Mumbai: Madison Digital, the digital unit of Madison World, has announced the return of Nimesh Shah as General Manager for Madison Digital. He will co-lead the western region alongside Vineet Shah and will report directly to Madison Digital and Madison Media Alpha CEO Vishal Chinchankar.
Nimesh has over 14 years of experience in digital marketing out of which six years have been at Madison. He has a proven track record of success across brands and agencies and has also had an entrepreneurial stint. Apart from Madison, he has worked in companies like Kuoni India, Talwalkars Fitness Ltd; and prior to joining Madison he was at Essence Mediacom. Across his career he has worked on multiple reputed brands such as Tata Consumer Goods, Piramal Healthcare, Bluestar, Bayer Consumer Health Products, Hygienic Research Institute, Exide Batteries, among others. He holds a bachelor’s degree in BMS from Mumbai University and a post graduate diploma in Business Management from Rizvi Institute of Management.
Chinchankar expressed, “We are happy to welcome Nimesh back at Madison Digital. I am confident that his leadership will strengthen our capabilities in the western region, and I am extremely certain that his core abilities of strategic acumen and client focus will bring tremendous value for Madison and our clients.”
Shah comments on his re-joining, “I’m thrilled to reunite with Madison World and contribute to its digital initiatives in this ever-evolving landscape. I have had the privilege of witnessing the transformative power of digital and its impact on consumers. My focus will be on driving innovation, with a particular emphasis on data and technology-driven solutions to facilitate digital transformation and foster business. Together, we aim to redefine possibilities and create impactful, strategic experiences for our clients. I am super excited to be a part of this journey.”
Mumbai: PubMatic (Nasdaq: PUBM), an independent technology company delivering digital advertising’s supply chain of the future, has announced the availability of its newest offering, Activate, in the Asia-Pacific region. PubMatic’s new end-to-end supply path optimization (SPO) solution allows buyers to execute non-bidded direct deals on PubMatic’s programmatic platform, accessing premium video and CTV inventory at scale.
Since launching in the US and EMEA in May, Activate has gained traction across every region, with an active pipeline of more than 50 advertisers, agencies, and campaigns live through multiple global agency holding companies. Following this success, the solution is being launched in the Asia-Pacific region with partners including dentsu APAC, iQIYI, KINESSO India, Madison Digital, and Wishmedia.
Activate represents a new industry paradigm by creating a single layer of technology that directly connects buyers and sellers of digital media. Activate allows a smooth shift from conventional direct transactions to programmatic private marketplace (PMP) or programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals. The platform gives media buyers more control over their omnichannel video investments by facilitating transactions across PubMatic’s premium CTV and online video inventory within a unified platform.
“PubMatic’s launch of Activate in the Asia-Pacific region marks a significant milestone in our efforts to revolutionize the industry’s programmatic marketplace,” said PubMatic CEO & co-founder Rajeev Goel. “Activate is an extension of our successful SPO strategy that addresses advertiser demand for solutions that deliver a better return on video and CTV investments.”
“At dentsu, we prioritize adtech maturity, focusing on transparency and control in the programmatic supply chain for efficient, high-quality media delivery. Our partnership with PubMatic plays a pivotal role in our supply curation and SPO practices,” said dentsu APAC chief product officer Sunil Naryani, who supports the Carat, iProspect, and dentsu X agencies in the region. “With PubMatic’s Activate, we anticipate delivering enhanced value to our clients by bridging the gap between buyers and sellers and further streamlining the supply chain, unlocking opportunities to maximize working media for their video and CTV investments.”
“iQIYI is a long-time partner of PubMatic. Together we are committed to delivering innovation in the CTV ecosystem,” said iQIYI international business development & general manager of sales operation Andy Sun. “We’re excited to be a launch partner for PubMatic’s Activate solution and look forward to continuing to work closely together to drive effective programmatic CTV advertising.”
“PubMatic is a key player in the programmatic ecosystem, and we’re excited to explore how Activate can benefit our CTV clients,” said KINESSO India business head Paras Mehta.
“PubMatic is a valuable partner across India, helping us deliver transparent and effective solutions for advertisers,” said Madison Digital general manager & head of programmatic Suchi Jain. “We’re excited to see their continued innovation in streamlining video and CTV buying for our clients.”
“Wishmedia is dedicated to providing advertisers in Korea with best-in-class digital advertising solutions,” said Wishmedia COO Meejoo Na. “We’re thrilled to be a launch partner for PubMatic’s Activate and look forward to our clients benefiting from a more efficient digital supply chain, and greater ROI on their video and CTV spend.”
Non-programmatic insertion orders are expected to account for almost 60 per cent of CTV and 18 per cent of online video transactions by the end of 2023, according to industry estimates. Activate represents a nearly $65 billion expansion of PubMatic’s total addressable market.
Built leveraging technology from PubMatic’s 2022 acquisition of Martin, Activate is fully integrated into PubMatic’s growing software suite, including the PubMatic Sell-Side Platform and Connect.
Mumbai: Anil Wanvari in conversation with Vishal Chinchankar on Connected TV and its reach. Why advertisers and marketers are gung-ho about connected TV?
Connected TV is the latest buzzword, why and what is so exciting about connected TVs?
The whole ecosystem is changing with the invention of smart TVs and broadband connections are moving faster, the hardware itself is a piece of an asset as you get 4K content or HD content by itself and the beauty of it is, it is linked to broadband and you can watch it at your convenience, whether it is Netflix or Amazon in the walled garden as compared to YouTube or the other apps and other Apps.
In my sense this is the new kid on the block, I wouldn’t call it a kid any more, it’s a growing kid, the Complan boy and growing much faster. The adoption of this is also faster. To put things in perspective smart TV quarter-on-quarter is showing an 11% import growth and that is the kind of consumption that is happening at the end of the day. You are talking about a consumer who can afford a smart TV, afford some great content which is subscribed content and has a high broadband connection. Net, net there is a significantly large size audience which is A++ which is available for brands.
On the reach
Various numbers are floating around but to my knowledge, it is 22mn households and if we go by the BARC data with a multiplier of 3.2 or 3.6, we are talking about a significantly large size of household penetration right now. A comparable may not be linear TV but HD TV which claims to be at 45 mn households, but that has stagnated and this is growing. In no time you would see connected TV crossing over the HD numbers or outgrowing it.
On TVs with connected devices or built-in Apps
There are about 10 mn sticks in the market, and the usage of the stick is just 10%, it is a snack in snack out kind of phenomenon. This number is growing. The combination of these two things is helping this particular medium Connected TV to grow faster.
Last year in the Pitch–Madison report I presented a paper on why connected TV is bigger, there is one data point, last year the whole ADEX of 80,000 Crores was equal to the amount of money invested in connected TV Universe so that is how huge connected TV is in the US and there is no reason as why India will not move in that direction.
On hot spotting
Casting is picking up very fast. Jio is now launching these cables where you can cast your mobile on screen, whether it is a smart TV or that old TV with the red, yellow and white three-pin wires. It is helping the ecosystem to move faster.
On has the penetration down the NCCA strata
We have done a lot of campaigns on connected TV, and a lot of inventory from Tier 2 markets, not purely a metro-centric phenomenon right now but it is surely moving into these tier 2 markets. It is not getting into tier 3 & 4 markets right now but at the pace, it is growing it should reach these markets with the help of sticks or with the help of new TV at affordable prices.
On recommending Connected TV to your brands
They are because the beauty of this medium is that it addresses the top of the funnel i.e., the A++ audience I had defined earlier. Niche brands which want to target or reach out to those audiences, it is a perfect match. We have done a lot of campaigns and I think we have seen great performances in terms of measuring the VTRs or the soft measures like the pre- and post-studies we have done on that particular campaign and it showed significant growth. I am bullish about connected TV as a platform.
On getting the bang for the buck and how difficult it is to convince brand marketers’
Connected TV today is neither TV, it is largely tilting towards the side of digital. It is the more digital side of inventory now because it is all about my consoles and wherever there are digital. Maybe it is tilted more towards digital and not towards Linear TV. I don’t think it is the right comparison to compare connected TV with Linear TV, because CTV is still small and Linear TV is still a reach builder. I would probably compare it with HDTV rather than just SD or linear TV.
Are the brand managers, Marketers aware of this, in some cases, we need to educate them and tell them what the numbers look like, even when it comes to RMF for that matter for a particular audience, but more or less I think in today’s day and age most of the mature advertisers are quite aware and they have started building on the brands, though it is a long way and a pilot and then an up approach always works for most of the brand managers.
On the IPL and the spending on CTV and digital
It is going to be fun to watch this IPL because both the publisher and the broadcaster are going to be very aggressive. Both have their own merits and advantages. But let us talk about the digital, earlier if I had to a comparison, Hotstar had about 50 -60 mn subscribers and there was this 5 minutes of snack in snack out consumers. But this year Jio is streaming it free for all customers whether they are on Airtel or Vodafone. That is a big advantage for Viacom sports as a broadcaster. Having said that building on a lot of reach and efficiency for most of the brands, whoever wants to build on it respectively of the market. Viacom comes with less wastage because there is an accuracy of targeting that they are bringing to the table which is not possible on television. In certain categories, there may be a spill but works for certain categories. But here there is no spill, so you are reaching out to the right audience you want to target.
The other point is the way it is getting marketed, with those tables, language commentary, whether it is Bhojpuri or Punjabi is an added advantage and it is going to attract a lot of audience. The best part is they are going to have shows in 100 cities, colleges, and housing complexes. There is a lot of promotion and the surrounding effect going around it, is making it much larger.
I am just talking about digital as an IPL property. If I have to give you a sense of CTV I look at it this way, as per TRAI there are close to about 26.8 mn broadband subscribers in the country who are using broadband, not everybody has a Smart TV but my guesstimate is it should be around 22 – 25 mn because Jio fibre is about 7 -8 mn.
Airtel is also very aggressive and the packages they are coming out with are very lucrative for a customer compared to a cable connection. As a consumer, if I add up all my costs of cable plus Disney Hotstar plus the other channels it becomes very expensive. At this point, there is a shift happening and the telcos are getting aggressive in that space.
As I said CTV is a need as an HNI I would love to watch my cricket on CTV when I am at home and when I am travelling on my smartphone. There are a lot of merits that IPL on digital is going to add this year. I think we live in this nature of advertisers who believe in reaching the frequency so they build their brand on the back of reaching one plus, and other advertisers build on high-impact properties.
There are a lot of brands that are purely built on the back of cricket and they swear by it. Cricket gives an unparalleled reach and IPL much more. Now with 2 publishers coming in we don’t know if Star would want to add it to their FTA or how Viacom is going to promote it extensively. I don’t think there is going to be a compromise on reach or impact. The question is who gets better efficiencies and that is the game brand managers are going to look at.
On interactivity on Connected TV, is JIO offering any for CTV
I don’t think there is interactivity on CTV now apart from the fact that you get to see from a different lens. The interactive engagement is going to be on mobile which hopefully most of the brands would want.
On any other salient points
I think the good part is that competition is always healthier and everyone is going to work harder to make sure that they attract a lot more dollars. It is good for most advertisers and good for most consumers because the interest level in the games is going to go up. It’s a wait-and-watch now, but to the best of my knowledge, I would love to call it that this will be value for money and cricket is value for money.
Mumbai: Several recent reports suggest that TV ratings have been dipping while digital has been steadily establishing a bigger footprint than TV in the country. As this inversely proportional trend takes shape, JioCinema, the digital destination for the IPL this year onwards, has announced its game plan to cut access, affordability, and language barrier that will fuel this shift even more.
If one is to take the potential scale digital offers as an advertising medium into account alongside JioCinema’s plans this year, then the IPL might be the most watched and engaged event on CTV and digital platforms. This year the Jio Cinema will offer the cricket extravaganza for free in a bid to reach and engage every single one of the 600 million OTT viewers in India out of the internet enabled population of 700 million+.
More and more households are shifting from linear TV to CTV and data shows this phenomenon is not limited to just urban households but spread across geographies due to low data costs and the rising scale of Smart TVs. The flexibility that comes with consuming content via CTV is also helping this cause as CTV allows the viewer to cast screens by using TV apps or devices such as Chromecast and Fire TV Stick. CTV also offers 4k streaming possibilities, which is not possible on linear TV or HDTV.
On the other side of the screen, JioCinema is set to provide high quality premium long form content which has not happened anywhere in the world digitally. To make this a reality, it is reported that the brand has made major technological investments to deliver a high quality experience on digital.
Advertising on digital will, therefore, become every marketer’s primary preference. Serving ads via CTVs and other digital mediums allows the advertiser to break language barriers, age limitations, targeting constraints and even affluence constraints while including a measurable call to action. The advertiser also pays for what they get, unlike TV where inventory wastage is common. An increased number of matches in case of a property like the IPL means digital benefits because it is sold on impressions, not on an average rating. Digital is arguably the best medium for broadcasters to deliver a world class live sports experience.
Indian Television dug deeper and spoke to a few industry experts about the rise of digital spending by brands in comparison to linear TV and how this is expected to amplify the interest for the IPL this year. Head Media Martech and Growth Vida World Manav Sethi said, “As India is not a homogeneous market of 1.3B, the same way sports video viewers are spread across various platforms and cohorts of 1M/10M/100m each. We have tried layering by keeping CTV in the media plan and we have seen an uptick in conversion numbers. This year for IPL especially, it would be interesting, because JIO is redefining what connected tv is and what it means as it brings in medium/lower pyramid viewers into the tv connected to mobile world! Interesting times ahead.”
The Media Ant Chief Business Officer Abhishek Mukherjee says, “There are two things happening in the landscape, first marketers are now becoming digital first because of Google and Facebook ecosystem, this ecosystem has trained them very well on the measurement for performance.
Now when it comes to traditional brand awareness building, which we used to call at the top of the funnel, the marketeers are expecting the same from their media spends, which linear TV is not able to deliver. On linear TV you are paying for great mass reach but not for measurability. We are also seeing this when we work with platforms like YouTube where people get far more measurability and targeting and hence the preference to move from linear TV to connected TV or the preference to move towards OTT. These are the trends now and there is an interest by brands to associate with the IPL, we have been associated with IPL earlier and have been the most preferred agency by advertisers. In this IPL we are expecting a 25 Mn to 100 Mn reach for brands.”
Madison Digital & Madison Alpha CEO Vishal Chinchankar said, “Today there are about 2.8 mn broadband wired connections as per TRAI Dec 22, and this is seeing a meteoric rise month on month. Connected TV commands 22mn households providing a reach of 80 mn. India’s smart TV shipments were up by 38 per cent YoY in Q3 2022. Keeping these data points in mind and an opportunity to target HNI audience cut, it’s quite a lucrative proposition for brands to be present on IPL CTV, personally, I am very bullish about it.”
Mumbai: Madison World’s digital arm has announced the launch of its creative unit, Madison Loop, to offer social media management, digital creative & solutions, SEO, ASO, website development, technology solutions, influencer management, and content collaborations.
Madison Loop will be led by Madison Digital vice president Kosal Malladi, who will continue to report to Madison Digital and Madison Media Alpha CEO Vishal Chinchankar.
The unit has already developed a portfolio of work for clients including McDonald’s, Vicco, Joy Cosmetics, Raymonds, Pidilite, ePay Later, Godrej Properties, Bandhan Bank, Asian Paints, Zee5, Glide Invest, and Zee Bangla, among others.
Commenting on the development, Madison Media and OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja said, “For any creative idea to be successful, it needs to be adapted to the syntax of the platform. In digital, the creative idea needs to be expressed across platforms as varied as in-stream video, break bumpers, display, social media posts, microsites, social messaging, influencers, content, etc. Under Malladi’s leadership, we are very excited to launch Madison Loop, which will not only create a platform for the relevant expression of a creative, but also link it to outcomes using data and tech.”
“We need creativity now more than ever. This digital multiverse finally allows us to have a dedicated division to cater to all our clients’ creative needs under one roof. The new expansion of Madison Digital under Malladi’s leadership will be a great step forward for the company,” commented Vishal Chinchankar.
Madison Digital is a part of Madison World, which also has specialist units in advertising, business analytics, out-of-home, PR, mobile, retail, sports, and entertainment, employing over 1,000 communication professionals across India.
Speaking about his expanded role, Malladi said, “I have been a part of Madison since 2014. I have seen digital evolve from a ‘good to have’ to an ‘absolute must have.’ Today, digital cannot be limited to a single video or banner. Media and creativity need to work hand in hand to tap into the digital consumer. Madison Loop’s focus is on solving business problems by layering creative magic with ‘data and technology’ solutions.”
“Madison Connect and Madison Automate are tools that have been built by Loop to scale influencer management and creative automation, respectively. I am really excited to scale Madison Loop,” he added.
Madison Digital has grown 10x in terms of billing in the last three years, to become a 200+ employees’ strong outfit with capabilities in branding, performance & creative solutions.
Madison Digital has built its own proprietary cloud marketing and automation tools and is one of the few agencies with its own data & tech solutions. Madison Digital was declared the Best Digital & Social Media Agency of the Year 2020 at IDMA 2020. The digital arm of Madison World was also voted Agency of the Year at the Digies Digital Awards 2019 and Mobile Media Agency of the Year at the IDMA Digital Awards 2019, in addition to winning over 150 awards since January 2020.
Mumbai: Madison World’s digital unit, Madison Digital, has announced the return of Shobhit Gaur as vice president. Gaur will report to Madison Digital & Madison Media Alpha CEO Vishal Chinchankar.
Gaur has over 14 years of experience in various facets of the digital world including ROI, business development, data science, integrated, online, mobile and performance marketing, social media, brand planning, digital strategy and analytics. He joins the agency after a brief stint with PHD. In addition to PHD, he has also worked at MEC, Interactive Avenues, Starcom – Mediavest Group and Omnicom. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the Delhi University, a master’s degree in business administration from Sydenham Institute of Management, Mumbai and an IT diploma from National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT).
Madison Digital & Madison Media Alpha CEO Vishal Chinchankar said, “We’re glad to have Shobhit back on board. Having worked with various categories, he brings a wealth of experience to Madison. I am confident that we will be able to take our work to the next level with new business and continue to delight existing clients.”
Says Gaur on rejoining Madison, “I am excited to be returning to Madison Digital and look forward to contributing to the organisation in my new role and responsibilities. Madison Digital offers me exciting challenges and opportunities as I look forward to unlocking our clients’ growth with data, technology, and talent.”
Mumbai: Madison World’s digital arm, Madison Digital, has won the social media mandate for Glide Invest, an online financial planning platform backed by Motilal Oswal Group.
The account was won after a multi-agency pitch involving several rounds of presentations.
Speaking about this association, Glide Invest founder and CEO Pratik Oswal commented, “We are impressed by Madison’s depth and expertise in the space and are excited to partner with them.”
Madison Digital vice president Kosal Malladi commented, “We are delighted to partner with Glide Invest and be a part of their digital growth journey. We are looking forward to doing some ground-breaking work together.”
Madison Digital has grown 10x in terms of billing in the last three years, to become a 200+ employees strong outfit with capabilities in Branding, Performance & Creative solutions.
Mumbai: SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) has appointed Madison Media as its media agency on record, following a multi-agency pitch. The mandate will be handled by Mumbai-based Madison Media Alpha.
The agency is tasked with scaling up media presence and generating higher reach for NMIMS across the country. It will handle traditional and digital media services including visibility in print media and radio for the institute, said the statement.
“NMIMS is well known for its consistent academic quality and research-focused approach along with developing a sense of community among students, to achieve holistic education,” said NMIMS director – marketing and PR Burzeen Bhathena. “I am confident that Madison Media will help us establish an impactful media presence and build a strong brand with its innovative approach. I look forward to working with them.”
“We are looking forward to this exciting opportunity with NMIMS, which is one of the few universities in the country to have established a global footprint. NMIMS’ continuous endeavour to develop and achieve new education and research milestones is in line with the radically changing landscape of the education sector. By leveraging our digital-first and outcome-driven approach, we are confident that NMIMS will achieve its goals and surpass industry expectations. Madison is committed to further NMIMS media presence with strategic planning at all levels,” added Madison Digital VP Chintan Soni.
MUMBAI: Madison Media has been appointed as the Media AOR for the online carpet store, Obeetee. The Agency will manage the entire media gambit for the client including TV, print, radio, OOH, digital, and cinema. The account will be handled by Madison Media Alpha based out of Mumbai.
Founded in 1920, Obeetee claims to be the largest handmade rug maker in India. The company is a leading producer and exporter of exquisite hand-knotted, hand-tufted, and flatwoven carpets.
Obeetee CEO Angelique Dhama said, “Carpets as a category is not so well established in India. At Obeetee, our aim is to become synonymous with the category itself. With our 100-year-old legacy and top-notch products, we are confident of being an integral part of Indian homes in the days to come. I am very pleased to have Madison Media backing our aspirations and walking the path to success with us.”
“Carpet/rugs category intent has gone up 120 per cent due to the pandemic as people are spending more time at home. This is the right time for Obeetee to make a consumer buying journey seamless across online and offline touchpoints. We are confident that our digital-first and outcome-driven omnichannel approach will help Obeetee surpass industry growth,” said Madison Digital & Madison Media Alpha CEO Vishal Chinchankar.
Mumbai: Madison Digital, a unit of Madison World has won the advertising-based video on demand (AVoD) mandate for home-grown video streaming platform Zee5.
The agency will handle media planning, social media, and creative development for Zee5’s B2B marketing function, said the statement.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd chief operations officer of revenue Rajiv Bakshi said AVoD is a fast-growing OTT category and through its strong adtech and martech stack, Zee5 has paved the way for marketers and advertisers to engage with viewers through creative and innovative ways. “As a consumer-first brand, built on the back of our profound consumer understanding, the aim has always been towards providing customised and effective campaigns across multiple cohorts and segments. We have partnered with majority of brands across all industries, for multi-scale advertising, branded solutions and influencer-based marketing campaigns. We look forward to a successful partnership with Madison to further communicate our success story, distinct product offerings and fuel our growth in India,” Bakshi added.
“Zee5 has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the last few years. The brand has been coming up with impressive originals suited for the Indian market. We are extremely happy to partner with Zee5 in growing the AVoD business for the platform,” said Madison Digital & Madison Media Ultra CEO Vishal Chinchankar.
