ITV

Tag: iProspect India

  • Ad spend to remain bullish this festive season

    Ad spend to remain bullish this festive season

    Mumbai: After two Covid-impacted years, the mood among consumers and advertisers for the festive season is a lot better. Media agencies expect a decent uptick in ad spends.

    The overall sentiment is positive. iProspect India executive vice president Kaushik Chakraborty explains, “Unlike the last two years, this festive season will be far more exciting. We can expect brands to encash on the positive sentiment. While media spends will be primarily driven by TV and digital, print and OOH spends will also grow,” he tells Indiantelevision.com.

    He explains further that there has been a robust growth in ad spends during festive seasons in the last three years. “In 2021, the growth was more than 20 per cent as compared to the previous year. Although the inflationary pressure will impact overall consumer sentiments, we can expect a 10 per cent plus growth in media spend this festive season.”

    The key categories that will witness a strong push in demand are e-commerce, automobiles, e-wallets, BFSI, and retail.

    “Normally, festivities contribute around 40 per cent of AdEx. A similar trend will continue this year. The bulk of the spending will happen till Diwali, and post that, advertisers will rationalise spending,” he says.

    When asked about the impact of startups being under pressure to conserve cash, he points out that startups contribute less than 13 per cent of overall AdEx. “Traditional advertising players will contribute during the festive seasons, while seasonal advertisers will continue their spending.”

    IPG Mediabrands chief investment officer Hema Malik says that ad spend growth will be 10-15 per cent. Print, radio, cinema and out-to-home (OOH) are bouncing back. She expects the print media’s festive season ad spend growth to be over 50 per cent. “This will be the first festive season in three years without restrictions. The festive season will be celebrated in full-swing on-ground. Earlier, there were issues with masks, fewer places to visit and timings. The market should see a good pick-up currently.”

    However, Malik highlights that television ad spends during the festive season will be flat due to the Indian Premier League (IPL) that happened last year. The annual advertising budget was diverted to IPL promotions. Also, the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in Australia will take place after Diwali, which is an appropriate time and cooling-off period for advertisers. Hopefully, things will pick up in the advertising market and advertisers will likely increase their spending.

    “Companies discontinue campaigns after Diwali and take a break. There will also be a struggle due to the disappointing IPL viewership recently and also the mediocre performance of India in the Asia Cup. It will be difficult to watch the Twenty20 World Cup on television. The challenge for television is that viewership has been steadily declining. The numbers are unexplainable. It is becoming a deterrent to price revisions. This has been a perennial issue for a couple of months now,” Malik tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Elucidating further on the startup situation, she says, “Startups are facing a slowdown that is another challenge for television and digital media. Big sports properties will come under pressure. Other categories will fill up the gap, and selling inventory will not be an issue. The issue is whether those companies would be willing to spend as much as startups who have a target reach.”

    Filling up inventory is never an issue for television, Malik explains further. It is yield maximisation that will be the challenge. The startup issue will also have an impact digitally. “The dampener is the startups and new-age companies that are under a slowdown this year. That is impacting the advertising mood and AdEx growth, she adds.

    She adds that a few categories are firing, but not all. She expects categories like confectionery, paint, and jewellery to do well. “They will come back in full force. Retail is expanding into more areas. E-commerce will also be there,” she concludes.

  • iProspect India wins Monster.com’s digital mandate

    iProspect India wins Monster.com’s digital mandate

    Mumbai: Dentsu India’s media agency iProspect has won the digital mandate for Monster.com. The account was won following a multiagency pitch and will be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office.

    iProspect India will handle the entire gamut of digital duties for Monster.com, with a focus on performance-based marketing. The agency will utilise its proprietary tools and solutions to help the brand achieve its digital marketing objectives via innovative digital campaigns. The agency will manage the brand throughout India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

    Commenting on the win, Monster.com, APAC & ME CMO Saurabh Srivastava said, “Monster is bracing itself for a new growth journey as it evolves into an end-to-end talent management platform in the months to come. A household name for job seekers across countries and a preferred talent discovery platform for recruiters, Monster continues to invest in innovative tech product offerings and services that are continuously improving the experience of its users across the web and mobile app. As we move ahead with our renewed aspiration of catering to the diverse requirements of an evolving job market, we are confident that partnering with the best of minds from the digital marketing space will help us create the much-needed brand resonance and equity with our existing and prospective users across emerging markets.”

    iProspect CEO and Dentsu Media chief digital growth officer Vinod Thadani commented, “Monster is a great brand that has been in the market for many years and has established itself as a great engagement platform for users who are looking for jobs and progressing in their careers. At iProspect, we look forward to deploying our innovative and data-driven digital marketing solutions to deliver the right engagement for the brand with its digital audience.”

    iProspect India managing partner Nitin Sabharwal added, “We, at iProspect India, believe that the new avatar of Monster that is in the making has the right appeal to the new-age audience. We are looking forward to the new innovations on the platform. The team will work closely with the brand stakeholders to deliver on digital distribution and customer engagement.”

  • iProspect India appoints Nitin Sabharwal as managing partner-North

    iProspect India appoints Nitin Sabharwal as managing partner-North

    Mumbai: iProspect, the digital-first end-to-end media agency from the house of dentsu India, has appointed Nitin Sabharwal as managing partner, North. He will also lead the agency’s affiliate marketing function, nationally.

    As per the mandate, Sabharwal will be responsible for client relationship management, business operations and new channel development. He will report into Vinod Thadani, CEO iProspect India & digital growth officer India, dentsu Media.

    In his new role, Sabharwal will bring on board a vast depth of knowledge and real-world experiences, which will be further combined with data-driven insights from across industry implementations, said the company.

    Armed with 25 years of experience, Sabharwal has worked with some of the first digital marketing ecosystems in India, especially in the performance marketing space. Digital customer acquisition is one of his key specialisations, using 360-degree digital demand generation. Additionally, Sabharwal has been instrumental in developing full-funnel digital marketing ecosystems for some of the largest advertisers in the performance space.

    Speaking on the appointment, Vinod Thadani said, “Nitin embodies iProspect’s vision efficaciously. With his understanding of our clients, industry and the market, he is undoubtedly the successor for the role. We look forward to welcoming him at iProspect and working with stakeholders to unlock greater potential and empowering our clients to make better and swifter decisions. I am confident that he will lead the organisation to greater heights and accelerate the momentum of growth.”

    Sabharwal’s first stint with dentsu India was for seven years wherein he held the position of chief operating officer with SVG Media and also led the network’s Columbus brand, nationally. He moved on from dentsu in January 2021 to join Optimise Media, a UK-based performance marketing ecosystem, as chief operating officer. Some of the other companies that Sabharwal has worked with include DGM India, IndiaHomes.com and MediaTurf.

    Commenting on his new role, Nitin Sabharwal stated, “I am really excited to work with the leadership team at iProspect. This is a great opportunity to carry forward the torch of digital performance marketing for brands in India. I am also looking forward to building new channels of performance delivery via strategic partnerships along with creating a robust team that is client-focused, data-driven, and insight-oriented.”

  • Fintech invests in branded content to reach Gen Z and millennials

    Fintech invests in branded content to reach Gen Z and millennials

    Mumbai: Fintech brands are looking at the massive influx of Gen Z and millennial retail investors as an opportunity to create awareness about their products. As awareness about the securities market in India remains comparatively low compared to markets like the US, brands are choosing educational content to create brand recall.

    The Indian financial markets saw unprecedented retail participation between April 2020 and January 2021. The securities and exchange board of India (SEBI) reported that 1.4 crore new demat accounts were opened in FY 2020-21. The total number of demat accounts as of March stands at 5.5 crore which means that a fifth of the total demat accounts was opened in the last financial year.

    “The capital markets have grown tremendously as well and retail participation has increased. According to Central Depository Services Ltd, (CDSL), in the first six months of the lockdown only, there was also a 20 per cent rise in demat accounts. So, definitely, there is a huge interest and appetite for learning about the financial markets especially given the slowdown in placements and the job market,” said iProspect India, chief executive officer, Rubeena Singh.

    There was a surge in interest in all forms of wealth creation, as crores of people, lost their jobs. Unlike before, this time new investors had access to a vast trove of information on stocks, IPOs, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies, and other asset classes. Their decision-making is influenced not by a financial advisor but rather by influencers on YouTube.

    “There has been a spike in the volume of content created as the consumer interest in these (fintech) products has increased. However, more video and less text content are being consumed and thus, created. So, brands are looking to create short-form video content in a scalable way that is also cost-efficient. They are also integrating with existing shows, partnering with original content and content creators,” remarked Singh.

    A bevy of brands have made it their personal mission to educate these young investors about credit, securities, crypto and help them make smart decisions. This creates a halo effect around the brands, as well as drive their marketing agendas to appear as category leaders in their space. Brands like Upstox, CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX, Cred, and PhonePe are investing in content creation on their own platforms as well as strategic associations with key influencers and media platforms to remain visible.

    The banking and finance, mutual fund, insurance, and cryptocurrency players are the most prominent when it comes to media partnerships as they are not only trying to grow their brands but also the entire category.

    For example, cryptocurrency platform WazirX partnered with business news channel CNBC TV18 to develop an education programme that lays emphasis on crypto emerging as a mainstream asset class. Similarly, competitor CoinSwitch Kuber partnered with NDTV for a similar content partnership.

    “The cryptocurrency market is attracting almost everyone. While almost 50 per cent of the users on the platform are below 28 years of age, we have been witnessing a lot of traction from senior citizens and users above 45 years of age. Investors from smaller cities in India are also getting into crypto. Around 60 per cent of the investors come from Tier II and Tier III cities of India” observed CoinSwitch Kuber, chief business officer, Sharan Nair.

    “CoinSwitch Kuber is actively collaborating with local newspapers, media and influencers to educate and inform investors about the new assets. Kuberverse, a free educational resource available on the platform, is also contributing to this goal. Also, the ease of usage of the platform adds to our advantage and attracts users in large numbers,” he added.

    Brands are looking at content integrations and partnerships as this educational content will continue to garner views, long after it has been created by the next generation of investors. Singh admits that money being spent on digital is far less than traditional channels, however, that needs to change with the consumption pattern. “Brands are spending about Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore to create educational content. Integration in a video or partnering with one episode of a large IP may cost around Rs 25 lakh to 50 lakh,” she noted.

  • Vinod Thadani joins Dentsu International as DGO, media – India & CEO, iProspect India

    Vinod Thadani joins Dentsu International as DGO, media – India & CEO, iProspect India

    Mumbai: Dentsu International on Friday announced the appointment of Vinod Thadani as chief digital growth officer (DGO) for India. Thadani will also be taking on the additional role of chief executive officer (CEO), iProspect India. He will report to Media South Asia, CEO, Divya Karani.

    Thadani comes with over two decades of experience in media and advertising. Prior to Dentsu, he was associated with Mindshare as chief digital officer for the South Asia region. Previously, Thadani was the CEO of Madhouse India, a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China, and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company.

    Speaking about the new development, Karani said, “Vinod is a strategic addition to our future-forward business design. His values and commitment to innovation resonate with all that dentsu stands for. I am fully confident his exceptional and in-depth mastery of digital will help our clients’ business scale new frontiers.”  

    Commenting on his new assignment, Vinod Thadani said, “I am excited to become an integral part of this network and look forward to the journey ahead. My contribution in dual capacities will be an opportunity to offer excellence and best-in-class services to all our clients specially in the space of digital performance, data-driven marketing, e-commerce, marketing effectiveness & creative. There is scale, specialisation & integration at the core of our offerings & through this journey, my goal is to pursue growth for our clients and the network.”

  • DAN India bags two golds at 9th Global Customer Engagement Award

    DAN India bags two golds at 9th Global Customer Engagement Award

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India has emerged victorious at the 9th edition of the ACEF Global Customer Engagement Awards. While Vizeum India, the media agency from the house of DAN, has bagged a Gold for HDFC Bank’s ‘Ek Festival Aisa Bhi’ campaign, digital marketing agency iProspect India has brought home a Gold and a Silver for Angel Broking’s ‘Smart Sauda’ campaign.

    Vizeum India CEO  Himanka Das said, “This is the result of some remarkable team effort. We are thankful to our client HDFC Bank for their support and for constantly pushing us to create gold standard in what we do.”

    Vizeum India senior vice president (west) Kaushik Chakraborty added, “We are extremely happy for our work being recognised as best-in-class. Awards have always been a testimony to recognising good work and motivates teams to push their own benchmark.”

    iProspect India EVP operations   Muddassar Memon said, “I would like to congratulate the team and our client Angel Broking on the wins. The use of our proprietary tools for the campaign helped us reach the right TG on the right platform and made the campaign a success. It is always heartening to see the work getting acknowledged and awarded.”

    For the record, the Global Customer Engagement Awards celebrates the best-of-the-best in Customer Engagement Solutions across various categories within the industry. It also recognises the Best Campaigns, Creatives and Activities executed by Agencies, Media Houses and Brands for customer engagement through various mediums of marketing.

  • iProspect India, Essilor launch #SeeGoodDoGood campaign

    iProspect India, Essilor launch #SeeGoodDoGood campaign

    MUMBAI: As the world struggles amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, many brands across sectors have stepped up to empower their workforce including the international ophthalmic optics company, Essilor. To lend support to its staff during these weary times,
    Essilor has partnered with iProspect India, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), to launch the #SeeGoodDoGood campaign. For the record, Essilor is a French spectacle lens manufacturing company and ranks #1 in spectacle lens production,
    worldwide.

    Executed by iProspect India, #SeeGoodDoGood is an initiative by the brand to support the livelihoods of the sales staff at optical stores. The agency’ is assisting Essilor to disseminate the brand’s first-of-its-kind initiative in the optical industry across India, digitally. It is
    pertinent to note here that the agency’s Bengaluru office assisted to churn out supportive communication pieces for the campaign.

    Through the 8-week-long campaign, the brand intends to reach out to its customers and urge them to stand up for those who are currently in desperate need. For every Essilor lens purchased, the brand is contributing 3% of the proceeds to the sales staff at the stores
    where the purchase was made.

    iProspect India branch head – South Krishna Kumar Revanur said “Digital medium is helping brands to communicate during such difficult times. We are happy to partner with Essilor on their latest campaign.”

    Essilor CEO – South Asia Maarten Geraets added, “By leveraging the digital medium, we want to reach out to the ones affected by the pandemic and help as many as possible.  #SeeGoodDoGood campaign is one of our several initiatives that is meant to support our partners in trade to relaunch themselves post the Covid-19 crisis. The campaign will help the stores revive and support their staff as we drive more footfalls to the store. We are all together in our efforts to fight the current crisis and everyone – brand or an individual – need to help and support each other.”

  • iProspect India wins SBI’s digital mandate

    iProspect India wins SBI’s digital mandate

    MUMBAI: iProspect India, the digital marketing agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has won the digital mandate for the Indian financial services and banking leader – State Bank of India (SBI).

    As per the mandate, iProspect India will handle the entire gamut of digital duties – paid media, social media, creative, SEO (search engine optimisation) and ORM (online reputation management) for the brand. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be handled from the agency’s Mumbai office.

    SBI is the largest Indian bank in terms of its balance sheet size and its number of branches. It caters to approximately one-third of the country's population and aspires to stay the preferred bank for the Indian Youth. SBI continues to be India’s largest commercial bank with its digital-first approach and its vision to be the first choice of the ever-changing modern India. To evolve its digital presence, iProspect India will help the bank achieve its digital marketing objectives by devising innovative digital campaigns, using proprietary tools and solutions.

    Commenting on the win, iProspect India CEO Rubeena Singh said, “One in every three Indians is an SBI customer. That is the mammoth reach of the Indian bank. We are delighted that our deep domain understanding of the banking sector and a unique integrated creative and media approach won us the mandate to partner with them in their digital outreach and communication strategy. #DigitalIndia is a reality now.”

    On the partnership, SBI CMO Sweta Aggarwall added, “iProspect India came in with a great creative-first, solution-driven, 360-degree digital marketing approach and we are looking forward to working with them. We want to ride the digital wave and delight not just the existing but potential new customers as well.”

  • iProspect India bags paid media mandate of Max Bupa

    iProspect India bags paid media mandate of Max Bupa

    MUMBAI: iProspect India, the digital performance agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has won the Paid Media mandate of Max Bupa Health Insurance, a leading standalone health insurance player in India.

    As per the mandate, the agency will service the account won from its Delhi office and will handle their entire gamut of Paid Media duties. The agency bagged the account post a multi-agency pitch.

    iProspect India CEO Rubeena Singh said, “We are pleased to partner with Max Bupa. The work done by iProspect India is at the cutting edge of tech-enabled innovation. The recent Max Bupa win demonstrates the belief that the client has in our team.”

    Max Bupa Health Insurance director & head marketing, digital and direct sales Anika Agarwal added, “At Max Bupa, our goal is to drive measurability of our marketing initiatives while retaining our focus on customer-centric innovations. We are delighted to partner with iProspect India in our journey towards being a true data-driven marketing organisation and continuing to deliver the best return on investment for our marketing initiatives.”