to focussed rural outreach programs.

     

    Would you share the progress Group M has made in terms of the strategic priorities set by you?

     

    Our agencies and specialist units have had a significant year. We won over 80 new businesses in 2013 and managed to retain some key clients. We dominated the domestic and international industry awards last year, with our agencies and specialist units winning an award every other day.  All our agencies rank high as per the recent 2013 RECMA ratings. To cap this performance, last year, we were awarded the Porter Prize, making us the ‘only’ media and advertising agency to win the Award.

     

    Keeping in mind our focus on digital and the new core via ‘New Me’, our digital contribution grew by 50 per cent last year.

     

    We have rolled out several unique initiatives in the talent space. Over the years, GroupM Aspire has established itself as a best-in-class training and development programme. We have introduced several interesting programmes in Aspire and have linked it to our new vision.  Basis the inputs we got from our Y-Co, we brought in several new welfare measures. We were recently crowned the “Dream Company to Work for” in the Media & Entertainment sector at the World HRD Congress.

     

    One and a half years later, do you see the need for any tweaks in your strategy?

     

    In today’s market, GroupM’s agility, coupled with our deep understanding of the market is what is keeping us ahead. Having said that, evolution is the only constant, and as the media landscape changes, bringing us new opportunities and challenges, we will need to evolve ourselves and some of our practices.

     

    2013 was generally a tough year for the industry. How do you see 2014 panning out?

     

    While 2013 was a challenging year, it did bring in a lot of opportunities. The slowdown of the economy and uncertainties  surrounding policy put a lot of pressure on our clients and their media budgets, and we did take a lot of course corrective action in the middle of 2013. The year also gave us the opportunity to see some great innovation across planning and buying, developing new proprietary tools, diversifying our talent and building some interesting partnerships.

     

    We are cautiously optimistic about the media industry in 2014. The GroupM TYNY 2014 forecasts the AdEx to grow at 11.6 per cent with the highest growth percentage for Digital at 35 per cent followed by Television at 12 per cent. Sectors like FMCG, Auto and Retail will continue to be stable. We will see an increase in rural spending by several sectors like FMCG and Telecom, and with that, we also plan to expand GroupM’s offerings geographically. The first half of the year will continue to be uncertain, given the general economic and political environment, however, we foresee a stronger second half with an upsurge in ad spends across categories.

     

    We will continue to focus on our New Core offerings including Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing. Our agencies have already done some ground-breaking work in the first quarter with branded content and digital media.