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Tag: Ravi Rao

  • MRUC puts the ball in RSCI court; INS sticks to its 24-hour ultimatum

    MRUC puts the ball in RSCI court; INS sticks to its 24-hour ultimatum

    MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The last couple of days have been a nail-biting one for everyone having an interest in the Indian Readership Survey. From the time the IRS 2013 was made public, publishers of newspapers and magazines have gone through a lot of turmoil because of the data provided.

     

    As claimed by many, IRS 2013 has a lot of anomalies and hence, after a meeting on Monday, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) gave an ultimatum to Media Research Users Council (MRUC) to withdraw IRS 2013 within 24 hours or else face its rejection by publishers.

     

    MRUC today held an emergency meeting to decide on how to respond to the ultimatum by INS. After the meeting, MRUC issued a statement saying it cannot unilaterally decide on the withdrawal the latest readership survey.

     

    The Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), a joint body of MRUC and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), has called for a meeting on 19 February before any further decision is taken.

     

    “Unlike three years ago, MRUC no longer can take a decision on its own. RSCI will take a final call now,” says IRS Technical Committee Chairman Paritosh Joshi.

     

    The members of MRUC unanimously voiced their opinion on the findings. They said decided aspects of the study will be placed before the RSCI to help the broader community of stakeholders convince themselves about the study’s robustness and integrity. The IRS 2013 was contracted to Nielsen.

     

    Joshi feels that a new methodology was used for IRS 2013, which could have caused some confusion amongst the stakeholders and that they will need time to understand not only the findings but also the methodology which has gone into it.

     

    The MRUC statement said IRS 2013 cannot be compared with past readership surveys and that the findings are based on the latest census data. It also goes on to say that the study design includes a margin of error.

     

    INS continues to stick to its 24-hour ultimatum given on Monday, 3 January, according to INS newsprint committee chairman Mohit Jain.

     

    Jain told indiantelevision.com, “The report submitted by MRUC (today) has been considered in-depth and the members (of INS) have taken a decision to collectively to reject it.”

     

    INS members were still in a meeting on the issue at the time of filing the story.

     

    Click here to read MRUC’s statement

  • INS gives ultimatum; MRUC to meet tomorrow

    INS gives ultimatum; MRUC to meet tomorrow

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The revamped Indian Readership Survey (IRS) was supposed to create a new paradigm, but has instead turned out to be a nightmare for Media Research Users Council (MRUC).

     

    The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) today issued an ultimatum to MRUC, a not-for-profit body of advertisers, advertising agencies, publishers and broadcasters, to withdraw IRS 2013 within 24 hours or face total rejection of the findings of the survey by the publishers.

     

    Indiantelevision.com had reported earlier that the INS representatives would be meeting officials from MRUC today to discuss issues raised by publishers. Today’s meeting was held in two rounds: the first meeting had print publishers discuss the future course of action while the second one delivered the ultimatum to MRUC.

     

    The INS is unwilling to climb down from its demand for complete withdrawal of the survey within 24 hours, the contract for which was given to Nielsen.

     

    The INS representatives attending the meeting were unanimous in their demand for complete withdrawal of the IRS 2013 survey as the first corrective step. The publishers raised several questions regarding the methodology and mechanism based on which the survey findings were arrived at.

     

    To decide on what should be MRUC’s next course of action, its officials will have a meeting with the Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), a joint body of MRUC and Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). INS Newspaper Society Chairman Mohit Jain confirmed the news and said: “We have also asked MRUC to conduct an extraordinary meeting tomorrow at 11.30 am and decide about today’s discussions.”

     

    “What happens next will be decided tomorrow by the RSCI,” says IRS Technical Committee Chairman Paritosh Joshi, who is personally saddened by the way things are taking shape.

     

    Sources say if MRUC fails to take action, INS may issue an advisory to its members asking them not to subscribe to IRS in the future and also not to use the mast heads of their newspapers in future surveys, and may consider supporting some newspapers going to court against the findings to get a stay order on the use of the latest IRS numbers by media planners and advertisers.

     

    A group of 18 publishers, which include The Times of India, Dainik Jagran, Bhaskar, India Today, Ananda Bazar Patrika, Lokmat, Outlook, Daily News and Analysis (DNA), Sakshi, The Hindu, Amar Ujala, The Tribune, Bartaman Patrika, Aaj Samaj, The Statesman, Mid Day, Nai Duniya and Dinakaran, have been vocal about their dismay with the numbers.

     

    The publishers felt that there was arbitrary decline in aggregate readership of certain publications. A majority of the publications are negatively affected by the 2013 survey which is based on a new methodology.

     

    Sources from the print industry shared the data, which shows how particular publications lost their Average Issue Readership (AIR) in a drastic way in some states.

  • IRS 2013 fate to be decided on Monday

    IRS 2013 fate to be decided on Monday

    MUMBAI: Early this week, when Indian Readership Survey (IRS), which was published after a year, the Indian print media waited with bated breath to see how has it done – good, bad or ugly?

     

    Since the survey conducted by Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and its new vendor Nielsen has been made public, things have turned ugly.

     

    A lot of publishers are not happy with the data and the new methodology used this time.  Many of them have openly voiced their dismay with it. For instance, the Hindu carried a piece from its editor-in-chief saying, “IRS, in relation to The Hindu, is riddled with inconsistencies and with findings that defy common sense and reach the level of absurdity that its credibility has been totally damaged.”

     

    Across the country, leading newspapers have said the new methodology used in the IRS has a lot of glitches and contradicts the figures of the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), which shows the number of copies printed.

     

    The issue has taken a serious turn. A group of 18 leading newspaper groups, including the Times of India, Jagran, Bhaskar, Outlook, Lokmat and The Hindu, on Jan 30 issued a joint statement rubbishing the findings of the 2013 IRS survey.

     

    The group of publishers has called upon MRUC to immediately withdraw the latest IRS results and put a stop to all future editions of the survey based on the new methodology.

     

    The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) will meet with the MRUC on Monday (3 January) to discuss the issues in the IRS survey.

     

    The chairman of MRUC, Ravi Rao, was unavailable for comment.

     

    Paritosh Joshi, the Chairman of IRS’ Technical Committee, didn’t hide his disappointment and said if data is recalled or any other similar step is taken, it will be “shattering” for him. “All I want to say is that technology-wise we have used the best methodology. We also checked upon it routinely. What is surprising is that publishers were aware of the process used and it wasn’t a bolt from the blue. It was all out in the open and we delivered best to our capabilities.”

     

    The fate of the survey would be decided on Monday, till then we can only wait to see what happens next.

  • It’s exciting time for IRS: Ravi Rao

    It’s exciting time for IRS: Ravi Rao

    MUMBAI: Media Research Users Council (MRUC) at its Annual General Meeting has elected GroupM’s flagship agency, Mindshare Leader South Asia Ravi Rao as the new Chairman for 2013-14.

    On his new role, Rao said, “It is a great honour to drive the MRUC agenda collectively with some of the top professionals from the advertising, media and marketing fraternity. It is exciting times with the new avatar of IRS in the offering by end of this year.”

    ENIL (Radio Mirchi) CEO Prashant Pandey has taken over the new vice chairman’s role from Rao.

    Three new members from the publishers’ category have also been inducted into the 24-member Board of Governors. They are: HT Media executive director Benoy Roy Chowdhury; The Hindu CEO Arun Anant and Bombay Samachar director of Gujarati daily Hormusji N Cama.

  • Mindshare appoints John Thangaraj as head – strategy (North)

    Mindshare appoints John Thangaraj as head – strategy (North)

    MUMBAI: Mindshare has appointed John Thangaraj as the head of strategy for the Northern region. In his new role, John will be responsible for the Mindshare strategy product across Delhi clients.

    Commenting on what he hopes to achieve at Mindshare John said, “First and foremost, I hope to future proof myself. I have a strong belief in the fact that ‘advertising‘ as is currently practiced in India does not have a shelf life of more than a decade (at the very most).”

    Announcing the appointment, leader – strategy (South Asia) Alok Sinha said, “We are glad to welcome John to Mindshare and the extended GroupM family. He’s got category and industry experience, and is a great team leader. I am confident he will be able to lead the strategy division to even greater heights.”

    John will be responsible for the Mindshare strategy product across Delhi clients

    Mindshare leader South Asia Ravi Rao said, “I am pleased to welcome John. He has the combination between being imaginative, strategic and entrepreneurial that our strategy community and clients need. Consumption of information and entertainment is rapidly moving screens and I feel that Mindshare is on the cutting edge of optimizing and leveraging this. ‘Digital‘ has become a buzz word we all love to throw around, and I am looking to Mindshare to help me make the journey from ‘thinking about digital‘ to ‘thinking digitally‘. Perhaps most of all, Mindshare represents a new journey for me- new skills to acquire, new people to meet and new challenges to deal with. Which is what excites me the most about it.” 

    John has over 12 years of work experience spanning a marketing role at Adidas, a research role at Quantum and as head of strategic planning for Redifffusion Y&R. In his last role John was vice president – strategic planning at Lowe, where he was responsible for the product planning on a cluster of brands that included Wills Lifestyle, Nestle Confectionary, Hindustan Times, Dabur Real, Shine.com, Woodland, Expedia.co.in and OLX.in.

    John is extremely proud of the Effie’s and Cannes that he has worked hard to win over the years. These include – Effie 2010 for Hindustan Times‘ ‘It Is Time‘ brand campaign, Effie 2012 for Hindustan Times‘ ‘You Read, They Learn‘ campaign, and Media Lion at Cannes 2013for Best Use of Print for Hindustan Times‘ ‘You Read, They Learn‘.

    He is also very proud of the work that he did when he led a global strategic project for LG Korea in 2009 on understanding the super affluent consumers in India.

  • Mindshare’s mind-boggling might

    Mindshare’s mind-boggling might

    MUMBAI: The purple bandanas and shirts took over the stage as the company continues its purple patch.

    Mindshare was, yet again, named as the ‘Best Media Agency of the Year‘ at the 13th edition of the Emvies. The agency scored the highest points of 165 (five more than last year) and added three golds, nine silvers and six bronzes to its kitty.

    Between the hooting and dancing, leader (South Asia) Ravi Rao proudly said, “What can I share about the win; it‘s thanks to the young talent. We are glad to win for the sixth time, but of course, it was a close run. We have to tighten our belts if we want to break the jinx of the seven year itch.”

    The Young Emvie of the Year went to Mindshare‘s Farah Siddiqui who was sitting with her fingers crossed and praying hard to win the award. She won it for her work on Close Up, Pepsodent, Domex and CIF.

    Mindshare won two golds for its ‘5.2 years of digital content viewed in just six months!‘ campaign for Axe Deodorant in the Best Media Innovation – Digital (social media) category. The ‘Cholchhe Na Aar Cholbe Na!‘ (Can‘t Happen, Won‘t Happen Anymore!) for ABP Ananda in the Best Integrated Campaign – Media/ Media Property category fetched the agency its third gold.

    The silver awards were received from its campaigns for Godrej Appliances Range (Best Media Strategy – Consumer Durables), ABP Ananda (Best Media Strategy – Media/ Media Property), Closeup Toothpaste (Best Media Innovation – Radio), Horlicks (Best Media Innovation – Out of Home), Lay‘s (Best Media Innovation – Sponsorship), Closeup Toothpaste and Axe Deodorant (Best Media Innovation – Branded Content), Lifebouy Handwash (Best Media Innovation – Print (dailies) and Idea (Best Media Campaign – Services).

    The agency‘s six bronze metals came from campaigns for Clear Anti Dandruff Shampoo (Best Media Strategy – Consumer Products), American Express (Best Media Strategy – Services), Lifebuoy Handwash (Best Media Innovation – Cinema), Horlicks (Best Media Innovation – Ambient Media) and Surf Excel and Clinic Plus (Best Ongoing Media Campaign).

    We hope that the agency breaks the jinx and continues with its winning streak.

  • Mindshare enters Kochi

    MUMBAI: GroupM‘s flagship media agency Mindshare is expanding its South India presence and is setting up a branch office in Kochi, Kerala.

    The Kochi office of the agency will be headed by K.T Haridas.

    Mindshare leader – south Asia Ravi Rao said, “Mindshare has been committed to providing leading media and marketing services pan India. The opening of a Kochi office is a natural outgrowth of the strong customer and partner base that we already enjoy in Kerela. We are well positioned and look forward to growing this further.”

    The office in Kochi will add on to the agency‘s offices that span across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata.

    The agency is working closely with clients like Jos Alukka & Sons and Dhathri Ayurveda.

  • Mindshare wins media duties of Merino Group

    MUMBAI: GroupM‘s media agency Mindshare has won the Merino Group‘s mandate for handling their media consulting and deployment duties across all mediums. Mindshare bagged the account without a pitch.

    The Merino account will be handled out of the Mindshare‘s Delhi office.

    Mindshare South Asia leader Ravi Rao said, “The win is the latest in a series of new account appointments for our Delhi office. We are really excited to have the opportunity to serve Merino. They have a great vision for the category and we believe we can do some game-changing work for the brand.”

    The Merino Group, which was started in 1968, deals in building-interior products, such as laminates, plyboards, ready doors, cubicles and acrylic counters for homes, offices, commercial and public areas. The company also owns the FMCG brand Vegit that manufactures and markets dehydrated potato flakes and instant snack mixes. It has also diversified into farming, biotechnology and food processing.

    Merino Group deputy general manager marketing Kamal K Mishra said, “To orchestrate the reach and delivery of our multimedia brand campaign, we were seeking a versatile and seasoned partner for media operations and Mindshare is a much-recommended name in the field.”

    Mindshare partner client leader Saket Sinha said, “We are fully geared to choreograph the journey for the brand to meet its consumer.”

  • Ashok Lalla quits Mindshare

    MUMBAI: Mindshare leader – digital Ashok Lalla has decided to call it a day at the agency. His last day will be 31 May, ending his-seven month stint with Mindshare.

    “Yes, he is leaving the agency,” said Mindshare South Asia leader Ravi Rao.

    Lalla has close to 19 years experience in the industry and started his career in 1993 with Enterprise Nexus Communications (now Bates 141) as senior account executive. After four years at the agency, he joined Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces as advertising manager in 1997. Two years later, he moved to Times Multimedia where he worked as senior product manager for a year before moving back to Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces in 2001 to take up the post of director internet marketing. He then moved to Euro RSCG as president – digital in 2009 before joining Mindshare in 2011.

    Lalla is also the founder, author and curator of the Future of Digital for Brands – a global community of over 2500 brands and marketing and digital experts and enthusiasts from more than 35 countries that shares and creates ideas that shape the future of brands via the future of digital.

    Suraj Nambiar heads the digital wing for Mindhsare in the west for the agency while Anita Bhat heads south and Kavita Dhyani was recently brought on board to head the north operations for digital.

  • Mindshare bags media duties of SPR&RG Constructions

    Mindshare bags media duties of SPR&RG Constructions

    MUMBAI: Media agency Mindshare’s Chennai has added Tamil Nadu-based real estate developer SPR&RG Constructions to its client portfolio.


    The mandate involves handling the media strategy as well as planning and buying across all mediums.


    SPR&RG VP – marketing and sales Sandeep Pantvaidya said, “With two upcoming projects in Chennai at Porur and Vepery, we were considering partnering with an agency that has expertise in local media and has ability to put to use global knowledge at local level for all our forthcoming projects. We are glad to have Mindshare on board to handle brand SPRRG and Chlorophyll. We look forward to a lengthy and profitable partnership with Mindshare in the years to come.”


    Mindshare Leader South Asia Ravi Rao said, “This win is great news to follow Mindshare’s recent growing focus on strengthening our South operations. They have a great vision for the category and we believe we can do some game-changing work for the brand and look forward to doing it well.”


    SPR&RG Constructions Private Limited is engaged in the acquisition and development of residential and commercial properties besides executing turnkey infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu. The company is coming up with their second large scale project in Chennai – Osian Chorophyll where they bring on board the social conscience that ensures they are responsible and contribute to the societies they are operating in.