MUMBAI: ZenithOptimedia has retained the media account of multinational consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser.
There was a full pitch on cost and strategy that the client had called for. According to the sources close to the pitch, the agency has won the account against MPG.
The account size is estimated to be at around Rs 3 billion.
ZenithOptimedia had recently retained the media duties of Nestle India too.
MUMBAI: Ignitee Digital Services, a digital marketing and media agency, has appointed Ranjoy Dey as the chief operating officer.
Based in Ignitee’s Gurgaon office, Dey will be managing the business across the offices of Ignitee in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
He will be responsible to lead all aspects of marketing and operations for Ignitee, aligning the marketing strategy and brand positioning for the company’s growth in the evolving digital advertising industry.
Dey will report to Ignitee CEO Atul Hegde.
Hegde said, “Ranjoy joins Ignitee as we continue to expand, and offer our best practices to customers. We are very focused on bringing great value across our digital products and solutions, and Ranjoy’s appointment is central in helping us to achieve this. With his vast experience in successfully creating and delivering interactive marketing solutions and effectively managing diverse resources, he is the ideal person to help us achieve our growth goals and country-wide consolidation.”
Dey added, “I am excited to take up this role as the growth driver for Ignitee. Ignitee has been doing some amazing work for their clients and the time is right to expand the business when clients are looking at differentiated marketing solutions while enhancing their digital footprint.”
Dey brings in over 18 years of experience in sales and marketing. His last stint was with Publicis Groupe’s Digitas India as SVP. He has handled clients like Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser, ITC, Samsung, Audi, Volkswagen, Dabur, Axis Bank and JK Tyres at Digitas India. Prior to joining Digitas India, he had also taken up roles to set up and lead e-Marketing and CRM functions from scratch in IT and eLearning companies.
MUMBAI: Fortifying its position in the Swiss ad market, global media group Havas Media has acquired its majority stake in Zurich based media group Mediaxis MPG.
Havas Media and MPG have been associated for the past nine years. The majority stake is in effect from today.
Mediaxis MPG will remain the group‘s main operational brand and founder Peter Hofstetter will continue as chairman and member of executive committee. The management of the company will remain on board as key elements on the new long-term joint expansion plan.
Mediaxis MPG is a qualitative media agency with a client list that includes Reckitt Benckiser, Danone, Lindt, Barclays and Hermes.
Havas Media CEO Alfonso Rod?©s said, “The Swiss market is a key market for Havas Media and I am delighted that following a prosperous nine year relationship, the management team have decided to further commit to the group and officially join our other 122 markets worldwide.”
Mediaxis MPG chairman Peter Hofstetter added, “We have all prospered as a result of our partnership and joining the Havas Media team is a natural step in further strengthening the group‘s operations in the Swiss market. The existing management team have committed to driving this group forward and look forward to continuing to benefit from Havas Media‘s tools and wider thought leadership activity such as its Meaningful Brands framework.”
MUMBAI: Hair removal brand from the house of Reckitt Benckiser, Veet, has started the Glamour Campaign with a nationwide survey to reveal trends in hair removal.
As part of the campaign, a new TVC features Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif and has been conceptualised by creative agency Euro RSCG and produced by Kiss Films.
The TVC showcases Kaif getting ready for a party; she decides to wear a simple denim mini skirt and a short shirt as she is confident of her legs being appealing. She is shown vouching for the survey where 84 per cent of the Cosmopolitan readers have said that their legs never felt so smooth and glowing as they have after using Veet.
The commercial aims to highlight the increasing acceptance of Veet as “the ultimate tool to sexy legs” among girls and women. The TVC showing Kaif in a deciding gesture as what to wear and then moving out in a simple denim mini skirt and a short shirt subtly brings out the message that Veet stands for – “beauty” and “confidence.
MUMBAI: Consumer products and services group, Marico Limited, is acquiring Set Wet, Livon, Zatak and certain other personal care brands currently owned by Reckitt Benckiser (RB).
RB had acquired these brands from Paras Pharmaceuticals in a deal completed during April 2011. The transaction envisages transfer of all key assets including intellectual property rights, supply agreements and third party manufacturing. These assets are in the process of being transferred to a separate company in which Marico will acquire 100 per cent shares over the next few months.
The Paras PC business is expected to achieve a turnover of over Rs 1.50 billion during FY12. Brands in the portfolio are amongst the top three positions in the hair gels, male deodorant and leave-on hair serum categories. The acquisition of this business is expected to further reduce Marico’s dependence on edibles oils and hair oils.
This acquisition gives Marico an opportunity to participate in the rapidly growing deodorant and male grooming categories in India. The portfolio addresses the grooming needs of the youth and is supported by India’s demographic profile. Marico will also leverage its distribution strength in India to provide a fillip to the growth of the brands.
Marico CEO consumer products business Saugata Gupta said, “I am excited about this acquisition. It fast-forwards our journey towards creating a portfolio for the future with a significant presence in the male grooming and post wash hair care segments.”
Marico group CFO and CHRO Milind Sarwate stated, “This strategic acquisition is a significant building block for value creation for Marico shareholders through profitable sustainable growth over the long term. We will fund the acquisition through a judicious mix of internal accruals, equity and debt.”
MUMBAI: Reckitt Benckiser has launched Dettol Liquid Handwash in new packs.
The range that claims to give effective protection against a wide range of unseen germs daily will now be available in an all new and easy to hold shape, new fragrances and new packaging.
Dettol Liquid Handwash has four variants including Dettol Skincare, Dettol Fresh, Dettol Sensitive and Dettol Original which comes with new formulations.
All the four variants are available in pump packs of 250ml and / or 135ml. The new handwash bottles come with a wider pump for easier use and a wider mouth for easier refill. The refill packs are also available in 185ml and 900ml.
Reckitt Benckiser India chairman MD Chander Mohan Sethi said, “Our new Dettol Liquid Handwash bottles with wider pumps are in line with Dettol‘s primary focus of providing germ protection. Dettol, our flagship brand is India‘s most trusted brands and is considered as the gold standard for protection against germs and infections.”
MUMBAI: Health and personal care company, Reckitt Benckiser, is launching a campaign to create awareness amongst graduates and people early on in their business careers.
The company that owns brands such as Dettol and Mortien said the aim of the campaign is not to sell more products but to sell the company to people who are planning a career in fast moving consumer goods.
The campaign will be primarily on-line and on-campus. Reckitt Benckiser uses gaming technology on mobile and Internet to reach people in nine markets across all continents. The company had also launched a “poweRBrands” game last year, which enabled players to go into consumer goods company and rise to become global president.
The campaign is aim to engage student, professional and sports communities online and offline. Reckitt Benckiser will also deploy its brands – Durex, Clearasil, Veet and others – to connect with people and deliver engaging campaigns on campus.
Chairman and managing director Chander Mohan Sethi says, “Reckitt Benckiser’s culture is very different to most organisations. We only suit people who like freedom to act, a fast pace, enough exposure to make their mark and who are deeply commercial and agile. We offer a heart thumping place to work, and that’s not for everyone, but for the 20 per cent who would love us, they need to know who we are.”
The ten markets are Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, UK and US.
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As the advertising industry prepares to come out of the slowdown clutter, Havas Media has found proper representation in India‘s two high-growth sectors: telecom and automobiles.
While Maxx Mobiles came into the fold in 2009, the big catch this year has been Hyundai.
Havas has almost 50 per cent of its revenues coming from the top five clients – Reckitt Benckiser, Jockey, Bank of Baroda, Max Mobiles and MTS. With Hyundai falling into the net, the top six are in a position to power the media agency‘s growth story in India.
Havas will stay Delhi and Mumbai focussed while posting slow growth from its three southern offices – Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.
The big push will come from its integrated funtions – sports, digital and out-of-home.
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Anindita Sarkar, Havas Media India & South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar speaks about her company‘s growth plans at large.
Excerpts:
We are on track as far as revenues and billings are concerned. On a percentage basis, we have met out targets quite in line with last year and the growth has come from both existing and new businesses. While our existing clients have fared better for us this year, the new businesses have also helped in pumping up the growth.
Yes. We won MTS and Maxx Mobiles last year and Hyundai this year, all large and prestigious clients. And both telecom/handsets and automobiles are considered as categories doing well with minimal recessionary impact. We also won Dixcy, News X and M3M this year.
We have a client list that is upwards of 50 and across categories which include FMCG, telecom, automobiles, banking, mobile hand sets, beauty and wellness, media and real estate. About 40-50 per cent of our revenues come from our top five clients – Reckitt Benckiser, Jockey, Bank of Baroda, Maxx Mobiles and MTS.
We foresee a decent growth in 2010, given that 2009 was a recessionary year. Percentage growth in our integrated functions – sports, digital, and out-of-home – will be better as margins in offline business is pretty low. I don‘t think so. In fact, out-of-home has been doing very well for our clients and though it has not increased dramatically, it has surely not taken a dip.
As far as we are concerned, we have five offices across India – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai and we expect our growth to come in primarily from Delhi and Mumbai. Growth from the southern market is slow for us. Overall, from the consumer‘s point of view, the potential surely lies in the semi-urban and rural areas.
All three are doing well and on an upswing. Havas Sports took up interesting projects during IPL like the strategic sponsorship deal and the Dhoni endorsement with Max. We are in the process of finalising some more deals. Digital is seeing an interesting growth and Media Contacts is encashing on the situation. MPG Active has been in the news for executing interesting campaigns including the one on INQ Mobiles where they executed the country‘s tallest billboard.
We should hit double digit growth in 2010. It should be somewhere in the region of 10-12 per cent, though the pace is a bit slow.
There is too much of a fragmentation today and this is making it difficult to attract the consumer. There are multiple touch points today to capture consumer attention and you never know when and where the consumer will spot the advertisement. And though the ad volumes are increasing, we are not seeing much increase in ad rates.
When recession‘s not around, we tend to work more liberally. However, recession always teaches businesses to get more from less and our business is no exception. This time around, it taught us to keep a tight watch on our purse string. It told us that we can do with lesser inputs, work, people and resources. Also, while there was a bit of retrenchment as far as our industry is concerned, it was more about not giving increments during the period.
Digital for sure. This is because the medium is progressing towards accountability and efficiency. The platform is seeing about 40 per cent growth year-on-year as advertisers are increasingly getting into the digital and media space. |