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Tag: Havas Media

  • Sleepwell appoints MPG as its media AoR

    Sleepwell appoints MPG as its media AoR

    MUMBAI: Havas Media’s flagship brand, MPG India, has been appointed as the media AOR for Sleepwell.

    The account size is in the range of Rs 200 million and will be handled by MPG’s Delhi office.

    The incumbent agency on the account is GroupM’s Motivator.

    Sleepwell head of marketing Manoj Sharma said, “We are happy to partner with MPG. We found their approach very thorough and insightful. Their strategic thinking is driven by MPG proprietary tools which provide a holistic communication perspective. Most importantly, their extremely passionate and enthusiastic team made us choose them as our media partners”

    MPG South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar said, “It is a great privilege to be working with Sleepwell. One of the key factors that helped us win this business was our strategic approach to communication using our proprietary tools. It is a great win for MPG to kick-start the second quarter”.

    Sleepwell is the flagship brand of Sheela Group and is a ISO 9001 certified brand.

  • MPG India appoints Ruma Sengupta as director of strategy

    MPG India appoints Ruma Sengupta as director of strategy

    MUMBAI: Havas Media’s flagship agency, MPG India, has appointed Ruma Sengupta to the post of director of strategy.

    Sengupta will report to Havas Media South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar and work closely with the regional strategy team based out Singapore.

    She will be based out of Mumbai and will work closely with MPG’s four key offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.

    Sengupta will take charge of the agency’s strategic offering and product development in keeping with the vision of ‘leading new thinking’. She will also take custodianship of Havas Media’s proprietary tools and processes.

    Sengupta brings with her 15 years of experience across verticals like marketing, branding, sales, strategy, MR and analytics. She comes in from Synovate where she handled the post of director of business insight and was responsible for key international clients across FMCG categories. She has also worked as business head for IMRB International in the past in addition to working in senior marketing roles at Adlabs Films Limited owned by Reliance ADAG and United Spirits Limited at UB Group.

    Her longest stint has been with Ranbaxy Global Consumer Healthcare where she launched OTC & DTC business and managed it successfully through marketing and sales-distribution.

    Nayyar said, “Havas Media is well-known for the high quality of its strategic product and tools and Ruma has the right credentials and attitude to take control of our strategic offering. Her flair is evident from her extraordinary background having worked with top research agencies like Synovate and IMRB. Her previous experience in spearheading marketing and innovation capabilities with brands is a plus.”

  • Havas Media bags Air France global account

    Havas Media bags Air France global account

    MUMBAI: Havas Media retained the global Air France account following a pitch that included VivaKi (Publicis Groupe).

    MPG, the largest media network under Havas Media, will support the win and manage the Air France account out of the French hub.

    As the global agency of record, MPG and Havas Digital will continue to handle both online and offline media responsibilities for the airline in all 54 Air France markets.

    Havas also managed to regain the digital markets throughout Asia that were till now under VivaKi including India, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Philippines.

    Havas Media France COO Pascal Dasseux said, “On behalf of the whole team, I would like to thank Air France for renewing their confidence in Havas for the fourth time, thereby continuing the relationship that has been in place since 1992.”

    Havas Media – a real-time Global media agency leader – seeks to bring to Air France real-time solutions and constant reactivity, thanks to a widely interlinked network; all Havas Media agencies will collaborate more closely using their proprietary Flightdeck tool as well as the management and optimisation of paid, owned and earned media.

  • Havas Media expands Ecselis in APAC

    Havas Media expands Ecselis in APAC

    MUMBAI: Havas Media has announced the expansion of its specialist Performance and quantitative marketing arm, Ecselis ,to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.


    Ecselis will be headquartered in Singapore and will be led by Rajeev Bala who takes charge as MD for Asia Pacific. He will report to Havas Media Asia Pacific CEO Vishnu Mohan.


    The Kuala Lumpur and Sydney offices are likely to be fully functional by the end of second quarter.


    Mohan said, “The need for advanced quantitative and performance orientated skill sets is growing rapidly. Rajeev has done a great job of building Media Contacts in the region, and has the deep domain and consultative expertise to grow Ecselis, as we expand our digital footprint across the region.”


    Bala joined Media Contacts in 2008 to lead the Singapore operations and was later promoted to the role of regional director of Media Contacts for Southeast Asia.


    On his new role, Bala said, “Ecselis is already an established organisation with very niche skills. I am excited by the opportunities and see Ecselis evolving into a deeply specialised company. We have aggressive plans for growing this across APAC over the next four quarters.”


    Ecselis was launched in 2009. At present, it has a team of 55 performance experts based in the country with clients across SEA, India, Europe and Australia.


    The agency will complement Havas Media’s existing brands MPG, Media Contacts, Mobext and HS&E by providing specialised services including Conversion Rate Optimisation, Attribution Modelling, Quality Score Management in addition to data, search and analytics.

  • Havas Media prepares for aggressive growth in 2012

    Havas Media prepares for aggressive growth in 2012

    MUMBAI: In a tough economic slowdown year, Havas Media had to ride through a quieter phase of growth as it parted with the Maxx Mobiles account, one of its top five clients, but retained the MTS business. And its prize catch was winning the entire media business of Parle Products, the account size of which is pegged at Rs 700 million.


     
    “2011 has been a tough but an on-track year. Maxx Mobiles is the only business we gave up due to the poor health of the handset category and, hence, payment issues. But we managed to retain the MTS business despite fierce competition. And we closed the year by gaining the complete Parle AOR,”said Havas Media India & South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar.


    Growth in 2011 was muted by the fact that there were lesser number of pitches called for. Havas participated in around ten bids and won about six.


    “The industry did not see too many pitches for new accounts in 2011. Hence conversions have been a bit slow but our new business targets are on track. We expect the scenario to change in 2012 and will aggressively go for new business,”said Nayyar.


    Havas formed alliances to ensure growth is smoother. Its media agency MPG partnered with Rediffusion‘s media brand TME to offer planning and buying services to clients of Rediffusion Y & R and its subsidiary Everest Brand Solutions.


    “We are already on the path of initiatives, one of the most recent being an alliance with TME, the media arm of Rediffusion , wherein media for Rediff and Everest clients is being handled by MPG. This has allowed us to have prestigious clients like Parle, Heinz, Tata Motors, Paras, TVS Tyres etc under the MPG-TME brand. We are looking forward to more such initiatives across our offerings,”said Nayyar.


    The agency also revamped its Mumbai office while Kolkata presence was established. Averred Nayyar, “We have revamped and strengthened our Mumbai office, which is gaining new clients and is ready to fight the market. The new clients that have come in after the revamp include History, Guffic, CNBC Awaz, Parle, Heinz, Taj, Tata Motors etc. We also have presence in the Kolkata market.”


    Havas Media has grown more than five times in the last five years. “Our growth is largely a function of two key factors – new business wins (like Hyundai, MTS, Kohler, Carlsberg, Bank of Baroda) and launch of diversified divisions like Havas Digital (Media Contacts, Mobext,Escelis), Outdoor- MPG Active, Havas Sports and Entertainment and BTL- MPG Solutions,”she stated, while refusing to disclose the financials.


    Charting out the road for 2012, Nayyar said, “Growth will be through the organic route and getting new clients is the oxygen for this. The focus is entirely on providing the best services to our existing clients and pitching for new business. Our integrated offering provides clients to choose all or choose from complete communication services.”


    “Digital is certainly the focus area with more and more clients realising and appreciating the role of the medium in their business.Endeavour is towards strengthening this offer in media, search, social media and performance marketing through specialised services including conversion rate optimisation, attribution modelling and quality score management to provide a complete digital offering to clients,”said Nayyar.


    Havas Media recently acquired a majority stake in Snapworx Mobile Inc, the mobile marketing arm of Philippines-based Snapworx Inc. Will it follow a similar route to grow its digital business in India?


    Nayyar said the digital wing of the media agency is the one to look out for in the coming year, without clearly stating whether it would adopt the inorganic route. “Digital is certainly the focus area with more and more clients realising and appreciating the role of the medium in their business. Endeavour is towards strengthening this offer in media, search, social media and performance marketing through specialised services including Conversion Rate Optimisation, Attribution Modelling and Quality Score Management,”she concluded.

  • Net-a-porter.com names Media Contacts, MPG as media AoR

    Net-a-porter.com names Media Contacts, MPG as media AoR

    MUMBAI: Online luxury retailer Net-A-Porter has selected Havas Media‘s MPG and Media Contacts as its media agencies of record for the EMEA and APAC region.

    MPG and Media Contacts, offline and online companies respectively, will handle the online retailer‘s media duties across key global markets in EMEA and APAC. 
     
    Havas Digital global CEO Anthony Rhind said, “We have invested a great amount of resources to ensure our delivery and service is leading edge across geographies, and that the value of Artemis, our proprietary digital campaign management platform, enables the maximisation of media across channels.”

    Net-a-porter.com was launched in June 2000 and has since established itself as premier luxury online fashion retailer. Presented in the style of a fashion magazine, Net-A-Porter features collections from over 400 designers including Chloé, Marc Jacobs, Burberry, Miu Miu and Stella McCartney among others.

  • TME enters in strategic alliance with MPG

    TME enters in strategic alliance with MPG

    MUMBAI: TME, the media planning and buying arm of Rediffusion – Y & R and Everest Brand Solutions, and Havas Media’s flagship brand MPG have entered into a strategic alliance to provide value added media planning and buying services to clients of Rediffusion – Y & R and Everest Brand Solutions.


    Rediffusion – Y & R president D Rajappa said, “This alliance is a collaborative effort to grow the business and also add enhanced value to existing and prospective clients of RYR”


    TME and MPG will leverage their individual strengths to provide greater value to clients and collaborate to tap opportunities for growth in the market, the two companies said.
     
    The alliance will also enable TME’s clients to benefit from Havas Media‘s network knowledge resources, the integrated buying clout, MPG‘s proprietary decision support systems and their touch point platform “Connect” bringing together a more effective and optimised investment plan.


    Everest Brand Solutions president Dhunji Wadia added, “This is one of the deepest integrations to date, marking yet another milestone in the group’s plan for a consolidated media investment management operation. The focus is to bring competitive advantage to our clients and our companies.”
     
    Havas Media, South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar added, “This strategic alliance is a synergistic relationship between MPG and TME wherein both brands will co-exist and continue to provide benefits to each other working towards a common goal of delighting clients.”


    Meanwhile, TME will continue to be built as a media independent brand under MPG‘s stewardship.

  • MPG bags Gufic Bisciences’ media account

    MPG bags Gufic Bisciences’ media account

    MUMBAI: MPG India, the flagship brand of Havas Media, has been given the media account of Gufic Biosciences Ltd (GBSL), a Mumbai-based biosciences company that focuses on pharma and personal hygiene products.


    MPG‘s appointment will extend through all its key brands including soon-to-be launched Relieve and Relax.


    Commenting on the win, GBSL vice president, marketing and sales Anil Kamath said, “The team at MPG showed a thorough understanding of the categories that we operate across. Given the nature of the brands and the high clutter in the space, it is not always easy to come up with innovative solutions, but MPG team did just that.”


    CEO of Havas Media, India Anita Nayyar averred, “It is a great opportunity for MPG to be associated with Gufic. The personal hygiene industry is on an upswing given the consumer is getting more and more concerned and conscious both about health and hygiene. We are confident that our product offering will add value to the business and our knowledge in the category will get enriched by working with Gufic.”


    GBSL operates across many categories in India including pharmaceutical and personal hygiene. The company‘s key consumer brands are Roll-on, Shapers and Stretchnil.

  • MPG wins Swiss brand Victorinox’s media duties

    MPG wins Swiss brand Victorinox’s media duties

    MUMBAI: Havas Media’s flagship brand, MPG India, has won the media duties for Swiss brand Victorinox, which offers products such as pocket multi-tools, fine cutlery, time-pieces and travel gear.

    The account is estimated to be worth around Rs 100 million.

    MPG was appointed the media agency on record following a multi-agency pitch that also involved a GroupM agency and the incumbent RK Swamy.

    Victorinox’s products are inspired by the ingenuity of the Original Swiss Army Knife and the brand currently has a network of more than 600 retailers in India.

    Victorinox India MD Anish Goel said: “We felt the MPG approach was thorough and insightful. Their strategic thinking, drive and passion gave us the confidence to believe that this will be a successful partnership. Victorinox stands for reliability, innovation and functionality and we know that with this extremely enthusiastic team, we will be able to communicate our message loud and clear.”

    Havas Media CEO South Asia Anita Nayyar added: “MPG is delighted to be partnering with Victorinox. As an agency we found many synergies with Victorinox’s management, their brand values and approach towards media planning and buying. In them we have found a client, who appreciates strategic rigour and innovation as much as we do.”

  • MPG launches mobile marketing arm MOBEXT

    MPG launches mobile marketing arm MOBEXT

    MUMBAI: Havas Media’s flagship brand, MPG India, has launched its mobile marketing brand Mobext in Asia with India being chosen one of the first markets for the roll out.

    As part of the launch the agency has also made three senior appointments: Arnav Neel Ghosh joins as general manager for South Asia, while Ashutosh S Srivastava is appointed as the business director and Rahul Shinde as senior business executive. The team in India is also expected to expand in the next few months.

    Ghosh moves in from Digital at Iris Nation, where he was executive vice-president and has previously worked in senior roles at Publicis Modem and Active Media Technology, a UK based mobile marketing company. Ashutosh was most recently the associate director of mobile marketing at ACL Wireless and has had stints at Mobile2Win and ConnectTurf.

    Mobext, a network brand of Havas Media specialising in Mobile Marketing, is currently present in eight markets globally. The new brand is expected to strengthen the digital offerings of Havas Media, which currently has a digital media agency brand in Media Contacts.

    Within this year, the brand is slated to be launched in China, Indonesia and Philippines and the company will look at both greenfield as well as partnership entry strategies.

    Mobext will offer messaging services such as sms and download; mobile internet services like WAP consulting and development, mobile display, mobile search and proximity based services including LBS and mapping. It will also offer integration through reporting and analytics by Havas Digital’s campaign management platform.

    The network agency currently handles a host of blue chip clients in different parts of the world including Nike, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Fanta, Kia, Volvo, BMW, Peugeot, Citroen, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, BBC, Dell and Sears.

    Mobext Havas Media CEO Asia Pacific Vishnu Mohan said: “Asia presents an enormous potential in the mobile space with high levels of penetration, installed base and growth rates. All our clients have needs in this space and we want to ensure that as a media agency we are not neglecting such an important medium and one that will gain even more prominence in the future.

    Mohan also said that mobile allows advertisers to reach their audience on a more engaged basis and Mobext will be helpful in this process.

    “Mobext has been doing very well in other markets and we have been waiting for the right time and the right people to launch it in Asia. What better market to launch than India, which has whopping 790 million mobile users currently and is also a key market for the group in Asia Pacific region”, Mohan added.

    Further enhancing the importance of Indian market, Mohan clarified that with 790 million mobile users, there was no better market in Asia to launch this product.

    “Mobile offers advertisers an interesting media to reach their audience on a more engaged basis and the launch of Mobext will fulfil this need. We are looking launch the brand in China, Indonesia and Philippines within the year and will look at both greenfield as well as partnership entry strategies”, Mohan concluded.

    Havas Media MPG CEO South Asia Anita Nayyar said: “Mobile marketing is gathering steam and it is the right time for us to offer specialised mobile marketing expertise to help our clients leverage this platform. In Arnav and Ashutosh we have identified the right candidates to take charge of Mobext. Arnav’s experience in successfully launching and managing agencies will be invaluable for us while Ashutosh’s hands on experience with cutting edge mobile campaigns will be a real asset for our clients.”