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Tag: Havas Media Group

  • Havas launches the world’s first ‘Meta DSP’

    Havas launches the world’s first ‘Meta DSP’

    MUMBAI: Affiperf, Havas’ programmatic pure player, became the first company in the world to offer brands the opportunity to operate seamlessly across multiple demand side platforms with one single point of contact with the launch of its “Affiperf Meta DSP” solution. This represents a significant leap forward in what is now called “the age of programmatic” as the topic continues to dominate the agendas of events such as this week’s Advertising Week in NYC.

     

    As technology, data and algorithmic complexity have increased; automation in the media industry has become the new norm. Despite this, the potential of automated programmatic methods for real-time buying have been limited by the fact that until now, agencies were limited to using inventory from different Demand Side Platforms (known as DSPs) in parallel. As the number of DSPs in the market exploded, this added a rather frustrating and inefficient complexity to the process of optimisation and data collection in programmatic buying.

     

    Algorithms data and advertising

    Following three years of research from Affiperf, a Fields Medal holder and renowned data scientists MFG Labs, the Affiperf Meta DSP solution offers for the first time, a way to unify and make sense of data sets across multiple platforms. It aggregates multiple assets using their APIs, i.e. data inventory, features and algorithms from a number of DSPs. It then uses modelling and decision engines to allow traders to recommend wider, more sophisticated strategic options and monitor them.

     

    MFG Labs co-founder and Fields Medal holder 1994 Pierre-Louis Lions commented, “Thanks to three years of extensive R & D we have been able to bring technical neutrality to the conception, implementation and optimisation of campaigns. This works both in the real-time bidding process as well as the design for even more integrated approaches that will enable us before the end of the year, to start managing our Affiperf Meta DSP solution for online and offline data and media.” 

     

    A unique answer to growing complexity

    The Affiperf Meta DSP is powered by enhanced proprietary algorithms that offer clients fluid digitalisation, optimisation and addressability across formats. This ability to collate results and information into one unified marketing statistic marks the end to complexity in this critical area. Although increasing in size, the competitive landscape is not dominated by one DSP, but a fragmented ecosystem of DSP display, mobile and video, rich media DSPs, each of them having different rules, inventories and features. This makes it increasingly difficult for brands to get consistent answers and to see the bigger picture.

    Technologically agnostic, this is the first solution that is open to all DSPs and all technologies. Through this platform brands can therefore take advantage of the best technology available to reach out to and relate to people with greater speed in a more tailored environment than ever before.

     

    Havas Media Group global managing partner and Chairman of Havas Media Group France and UK chairman Dominique Delport said, “In today’s world, media is code and digital campaigns are like software. The idea behind programmatic when it first started was to secure instant contact between traders and brands that would enable our clients to benefit from an infinite number of connections with consumers in real-time. The explosion of data and the significant rise in the number of DSPs on the market has meant that this promise of programmatic was lost to complexity and silos.

     

    Affiperf Meta DSP disrupts the market with the creation of one single tool that enables our clients to optimise choice across multiple platforms. As a result, our industry can finally take programmatic buying to the next level to help brands generate more tailored, more effective and more meaningful connections with people. This is programmatic without compromise.”

     

    A worldwide roll-out

    The initial roll out of the Affiperf Meta DSP includes, amongst others, the recently launched ONE by AOL, onto one open infrastructure. Accessible in over 102 markets, Affiperf will continue to develop the product in the coming months to increase the number of DSP platforms that can be analysed at the same time.

     

  • After celebrities, corporates catch on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

    After celebrities, corporates catch on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

    MUMBAI: From celebrities, both Indian and global, to young and old alike everyone has tried this. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a movement that has snowballed into a social media trend, raising crucial awareness and funds for ALS.

    But it’s not just celebs and folks who have participated in the challenge – now, corporates too are doing their part to raise awareness for a good cause.

    The latest addition to this list is To The New and Havas Media Group India, where key executives have now taken the challenge.

    Several executives from To The New, across India, China and Singapore offices have participated in the challenge and posted videos getting drenched in the iced bucket to raise awareness for ALS.

    Among the participants are head honchos of several of the group companies including Tangerine CEO Kesavan Kanchi Kandadai, IntelliGrape CEO Deepak Mittal, ThoughtBuzz CEO Anshul Jain, IntelliGrape  CBD Raman Mittal, Techsailor China CEO Rex Huang and To The New Marketing Head Irfan Khan.

    The company was challenged by Marketing Interactive Magazine from Singapore. To The New has extended the challenge to Sony LIV, Amazon Internet Services India, afaqs! and Times Innovation Media to take the epic #icebucketchallenge.

    On the other hand, Havas Media Group India took the challenge from Havas Media UK & Havas International. Havas UK and Havas International were challenged by HMG Asia Pacific. Havas Media Group India has gone on to challenge some other agencies and their clients.

    Many countries across the Havas Group also took up the challenge donating and spreading awareness for ALS.

    Click here to watch the video
  • Havas Media Group strengthens Indonesian team

    Havas Media Group strengthens Indonesian team

    MUMBAI: The largest media group in Indonesia, Havas Media Group, has appointed Pranay Shah Singh as head of strategy for Indonesia.

     

    In his new role, Singh will be responsible for strengthening the strategic output on key clients including, XL Axiata, Danone, AXA, LG Electronics and Kakao Talk. He will also work closely with account leads, innovation and new business teams to drive the adoption of group’s proprietary – meaningful brands research and meaningful connections planning process that helps brands connect with people and create shared value for brands and consumers.

     

    He will report jointly to Havas Media Group APAC chief strategy officer SK Biswas and Havas Media Group Indonesia CEO Riadi Sugihtani.

     

    Biswas said, “In addition to his media expertise, Pranay brings with him a lateral thinking approach to consumer insights, branding and business issues that connects well with the Meaningful Brands approach at Havas Media Group. He has also shown great curiosity and enthusiasm for the market and I have no doubt that he will prove to be an asset to our pool of clients, who are banking on our support to reach the next level in their meaningfulness journey .”

     

    Singh joins the agency with ten years of experience in the dynamic Indian media industry, where he developed an expertise in strategic planning, media research, consulting and content marketing, working with multinational media agencies and boutique consulting. His last stint was with ZenithOptimedia India, where he led communications planning for FMCG companies like Reckitt Benckiser and Nestle. His involvement in social initiatives like Dhriti and recognition as a rising media star in India by Brand Equity magazine, are testament to his interest in the evolution of communications, and how it impacts society and culture.

     

    Singh said, “I am delighted to be a part of the expanding Havas Media Group and exploring new media horizons of Indonesia, one of the giants of Southeast Asia that is witnessing unprecedented consumer growth.” 

     

    Last year the group launched its second agency brand Arena in the country, which has been on a winning spree nabbing the business of Indofood and LG Electronics.

  • Havas Media Group appoints Josh Gallagher as regional strategy director

    Havas Media Group appoints Josh Gallagher as regional strategy director

    MUMBAI: Havas Media Group has appointed Josh Gallagher as its regional strategy director. Based out of Singapore, he will report to Havas Media Group Asia Pacific chief strategy officer SK Biswas.

     

    In his new role, Gallagher will be responsible for driving offline and online strategy for the agency’s key clients including AXA, Emirates, LG Electronics and Shangri La Hotels. He will also lead the adoption of agency’s proprietary planning process Meaningful Connections Planning with an eye to deliver innovative solutions to new and existing clients.

     

    An integral part of his mandate is to propel the uptake of Havas Media Group’s Meaningful Brands research, a unique framework that analyses and tracks the connections brands have with quality of life and well-being of consumers.

     

    Gallanger said, “I had heard about Havas Media’s Meaningful Brands vision and found it very compelling. As brands enter the digital age it becomes critical for them to increase their meaningfulness quotient or they face the risk of extinction. The agency’s framework is a very unique roadmap for brands, as they embark on their journey to become meaningful and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to support this vision.”

     

    Gallanger joins the agency with 10 years of experience working with international media and digital agencies in Australia. Prior to this, he was with ZenithOptimedia Melbourne, where he worked as a communications strategist, driving strategy for Honda, Lion Nathan and Reckitt Benckiser. He has spent seven years with Universal McCann Brisbane, where he worked as client services and strategic director. He has also had a stint at digital agency Kruse Digital.

     

    Biswas said, “Josh is a very welcome addition to the regional strategy team. He has an unrelenting curiosity for uncovering consumer insights and is a champion of integration. He is one of those rare strategists, who have a hands on and practical experience of working on integrated strategies and expertise in both offline and digital communications planning processes.”

  • 68 per cent Indians trust brands: Havas Media Study

    68 per cent Indians trust brands: Havas Media Study

    MUMBAI: The results from Havas Media Group’s 2013 Meaningful Brands statistically demonstrate that Meaningful Brands outperform the stock market by 120 per cent. It demonstrates in hard financial terms, how the relationship between people and brands can benefit from measuring, communicating and delivering increased well-being.

     

    In its sixth year, the 2013 findings show Indians as the ‘most passionate and grateful’ customers across the globe, believing brands ‘can and should’ contribute positively to their overall quality of life. People in India tend to believe the overall intentions of brands yet are a bit sceptical of their communication creating huge opportunities for brands to make a real, tangible meaningful difference. India is increasingly expecting brands to enhance personal well-being as brands become aspirational symbols of their improved standard of living.

     

    The study measures 13 dimensions: impact of the brand’s ‘Marketplace’ benefits alongside its impact on 12 different areas of ‘Well-being’ (Personal and Collective), for a comprehensive view of its effect on quality of life. Unique in scale – 700 brands, over 134,000 consumers and 23 countries, it measures the benefits brands bring to people’s lives. The Meaningful Brand Index (MBi) forms the core of the Meaningful Brands framework allowing a view of brand results in terms of consumer perception over time.

     

    Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Cadbury, Unilever are the top Indian brands having greatest attachment (highest per cent of people who would care if they disappeared). The other top brands on the list are Britannia, Sony, Samsung, Parle-G, Tata Motors, Airtel, Hyundai, LGE and Maruti.

     

    Globally the top 12 Meaningful Brands are Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Nestle, Sony, IKEA, Dove, Nike, Wal-Mart, DANONE, Philips and P&G. Top three sectors in India are F&B, Auto and IT & Consumer Electronics (ITC) where as globally it is Retail, F&B and ITC.

     

    Continuing the trend from 2011 only 20 per cent of brands make a significant difference to people’s well-being with a growing gap between developed and emerging markets (Europe 5 per cent, USA 9 per cent and Asia 39 per cent). In Europe and the US people would not care if 92 per cent of brands disappeared. In Asia, people are attached six times more.

     

    Since 2011, individual quality of life and personal well-being has become increasingly important in western economies. In emerging markets, people place more importance on a brand’s impact on their community and environment. At the same time, people in India expect brands to enhance their individual and personal lifestyles. The data shows the majority of top performing brands taking a holistic approach contributing to both.

     

    Commenting on the study, Havas Media Group, India & South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar said, “The India findings highlight deep customer involvement with brands, making ‘meaningful’ the sweet spot of brand strategy in India. Meaningful – today is real business, delivering what matters when, in the truest economic and social sense. It drives brands to establish relationship connections with their customers directed towards sustained personal, societal and financial success.”

     

    “More meaningful global brands are likely to come from emerging than western markets where brands need to reinvent themselves to reconnect with people, to avoid getting commoditised. This presents huge opportunities for existing and new brands to establish meaningful connections with their customers in India. Here consumers are still warming up to brands and core categories like F&B brands are seen as meaningful. The study is scalable and throws up rich inferences for a strategic outlook. LIC is an outlier being in the insurance category yet completely in sync with Indian touch points, thus its India’s 2013 top meaningful brand,”added Havas Media India managing director Mohit Joshi.

     

    Other key India findings include:

    • 68 per cent people in India generally trust brands (Asia 58 per cent, US 36 per cent, Global avg. 45 per cent) Consumers in India not only trust brands more but also expect more.

     

    • 71 per cent believe that brands can play a role in improving their quality of life and well-being (Asia 65 per cent, US 41 per cent, Global avg. 50 per cent)

     

    • 82 per cent think companies and brands should play a role in improving our quality of life and well-being (Asia 77 per cent, Global avg. 70 per cent)

     

    • 79 per cent agree that large companies should be actively involved in solving social and environmental problems (Asia 75 per cent, Global avg. 71 per cent)
  • Havas Media Group acquires MFG Labs

    Havas Media Group acquires MFG Labs

    MUMBAI: Havas Media Group acquires digital strategy, data science and mathematical research company MFG Labs. It was founded in 2009, by a team of world renowned mathematicians.

    The company’s teams of senior mathematical researchers are led by Pierre-Louis Lions – a Fields Medal holder. Pierre-Louis Lions and Jean-Michel Lasry have created and pioneered the development of the MFG “Mean Field Game” theory and its application to the world of finance and business. MFG Labs recent work includes the conception and implementation of Warner Bros France digital strategy: My Warner the first compelling social relationship management programme.

    The move will also enable MFG Labs to expand its digital services to other major Havas Media Group Digital Hubs like US, UK, LATAM including APAC and India.

    This instantly brings a team of experts to support the data backbone of the Group, via its existing specialist data management platform, Artemis, and its trading desk network, Affiperf. MFG Labs will leverage these strong analytics capabilities by providing in-house machine learning algorithms.

    Havas Media Group global managing director Dominique Delport said, “As the data revolution continues there is no doubt that these guys are at the top of their field. Two years ago we identified their impressive capabilities in the social data world. The next stage for us was to make sure we were able to bring them into the group to reinforce our solid foundations in data and this driving force to integrate data and content is paying off well. With the increasing importance of consumer engagement platforms pushing brands beyond traditional media, the two disciplines are totally interconnected.”

    “We have been working with the MFG teams for many months to expand and extend our leading data and content services to our clients around the world and the feedback we have had has been outstanding,” added Delport.

    MFG co-founder Pierre-Louis Lions on the acquisition,”We join the Havas Media Group at a unique moment where quantitative methodologies and Big Data analytic are becoming the key to media performance. For an intrinsically quantitative and programmatic spirited team like us these are exciting times.”

    The acquisition is effective from today and follows on from the group‘s continued investment in data with the acquisition of data analytics company Elisa DBI in the UK and Spain last month.

  • Women Power: Anita Nayyar

    MUMBAI: With 25 years of experience behind her, Havas Media Group India and South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar is no stranger to the media industry. After securing a bachelor‘s degree in microbiology and post graduation in advertising and marketing, she worked with some leading agencies in India including Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, Initiative Media, MediaCom and Starcom Worldwide. Her time in the industry has made her an experienced hand when it comes to sports, entertainment and out of home.

    Under her leadership Havas Media in India has grown exponentially, having expanded its offerings as an integrated communications group for traditional, digital, mobile, performance marketing, out-of-home and sports.

    True to her zodiac, the globetrotting Capricorn balances work and home like a pro and loves spending time with her daughters when she isn‘t making shrewd observations and taking important decisions to expand the footprint of Havas Media Group in India and South Asia.

    Talking to indiantelvision.com on the occasion of International Women‘s Day, Nayyar recounts her experience through the years and reiterates, “You have to love it to be here, so ENJOY it.”

    Q: What has been your experience as a woman in the media business?

    A: It has been a great journey filled with much joy, tears too – I have no regrets. Women were few, CEO‘s non-existent and the industry even more male dominated than today. But grit, talent and dedication were the things that could not be ignored and good male bosses supported good performances. Roda Mehta was a mentor. With her, scientific media planning was an art honed to give the client another reason to use agency services.

    The fact that you were a woman did influence the clients or intricacy of task assigned, unless you carved your niche. So you had to be on your toes – alert, diligent and ready to contribute beyond the brief in order to stand out. Maybe that is why they say women bosses are better team leaders and more responsive than their male counterparts!

    There were other challenges too. Principles and ideas you believe in are constantly tested. In this case you either succumb and stay or take the risk and hold on to your horses even at the risk of your job, something I did. In the end it pays as I believe the right party wins and people respect you for it, including the antagonists. Self respect and integrity define you.

    Q: How conducive is the environment for women to thrive in the media industry today?

    A: The industry needs people with will, talent and ideas who will make the effort to walk that extra mile. Woman or Man, the environment is no longer gender discriminatory. What counts is professionalism, irrespective of gender. One is and should not be judged by being a man or a woman but by how good a professional he or she is.

    So it is a decent industry – tough, demanding, competitive like many others. It requires a lot of strength, guts and desire to thrive here. It does open many doors to opportunity, especially for women.

    Q: What are the major challenges that women face today?

    A: The working world today is evolved and women are marked on the scene for top jobs globally. If you are good, there is nothing to stop you. A tough mind is the differentiator.

    The efforts are constant and behind the scenes. You are evaluated on ‘present‘ result – perform to be a star. But then how else do you remain competitive with shrinking margins and volume growth? The competition is cut-throat and it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage P&L‘s.

    Sometimes for women and very few men, the constant travel, long hours and transferring of roles to other cities or even as a regional head could pose a challenge with the dislodging of the whole family. As they say, both work and family are full time jobs. Women are known to be better at multi-tasking and can handle more physically, mentally and emotionally.

    Personally, I am extremely lucky to have had a loving, supportive and encouraging family and thank my husband and two other women – my daughters, whose day it will also be.

    Q: What changes would you like to see in the current work environment?

    A: People – woman or man, move far too much and too fast now. Earlier longevity and stability was a value-addition. People need to give themselves and those around enough time and chance. Better and well grounded talent seems to be a big ask. Those eager both to learn and teach will account for better talent which currently is in short supply.

    Q: What advice would you give to the young working girls?

    A: Keep your eyes and mind open to the world around you, not the industry or designation. I learn every day. Absorb, read, explore you never know how those dots connect when you need them most and you‘ll enjoy your output as will others. It is not always that we will get work that we like but giving up or quitting is not the solution. Keep the balance and yet know that you are refining the details for the future.

    Be humble, value relationships, do your very best and that little bit extra. I have always maintained there is no shortcut to success and it‘s only your hard work that pays—sooner or later. But most of all be responsive and believe in yourself.