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  • Dentsu Aegis Network forms ninth global network brand MKTG

    Dentsu Aegis Network forms ninth global network brand MKTG

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has formed its ninth global network brand, MKTG, the lifestyle marketing agency it acquired in August 2014 headquartered in New York. 

     

    The agency’s transition towards operating as one global brand, MKTG will grow from 450 full time employees and 7,000 brand ambassadors in the United States, to nearly 1,000 full time employees in 14 countries, providing a truly global lifestyle marketing solution for clients. 

     

    The realigned agency will provide clients with an integrated through-the-line service offering including sports and entertainment consulting, experiential marketing, sponsorship identification, negotiation and activation, hospitality, strategy, research and insights, custom measurement, digital and creative capabilities, content development, design and retail marketing.

     

    “The tremendous growth and importance of lifestyle marketing made it clear that strategically it was time to unify our like-minded businesses as one single brand. As a network, we are constantly evolving to meet the demands of our clients, to be responsive to the needs and desires of consumers and to remain pioneering in the evolution of our industry,” said Dentsu Aegis Network CEO and Dentsu Inc. executive officer Jerry Buhlmann.

     

    In addition, out-of-home agency posterscope’s experiential arm, psLIVE’s offices across Europe and Asia Pacific, South Africa’s crimson room, Australia/New Zealand’s Apollo Nation and US-based sports and entertainment consultancy team Epic will be realigned as part of MKTG over the next 12 months.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman & CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “In India, the lifestyle marketing solutions market is growing at twice the rate of the ATL market. With Fountainhead, a leading player in India and MKTG, a leading global player, we now will have the best offering of global standards, through Fountainhead MKTG, which will make us the best lifestyle marketing solutions agency in India. This is another big step forward in helping us achieve our mission of being the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India.”

     

    “We are truly excited about this next chapter and the opportunity to work across the network to deliver unrivalled lifestyle marketing solutions for brands. The realignment will also greatly benefit our current long-standing client base and our employees who now have the ability to plug into resources and opportunities around the globe,” said MKTG global brand president and MKTG USA CEO Charlie Horsey.

  • Martin Sorrell pegs WPP’s India biz at $600 mn; thrust on organic growth

    Martin Sorrell pegs WPP’s India biz at $600 mn; thrust on organic growth

    MUMBAI: Just a few days after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York, WPP CEO Martin Sorrell, in his visit to India was bullish about the market and pegs the company’s business here at $600 million with a strong thrust on organic growth.

     

    “We are very aggressive in terms of growth here in India and this year we are expecting to grow by 10 per cent, which is double of the global growth rate (4.8 per cent). Net sales growth in India is roughly same as the revenue growth, which is 10 per cent while globally it’s three per cent. So overall, we are doing very good across the board and have no complaints,” he said.

     

    “Our business in India is just under $600 million in revenue. We are proud of our business here and we have a very large market share,” asserted Sorrell.

     

    He further added, “Though we will have acquisitions, organic growth will be key in India. If your business is $600 million and you are growing at 10 per cent per annum, you can’t find acquisitions in India in $60 million. So organic growth will continue to be the principle way that we grow in the Indian market.”

     

     

    Events to watch out for in 2016:

     

    Sorrell is of the opinion that the 2016 Rio Olympics will be a major event. “The backdrop in Rio de Janeiro will be one of the best backdrops to be in,” Sorrell says.

     

    Apart from the Olympics, the US presidential elections as well as the UEFA European Championship will also be key events to watch out for in 2016 according to Sorrell.

     

     

    Key for advertising industry:

     

    Sorrell predicts that the key for the company would be to grow at the rate of GDP growth with little or no inflation.

     

    “The thing that worries me the most is not the geo-political issues, be it Greece or US deficit, or the Middle East, but the failure of companies to invest long term,” he emphasised.

     

     

    Importance of People:

     

    Sorrell believes that people are the most important part of a company and clients choose agencies on the basis of that.

      

    He said, “Our revenues are at $19 billion around the world and at $23 billion including associates. Of the $19 billion, $12 billion is invested in people because I believe that the key differentiator between agencies is people. That’s how clients choose one agency over the other.”

     

     

    BARC and TAM JV

     

    The biggest outcome of the team up between two Indian television measurement agencies, as per Sorrell is both companies accepting each other’s business models. He was also of the opinion that TAM should have been more flexible in terms of number of meters. He said, “I think we will get to one equilibrium that gives some consistency and validation, which is really important.”

  • Eminent filmmaker Chantal Akerman, who became the voice of the inner woman, is dead

    Eminent filmmaker Chantal Akerman, who became the voice of the inner woman, is dead

    New Delhi, 7 October: Renowned filmmaker Chantal Akerman, who presented her last film No Home Movie on her own mother Natalia at Locarno last month, is dead.

     

    The Belgian-born, Paris-based director Akerman who figured among filmmakers who have delved deeply into the psyche of the woman died on 5 October at the age of sixty-five.

     

    According to Isabelle Regnier of Le Monde, Akerman committed suicide.

     

    Born in 1950, she is also remembered for one of the most original and audacious films in the history of cinema, “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” which premi?red at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1975, the month before her twenty-fifth birthday.

     

    Akerman presented monumentally composed, meticulously observed, raptly protracted images of a woman’s domestic routine; and that the pressures of women’s unquestioned, unchallenged, and unrelieved confinement in the domestic realm and in family roles.

     

    In effect, Akerman transformed the visual styles and narrative forms, the dramatic syntax and artistic codes of the modern cinema, into a woman’s cinema. Her films include “Je, Tu, Il, Elle” (I, You, He, She) made in 1976, “News from Home”, “Toute Une Nuit” (One Whole Night) in 1982

     

    She made one of the great cinematic coming-of-age dramas, “Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the Nineteen-Sixties in Brussels,” one of the great documentary self-portraits, “L?-Bas,” and, in 2011, an ecstatic, hallucinatory yet trenchantly political adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s novel “Almayer’s Folly.”

     

    Akerman also made a wildly rapturous, sinuously erotic Proust adaptation, “The Captive,” which came out in 2000 and was premi?red at Cannes.

     

    Her last film ‘No Home Moive’ is a video essay about her mother Natalia who was an Auschwitz survivor who died in 2014.

     

    Akerman also served on film festival juries and lectured widely. In 2011, she joined the staff of New York’s City College full time. 

  • Sony Pictures Television promotes Steve Mosko as chairman

    Sony Pictures Television promotes Steve Mosko as chairman

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television president Steve Mosko has promoted as the chairman of the company. 

     

    Mosko will continue to oversee all television operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide. He will report to Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton.

     

    “Under Steve’s leadership, Sony Pictures Television has become the industry’s largest independent television studio. Our media networks business has expanded to over 150 channel feeds around the world and the company is well-positioned for growth in both production and distribution. Steve is a remarkable executive and we are proud to have him at the helm of Sony Pictures Television,” said Lynton. 

     

    Mosko added, “I am honored to be named chairman, and grateful to Michael, my colleagues at Sony Pictures, and to the incredible team at Sony Pictures Television, whose hard work and dedication has built the successful global business we have today.”

     

    A Sony Pictures Entertainment executive for more than two decades, Mosko oversees global television production, distribution of feature film and television content, and the studio’s international networks available in 180 countries, reaching more than 1.3 billion cumulative households worldwide, including Crackle, SPE’s video streaming service, and GSN, cable’s game show network.

     

    Mosko joined Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1992, and was named president of Sony Pictures Television in 2000. In this role, Mosko built on the studio’s syndication business, overseeing first-run and off-network program sales in more than 200 markets and supervising efforts of regional offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas.

  • J. Walter Thompson launches new global talent program

    J. Walter Thompson launches new global talent program

    MUMBAI: As innovative ideas increasingly come from outside traditional agency confines, J. Walter Thompson has launched a new global talent development program called Jump/Start.

    The program is aimed at helping young creative thinkers from all backgrounds break into the advertising industry.

    The program aims to collapse boundaries by attracting and retaining students and recent graduates who have diverse and multidisciplinary backgrounds. Jump/Start is inclusive of disciplines spanning theater, film, creative writing, technology, product design, innovation and more.

    “Across the board, one of the biggest trends we’re seeing in our industry is the convergence of traditional categories. With Jump/Start, we’ve designed a program that supports creative talent from beyond these traditional confines. Growing a diverse talent pool is essential to our ability to deliver better and more innovative ideas to our clients,” said J. Walter Thompson worldwide chief creative officer Matt Eastwood.

    Jump/Start is designed to bridge the gap between classroom education and hands-on application. Participants will have the opportunity to work in an active agency setting, while collaborating with teams of experienced and award-winning professionals. They will also have the chance to work on live briefs and enhance their portfolios with real client work. Participating students will receive a monthly stipend for the duration of the three-month internship.

    The program will kick off in Beirut, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, New York, S?o Paulo and Sydney. Students, recent graduates and young professionals will be eligible to apply.

    “I owe great thanks to the many people and agencies that helped me throughout my career, and especially as a young university graduate. That’s the sort of support we want to replicate for the next generation of great creative minds,” said Eastwood.

    The program will be led by J. Walter Thompson worldwide head of creative talent Britt Hayes and by the respective chief creative officers in the participating offices.

    Applications will be accepted for three-month rotations, and regional Jump/Start programs began accepting their first groups of participants in Fall 2015.

  • Rupert & James Murdoch to host PM Narendra Modi in New York

    Rupert & James Murdoch to host PM Narendra Modi in New York

    MUMBAI: Media baron 21st Century Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch along with his son and CEO of the company James Murdoch, will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York.

     

    The Murdochs – Modi rendezvous will also be attended by senior executives from Fox including News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, Star India CEO Uday Shankar and a selective group of peers from media and entertainment companies.

     

    Known for his powerful international image and charismatic personality, Modi is expected to lay solid ground for further propagation of brand India through this high profile gathering of world media heads.

     

    It may be recalled that earlier in March, the media world was taken in a frenzy when 21st Century Fox CEO (then COO) James Murdoch along with Shankar met Modi in Delhi.

     

    The Murdochs hosting Modi doesn’t come as a surprise given the important role Star India is playing in Fox’s revenues and reach internationally. As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, global brokerage company Morgan Stanley valued Star India at $11.2 billion earlier this year. Following the report, Fox chief financial officer John Nallen was also heard pitching high hopes on Star India for the global network’s growth. “The top opportunity continues to be international, led by Star. Star clearly is going to lead a lot of our international growth,” he had said.

     

    Nallen had further added that the parent company expects Star India’s growth to contribute $500 million by 2018.

     

    This indicates how the Murdochs have advocated higher foreign direct investment (FDI) ceilings in India’s media industry and are keen to expand their presence in the country. A case in point is Star India’s acquisition of Maa TV’s broadcast assets earlier this year.

     

    During his US trip, Modi will also visit Silicon Valley giant Facebook followed by a meeting with Google’s Indian born CEO Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

     

    “I’m excited to announce that Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India will be visiting Facebook HQ later this month for a Townhall Q&A,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had earlier sent an open invitation to the Indian Prime Minister to visit Facebook’s headquarters. “Prime Minister Modi and I will discuss how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges…. The event will be on Sunday, September 27 at 9:30 a.m. pacific time,” he later added to the post.

       

    Modi too took to Facebook to share his excitement of visiting the tech giant’s HQ, and to chalk out the agenda for the meeting. “I thank Mr. Mark Zuckerberg for the invite to visit the Facebook HQ. The interaction will cover a wide range of issues and will surely be a memorable one.”

     

    On Sunday, Modi added, “I will also see some recent technological innovations at the Google (Alphabet) campus and Tesla Motors.”

     

    His final post – “It would be after a gap of almost 33 years that an Indian PM would be visiting the west coast — the home of start-ups, innovation and technology,” – rightly reflects the overall expectations India media has from his visit to the US.

  • JWT appoints Gaurav Lalwani as APAC business director for J&J

    JWT appoints Gaurav Lalwani as APAC business director for J&J

    MUMBAI: J. Walter Thompson has appointed Gaurav Lalwani to the role of Asia Pacific business director on the agency’s Johnson & Johnson portfolio, which includes Listerine and other J&J over-the-counter brands.

     

    Lalwani’s appointment reflects the agency’s expanded remit on J&J’s Listerine business across the Asia Pacific region.

     

    Based in Singapore, Lalwani will head up a new team servicing Listerine across APAC, and will also work with J. Walter Thompson’s global Listerine team in New York.

     

    Lalwani, who has over 15 years of integrated brand experience across FMCG, prestige skin care, automotive, and the financial services sectors, joins J. Walter Thompson from Leo Burnett Singapore, where he was senior regional director for integrated content on the agency’s SK-II and P&G fabric care brands across Asia.

     

    He was responsible for launching SK-II’s #ChangeDestiny platform across Asia, and led the collaboration with Huffington Post and Fitch to take #ChangeDestiny across digital and in-store platforms. Lalwani also led the creation of the first ever voice-based mobile platform for Tide in India, this drove the brand’s purchase intent, and consumption.

     

    “Lalwani is joining the agency after a period of significant growth and his appointment is a reflection of our drive to further strengthen the senior team at JWT. I am thrilled he is joining us as brings a proven track record of leading global businesses and his integrated approach will be of great value to his client portfolio,” said J. Walter Thompson Singapore CEO Peter Womersley.

     

    “JWT Singapore has managed to create perfect balance between hunger and wisdom. I am thrilled to be joining the agency at this exciting time,” added Lalwani.

  • Indian films win top awards at South Asian film fest in New York

    Indian films win top awards at South Asian film fest in New York

    NEW DELHI: Kanu Behl’s Titli won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York.

     

    Avinash Arun’s Killa was adjudged the second best film.

     

    The Best Director award was presented to first-time writer-director Afia Nathaniel for her film Dukhtar. The tense drama which is Pakistan’s official entry to the 2014 Academy Awards was also presented with the festival’s Audience Award.

     

    The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India in Goa.

     

    The jury awarded their Short Grand Jury Prize to Gitanjali Rao’s True Love Story, a stunning animated short about a 17-year-old orphan who uses his love of Bollywood cinema to help him woo the girl of his dreams.

     

    The Audience Award for Short Film was awarded to Veil by director Sreemoyee Bhattacharya.

     

     

  • Publicis wins accolades at The Rx Club 2014 Awards

    Publicis wins accolades at The Rx Club 2014 Awards

    MUMBAI: Publicis won big at the recently held  in New York. Publics won Gold for its entry titled- ‘Diabetes anybody’s destiny’ and also won Silver for ‘Allergy leads to Asthma’. In addition to these awards, the team at Publicis won 6 more Awards of Excellence.

    The Rx Club Awards is one of the most prestigious international awards that recognizes creativity in healthcare advertising.

    Commenting on the awards, Mithun Roy, Executive Vice President & Branch Head, Publicis said, “The awards are a proof of the fact that the team here not just gives a fresh perspective to the therapy area but also brings a whole new way of looking at healthcare communications.”

    Sanjeev Chopra, Vice President, Publicis stated, “For effective healthcare communications, there are two critical factors – first, an in-depth knowledge of the disease and its treatment and second, understanding of HCPs as consumers. The Publicis team has the dual advantage as it comprises of people with sound healthcare background coupled with communication experience.”

    On the occasion, Tina Raj Kher, Associate Creative Director, Publicis, also added “We at Publicis have always discovered and enjoyed creative freedom within the confines of medical guidelines. We shall strive to continue celebrating this successful marriage of science and art.”

    The Rx Club, New York, is judged by a reputed panel of renowned industry experts and is based solely on creativity. Like every year, this year’s judges’ panel also included leading creative resources from the global healthcare advertising industry including Ross Thomson, Gene Black, Grant King, Robin Shapiro and several others.

     

  • Amazon to get its first physical store soon

    Amazon to get its first physical store soon

    MUMBAI: Amazon.com, the online giant may soon open its first physical store, at a prime site in Midtown Manhattan, according to The Wall Street Journal.

     

    It would be the first brick-and-mortar outlet in its 20-year history and attempt by Amazon to connect with customers in the physical world.

     

    Expected to open in time for the holiday shopping season, the store may also display Amazon’s proprietary products, such as its Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, Fire smartphones and video-streaming boxes. If the store takes off, Amazon may also expand to other cities, the Journal reported.

     

    The leading e-commerce platform plans to open its first full-fledged store across from the Empire State Building, at 7 West 34th Street, the report added. The site will double as a mini-warehouse to support same-day delivery, returns and order pickups within New York.

     

    A store would mark a significant move for an online retailer that has capitalised on its Internet business model and the cost-savings of doing away with a vast physical network.

     

    In recent years however, the company’s CEO Jeff Bezos has led a number of initiatives that have mandated a physical presence in cities. The company has also on occasion set up pop-up stores in malls, though those have been rare.

     

    Amazon also has set up large metal lockers in convenience stores and parking garages around the country to accommodate deliveries and returns. The lockers don’t offer same-day delivery, however. The lockers have been a popular option, and Amazon has expanded them to a number of cities, including overseas, after initially just offering them in Seattle.