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Tag: Hemant Bakshi

  • ISA elects Marico’s Saugata Gupta as chairman

    ISA elects Marico’s Saugata Gupta as chairman

    MUMBAI: The newly elected executive council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) met on 11 September and elected Marico’s managing director Saugata Gupta as its new chairman.

     

    He takes over from Hemant Bakshi as he relocates to Unilever Indonesia as the CEO.

     

    Gupta has been lending his support to the ISA for a long time as his colleagues from senior levels in marketing and media have been active in different committees of the ISA.  An MBA from IIM Bangalore, Gupta has rich FMCG experience of over two decades having worked through ascending career rung in Cadbury (India & UK), ICICI Prudential & Marico. Currently, MD of Marico, he believes in an empowering work culture that would create ownership and make a difference in to the entire business ecosystem.

     

    Gupta said, “Our focus would be on making industry partnership stronger and in particular to extend all support that is needed to help BARC come up as soon as possible with industry wide accepted and accurate TV audience research data representing viewers across the country. I am looking forward to the exciting times ahead for Advertisers, industry partners and fraternity associations to work as a stronger team to harness overall growth of advertising which in turn will help grow businesses and the Indian economy.”

     

    The ISA has advertiser members from across industries who contribute to over two-thirds of the country’s national non-governmental ad spends.  ISA, which is member of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), continues to partner with other industry bodies that connect to the advertisers such as initiating the formation of BARC.

     

    Other members of the Executive Council are:

     

    Tata Services Group Corporate Communications Corporate Affairs VP Atul Agrawal

     

    Thomas Cook (India) Marketing and Service Quality head and chief innovation officer Abraham Alapatt

     

    Agro Tech Foods director Narendra Ambwani

     

    Bajaj Corp Business Development director Jimmy R Anklesaria

     

    Infogain India director JC Chopra

     

    Raymond strategic advisor Paulomi Dhawan

     

    Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care brand director Sonali Dhawan

     

    Aditya Birla Management Corporation Group Corporate Services and Strategy director Rajiv Dube

     

    Godrej Consumer Products chief operating officer – Sales, Marketing & SAARC Sunil Kataria

     

    Bajaj Electricals vice president & head advertising and brand development Beena Leji Koshy

     

    Tata Global Beverages managing director and CEO Ajoy K Misra

     

    Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

     

    Mondelez India Foods Chocolate Category and Media director Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    Birla Sun Life Asset Management independent director Bharat V Patel

     

    ITC divisional chief executive Sanjiv Puri

     

    Nestle India Communication head Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan

     

    Polycab Wires vice chairman, joint MD and group CEO R Ramakrishnan

     

    Hindustan Unilever Personal Care Products executive director Samir Singh

     

    Hawkins Cookers chairman Brahm Vasudeva

  • Management shuffle at HUL

    Management shuffle at HUL

    MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has announced key changes in the management committee of the company. Subject to Unilever Indonesia’s external board approval, Hemant Bakshi, currently executive director – home and personal care, will be appointed as executive vice president (EVP) of Unilever Indonesia.

     

    The home and personal care (HPC) business will now be organised into home care and personal care businesses in India. Samir Singh, currently global brand vice president Lifebuoy and vice president – personal care lead, south Asia cluster, Unilever, will be appointed as HUL executive director – personal care and Priya Nair, currently vice president – Laundry, HUL, will be appointed as executive director – home care. Both Nair and Singh will be part of the management committee of HUL and their appointments are effective 1 October 2014.

     

    HUL CEO & managing director Sanjiv Mehta said, “I wish to take the opportunity to express my deep appreciation for the significant contribution that Hemant has made to the India business, both in his current role as executive director – HPC and his earlier role as executive director – CD. I would like to congratulate Hemant on his move to Unilever Indonesia and wish him all the best in his new assignment.”

     

    Nair joined the company in the consumer insights team in 1995, where she brought with her a diverse and rich experience including customer development and marketing. In her earlier roles, she has worked across various brands such as Dove, Axe, Rexona, Closeup, Pepsodent. As VP home care she has been leading the entire detergents portfolio of HUL. More recently, she has led the launch of HUL’s path breaking rural mobile marketing initiative ‘Kan Khajura Tesan’ which received three Gold Lion awards at the 2014 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

     

    Singh on the other hand joined Unilever in 1997 as a management trainee in India. He has worked across many brands including Fair & Lovely, Vaseline, Ponds and has also worked in Foods in Customer Development in India.

     

    For the past four years Singh has been the global brand vice president for Lifebuoy and a member of the Global Category Leadership Team for skin cleansing. In this role, he has led global strategy, innovation and communication for Lifebuoy in more than 30 key countries across the world. He was also the personal care cluster lead for south Asia in 2014.

     

    “We have reorganised the home and personal care business into two separate businesses to ensure focus on the growth drivers for each of these businesses. I am pleased to welcome Priya and Samir to their new roles. Both bring with them rich and diverse marketing and business experience in Unilever. Priya joined HUL in 1995 and has worked in roles across marketing, customer development and CMI. Samir joined HUL in 1997 and has worked in various roles in HUL and across the regional and global Unilever organisation,” he added.

  • Hemant Bakshi is elected chairman of the ISA

    Hemant Bakshi is elected chairman of the ISA

    MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Limited’s Hemant Bakshi has been elected the chairman of the ISA. The newly elected executive council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) met on 11 September.

    HUL executive director, home and personal care Hemant takes over from Kurush N. Grant.

    On his election as chairman of ISA, Hemant said “We are going through a challenging period and it is crucial that ISA along with other associate members works towards sustainable growth of the industry”.

    Hemant has been lending his support to the ISA for a long time. An MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Hemant has been recognised for his thought leadership in customer development and marketing in the industry. He is also the chairman of The Indian Soaps and Toiletries Manufacturers Association, a board member of Advertising Standards Council of India and is on the board of BARC, a nodal body for the advertisers, advertising agencies and broadcasters in the country. Apart from being a marketer, Hemant is also a sportsman. He runs marathons and is a passionate golfer.

    Former chairman, Grant continues to be on the executive council. He was acknowledged for his substantial contribution as the chairman. Grant on his part, reassured the ISA of his continuous support and participation.

    Hemant Bakshi believes its important to work towards sustainable growth of the industry

    The new chairman Hemant said he is looking forward to the new exciting year and expressed his wishes to take forward initiatives such as the BARC formation.

    The ISA is the only national body giving a voice to advertisers over the last 60 years. It has members from across industries who contribute to over two-thirds of the country’s national non-governmental ad spends. Over the years, the ISA has upheld advertisers’ issues, recent examples being that of TRP frequency, HD feed ad, Reinforcement of Self-Regulation, Participation in Consumer Forums and formation of BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council). The ISA has also partnered with other industry bodies that connect to the advertisers.

    Other members of the executive council are:

    Atul Agrawal, Vice President – Corporate Affairs, Group Corporate Affairs and Media, Tata Services Ltd., Mumbai.

    Abraham Alapatt, Head – Marketing,Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., Mumbai.

    Narendra Ambwani, Director, Agro Tech Foods Ltd., Secunderabad.

    Jimmy R. Anklesaria, Director – Business Development, Bajaj Corp Ltd., Mumbai.

    Mohit Beotra, Chief Brand Officer – India, Bharti Airtel Ltd., Gurgaon.

    J. C. Chopra, Director, Infogain India Private Limited, Noida, U.P.

    Paulomi Dhawan, Director, Landmarc Leisure Corporation Limited, Mumbai.

    Sonali Dhawan, Marketing Director, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd., Mumbai.

    Rajiv Dube, Director, Group Corporate Service, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Ltd., Mumbai.

    Kurush N. Grant, Executive Director, ITC Limited, Kolkata.

    Sunil Kataria, Chief Operating Officer – Sales, Marketing & SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Mumbai.

    Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Gurgaon.

    Siddhartha Mukherjee, Director – Chocolate Category and Media, Cadbury India Limited, Mumbai.

    Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Limited, New Delhi.

    Bharat V. Patel, Board Member, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co.Ltd., Mumbai.

    Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan, Vice President – Communications, Nestle India Ltd, Gurgaon.

    R. Ramakrishnan, Group CEO, Polycab Wires Pvt. Ltd.,Mumbai.

    Shipra Tripathi, Vice President, Corporate Global Marketing, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., Pune.

    Brahm Vasudeva, Chairman, Hawkins Cookers Ltd., Mumbai.

  • IBF, AAAI, ISA and TAM reach consensus on TV audience measurement

    IBF, AAAI, ISA and TAM reach consensus on TV audience measurement

    MUMBAI: Advertisers, agencies and broadcasters have worked closely and diligently over the last couple of weeks with TAM and are pleased to jointly announce their agreement.

    In layman terms, the media and public will now get to know television viewership in thousands, colloquially referred to as TVT. TVT captures and reflects growth in TV audiences in the country in absolute numbers. TVT will be the sole rating available in the public domain.
    For internal evaluation including planning and buying, %TVR weekly and all other data will be available to advertisers and advertising agencies as in the past. Broadcasters will also have access to this information, should they so desire.

    In addition an option of TVT as a four-week rolling average will be provided every week. The rolling average is statistically more stable data on viewership, especially for smaller audiences in niche channels, regional languages, English language programs and news.

    The three constituents have also agreed that TAM will make all future audience measurement changes based on inputs from the joint-industry BARC Technical Committee.

    Commenting on the changes IBF President Man Jit Singh said, “We are delighted to have reached this agreement. We believe it is important for the industry, and from the perspective of our social responsibility, we must reflect both the growing television audience and the data in a more stable and useful manner. We want to thank AAAI and ISA in collaborating and working out a solution acceptable to all constituents”.

    “As three concerned constituents who believe in working together, we have decided to refer all future currency related changes to the BARC technical committee. I am glad we will now have an effective guide and monitor for ratings in the country”, said Hemant Bakshi, Chairman of Media Committee and Managing Committee of the Indian Society of Advertisers.

    “Getting weekly TVR% is important for media planners and buyers to effectively plan and buy ad-spots and do mid-plan course corrections and post-facto analysis. We are glad that we have been able to agree that the agencies and advertisers will have access to this data as in the past. From tomorrow, we look forward to being able to focus back on our clients’ businesses and effective planning and buying for their brands”, said Arvind Sharma, President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India.

    The Indian Society of Advertisers represents advertisers. The Advertising Agencies Association of India represents advertising agencies and the Indian Broadcasting Foundation represents television broadcasters. The three sector representatives have jointly agreed to take this forward.
    ISA

    The Indian Society of Advertisers, ISA, has been the peak national body for advertisers for 60 years and represents the interests of organisations involved in Indian advertising, marketing and media industry. It aims to protect consumers by ensuring advertising and marketing communications are conducted responsibly.
    AAAI

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India, AAAI, is the official national organisation of advertising agencies. It has a very large number of small, medium and large-sized agencies as its members, who together account for almost 80% of the advertising business in the country. It is recognised as the apex spokesperson for the advertising sector.
    IBF

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation, IBF, represents television broadcasters. It promotes and safeguards the interests of television broadcasters in an unbiased, non-partisan and relentless manner. It represents more than 85% of the total television broadcast viewership and revenues and in this responsible position, engages in meaningful dialogue toward consensus on contentious issues involving different stakeholders and providing incisive direction.

  • Advertisers vs broadcasters: Peace pipe smoked finally

    Advertisers vs broadcasters: Peace pipe smoked finally

    MUMBAI: Phew! One can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that the three stakeholders – Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) – have come up with a consensus after almost two weeks of a standoff. Two weeks that drove everyone in the business into a tizzy whether it was the stakeholders or media or financial journos who merrily reported and misreported on the developments.

    To give a background of how it all started: the announcement by seven (earlier eight) broadcasters to go for monthly ratings created a lot of chaos when top 20 advertisers said that they would pull out their ads from TV, if weekly ratings weren‘t released or referred to.

    After numerous meetings and exchanges of emails, the three bodies along with TAM came up with the solution. Thanks to the core team comprising IBF president Man Jit Singh, AAAI president Arvind Sharma and chairman of Media Committee and Managing Committee of ISA Hemant Bakshi with numerous others.

    From now onwards, the media and public will get to know television viewership in thousands, colloquially referred to as TVT. TVT captures and reflects growth in TV audiences in the country in absolute numbers and will be the sole rating available in the public domain.

    For internal evaluation including planning and buying, percentage TVR weekly and all other data will be available to advertisers and advertising agencies as in the past. Broadcasters will also have access to this information, should they so desire.

    In addition an option of TVT as a four-week rolling average will be provided every week. The rolling average is a statistically more stable data on viewership, especially for smaller audiences in niche channels, regional languages, English language programs and news.

    The consensus puts everything – number, percentage, weekly and monthly ratings – on the platter for advertisers, agencies and broadcasters. So how is it any different from what existed?

    Explains a highly placed industry expert, “To be frank, even today, very few advertisers, broadcasters and planners understand how ratings work. And they worked according to whatever little knowledge or understanding they had. So, through this new agreement, the biggest change is that broadcasters will get the number of people who watch their channel and will help them do commerce better.”

    He goes on to elaborate with an example of a news channel which has limited audience. “Imagine if a news channel comes to know how many people watch the channel or a particular show through the four-week rolling average (as news channels have a lot of fluctuation) it will help them do sensible business. It will make the scenario robust. And remember in the case of a smaller targeted news channel or niche channel, advertisers would be more than willing to pay a premium for that audience, as it is extremely focused.”

    On the consensus AAAI ’s president, Arvind Sharma says, “We (advertisers and agencies) have always accommodated what broadcasters’ wanted. We are happy with the new system. However, for us to plan, sell, to find reach etc, weekly percentage is very important and will always be.”

    As per the agreement, TAM is scheduled to release the ratings for the previous three weeks tomorrow. However, for the other changes to come into effect, the ratings provider needs to update its software to be friendly to the new system.

    And, as for the cancellations sent by advertisers to the seven broadcasters, a formal withdrawal letter will be sent out by advertisers to the networks over the next few days.

    Another big development in the issue is that the three constituents have also agreed that TAM will make all future audience measurement changes based on inputs from the joint-industry BARC Technical Committee.

    On this Sharma adds, “The more important issue here is that now we have people on board who are technically more trained and have resources to help us with challenges we faced earlier. Even in the future, if there is any standoff, we already have a mechanism to help us.”

    TAM is also happy that a settlement has been reached as it was caught in the crossfire, almost like an innocent victim. “TAM is happy to receive a common brief from the three industry stakeholders (IBF, ISA and AAAI) and will work very closely with them to ensure its smooth roll out,” says the agency’s spokesperson.

    “All three bodies didn’t like the way TAM gave out ratings, but now we have a common ground for all so hopefully all will be well now,” says the media expert optimistically.

    However, one of the news broadcasters on the latest development says, “Nothing will solve the issue but BARC. BARC is the ultimate solution.”