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Tag: Maxus

  • WPP Q1 2013 revenues grow 6%; looks to maintain tempo

    WPP Q1 2013 revenues grow 6%; looks to maintain tempo

    MUMBAI: Sir Martin Sorrell‘s charge is doing very well, thank you. Take a dekko at the Q1 2013 financials that the global advertising and marketing leader WPP has posted. Revenue growth is at 5.85 per cent, which seems not much, but it is far better than some of its peers‘ performances (Omnicom at 2.8 per cent and IPG at 2.4 per cent). Revenues were at ?2.53 billion as against Q1 2012‘s ?2.39 billion.

    On a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency fluctuations, revenues were up 2.1 per cent with gross margin up 1.9 per cent compared with the same period last year.

    North America led the media communications conglomerate‘s growth by contributing 35 per cent of the total revenue pie followed by the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe region at 29.1 per cent. Western Continental Europe accounted for 23.4 per cent of WPP‘s Q1 2013 revenues while United Kingdom pitched in the rest 12.5 per cent. The UK and the Asia Pacific Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe region were the only two regions which showed a growth in share of the revenue pie.

    Business sector wise, advertising and media investment management continued to be the strongest sector accounting for 40.8 per cent of the total revenues, followed by branding and identity, healthcare and specialist communications with 27.3 per cent, while consumer insight and public relations and public affairs made up 23.2 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively.

    In line with the group‘s strategic focus on new markets, new media and consumer insight, WPP completed 13 transactions in the first quarter. Nine acquisitions and investments were classified in new markets (of which eight were in new media), two in consumer insight, including data analytics and the application of technology and two driven by individual client or agency needs.

    Specifically, in the first quarter of 2013, acquisitions and increased equity stakes have been completed in advertising and media investment management in Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Thailand; in consumer insight in the United States and Myanmar; in public relations and public affairs in China; in direct, digital and interactive in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Australia, says the media group‘s release.

    WPP gained a total of ?940 million in net new business wins (including all losses) in the first quarter, compared to ?1.159 billion in the same period last year and in line with the quarterly average in 2012 of approximately ?940 million. Of this, JWT, Ogilvy & Mather, Y&R, Grey and United generated net new business billings of ?281 million.

    Also, out of the group total, GroupM, its media investment management company,which includes Mindshare, MEC, MediaCom, Maxus, GroupM Search and Xaxis, together with tenthavenue, generated net new business billings of ?465 million ($743 million).

    In its financial guidance for the rest of 2013, WPP says “our prime focus will remain on growing revenues and gross margin faster than the industry average, driven by our leading position in the new markets, in new media, in consumer insight, including data analytics and the application of technology, creativity and horizontality. At the same time, we will concentrate on meeting our operating margin objectives by managing absolute levels of costs and increasing our flexibility, in order to adapt our cost structure to significant market changes and ensuring that the benefits of the restructuring investments taken in 2012 are realised.” It has targeted like-for-like revenue and gross margin growth of 3 per cent and also improving its operating margins by half a point.

  • Sony consolidates its media biz, IPG’s Initiative gains Rs 1.5 bn

    MUMBAI: Sony India has consolidated the media duties of all its businesses under IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative, giving the agency new businesses worth Rs 1.5 billion.

    Initiative has snatched Sony‘s mobile business media account away from OMD to take complete charge of the Japanese multinational‘s Rs 3 billion media spend in India. The IPG agency was already media
    servicing the other parts of Sony‘s businesses.

    IPG‘s new responsibilities would include handling both media and digital duties of the brand, one of the biggest advertising spenders in the category.

    “Sony Mobile spends around Rs 1.5 billion on media. So this is a good catch for Initiative,” says a source close to the development.

    The agency won the account following a closely fought pitch processover two months that saw all the big agencies in the fray, including Madison, Maxus, ZenithOptimedia, Carat and OMD.

    The contest went to the last and final round with Initiative edging out Madison to win the AoR.

    “It is a great new beginning for IPG Mediabrands India and we would like to thank Sony India for reposing their faith in the team,” says Shashi Sinha, the new CEO of IPG Mediabrands India.

    For Lodestar UM chief operating officer Anamika Mehta, the “massive win” is a “proud and happy moment” for her team. “This will be a game changer as we leverage IPG Mediabrands scale and market clout. We look forward to some path-breaking work with Sony in times ahead,” she says.

  • Maxus walks away with Tata Tea account

    MUMBAI: GroupM’s media buying and planning agency, Maxus, has won the media mandate for Tata Tea.

    The annual media spend by the brand is pegged at Rs 500 million.

    Maxus will be in charge of the media buying and planning duties. Madison Media was earlier servicing the account.

    The account was won following a multi-agency pitch. Eight agencies participated in the first round. The contest was then narrowed down to four agencies, including Lodestar, Starcom MediaVest Group and Madison Media, apart from Maxus.

    Maxus‘ Bengaluru office will be servicing the account.

    Maxus business head Sancheeta Ganguly said, “We at Maxus are excited to work with Tata Tea. Both the parties have a similar ideology of keeping the consumer at the heart of the communication and we at Maxus are really enthusiastic about relationship media approach.”

    The agency will start work on the account shortly.

  • Casbaa organises TV Upfront in Manila

    MUMBAI: Casbaa‘s TV Upfronts road show 2012 landed in Manila this month with a programme of ad sales presentations for agencies, clients and media. The Philippines Screenings followed similar engagements in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

    A showcase for pay-TV networks to screen their upcoming programming. The Philippines Screenings included presentations from BBC Worldwide, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, History, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting.

    The enthusiastic audience included agencies MediaCom, Mindshare, OMD, PHD, Starcom, Maxus, MEC and ZenithOptimedia, along with audience data providers AGB Nielsen and Kantar Media. The range of clients ran from senior buyers from Samsonite to P&G Philippines.

    SkyCable chairman Eugenio Lopez III said, “The upscale consumer is one of the most difficult to reach and engage. Cable TV allows for the regularity of reaching this young, affluent, urban audience. Brands that are premium in nature, or that seek to create aspirational imagery, need to reach out to this segment of the market. Companies that do business with upscale consumers should recognise the power of the platform.”

    Casbaa CEO Christopher Slaughter said, “The Philippines has incredible growth potential. The multichannel TV market is expected to benefit from economic development in the coming years, attracting more advertisers looking to target an economically advancing population.”

    With approximately 7.6 million television homes in the country‘s urban areas, Metro Manila accounts for nearly half of TV households, where TV penetration exceeds 95 per cent.

    “The growth potential of the pay-TV market is extremely favourable especially as multichannel TV digitizes and offers services beyond simply a greater choice of content but also high-definition programming and interactive services,” said Slaughter.

  • Push Integrated to handle Wrangler’s creative biz

    MUMBAI: Bangalore-based Push Integrated Communications has won the creative mandate and strategic communication of Wrangler India. Maxus is Wrangler‘s media agency.

    Push Integrated Communications MD and CEO VA Shrikumar said, “Wrangler to us is much more than a business win. The iconic Wrangler patch in our credentials slides is truly a badge we love flaunting and above all, the opportunity to showcase our creative and strategic strengths. Great creative always comes from strong client-agency associations. And the depth of engagement between our teams is inspirational.”

    Wrangler India senior marketing manager Anshul Chaturvedi said, “Wrangler India is happy to partner with Push as our creative agency. The team at Push is passionate and bring on board good category knowledge along with domain expertise. We hope to work closely with our new partner to create some engaging work for Wrangler in the Indian market.”

  • Maxus walks away with agency of the year award, 40 metals at Big Bang Awards 2012

    BANGALORE: Maxus had a double whammy at the Advertising Club Bangalore‘s Big Bang Awards last weekend – it won the Media Agency of the year and the Media Campaign of the year.

    The agency in all bagged 40 metals, 13 each of Gold and Silver and 14 Bronze for work done for its clients, Vodafone, Perfetti van mille, Nokia India, Titan HTSE, Tanishq, etc., while DDB Mudra had a haul of 25 metals.

    Titan Industries was adjudged the Client of the Year, besides which it also won the Ayaz Peerbhoy memorial trophy for the Multi-Media campaign of the year for its Titan TS campaign.

    Stark Communications Trivandrum / Bangalore bagged the Agency of the year award for the second year in a row for its campaigns for Malayala Manorama, Kerala Tourism, Karnataka Tourism and other clients.

    Jasison Antony of Stark Communications, Trivandrum won the Art Director of the Year award while Shelton Pinheiro of Stark Communications won the Copy writer of the Year, to add to Stark‘s haul of metals

    DDB Mudra had a haul of 25 metals.

  • Franklin Templeton continues with M&C Saatchi as creative partner

    MUMBAI: Financial services company Franklin Templeton (India) has decided to continue with M&C Saatchi as its creative partner. The agency has been working with the brand since 2008.

    A senior official from the agency confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com and added, “There was never really any talk of a review. The brand has simply extended the contract they have with us.”

    Though there were rumours that Franklin Templeton has called for a review on the creative mandate, the agency source negated the hearsay.

    The brand now plans to focus on more tactical, activation and digital led brand communication.

    Before M&C Saatchi, Rediffusion-Y&R handled the brand‘s advertising for two-and-a-half years.

    The brand‘s media planning/buying mandate rests with GroupM‘s Maxus.

  • Maxus wins World Gold Council’s consolidated media biz

    MUMBAI: Maxus India has won the media mandate of World Gold Council (WGC), the market development organisation of the gold industry.

    WGC, the voice authority for gold, has now handed over the consolidated business to Maxus India following a multi-agency pitch which saw participation of the incumbent agencies, Maxus and Lintas.

    Earlier, the business was divided between two agencies. Mudra was the AoR for traditional media while OMD was handling the digital duties.

    The account size is pegged at around Rs 300-400 million.

    Maxus India has recently won the media mandate of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, which it will be handling along with Lodestar UM.

  • Sakhuja right leader to continue Maxus’ global growth story: Dominic Proctor

    MUMBAI: Vikram Sakhuja becomes the first Indian to head an international media agency, being named as the global CEO of Maxus in GroupM‘s latest changing of the guard.

    Sakhuja takes charge of Maxus at a time when the GroupM media agency is riding a strong growth phase amid an economic slowdown. According to RECMA, Maxus is the fastest growing agency and has seen a 43.6 per cent jump in its global billings to $6.875 billion in 2011.

    In an exclusive telephonic chat with Indiantelevision.com, GroupM global president Dominic Proctor said Sakhuja is the “right leader” to “take up Maxus‘ challenge of continuing its growth globally.”

    The confidence in Sakhuja shows how GroupM is looking at moving its talent pool from across the world at a time when technology enables companies to be run from anywhere.

    “We had a discussion with Sakhuja and he wanted to be based out of Mumbai. Logistics is not an important issue in today‘s age,” Proctor said.

    Sakhuja‘s rise is all the more indicative of his individual acumen as he has been given the new position not because India has become strategically important for Maxus but due to his leadership skills. The agency, in fact, has been growing much faster in some of the other matured markets than India.

    “There is nothing India-centric in his appointment. If anything, it is only a symbolic coincidence that he will be based out of Mumbai. Maxus is growing very fast across and India is an anomaly. India, though, is doing well and has the potential to become one of Maxus‘ jewels,” Proctor said.

    In India, Maxus is growing at 25 per cent and posted billings of $570 million in 2011, according to RECMA. The agency, on the other hand, more than doubled its billings in the US where it ended with $2 billion from $900 million in 2010. In Asia-Pacific, Maxus‘s billings stood at $1.94 billion, up 22.4 per cent.

    Much of Sakhuja‘s time and attention will move towards the matured media markets where Maxus gets most of its growth and businesses despite global economic stresses. Agencies are needing to adapt to technology and digital demands in the marketplace. The US, in particular, is going through massive changes. Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple are the digital media giants and have spread their tentacles far and wide across the globe.

    Sakhuja‘s global entry is at this opportune moment. Maxus has pocketed a string of new accounts over the last one year including the prized NBC Universal and SC Johnson.

    Sakhuja is not new to media companies. Before joining GroupM in 2002 and rising to the position of CEO for South Asia, he has spent a year in Rupert Murdoch‘s Star India from 2000. He set up the marketing department at Star for its TV entertainment channels, including the launch of Star Vijay and Radio City.

    Proctor believes Maxus has “headroom for growth”. Sakhuja‘s agenda will be “to drive growth in not just billings but also new products and services”.

    According to RECMA, Maxus has been one of the fastest growing agencies over the last few years. “Maxus‘ growth has come mainly from the organic route. We also strike all sorts of partnerships to grow,” explained Proctor.

    Maxus and Motivator South Asia managing director Ajit Varghese is already feeling special. “We will have the added advantage of sitting closer to the global CEO. Clients also will feel excited that they will get the global CEO‘s time and dedicated attention ,” he said.

    Verghese, however, feels Maxus‘ growth in India will not directly see any dramatic spurt because of having an Indian global CEO sitting in India. “We are growing pretty strongly and this year have already won four major accounts – Discovery India, Mannapuran Gold Loan, Wipro and Matrubhumi. Our strategy is not just to add size but to work with good brands.”

    The agency’s existing big clients include Vodafone, Hero Future Group, Tata Motors, Nokia and Google.

    Will having the global CEO based out of Mumbai mean less procedural delays for India business? “Maxus is extremely agile as an organisation. Even under Kelly Clark (whom Sakhuja is replacing), we used to get very quick responses. I used to get responses to my emails in two minutes,” said Verghese.
    Also Read:

    Vikram Sakhuja is Maxus global CEO

  • Maxus and Lodestar UM to jointly handle Wipro’s media biz

    MUMBAI: Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has awarded its media duties to Maxus India and Lodestar UM following a multi-agency pitch that took place about a month ago.

    The account size is estimated to be around Rs 1.5 billion collectively.

    Wipro has about 20 brands and they will be handled by Maxus including Santoor deo. Santoor‘s other products will be handled by Lodestar UM.

    Prior to this, the account was jointly handled by ZenithOptimedia, DDB Mudra Max and Lodestar UM.

    Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCLG), a business unit of Wipro Limited, has a range of consumable commodities. The first product to be introduced by WCCLG was vegetable oil, later popularized under the brand name ‘Sunflower Vanaspati‘. It offers personal care products, such as Wipro Baby Soft and Wipro Safewash, toilet soaps like Santoor and Chandrika and international brands like Yardley. Its portfolio of lighting solutions includes products like Smartlite CFL, LED and emergency lights.