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Tag: IPG Mediabrands

  • Anita Mookerjee joins Lodestar UM as head for South business

    Anita Mookerjee joins Lodestar UM as head for South business

    MUMBAI: Media and marketing company, Lodestar UM has appointed Anita Devraj Mookerjee as the head for South India business. 

    Mookerjee will lead the entire South India operations of LUM, including the agency’s Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi operations. Lodestar UM’s South India operations includes marquee clients like Wipro Consumer Care, Accenture, MedLife, Exide Life Insurance, Duroflex, Zivame, Amaron Batteries, Amante and several others. 

    Mookerjee will lead the agency’s continued focus on strategic media planning, technology, data, content and ROI driven solutions.

    Prior to joining Lodestar UM, Mookerjee was the managing director at Mediacom Indonesia. 

    Lodestar UM chief executive officer Nandini Dias says, “A comprehensive search for the right leader, led us to Anita, who is the perfect candidate to spearhead the next phase of development in these critical markets. A performance-oriented, industry leader with a proven track record of success, especially in the areas of business growth, strategy and brand building, Anita will ensure we continue to deliver on the Lodestar UM promise of powerful, creative, insight-driven ideas for our clients”

    Talking about her new role, Mookerjee mentions, “I spent my formative years in media in Lintas Media Group (now Initiative), where I used to handle ITC. So, this is a home coming for me. Lodestar UM as an agency has always focussed extensively on its product and people.”

    Armed with over 19 years of experience in media communications and brand planning, Mookerjee is an alumni of Mumbai University. She started her career with Ogilvy in 1999. In 2005, she joined Lintas Media Group as Business Director. Following a stint of 3 years, Mookerjee joined Mediacom in 2008 as General Manager and overlooked the agency’s operations in Bangalore and Chennai. She moved to Mediacom Indonesia in 2012 as Managing Director and spent 5 years with the agency before returning to India.

  • Vaishali Verma becomes CEO at IPG Mediabrands

    Vaishali Verma becomes CEO at IPG Mediabrands

    MUMBAI: Initiative, part of the Interpublic Group’s media management network IPG Mediabrands, has announced a major elevation and restructuring.

    Initiative COO Vaishali Verma has been promoted as the CEO of the agency. Verma will report to IPG Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha, and will oversee the entire India operations.

    With over 22 years of experience in the area of media, advertising and marketing, Verma has been a strong force in helping brands connect better with consumers. Her work reflects a deep understanding of the evolution of Indian consumers backed with solid research based planning.

    Initiative – APAC regional president Will Anstee mentions, “I couldn’t be more excited to have Vaishali steer and deliver on our Initiative proposition in India. Her passion for the craft, her consistent high performance and the conscientious way she approaches every task, make her the natural choice for the role.”

    Talking about the appointment, Shashi Sinha adds, “What makes this truly special is that Vaishali is an insider and has grown from strength to strength in the group over the last 20 years. I am hugely proud to have such superlative talent from within steering the ship. She embodies IPG’s culture and values and is an inspiring leader. I couldn’t have found a better person to lead Initiative Media.”

    Verma says, “The advertising business is going through the most interesting times and it has never been more difficult than now to get consumer attention. Fortunately there is a better way of building audience relationship by being as relevant as possible and at Initiative we use culture as the bridge to stay relevant. Culture forms the canvas and the fabric of how we lead our lives. We help brands grow through culture by distributing ideas, content and conversation. At Initiative, we have the best of the global and local clients, the finest talent in the industry and cutting edge media tools. I think we have an opportunity to help shape the future of how brands engage with consumers. To be a part of this opportunity, to shape it with some of the sharpest minds in the business, is what excites me.”

    Verma started her career in advertising as a media planner with Mudra Communications in 1995, charting the media strategies of brands like McDonalds, Samsung and Nestle. She then moved to Universal McCann in 1997 as a senior media planner and worked with brands like General Motors, Reckitt Benckiser, Gillette, Madura Garments and ICI Paints. She joined Lodestar UM as general manager and handled brands like Wipro Consumer Care, Intel, ING Group and Madura Garments.

    In 2014, Verma was named the COO of Initiative and she has been overseeing the agency’s entire business in Southern India with the likes of Amazon Seller Service, MRF, Jockey, 3M, etc., leading a team of 100+ strong media professionals.

  • India is 18-24 months away from an inflection point: Ashish Bhasin

    India is 18-24 months away from an inflection point: Ashish Bhasin

    MUMBAI: Today’s advertisers aren’t short of options to choose from through which they can get a message across. But the difficult task at hand is to identify the one that allows optimisation of reach and viewership.

    The digital media itself slices into many types of patterns – branded viral videos, advertorials, branded chat rooms and much more. In 2017, the muttering about artificial intelligence, chatbots, virtual reality, internet of things and m-commerce grew more than ever. With the hangover of GST and demonetisation in recovery mode, brands are back at leveraging the power of digital.

    According to a recent report by IPG Mediabrands’ agency Magna, advertising expenditure in India will grow at 12.1 per cent to reach Rs 68,334 crore by 2018. While television is expected to grow at the rate of 12.2 per cent to reach Rs 27,617, digital is projected to grow at 25.2 per cent and will reach Rs 12,808 crore from its existing Rs 10,277 crore. 

    Though his age may confound you, Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO of South Asia Ashish Bhasin is vociferous about the digital medium. For over 30 years, he has seen the media transform from print to TV and now evolving into digital. Indiantelevision.com got talking to Bhasin where he spills the beans on television, digital advertising, plan for Dentsu and much more. Excerpts: 

    When will the digital advertising market in India gain critical mass?

    In terms of the digital advertising market, countries such as South Korea and China are ahead of India. In these markets, where smartphone penetration is over 40 per cent, an inflection point comes in because ultimately, advertising is driven majorly by FMCG, automobiles, consumer durables and others who want to reach mass numbers. 

    Out of the Rs 55,000 crore advertising market, Rs 10,000-11,000 crore is driven by FMCG across all media, although most of their spends are on television. Traditionally, these advertisers spent 90 per cent of their budget on television but that will soon change as digital will gain more importance. India is 18-24 months away from an inflection point. Out of every 100 phones in India, only 24 are smartphones. But there are some things that can make this whole calculation go haywire and expedite this and that is the entry of Reliance Jio as it is offering smartphones almost free of cost. Once every individual in India owns a smartphone, video consumption will increase and you already have data available at cheap prices.

    Facebook and Google account for 78 per cent of advertising on digital… 

    They do, but I believe a new player will emerge in that segment, three years from now, and that is going to be Amazon. The reason for that is you can advertise and complete the transaction on one platform. 

    Google’s model is very simple. Platforms like Google and Facebook have one of the largest consumer base. Their consumer base is growing at the rate of 30-40 per cent every year. It took big players like Google, Amazon and Hindustan Unilever years to become a multimillion dollar companies . It took Dabur maybe a 100 years to get to a $1 billion but it took Patanjali only a year and half. The Patanjali story makes for a great marketing case study. He (Baba Ramdev) has done everything opposite to what we have ever been taught. He has used himself as the brand ambassador for all his products and that has worked brilliantly for his brand. 

    Where do you see Dentsu Aegis Network 5 years down the line?

    We are driving change in the digital transformation direction. We are investing heavily in data. Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired Merkle in the United States which has platforms like M1 that house and use PII data of hundreds of millions of people. In India, we have acquired Sokarti and SVG media. Between these two, we have PII data of around 120-130 million people.  We are building our DMP (data management platform) and I want to have PII data of 200 million people very soon. Out of the 26 agencies in Dentsu umbrella, eight are digital agencies. In 2018, 45 per cent of our revenues will come from our digital business. 

    What about television? 

    In India, for the next five to seven years, all mediums will grow including television because the penetration is increasing. FreeDish will drive the penetration in smaller markets. By the next year, around 30 million television sets will be sold in India and all of them will have flat screens while CRT (cathode ray tube) TV will be phased out of India eventually. Today, the consumer is driving the change. Affordability is a big issue in smaller markets but the moment flat screen TV becomes affordable, every house will have it. India is a price-sensitive market. Everybody wants a smartphone but not everyone can afford it. The moment it becomes available at Rs 2000, no one will have a feature phone. Likewise for TVs. 

    Do you think outdoor will be impacted because of digital?

    We have to stop seeing digital as a medium. Outdoor will be significantly impacted by digital but that doesn’t mean outdoor will go away. I see 100 per cent of our business being digitally impacted five years from now but that doesn’t mean there won’t be non-digital business. Every business around the world will be impacted by digital. But OOH as a medium will thrive and grow rapidly in India with so many airports, metros and infrastructure projects coming up. 

    What about non-traditional platforms used for business transactions?

    WhatsApp is becoming bigger than Facebook. A huge amount of business happens on WhatsApp today in India. A few years from now, all social media platforms will become banks where you will be able to compete your transaction just like Paytm. This is the first year where the number of ATMs and banks has reduced in India. Why do people need to go to banks and ATM when they can transact online!

  • Amazon, Tata & Hyundai top India’s most mobile-ready brands, FB in world’s best

    MUMBAI: Ansible, the mobile marketing and technology agency of IPG Mediabrands, in partnership with global market research firm YouGov, and Powered by Google, has launched MDEX, that ranks world’s most “mobile ready” brands.

    The Top 10 Most “Mobile Ready” Brands in India Are:

    Amazon
    Tata Motors
    Hyundai
    Maruti
    Snapdeal
    Horlicks
    Lakme
    Rin
    Iodex
    Bournvita

    In total, more than 2,000 brands were reviewed across 15 countries (Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, UK, Uruguay, and the USA) against 60 separate criteria, producing in excess of 240,000 data points.

    The Top 10 Most “Mobile Ready” Brands In The World Are:

    1. Facebook
    2. Amazon
    3. 7-Eleven
    4. Hyundai
    5. Microsoft
    6. Nike
    7. Google
    8. Adidas
    9. OLX
    10.Target

    Ansible India CEO Anjali Hegde said, “India is a mobile first nation and an entire generation has bypassed PC/Desktop to connect digitally. The new consumer is mobile first and uses it as a primary tool for information, entertainment, engagement, communication and commerce. MDEX puts into perspective and benchmarks the mobile readiness of brands to connect with this new consumer. It is an authoritative study which looks at the mobile ecosystem in a holistic way. This is a study is timely and would immensely benefit brands to remain ahead of the curve.”

  • ‘Name and shame delinquent channels’

    ‘Name and shame delinquent channels’

    MUMBAI: Media buying and planning (advertising) agencies and brands reacted strongly or cautiously when it came to commenting on famous yet delinquent television channels suspected of wrongdoing by India’s only TV ratings points (TRP)  body. Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the only television audience measurement body in India, temporarily suspended the review of viewership of three news channels. BARC had communicated to all the broadcasters that ratings for India News, TV9 Telegu and V6 News were suspended for four weeks owing to suspected mala fide practices.

    This decision may have had a bearing on advertising on the channels in question. Some industry experts were direct and forthcoming in their reactions, others were cautious, while some chose not to comment on the issue.

    Requesting anonymity, a senior media planner told Indiantelevision.com that the decision could have a mixed impact on the advertising revenue of the channels. There would be companies who believe in a particular channel since a long time. They may not get swayed by this temporary phenomenon. Companies who might want to launch a national campaign may take a channel’s current ratings into account before making their decision. Then, there are regional advertisers who want to see the effect of advertising on the ground — they may not take the BARC review into account at all. There would be some advertisers who would want to wait and watch for a while — 2-3 weeks before taking any decision.

    Dentsu Aegis chairman Ashish Bhasin lauded the BARC decision not to review certain errant channels for a period of time. “It is a bold step taken by BARC to name and shame the mischievous entities.” It sends out a warning message to the channels to behave, and will act as a deterrent for other possible mischief-mongers that could spoil the purity of the currency for a Rs 20000 crore annual TV advertising business in India, Bhasin said.

    About the impact on advertising, Bhasin said that the reputation of the errant channels would be affected owing to the suspension of review. “Although I am unaware of which channels were involved in what kind of wrongdoing, the channels would be disadvantaged due to the BARC action. In the medium to long term, the action would prove to be detrimental to the channels vis-a-vis advertising because the client decides to put his money on the basis of clear feedback and seeks value for every pie invested,” Bhasin added.

    Some experts were rather vocal about change in their approach. “I will certainly not recommend these channels for my clients,” an Initiative Media (formerly Lintas Media) business director told Indiantelevision.com.

    The business director said she would rather advise other substitute (surrogate) channels so that her clients do not suffer. She agreed that the BARC India decision may not directly impact regional and local brands, but, she said, media planners who would draw up annual national strategies for their respective clients would certainly keep the BARC India’s suspension decision in mind.

    However, some  client-companies were rather cautious. HDFC Life senior executive vice-president, marketing, analytics, digital & e-commerce Sanjay Tripathy said: “The channels concerned are denying any wrong-doing at this point. However, if the channels are found guilty of any wrongdoing as suggested in media reports, it is only fair then that they face the consequences. Prima facie, we believe before taking such a stance, due process would have been followed by the authorities by BARC (India) and should wait to this matter to be clarified before taking any hasty decisions.”  

    For the sake of an independent and unbiased article, IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha chose not to comment since he chaired the technical committee of BARC India.

    “Advertisers who do not utilise the services of media buying agencies may continue to advertise on the errant channels,” said Madison World chairman Sam Balsara. “But, advertisers who take the help of agencies that use scientific methods of calculating GRPs (gross rating point) would over a period of time keep away from such channels,” he added. To a question whether advertisers would mind the temporary suspension, Sam said, “They would and they should.”

    Also Read :

    BARC India suspends three errant channels’ review

     

  • ‘Name and shame delinquent channels’

    ‘Name and shame delinquent channels’

    MUMBAI: Media buying and planning (advertising) agencies and brands reacted strongly or cautiously when it came to commenting on famous yet delinquent television channels suspected of wrongdoing by India’s only TV ratings points (TRP)  body. Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the only television audience measurement body in India, temporarily suspended the review of viewership of three news channels. BARC had communicated to all the broadcasters that ratings for India News, TV9 Telegu and V6 News were suspended for four weeks owing to suspected mala fide practices.

    This decision may have had a bearing on advertising on the channels in question. Some industry experts were direct and forthcoming in their reactions, others were cautious, while some chose not to comment on the issue.

    Requesting anonymity, a senior media planner told Indiantelevision.com that the decision could have a mixed impact on the advertising revenue of the channels. There would be companies who believe in a particular channel since a long time. They may not get swayed by this temporary phenomenon. Companies who might want to launch a national campaign may take a channel’s current ratings into account before making their decision. Then, there are regional advertisers who want to see the effect of advertising on the ground — they may not take the BARC review into account at all. There would be some advertisers who would want to wait and watch for a while — 2-3 weeks before taking any decision.

    Dentsu Aegis chairman Ashish Bhasin lauded the BARC decision not to review certain errant channels for a period of time. “It is a bold step taken by BARC to name and shame the mischievous entities.” It sends out a warning message to the channels to behave, and will act as a deterrent for other possible mischief-mongers that could spoil the purity of the currency for a Rs 20000 crore annual TV advertising business in India, Bhasin said.

    About the impact on advertising, Bhasin said that the reputation of the errant channels would be affected owing to the suspension of review. “Although I am unaware of which channels were involved in what kind of wrongdoing, the channels would be disadvantaged due to the BARC action. In the medium to long term, the action would prove to be detrimental to the channels vis-a-vis advertising because the client decides to put his money on the basis of clear feedback and seeks value for every pie invested,” Bhasin added.

    Some experts were rather vocal about change in their approach. “I will certainly not recommend these channels for my clients,” an Initiative Media (formerly Lintas Media) business director told Indiantelevision.com.

    The business director said she would rather advise other substitute (surrogate) channels so that her clients do not suffer. She agreed that the BARC India decision may not directly impact regional and local brands, but, she said, media planners who would draw up annual national strategies for their respective clients would certainly keep the BARC India’s suspension decision in mind.

    However, some  client-companies were rather cautious. HDFC Life senior executive vice-president, marketing, analytics, digital & e-commerce Sanjay Tripathy said: “The channels concerned are denying any wrong-doing at this point. However, if the channels are found guilty of any wrongdoing as suggested in media reports, it is only fair then that they face the consequences. Prima facie, we believe before taking such a stance, due process would have been followed by the authorities by BARC (India) and should wait to this matter to be clarified before taking any hasty decisions.”  

    For the sake of an independent and unbiased article, IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha chose not to comment since he chaired the technical committee of BARC India.

    “Advertisers who do not utilise the services of media buying agencies may continue to advertise on the errant channels,” said Madison World chairman Sam Balsara. “But, advertisers who take the help of agencies that use scientific methods of calculating GRPs (gross rating point) would over a period of time keep away from such channels,” he added. To a question whether advertisers would mind the temporary suspension, Sam said, “They would and they should.”

    Also Read :

    BARC India suspends three errant channels’ review

     

  • Lodestar UM introduces Tata Hexa with carpool karaoke

    Lodestar UM introduces Tata Hexa with carpool karaoke

    MUMBAI: Introducing Tata Motors’ flagship brand Hexa, Lodestar UM, part of media agency conglomerate IPG Mediabrands, has created India’s first carpool karaoke with the star cast of the upcoming Bollywood blockbuster Rock on 2.

    Lodestar UM Studios – the content division of the agency proposed the idea of doing India’s first car pool karaoke. The swanky new Hexa was rigged with 12 cameras to capture all angles of the fun and excitement within. The track was loaded on Hexa’s hi-end infotainment system equipped with 10 JBL speakers and what followed was an awesome experience. 

    The stars drove around Bandra, they jammed, playing drums and air guitars, doing a high energy karaoke on their famous title track. The ride ended with them jamming and driving to the trailer launch event of Rock On 2 at the amphitheater in Bandra.

    On this innovative initiative Lodestar UM CEO Nandini Dias said, “This is a true example of a unique collaborative innovation by team Lodestar, where two big brands getting launched in November were brought together on the universally loved Music platform. 

    Commenting on the association, Tata Motors  marketing head — PVBU Vivek B Srivastava said, “Our association with Excel Entertainment for Rock on 2 reiterates our customer centric approach towards our much awaited power-packed, feature loaded and adrenaline pumped lifestyle vehicle, the Tata Hexa.”

    “Rock On 2 is representative of the youth of the country that is passionate about music and motoring and thus it’s an ideal fit for Tata Hexa”, said Lodestar UM SVP Deepak Netram.


     

  • Lodestar UM introduces Tata Hexa with carpool karaoke

    Lodestar UM introduces Tata Hexa with carpool karaoke

    MUMBAI: Introducing Tata Motors’ flagship brand Hexa, Lodestar UM, part of media agency conglomerate IPG Mediabrands, has created India’s first carpool karaoke with the star cast of the upcoming Bollywood blockbuster Rock on 2.

    Lodestar UM Studios – the content division of the agency proposed the idea of doing India’s first car pool karaoke. The swanky new Hexa was rigged with 12 cameras to capture all angles of the fun and excitement within. The track was loaded on Hexa’s hi-end infotainment system equipped with 10 JBL speakers and what followed was an awesome experience. 

    The stars drove around Bandra, they jammed, playing drums and air guitars, doing a high energy karaoke on their famous title track. The ride ended with them jamming and driving to the trailer launch event of Rock On 2 at the amphitheater in Bandra.

    On this innovative initiative Lodestar UM CEO Nandini Dias said, “This is a true example of a unique collaborative innovation by team Lodestar, where two big brands getting launched in November were brought together on the universally loved Music platform. 

    Commenting on the association, Tata Motors  marketing head — PVBU Vivek B Srivastava said, “Our association with Excel Entertainment for Rock on 2 reiterates our customer centric approach towards our much awaited power-packed, feature loaded and adrenaline pumped lifestyle vehicle, the Tata Hexa.”

    “Rock On 2 is representative of the youth of the country that is passionate about music and motoring and thus it’s an ideal fit for Tata Hexa”, said Lodestar UM SVP Deepak Netram.


     

  • Indian Media Review: Shashi Sinha addresses the elephant in the room — common measurement

    Indian Media Review: Shashi Sinha addresses the elephant in the room — common measurement

    MUMBAI: All eyes were trained on this year’s media review by The Advertising Club, what with the stalwarts of the industry repeatedly endorsing it on the social media weeks before the event took place. And indeed, the topic that the session addressed hit close to to every stakeholder in the industry alike — be it publishers from across media, advertisers or media agencies. It was on having a common currency of measuring the effectiveness of media for advertising across platforms.

    IPG Mediabrands CEO was one of the key speakers at the review. Shashi Sinha started off on a more comfortable note of how agencies can help businesses grow with an effective measurement.

    According to him, “Instead of complaining that clients are demanding more accountability from the media they bought, agencies need to understand that better measurement gives CMOs better rationale for justifying better budgets.”

    This ‘better measurability’, as per Sinha, is being achieved in several ways at present, primarily — introduction of BARC’s measurement system for broadcasters, revival of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) by next year, and digital.

    The issue, Sinha emphasised, came down to whether the fraternity wanted to take a few more steps further to improve the system of measurement across media after understanding the need of the hour or whether they wanted to stall the progress and delay the combined measurement system.

    Speaking specifically of the digital measurement system, Sinha shared that it was wrong to expect a panel of digital platforms or ‘OTT’ players to be self regulators of their measurement systems, given that the category is extremely fragmented. Therefore, he openly asked if “digital publishers are willing to be measured by third parties and be transparent with their numbers?”

    Highlighting how the IRS, which Sinha expects to be fully functional in eight months, will increase the sample size of print publishers by 40 per cent, he added that multimedia evaluation was also being considered by the board.

    Sinha expressed his welcome surprise at the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) testing the measurement possibilities in the publishing side of digital (as BARC only caters to video consumption measurements). “Unlike video measurement, it is relatively cheap and is actually already functional for the last three to four months. We just need the heavyweights in the medium to come to a consensus for it to be fully rolled out,” Sinha added.

    After addressing and updating the audience about the different scopes of measurements in each media, Sinha quickly moved on to emphasise the need to have a common source of truth or ‘a single view of truth’

    This brings him to suggest the ambitious idea of Media Research Users Council (MRUC), the IRS, BARC and ABC to come together to contribute to a common pool of data that can be further sliced and diced in accordance with each media based on the clients requirement, although Sinha agreed that currently major challenges were in making that thought become a reality.

    Instead, one could start with thinking along the lines of a measurement currency that each media can be compared in, and according to Sinha, it is CPT,

    “Television measurement needs to move from CPRP to CPT format, and that’s a good starting point of having some commonality of currency between mediums. Publishers need to understand that moving from one currency system to the other doesn’t bring any difference in the buying and selling equation with clients. That will always be based on the demand-supply ratio,” assured Sinha, adding that the current CPT of channels is actually an opportunity to drive growth.

    CPT or Cost Per Thousand is basically the advertising cost of reaching a certain number of viewers in a defined target group on television, while CPRP or Cost Per Rating Point is the cost of advertising time on television based on the price of time for a single rating point generated by the channel.

    More mature markets such as the US, the UK and Germany have already switched to CPT as a currency when buying and selling television media.