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Tag: Havas

  • Havas announces acquisition of ‘EPROFESSIONAL’

    Havas announces acquisition of ‘EPROFESSIONAL’

    Mumbai: Havas has announced the strategic acquisition of Hamburg-based digital performance marketing agency EPROFESSIONAL, expanding its portfolio of firstclass performance marketing services and further strengthening its position as a leading agency group in Germany. EPROFESSIONAL will retain its independent branding and join the organisation under Havas Media Network.

    Founded in an attic in Hamburg in 1999, EPROFESSIONAL has made a name for itself as a pioneer and provider of customized solutions in the field of performance marketing. The agency is an experienced partner in all aspects of digital marketing, from SEO/SEA to social media and multichannel tracking. EPROFESSIONAL has been working successfully for clients such as Vodafone, L’Oréal and Hapag Lloyd for many years.

    “We are thrilled to welcome EPROFESSIONAL to the Havas family. By combining EPROFESSIONAL’s expertise with our group’s local and global resources, we further strengthen Havas Media Network in Germany, ranked “dominant” in the latest RECMA report, and are better equipped to deliver best-in-class digital marketing solutions to our clients. After making investments in the UK, Canada, and India, our objective is to further expand our digital performance capabilities worldwide,” commented Havas chairman & global CEO Yannick Bolloré.

    Havas Media Germany CEO Sven Traichel, explains the acquisition as follows, “The focus has always been on making strategic and, above all, locally relevant investments. The acquisition of EPROFESSIONAL is such an investment to expand our digital expertise and offer customers even greater added value. The merger will enable both Havas and EPRO customers to implement successful marketing measures at all touchpoints of the entire customer journey.”

    EPROFESSIONAL managing director Tim Christiansen, was also delighted with the takeover. “Havas is an ideal partner for us. We share the same vision of offering customers innovative and customized solutions. In addition, the chemistry on a human level is outstanding.”

    Together with Christiansen, Henner Uekermann will lead EPROFESSIONAL taking on the role of managing director. In parallel, Henner will continue in his role as Managing Partner for the agency brand Arena Media in Germany, which operates alongside Havas Media as a second brand under the umbrella of the Havas Media Network.

    Uekermann is approaching his new role with great enthusiasm, “The integration of EPRO into the Havas Media Network and the further development of Arena Media in Germany are two wonderful tasks for me. With EPRO’s technological solutions and Havas Media’s 360° approach, we can implement holistic strategies from the first touchpoint to conversions and achieve our clients’ growth targets effectively and efficiently. By combining our competences, we can offer our clients an absolute state-of-the-art product from which we expect our agency to continue to grow in the coming years.” 

  • Havas announces acquisition of PR Pundit

    Havas announces acquisition of PR Pundit

    Mumbai: Today, Havas has acquired a majority stake in PR Pundit, one of India’s foremost PR consultancy firms. This strategic move marks the debut of Havas Red, a Havas global PR network, into the vibrant Indian market. On closing, the firm will be rebranded PR Pundit Havas Red.

    Winners of the Provoke Media’s Consumer Consultancy of the Year, at the recent Asia Pacific Awards in 2023, PR Pundit is an integrated communications consultancy that has built its reputation and equity as front runners in consumer lifestyle, serving more than 100 retainer clients across a variety of sectors including hospitality, F&B, corporate, CPG, start-ups, lifestyle, luxury, and beauty & skincare. The 25-year-old company boasts expertise in brand positioning and corporate communications and has a team of 160 PR practitioners across its three offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi NCR.  

    PR Pundit has been a valued affiliate of Havas in India for some time. This acquisition cements the association and enhances Havas’ capabilities to extend public relations services in India as part of its bouquet of creative, media and healthcare offerings. In parallel, Havas Red’s continued international expansion adds important new expertise and geographic reach to the network’s global clients. The entry into the Indian market is the network’s second addition in 2023, following the opening of Havas Red South Africa earlier in the year.

    PR Pundit founder and MD Archana Jain will continue to lead PR Pundit Havas Red, reporting to Havas India Group CEO Rana Barua and Havas Red global CEO James Wright.

    “We are thrilled to welcome PR Pundit to the Havas family. The synergies between PR Pundit’s expertise, Havas India’s clients, and the global PR clients of Havas Red are exceptionally strong, setting the stage for many meaningful collaborations. With the backing of Vivendi and their extensive entertainment assets in India, the expansion into PR, communications and social media is a strategic move that aligns perfectly with the evolving landscape of the market and industry,” commented Havas chairman and global CEO Yannick Bolloré.

    “Joining Havas will enable us to enrich our services and geographic reach for the benefit of our clients,” said Archana Jain, who founded PR Pundit in 1998. “We are excited to lend our expertise and entrepreneurial drive as well as share our local PR understanding with Havas Red in our common goal of undertaking benchmarking work and fostering long term partnerships, with our people and clients. Our relationship is based on shared values to elevate service capabilities, open doors to new opportunities and embrace best practices from around the world.”

    Havas India group CEO Rana Barua said, “This acquisition once again reinforces our commitment of delivering comprehensive and impactful solutions to our clients. In our endeavour to offer integrated end-to-end communication solutions, we identified that the PR function was a missing piece. This acquisition brings together, two extremely powerful entities, Havas Red which has presence across 15 global markets with unmatched influence and reach, and PR Pundit, one of the most respected PR agencies in India with unparalleled brand reputation and a robust clientele. I welcome team PR Pundit to the Havas India family. Together with Havas Red, I look forward to the beginning of an exciting journey.”

  • Adobe and Havas expand partnership

    Adobe and Havas expand partnership

    Mumbai: Adobe and Havas have announced an expanded partnership, transforming the agency’s end-to-end content workflows and paving the way for a smarter and more responsible content supply chain. The collaboration will enable all Havas agencies to leverage Adobe generative AI, and more efficiently deliver unparalleled personalised customer experiences.  

    Havas agencies will adopt Adobe GenStudio – Adobe’s breakthrough enterprise content supply chain solution that brings together best-in-class applications across Adobe Creative Cloud, Express and Experience Cloud. The integration will enable agencies to accelerate the content process from ideation to delivery, while also giving them direct access to Adobe Firefly, Adobe’s family of creative generative AI models, so they can generate content that is designed to be safe for commercial use.

    Using Adobe GenStudio, Havas agencies will be able to choose which content creation techniques and practices they employ, as well as how they prefer to leverage generative AI when activating new and variant content. They will also gain access to audience-specific data insights, enabling impact-based content optimization, and Adobe GenStudio’s seamless collaboration features, which empower cross-functional teams to create, edit and deliver customer experiences in real time.

    On the heels of the recent launch of Prose on Pixels, Havas’ global content at scale network, this collaboration reaffirms Havas’ commitment to driving transformative change in the content production field. It will also help Havas agencies keep up with growing demands for real-time personalized content without compromising quality or brand consistency and while reducing waste.

    “In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, where the boundaries between creativity, technology and communication are constantly shifting, it is imperative to be at the forefront of innovation,” said Havas Chairman and Global CEO, Vivendi chairman Yannick Bolloréi. “This partnership will enable us to harness the latest technologies, combining the strength of Adobe’s cutting-edge software with the deep well of Havas’ brand expertise to create a ‘meaningful AI’ that not only meets but exceeds the expectations of our clients.”  

    “The digital world runs on Adobe products, and Havas is a strategic partner, delivering stand-out digital work for brands that are household names around the world,” said Adobe digital experience president Anil Chakravarthy. “We’re excited to see how Havas redefines content creation and innovates with our solutions to embed sustainability and generative AI with Firefly into their content supply chain.” 

  • Burger King India onboards Havas Worldwide India as its digital partner

    Burger King India onboards Havas Worldwide India as its digital partner

    Mumbai: Burger King India has assigned its digital mandate to Havas Worldwide (Creative) India. As a part of this mandate, the agency will be responsible for creating cornerstone digital campaigns, social media management, and online response management, among other things.

    Havas Worldwide India has been focusing on fortifying and updating its core expertise and offerings over the last two years. Havas Worldwide India grew by more than 30 per cent in 2021 across its Mumbai and Delhi offices, thanks to significant business wins such as Tata Cliq Luxury, Bel Cheese, P&G, Vivo, and Celio, to name a few. The agency has also been strengthening its teams to bring in the best talent. As the agency’s growth momentum continues in 2022, it will continue to come up with clutter-breaking work to deliver on its promise of making a meaningful difference in the lives of brands, businesses, and consumers.

    Sharing his thoughts on the association, Burger King chief marketing officer Kapil Grover said, “We are excited to have partnered with Havas Worldwide India, which comes with a track record of path-breaking digital campaigns for brands across markets and categories. We are confident that their expertise and market understanding will help us deliver innovative and groundbreaking digital campaigns, thereby further strengthening Burger King India’s position to become the most lovable brand in the digital space. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.”

    Commenting on the partnership with Burger King, Havas Worldwide (Creative) India managing director Manas Lahiri said, “In today’s cluttered digital ecosystem, only brands that come up with engaging, differentiated content make people sit up and take notice and we at Havas Worldwide India have been doing exactly that over the past few years. Burger King is one of the most audacious brands in the world today, known for creating truly innovative campaigns that become the talk of the town, and we’re confident we will be able to create more such path-breaking, meaningful work for them.”

  • #Retrace2021: Cautious optimism will drive industry growth in 2022

    #Retrace2021: Cautious optimism will drive industry growth in 2022

    Mumbai: The year 2021 saw work-life turning 360 degrees for former Havas media India boss Anita Nayyar, as she joined Patanjali Ayurved as COO- Media & Communications, after a year-long stint with Zee5 as head of customer strategy and relations.

    An industry veteran with over three decades of experience, Nayyar has managed many portfolios of brands across sectors. She has played leadership roles in several media and advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, Initiative Media, MediaCom, and Starcom Worldwide. Nayyar spent the longest tenure at Havas – the agency she joined in 2007 as chief executive of the India operations. Under her aegis, the agency grew exponentially and expanded its offerings as an integrated communications group. She subsequently headed Havas Media Southeast Asia (SEA) in addition to her role as CEO of Havas Media.  

    As the year draws to a close, Indiantelevision.com, got into a freewheeling conversation with Anita Nayyar about her big professional move in 2021, leading the media and communications strategy at Patanjali Ayurved, and outlook on industry’s growth as we enter 2022.

    Edited excerpts:

    On looking back at 2021 and her transition from Zee5 to Patanjali

    I spent over 30 years working with agencies and publishers. After so many years on the agency side, I thought I had done my bit. Plus, the monotony tends to set in. So, it’s good to learn something new from the other side of the table. That’s how Zee5 happened. On the whole, I have worked with advertising agencies, media agencies, publishing platforms, as well as new-age digital platforms like Zee5. So when Patanjali came in, I thought it’s a good opportunity to do a full circle and explore all aspects of advertising, marketing, and communication. So to that extent, I feel it completes my circle in the industry.

    On how the year was for Patanjali as a brand, and her priorities when she joined the company in July

    Patanjali is one of those aggressive Indian brands, which has galloped its way through to the top in the Indian FMCG industry. When I took over as the COO for media branding and communication, the idea was to oversee all the strategies that are happening in their advertising domain, how they are progressing and what is it that we can do better. It was interesting to see their (Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna) vision. Sometimes, it’s even difficult to match up to the speed at which their vision for the company goes- both in the Wellness, fitness, and the Ayurveda sector. Also, the fight that they are bringing to the table for the MNCs in the FMCG category. Patanjali Ayurveda, along with Ruchi Soya, is the second-largest FMCG brand in the country.

    On any key innovation that the brand brought in this year

    The company is constantly innovating, in terms of the categories and areas they have entered in over the years. Like IT solutions or Agri sciences for example and this foresight of acquiring Ruchi Soya. The brand has kept up with the times, even by propagating the fact that they are ‘swadeshi’ as well as ‘Make in India’ initiatives. So innovation, to my mind, is the core of this brand. We have recently launched a Nutrela nutraceutical range of supplements, that’s the new category that Patanjali along with Ruchi Soya has entered into. And it’s interesting as there aren’t too many players in this segment and the fact that people have become very conscious about their health and wellness, especially in the last two years.

    On any changes in the brand’s media strategy in 2021

    This past year has fared fairly well for the brand because we have strategically invested in some high-impact properties. As a brand, we have been highly visible on the news channels and we have done a lot of GECs as well, and as such, there’s a tremendous amount of reach and awareness for the category. New marketing campaigns are on and we are in the process of working on our annualised spend and strategies, so let’s see how that goes.

    On looking ahead to 2022 and expectations for the brand

    We are cautiously optimistic. In businesses, when there’s recovery, optimism is the core. If you aren’t optimistic how will you take risks and move forward? That applies to life in general. But, if I were to wrap up my expectations for the brand in a single word, it’s ‘growth’. That is what every organisation’s looking for and we specifically do so, because we want to bridge the gap between the number one in the industry. And we are getting there. In the media branding and communications domain, I want to maximise the return on investment (ROI) that we are doing in the media industry.

    On key industry trends that might dominate next year

    The past year has certainly fast-paced the digital transformation of companies, whether it was entertainment, online shopping, or the use of digital platforms to connect with other people. It was anyways slated to grow between 25-30 per cent earlier also, the needle just moved quicker now. To my mind, next year we will see a healthy mix of both TV and digital and each medium plays an important role, depending on what the objectives are. TV, of course, remains the mainstay because of its reach and low CPMs (Cost per Thousands) that it offers.

    Print was badly hit during the pandemic. It is doing a little better, but still nowhere close to where they were pre-pandemic as yet. Outdoor is back and Cinema is also showing signs of recovery, depending on the titles that are playing.

    Each medium today has a role to play from that aspect and we use them for their attributes. So I think overall for the media industry and, as per industry reports too, there should be a growth of 12-16 per cent in the media & advertising industry, which given the situation is not a bad thing. 

    On any personal learnings that she will take into the next year

    My personal learning may sound a little clichéd, but it was very important for me to explore other areas and not remain stuck to a particular area of expertise. It’s when you try to explore other fields that you know what your proficiencies are. Every domain that I’ve worked in has given me immense learning. So, it’s a good check for one to constantly keep trying newer opportunities and opening up newer avenues for one’s own learning. If you continue to explore newer domains, it just keeps adding to your professional and personal growth as well. 

  • Nearly 40 % readers discontinued newspapers during pandemic, shows Havas Media report

    Nearly 40 % readers discontinued newspapers during pandemic, shows Havas Media report

    Mumbai: Covid-19 proved to be a game-changer for Print as a medium in India. The multiple waves of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns disrupted the production and distribution of newspapers and magazines across the country. Yet, despite the lack of readership data and interrupted circulations, Print emerged as one of the most credible sources of information for most consumers, brands, and marketers, during these volatile times, found Havas Media Group in its latest research.

    The Group released its latest whitepaper bolstering its focus on investing in – Meaningful Media – “Media That Matters”. The report attempts to decode the effectiveness of print as a medium and the shifts in readership behaviour during the pandemic.

    According to the report, close to 40 per cent of the readers discontinued newspaper subscriptions during the pandemic, mainly due to factors such as the risk of infection and change in media consumption patterns. However, the time spent reading newspapers increased significantly, especially in the age group of 41-50 years.

    Approximately, 15 per cent of the readers shifted to regional or vernacular publications, on the heels of trust and tenability, giving way to some interesting trends. For instance, in the South, nearly 60 per cent of readers sought Print as a medium to gain more knowledge, while in the West, around 33 per cent of consumers read newspapers to find local news, according to the report.  

    The report also reveals that there was a huge uptake of news apps. Around 57 per cent of the respondents of this study use news apps. Apart from being a daily habit, some of the top reasons for reading newspapers continues to be gaining more knowledge, staying updated about current affairs and improving language skills. Content related to science & technology, global affairs, and health remained some of the preferred and most-read sections following general news.

    While Television and Social Media were found to be the most credible source of news, print followed closely at the third position.

    The research involved Stratified Random Sampling from YouGov’s proprietary panel which consists of over 2,00,000 active panelists in India, aged between 21-50 years, male and female with a current subscription to at least one daily newspaper spread across 14 key cities in India.

    Print drives highest efficacy for automobile industry

    “A category-wise deep dive on the effectiveness of the medium for advertisers and marketers revealed that Print plays a key role in influencing brand perception, from Quality to Price to Trust, especially within the Automobile category,” says the report.

    Some of the findings specific to the auto category revealed that Print has the highest effectiveness in driving brand awareness, of nearly 55 per cent for first car intenders. For repeat intenders, Print helps drive brand preference across the funnel. Car advertisements were the second most recalled after mobile phones (higher amongst repeat intenders).

    Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Motors ranked highest among the most recalled auto brands. Consumers paid higher attention to advertisements in newspapers, and only 10 per cent skipped them.

    Apart from the auto industry, Print continues to be the preferred source of medium to drive efficacy for other categories like smartphones, finance, and education as well. And even though the print medium saw a dip in readership, owing to the pandemic, the consumer expectation continues to grow stronger in newspapers in terms of content and not just news.

    “This is the resurgence story of Print in India,” said Havas Media Group, head of strategy, Sanchita Roy said, “With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the Print sector suffered a huge loss especially on the back of the cancellation of subscriptions and other reasons. Hence, it became pertinent to understand not only the consumer shifts that was happening in the media ecosystem but also understand if Print continued to be as effective as before in impacting business outcomes. Despite the short-term de-growth, Print is back with a bang. It continues to be one of the most trusted and credible mediums that helps influence brand perception.”

  • Will non-fiction shows witness growth post IPL?

    Will non-fiction shows witness growth post IPL?

    MUMBAI: IPL 2020 was the first major live sporting event since the lockdown began. Despite a delayed start owing to the pandemic, it proved to be a respite for Indian audiences who were wilting on a diet of TV news and reruns. Not to mention that it gave a new lease on life to advertisers to once again build a connect with consumers and attain the pre-Covid reach levels. BARC reported that the 13th edition of the league, which has an estimated brand value of $6.8 billion drew record television and digital viewership. The IPL opener was viewed by 200 million plus audiences and a staggering 31.57 million watched the tournament, clocking a 23 per cent rise in eyeballs.

    This year, marquee non-fiction properties Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) season 12, Bigg Boss season 14, Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi, India’s Best Dancer, The Kapil Sharma Sharma, Super Dancer were launched while the IPL was underway. Indian Idol season 12 started after IPL ended. The upcoming non-fiction shows are Taare Zameen Par and Dance Deewane 3. While the league may have gone relatively unscathed in terms of sponsors and revenue (BCCI being cagey about financials notwithstanding), several media experts had pointed out that the overlap of the tournament with the festive season and audience shift to OTT platforms would impact the revenues of television networks.

    By the by, both shows managed to rope in a sizeable number of sponsors and partners (KBC – 10, Bigg Boss – 15). But they failed to make a splash in their opening week – BARC data reflects that none of them broke into the top five shows in the Hindi GEC category. However, the report also stated that Bigg Boss clocked 3.9 billion minutes in the same period, the highest in the last three seasons.

    BARC is yet to release data on how these shows have performed since they premiered this season.

    But the question remains that with IPL over, viewers of the non-fiction genre need the next big thing for their daily dose of entertainment. Will this quest for serotonin give a boost to the genre and viewership? 

    The industry is divided, where some believe that now the IPL is over, things will get better for non-fiction shows in terms of ratings and revenue. Others think that overall market sentiment is low with the festive season behind us. Revival will come, but not before January 2021.

    The Media Ant CEO and founder Samir Chaudhary said, “Both KBC and Bigg Boss have not performed as compared to last year. IPL definitely has a role to play, given that both shows launched during the tournament, which is an unusual scenario. Diwali was the peak season for all advertisers, but now overall ad volumes have gone down. The volume was driven a lot by automobile and e-commerce companies, and both have now come out of their peaks. We are expecting the volumes to come back by mid-December when the second round of sale comes up."

    He further qualified this by saying that since the IPL is over, the shows may see traction and gain a new set of advertisers by mid-December, but that remains to be seen.

    Wavemaker India managing partner Mansi Datta echoed the sentiment and added, “Post IPL (data for four days post IPL), these programs have seen an increase in viewership across different cohorts by 5-15 per cent. This indicates that the audience viewership movement is to be further expected across both genders/age groups. This would also hold the case as momentum for these episodes gain, the viewership will climb.”

    Traditionally, Dussehra-Diwali is the reaping period for TV networks as they launch big-ticket fiction and non-fiction properties, helping them attract advertisers. Estimates are that marketers signed checks to the tune of Rs 24,000 crore during the festival period last year. The pandemic and the lockdowns over the past six months have resulted in Indian advertising expenditure shrinking by as much as 39 per cent since. Soothsayers predict that 2019’s festive season ad-ex will not be breached this year.

    Elara Capital vice president Karan Taurani observed that both ratings and ad volumes of non-fiction shows have gone up but the issue is pricing. Viewership ratings have increased by 10 to 15 per cent but compared to last year the rates are still low. “From October to November, the TV advertising segment grew by 10 to 12 per cent. But post festivities, the entire media plan was put on hold based on how the market functions in terms of consumption pattern. The growth was not sustainable.”

    Taurani projects December to be slightly down in terms of advertising. “But hopefully, January and February will see some relief and the market will bounce back,” he added.

    In terms of ad volumes, both properties have brought in a lot of advertisers, in fact the difference in the total number of advertisers onboard with the IPL and Bigg Boss was just 10 per cent. Others emphasise that these programmes got new sponsors, even those that stayed away from IPL, and the inventory level is almost full.

    Havas Media buying national head R Venkatasubramanian pointed out that now advertisers have the option to choose between HD and SD platforms separately. Hence, the number of advertisers are more in both properties, a win-win for brands and channels.

    During the pandemic, the lines have blurred between primetime and non-primetime. Content consumption patterns have also changed. In an average household, while women and family audiences have been glued to fiction serials, young viewers have taken either to the IPL or to online content that is slowly attracting Hindi-speaking viewers.

    Omnicom Media Group chief investment officer Mamatha Morvankar shared that initial trends post the closure of IPL 2020 are certainly encouraging. Both KBC and Bigg Boss, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, have shown an uptick in TVRs. In the case of Bigg Boss, the increase was largely attributed to time spent by viewers, whereas for KBC the surge was both with regards to reach and time spent. KBC had its one crore winners in the weeks following IPL and that aspect would have had a positive impact on ratings.

    A media professional, on the condition of anonymity, mentioned that Bigg Boss – which is already on the verge of completing two months – is introducing new formats and twists to lure viewers. And while advertisers are coming on board, they’re doing so on discounted rates.

    But despite challenges, reality shows are slowly but steadily gaining the power to create an impact in the wake of IPL. Morvankar explained, “This is also showing in terms of the ad volumes. Both these reality programs are signing on new sponsors post the IPL 2020 season and going full-on their inventory. KBC has even gotten an extension of four weeks, now stretching to end in January, which should also extend the ratings momentum. These early signs are promising enough for us to anticipate that impact reality shows such as these are set to take the coming quarter by storm.”

    If reports are to be believed, the IPL has already eaten up a Rs 2,500-crore slice of the ad-ex pie. But some experts still hold that non-fiction shows are on a growth trajectory. It will be interesting to see if the genre will hit it out of the park in the coming months or if it’s samay samaapt for it.

  • Langoor Havas bags digital mandate for Curegarden

    Langoor Havas bags digital mandate for Curegarden

    NEW DELHI:  Langoor Havas has won the digital transformation mandate for Curegarden, a natural health supplements brand.

    Curegarden is owned by Livlong Nutraceuticals, a sister organization of Arjuna Natural which specialises in clinically proven nature-based nutraceuticals ingredients. It is also an exporter offering botanical extracts for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry. 

    Langoor Havas CEO Venugopal Ganganna said,  “Indian Nutraceuticals market is expected to grow to $18 billion by 2025, as consumers become more health and fitness conscious. Amid the pandemic, ‘immunity’ has become a new buzzword, the demand for nutraceuticals across the globe has increased manifold. While the world is battling with Covid2019, Curegarden has set out to help its customers build immunity and better health.”

     CureGarden CEO Antony Kunjachan said, “At Curegarden our main focus is to develop safe and effective nature-based nutraceutical formulations to make the benefits of natural healthy living widely available across India. We found a perfect partner in Langoor Havas to ideate and take our products to market leveraging all things digital.”

  • Havas wins creative mandate for Dabur Honey

    Havas wins creative mandate for Dabur Honey

    NEW DELHI: Dabur Honey has awarded its creative communication mandate to Havas Creative. Dabur Honey is India's largest branded honey maker and has contributed to the lives of many Indians for over three decades.

    As part of the mandate, Havas will be handling the creative duties for Dabur Honey and all its extensions. The account was won following a rigorous multi-agency pitch. The business will be managed out of the agency's Delhi office.

    The agency kickstarts the brand’s journey with a TVC that sends out a clear message – ‘Not every honey brand has the right to be called honey.’

    The film aims to inculcate a habit of checking the authenticity and credibility of a product in the minds of the consumers before purchasing and stay watchful of fake products/imitations in the market.  The film calls out to its loyal consumer and all those who have truly made Dabur Honey the No. 1 honey brand in the world, advising them to look carefully before they buy. The campaign has been conceptualized and executed by Havas Creative.

    The film features an interesting exchange between two shoppers that ends with “Kissi ko bhi apna honey nahi bol sakte na (not every honey brand can be called honey)!”, thereby subtly highlighting that consumers can be rest assured they have bought real honey when they spot the Dabur honey logo on the bottle. 

    As the largest player in the branded honey market, Dabur is powered by an extensive sourcing network and practices stringent quality control measures, in line with this the campaign communicates the quality checks that the product undergoes and which make it the world’s No. 1 honey brand.

     Dabur India category head  Kunal Sharma said “We are excited to have Havas on board as our creative partner. Their understanding of our market and our consumers was impressive, and we found their work creatively very exciting. As we roll out our first communication with them, it further cements our decision. Dabur Honey is the world’s number one honey brand because our consumers are loyalists and have trusted us for many generations.”

     Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua said “We are proud to have won the mandate for an iconic brand like Dabur Honey and all its extensions. This has been one of the biggest and most prestigious wins for the agency this year. Winning the mandate makes this piece of communication even more special. With our Havas integrated Village model, we will continue to create path-breaking work that makes a meaningful difference in the lives of its consumers. We look forward to further strengthening the brand’s legacy in the market”

    Talking about the new mandate being awarded to Havas Creative and the campaign, Havas Creative national creative director Ravinder Siwach added “Dabur Honey is poised to break new grounds in its product offerings and we couldn’t be happier having been entrusted the journey ahead for one of Dabur India’s marque brands. In current times, consumers have become more health-conscious than before, which has led to an increase in many ‘me too’ imitations. The idea behind the film was to build awareness around the topic of purity and to advise consumers to be more vigilant before they make a purchase.”