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Tag: Partha Sinha

  • Partha Sinha takes charge as The Advertising Club president

    Partha Sinha takes charge as The Advertising Club president

    Mumbai: Advertising, marketing, and media industry’s apex body – The Advertising Club on Friday announced the managing committee for the current fiscal (FY 2021-2022) at its 67th annual general meeting (AGM). Partha Sinha, president – Response Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, has been elected to lead the body.    

    The office-bearers of The Advertising Club for 2021-22 are Rana Barua (vice president), Shashi Sinha (secretary), Mitrajit Bhattacharya (joint secretary), Dr Bhaskar Das (treasurer). All the members were elected unopposed.  

    Partho Dasgupta will continue as a member of the managing committee as the immediate past president for the ensuing year, said the organisation in a statement.

    The list of managing committee members includes the industry leaders like Punitha Arumugam, Vikram Sakhuja, Ajay Kakar, Debabrata Mukherjee, Rahul Johri, Aditya Swamy, and Pradeep Dwivedi. “The members will play a decisive role in driving synergies and ensuring the success of all The Advertising Club initiatives,” said a statement.

    In addition, the list co-opted industry professionals such as Raj Nayak, Sonia Huria, and Sidharth Rao.

    The leaders who will continue to bring value to The Advertising Club through their expertise and deep understanding of the respective industry segments are Avinash Pant, Kartik Sharma, Ajay Chandwani, Sapangeet Rajwant, Namrata Tata, Rathi Gangappa, Sabbas Joseph, Sanjay Adesara, Vikas Khanchandani, Malcolm Raphael.

    “It’s an honour to be able to serve as the president of The Advertising Club. We have a very powerful management team this year and we want to do some meaningful engagement with the advertising, media, and marketing community,” said Sinha on his appointment. “The last 16 months have been really difficult for the fraternity and we would like to ensure that we work closely with everyone to get some of the mojo back. Our primary focus will remain excellence. We will celebrate excellence, train people to create excellence, and create forums where people can exchange thoughts and ideas around excellence,” he added

  • TOI innovates, brings out double newspaper during the weekend

    TOI innovates, brings out double newspaper during the weekend

    NEW DELHI: On 19 September, the newspaper readers were in for a surprise as there was not one but two Times of India newspapers at the doorsteps of the readers.

    Initially, the consumers were confused, but later they realised that the publisher did it intentionally to seek their attention and create a richer reading experience.

    “In our constant endeavour to give you more we’re doubling your delight quotient today. We bring you not one but two front pages” read the announcement.

    Commenting on the two newspapers on a single day, TOI president response Partha Sinha said, “The Times Group had been a pioneer when it comes to innovation. This is in line with the tradition. Our research showed that people are spending more time on the newspaper during this period and they need more reading material. We also figured out that there’s a queue of sorts in the morning and people want to share the paper especially on holidays etc. This created a great reading as well as sharing experience.

    Read more news on The Times of India

    A close up of a newspaper Description automatically generated 

    Times Group believes that this festival, people may not have enough opportunities to go out of their homes. So the home needs to made more interesting and there needs to bigger engagements from newspapers. “This is one of the many interesting ideas we have in store this festive season. This is the beginning of things to come. We have a lot planned for our readers and advertising partners – from exciting promotions, incentives to initiatives that can make a change in society. There’s lot more action coming your way” added Sinha.

    The initiative met with some resounding feedback ranging from positive sentiment to some tongue-in-cheek comments. A resident of Bengaluru, Shabari, says that for once she and her husband could read the newspaper at the same time without fighting about who gets which paper first. “With two papers and two sections of everything, it was such a peaceful morning. My Saturday began really well. Maybe I should consider ordering two newspapers every day.” she concluded. 

    In a survey across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru the initiative has been appreciated up by over 75 per cent of the readers. 

  • Partha Sinha & the art of monetisation at The ToI

    Partha Sinha & the art of monetisation at The ToI

    NEW DELHI: As the government imposed strict lockdown restrictions for close to three months, the print industry was one of the worst-hit. If various reports are to be believed, they lost around 60-80 per cent of their revenues. A lot of them shut down editions, most of them let go of their employees, shaved salaries, and almost all of them dealt with a painful period where their resources just bled.

    However, as the world starts getting back to normal and a new world order sets in, the print industry is looking forward to a better tomorrow, lined up with new opportunities and relevancy, Bennet Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL)  president–responses Partha Sinha shared in a virtual fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. On Monday evening, the duo sat across screens to discuss the impact of Covid2019 on print and the way ahead for the industry. 

    Sinha noted that the print industry has already reached a 70 per cent recovery in terms of the number of copies being delivered. “I think in some markets it has gone up to 90 per cent because, in the south or states like Kolkata, there was never a massive problem of circulation. Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and a few more in the north were hit badly and I guess it has revived now, not just for us but for all the players.”

    He indicated that it is a good sign for the industry and debugs the myth that print will shut down. “For three to four months, our main concern was consumer demand that was severely impacted. But coming out of it so quickly is absolutely brilliant.”

    So, was it a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the industry to shut down some of the editions and let go of a number of employees, or as some of the unions say, an excuse, Wanvari questioned. 

    “I don’t think it was a knee-jerk reaction or an excuse. Even it was not for Covid2019 and something else would have happened, you would have got a consultant like McKinsey or BCG and asked them to optimise, right? This optimisation tells you if there is any cost reduction required and how can you improve profitability. Honestly speaking, as much as it's being talked about but it's quite a routine activity. Every organisation has optimised; when you find a new revenue opportunity, you hire people and if you find a revenue opportunity drying up, you optimise. I think this is a regular organization life cycle,” Sinha cleared the air. 

    So, what does the future of print seems like to him as digital and other mediums take centre stage? 

    Sinha insisted that there can’t be any substitute for the content that print generates and therefore the medium will stay here, but it might take just a slightly different role going ahead.  

    “I want to debug the myth that digital can replace or surpass print, or TV is a challenge to print. What is happening with both these mediums is that they are creating fragmented opinions, which lack credibility for the source and even for the brands. The news on television is so polarised, that it is sickening now. And obviously, if fake news becomes the business model, the credibility is hampered. Therefore, no amount of user-generated content or no amount of hair pulling on the camera will be able to substitute the credibility that print offers. Journalism will always remain about how deep you go, how sincere you are  and whether you are you're taking all the points of views,” Sinha elaborated. 

    He added that the role of print, going ahead, will move on from being a medium of discovery of product to being involved in its purchase by the customer too because of the credibility associated with the medium. He cited the instance of a real estate developer Casa Gold out of Chennai. It sold 120 apartments during the peak of Covid over four days. The Times of India Chennai response team managed everything from the webinar, to virtual expo, to get the potential buyers to take part in the virtual display of the advertisements to front page jackets of the physical newspapers.

    Sinha revealed that print media plays a big role in cultural marketing. "Cultural marketing works by creating truth and opinion and rallying people around the truth and opinion or finding emergent truth and opinion in society and making it bigger,” he explained. “Many branded efforts have almost become culture: Lead India, Teach India, Lead India led to Anna Hazare and the birth of AAP. Print can create a better narrative than any other medium. Another example is organ donation which has been driven by the Times of India.. The Times of India is the only way to create a culture with the affluent.

    “With so much fragmentation, there is a lack of credibility in the domain now. Due to fake news being so prevalent, print has started playing a significant role in building credibility and a path to purchase. The advantage of the printed word is it doesn't come with a picture. Therefore, you are forced to use your brain, you're forced to use your opinion. And that's how culture gets created. The beauty of culture creation is that eventually  brands will pay a premium to be closer to culture. Everything else is just a matter of discount because that's why the most popular method of advertising on the internet is programmatic led,” he shared. 

    He highlighted that cultural authority is the biggest asset a brand can ever own, because with that comes credibility. “These are the things that print media have to start thinking about, some like the New York Times has already done so,” he pointed out.

    Further, to help the brands gain the maximum out of the exposure and credibility that print offers Bennet and Coleman has come up with a pricing engine, which is based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. It can make an umpteen number of parameters and churn out a very specific notation for the time, helping the brands understand the right channels and the right strategy to advertise. “We are backing culture creation with data and analytics and have huge amount of data analysis,” he revealed.

    Sinha highlighted that all the assets of the Times of India group are brought into play while offering solutions to clients, whether its digital or TV or print or the social handles of these. “Thanks to the fact that we have all these assets, we can bring in 20 of our group assets or 30 of them,” he disclosed. “Let me also tell you we are open to look at assets outside the group to provide solutions to clients.”

    Times have indeed changed things at The Times. As many clients and marketers say, the change has happened for the better. 

  • Virtual Fireside Series: A week of exploring the new world order in the marketing space

    Virtual Fireside Series: A week of exploring the new world order in the marketing space

    NEW DELHI: The world of advertising and marketing is going through a massive transformation as the new normal of the pandemic-era syncs in. A business that was based on millions of face-to-face meetings and gazillions of group discussions has gone digital almost completely. Now client relationships are being built across screens and internal meetings are getting virtual. A sea change in consumer behaviour is also expected as they learn to live on bare essentials. 

    All this has been leading to a change in client behaviour too. There is a more than ever increased focus on digital mediums, traditional mediums are expected to transform, and the changing consumer sentiments are leading to great creative transformations too. The publishers are also reworking on their strategies. 

    To understand this new order of the marketing and advertising world, Indiantelevision.com will be hosting a series of fireside chats with the stalwarts of the industry, who will be answering some interesting questions by our founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. The audience will also get a chance to directly interact with the speakers as the discussions will be live on our social media channels and website. 

    Starting today, the first live discussion will have Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd president-response Partha Sinha giving an overview of the print and digital publishing industry. It will go live at 6:30 pm and you can register for the same here.

    The next discussion scheduled for tomorrow 4:00 pm is with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd chief growth officer advertisement revenue Ashish Sehgal. Register here. 

    On 2 September, we will be going live with Dentsu Aegis Network CEO APAC and chairman India Ashish Bhasin who will highlight the global perspective along with Indian market sentiments. You can register for the 11:00 am live here.

    The last episode, going live at 5;00 pm on 3 September will feature IPG Mediabrands CEO-India Shashi Sinha giving an extensive insight into the Indian market and changing scenarios. 

    Keep watching this space for more information. 

  • Industry bids farewell to ad maverick Goutam Rakshit

    Industry bids farewell to ad maverick Goutam Rakshit

    MUMBAI: Who can forget the devil slithering around in his green cape and his malicious smirk in TVCs and ads to hawk Onida – a TV brand – in the eighties and nineties? And of course, the memorable catchline: “Neighbour’s envy Owner’s pride.” It was a tack not many had taken before: use a negative creature and emotions to create a positive desire in consumers to go out and purchase a television set.

    The images will stay etched forever in the minds of the generation that grew up watching the Onida TVC and they cannot forget the two-horned loveable evil creature (played by David Whitbread) and the unique conceptualisation that went into making the commercial. The brand value the iconic ad created was something that those yesteryear commercials for TV could not emulate or replicate. Remembering that powerful TVC can be the right requiem one can pay to Advertising Avenues’ founder Goutam Rakshit who passed away on Tuesday morning. Rakshit fully backed his art director Gopi Kukde and the idea to use the devil to create a differentiated campaign for a little-known brand which then had just five per cent of the TV market. Within a decade or so Onida had surpassed many older brands and had captured a19-20 per cent share.

    Like many others of his era, Rakshit, graduated from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, went on to join Cadbury as a management trainee in 1971.

    He went on to set up Advertising Avenues in the year 1982, which he steered for almost four decades. The forte of his agency was its clear focus on small and medium enterprises, which did not have the luxury of availing the services of a big ad outfit. Thanks to his agency, many SMSes and brands flourished.

    Indiantelevision.com reached out to some senior members of the advertising and marketing fraternity to pay homage to the bespectacled ad professional who preferred to keep a low profile.

    Madison Communications founder-chairman-MD Sam Balsara says, “What can I say; I have lost my longest-lasting professional friend since my Cadbury days in 1975. That makes it 45 years ago. We must all thank Jaideep for giving us an opportunity to meet Gautam earlier this month at his son’s wedding where he was his cheerful best and chided me for having two parties at my house when on both occasions he was out of town with his extended family which he could not miss.  I had promised that the next party I host at my house; I will first consult his holiday calendar before fixing the date! I have followed Gautam professionally and medically. He joined Cadbury. I joined Cadbury. He left Cadbury to join the advertising agency Clarion. I left Cadbury to join Contract. He left Clarion to start his agency, Advertising Avenues. I left Mudra to start Madison. Wait there’s more. He had a bypass surgery. I followed in a few years with a bypass surgery. I will save more for the prayer meeting that we will hold once the lockdown is lifted. Vidita please take courage we are all there for you. May his soul rest in peace. Amen.”

    Says Samsika Marketing Consultants CMD Jagdeep Kapoor, “Goutam Rakshit was a great professional and a dear friend. His sharp advertising mind, coupled with his grace and patience, and sprinkled with a sense of humour, was indeed unique. His humility was praiseworthy. I remember, 25 years ago, when I started Samsika Marketing, he was kind enough to come for the inauguration and pass on his good wishes, even though Samsika was a start-up and he was on top of his profession at that time. Indeed, a loss to the advertising world."

    DAN's Ashish Bhasin remembers Goutam Rakshit as a true gentleman who always kept the mood of those around him light.

    Expressing his grief, Bhasin says, "He was one of the last members of the generation gone by, where there were gentlemen in advertising who upheld principles. His contribution to advertising will always be remembered and losing people like him is a very sad loss for our industry."

    Times of India Group president Partha Sinha, who was earlier associated with agencies like Publicis and McCann, added, “He was a very fine gentleman – a rare breed in the advertising industry. He was a thoroughly sophisticated person unfortunately, I never worked with him. A person like him raised the quality of the room when he entered. His presence will be missed."

    Ogilvy chief creative officer worldwide and executive chairman India and ZEE Entertainment Enterprises independent director Piyush Pandey remembers Goutam as an extremely successful professional and a dear friend. “I was shocked to get the bad news this morning. His smiling face and a warm hug will not leave me forever. He was my senior and a competitor but he never made me realise either of the two. RIP Gautam,” he says. 

  • Partha Sinha joins the Times Group

    Partha Sinha joins the Times Group

    Mumbai: McCann India Managing Director and Vice Chairman Partha Sinha has joined the Times Group as President Response. He will focus on growing revenue and enable interaction between brands and content.

    An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad, Sinha had dabbled in nuclear design engineering, banking, strategy and marketing. Before joining McCann, Sinha had worked with Citibank, Zee, Ogilvy, etc.

  • Emvies ’17 co-chief Sinha says it will celebrate high-impact campaigns that drove brand resonance

    Emvies ’17 co-chief Sinha says it will celebrate high-impact campaigns that drove brand resonance

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Club (TAC) India is all set for the 2017 edition of the much sought-after Emvies. There renowned and respected awards have been adjudged by a distinguished jury of around 211 industry leaders from across the country, establishing it as an award with one of the broadest an inclusive jury process.

    The awards have thus continued to grow in scale and strength, emerging as the gold standard amongst media awards recognising path breaking brand campaigns and innovations. The awards are to be held on 13th October 2017 @ The St. Regis Mumbai with thought leaders from across the advertising and media fraternity expected to be attending the apex industry event.

    Speaking about the changing dynamics of campaigns and the importance of being relevant Punitha Arumugam, 2017 Awards chairman for Emvies said “One of the most trusted and coveted Awards in the category, the response to Emvies continues to scale with increased participation and representation from all industry stakeholders. India has been at the forefront to creating some ingenious campaigns that have showcased high effectiveness and fueled behavioral change. Emvies continues to be committed to lauding and recognising such pioneering communication stories that his delivered on its business and brand objectives.”

    Elaborating further on the entries Partha Sinha, 2017 Awards Co-Chairman for Emvies said “The Emvies 2017 will once again celebrate ground-breaking and high impact media campaigns that have successfully contributed towards driving resonance for the brands.”

    Speaking of the awards in his first year as President of the Advertising Club, Vikram Sakhuja said “The Ad Club believes in promoting Excellence in the field of Advertising & Marketing, and the Emvies are and remain the Gold Standard of Media Excellence. I would like to commend the jury comprising Agencies, Media and Advertisers in selecting the transformational work.”

  • Dileep Ashoka joins McCann to head South India operations.

    Dileep Ashoka joins McCann to head South India operations.

    MUMBAI: Dileep Ashoka has joined McCann to head South India operations.  He is credited with establishing McCann’s significant presence in the south region during his earlier stint with McCann before he took a break from advertising for personal reasons.

    Announcing Dileep’s appointment McCann Worldgroup India chairman APAC and CEO Prasoon Joshi said, “I am delighted to have Dileep back in the McCann family. He is an organisation builder and I am sure he will take our south operations to newer heights.”

    McCann vice chairman and MD Partha Sinha shared his joy about the decision, “It’s great to have Dileep back in the system. South is strategically important for us and having someone as reputed as Dileep coming back here is really significant. I am looking forward to this office doing great things under his leadership.”

    Commenting on this appointment Dileep said,”Ït is a matter of great pride and joy for me to return to McCann after a few years away from the industry. The sentiment is old but the task, team and challenges are new. This is a heady mix and I am looking forward to my new stint”.

    Dileep is an advertising veteran. A Bangalore University alumni, he has been one of the key architects of some significant brands like TVS, Britannia, Tata Tea and ITC foods to name a few. He is an accomplished percussionist, is passionate about the business and a great team builder.

     

  • Dileep Ashoka joins McCann to head South India operations.

    Dileep Ashoka joins McCann to head South India operations.

    MUMBAI: Dileep Ashoka has joined McCann to head South India operations.  He is credited with establishing McCann’s significant presence in the south region during his earlier stint with McCann before he took a break from advertising for personal reasons.

    Announcing Dileep’s appointment McCann Worldgroup India chairman APAC and CEO Prasoon Joshi said, “I am delighted to have Dileep back in the McCann family. He is an organisation builder and I am sure he will take our south operations to newer heights.”

    McCann vice chairman and MD Partha Sinha shared his joy about the decision, “It’s great to have Dileep back in the system. South is strategically important for us and having someone as reputed as Dileep coming back here is really significant. I am looking forward to this office doing great things under his leadership.”

    Commenting on this appointment Dileep said,”Ït is a matter of great pride and joy for me to return to McCann after a few years away from the industry. The sentiment is old but the task, team and challenges are new. This is a heady mix and I am looking forward to my new stint”.

    Dileep is an advertising veteran. A Bangalore University alumni, he has been one of the key architects of some significant brands like TVS, Britannia, Tata Tea and ITC foods to name a few. He is an accomplished percussionist, is passionate about the business and a great team builder.

     

  • Bobby Pawar, Partha Sinha elevated to Publicis South Asia MD

    Bobby Pawar, Partha Sinha elevated to Publicis South Asia MD

    MUMBAI: Publicis Worldwide South Asia has promoted Bobby Pawar and Partha Sinha to managing directors.

     

    This move comes as the India agency consolidates following a period of sustained growth that has seen it double its size over the past two years.

     

    In their new roles, Pawar and Sinha will continue to report to Publicis Worldwide South Asia CEO Nakul Chopra as they take on larger responsibilities to partner him in managing all business units in the region. A key focus will be to elevate the agency’s effectiveness in communication that helps lead the change for clients.

     

    As managing director and chief strategy officer, Sinha will lead all strategic development. He will take additional responsibility for the P&L of the consulting, design and digital services in South Asia. 

     

    Pawar, on the other hand, will be managing director and chief creative officer. He will lead creative development and ensure the increasing infusion of digital channels for all Publicis Worldwide entities in the region. 

     

    Chopra said that the promotions were clear recognition of the positive impact and leadership both executives had demonstrated in leading their agency teams and client relationships.

     

    Chopra said, “Both Bobby and Partha have played pivotal roles in delivering the expectations of our clients and in vastly improving our product. They have worked very closely with me and taken the lead in helping Publicis grow at a very rapid rate. These promotions not only recognise their past achievements but also focus on the future where we have high expectations for the continual transformation of our business.”

     

    In a joint statement, Sinha and Pawar added, “Publicis is on a fast growth track and is increasingly becoming a significant power in partnering clients in the new age environment. Our objective is to become the most significant partner available in this market for brands to navigate and lead the change in society, culture and the marketplace. We are on our way there.”

     

    Publicis Worldwide, APAC and emerging markets CEO Loris Nold opined, “Publicis South Asia without doubt has a world-class management team and have achieved great results in the past few years. With Partha and Bobby taking a bigger role, I am very confident that we are best positioned to help our clients in their marketing transformation.”