ITV

Tag: Vikram Sakhuja

  • Madison Media strengthens its leadership by appointing Puja Rai as chief strategy officer

    Madison Media strengthens its leadership by appointing Puja Rai as chief strategy officer

    Mumbai: Madison Media, a unit of Madison World is delighted to announce the appointment of Puja Rai as their chief strategy officer. She will be based in the agency’s Mumbai office and will report to Vikram Sakhuja, Partner and Group CEO, Madison Media & OOH. Nagaraj Krishnamurthy continues to mentor the Analytics and Automation space as he transitions into running an MSME Performance business.

    Rai is a seasoned media professional with over 20 years of experience and a wealth of knowledge in marketing, strategy, analytics. In addition to rich experience with  Mindshare as Partner Client Lead, Lodestar, Star TV, INX Media, Quantemplate and IMRB, Puja also has the benefit of delving into a entrepreneurial journey.

    About Rai’s appointment, Vikram Sakhuja commented, “Excited to have Puja join us as Madison’s CSO.  Her skills in Analytics, Brand building, Research, Strategy, Automation combined with experience across both Agency Media Owner and Advertiser organisations  makes her ideally suited to add value to our Clients’ strategic challenges”.

    Speaking about her new role at Madison Media, Rai commented, “Thrilled to embark on this new journey with Madison as it gives me an opportunity to use my expertise to help add value to our wide base of clients. My endeavour will be to maximise effectiveness of the decision-making process with actionable output in the near term.”

  • Madison Media appoints Rob Norman as advisor to accelerate digital transformation

    Madison Media appoints Rob Norman as advisor to accelerate digital transformation

    Mumbai: Madison Media is delighted to announce that it has appointed Rob Norman as an advisor to accelerate digital transformation at key clients.

    Rob has a wealth of experience in the Digital space – having been global head of Digital at GroupM. He has also been CEO of GroupM, North America. Currently, he is an independent Board member at Piano, MiQ, Simpli.fi, Nova and Hunch and is an advisor to a few other digital first companies.

    Norman will offer advisory services to Madison’s top clients, introduce the agency to new tools, concepts and workflows.

    Madison Media, India’s largest homegrown independent media agency, has recently been ranked as the world’s 4th largest independent media agency by RECMA. Madison Media has also topped RECMA’s qualitative ranking chart and has done so for last 4 consecutive years with a Dominant Score. Madison Media ranks No. 1 in Vitality (based on Comp pitches – new biz wins vs losses and Momentum – awards, agency seniors, industry share)

    Madison World chairman Sam Balsara said, “We are delighted to have Rob join us as a strategic advisor in the digital transformation space and am sure he will add a lot of value to our teams and our clients. The Advertising world has turned Digital. India with a Digital share of Adex at 40% tracks a little behind the Global average of 55% and we hope with Rob’s help to offer world beating thought leadership to our Clients.”

    Madison Media & OOH partner & group CEO Vikram Sakhuja said, “I have had the privilege of working with Rob for many years and his insights, clarity of thought and approach to Clients’ businesses has been inspiring. I’m thrilled to be able to partner with him again in helping build the business of Madison’s Clients.”

    Norman said, “I have known Sam, Vikram and Madison for many years. I am a great admirer of the business and its leadership. Independent, entrepreneurial organizations are well placed to innovate with speed and agility. I am excited to spend more time in India, it’s a country I love and a country rich in opportunity.”

  • IPL: Multiple media rights is an advantage for the bidders

    IPL: Multiple media rights is an advantage for the bidders

    MUMBAI: The three-day e-auction of IPL media rights 2023-2027 has concluded on Tuesday, with Disney-Star bagging TV rights for the Indian subcontinent and Viacom18/ Reliance sweeping the digital segment. 

    The total value of digital broadcast rights for IPL has reached Rs 23,757.52 crore. This means that the value of digital media rights to the IPL has surpassed the TV broadcast rights valued at Rs 23,575 crore. The total valuation of IPL media rights for the next five years has reached Rs 47,332.52 crore. 

    We have asked experts about why IPL media rights being distributed among broadcasters is a positive approach. Do experts think one can get leverage against the other players and there would be a fair deal in place?

    Speaking on the IPL media rights being distributed, Madison Media & OOH Group CEO Vikram Sakhuja noted that rights being split up is a good thing for media buyers. “My point of view is that from a media buying standpoint it is probably an advantage. This is because if you deal with two or three partners your ability to leverage one against the other is better compared to all the cards being held by one person.” He noted that while the fall in IPL ratings on TV was disappointing, hardly anybody comes on to it just for cost per rating point (CPRP). They look to create an impact in a short time. That is why, he explains why many startups in categories like ed-tech are advertising.

    Broadcasters, he explains, are generally good for making up the shortfall in ratings by giving things like bonus spots. Benchmarks are there and everyone is here to provide value. “Ratings alone is not why people take the IPL. It is about the passion behind the property and the impact that you get. This is huge. Clients get the reach, conduct a relatively clutter-free campaign and also get strong visibility. It is the clients who wanted to grow their business quickly who came onto the IPL.”

    For him, the bigger challenge facing the rights holders for the IPL in the next season is the funding for startups, which is facing a winter. If the funding dries up and that situation stays, bad startups will have to cut back on marketing spending. Their outlays for the IPL will get affected. “Outlays rather than ratings will be the deciding factor for the next season. Will clients who like the IPL have enough outlay for next season? How many of them will have the appetite to return next year is the bigger question. If the startup money is there, things will be fine. But if not then will anybody else come in their place? For FMCG CPRP is very important. For that reason, they do not come to the IPL.”

    Meanwhile, D & P India Advisory managing partner N Santosh feels that IPL will be a loss leader for both the TV rights holder and the digital rights. It would be a bit of a stretch to expect a profit. The amount of ad revenue in a season on television is around Rs 3000 crore in a best-case scenario. Of course, with more matches, this amount will rise. Then there are production costs. “It is good to have content but the TV rights holder may start making money only in the fourth or fifth year if viewership has risen significantly and ad rates have risen significantly. Then for those years, they might make a profit. But this content is important to have. It will grow its general entertainment business as subscription bundles can be offered. GEC can be sold with sports and that could add subscription revenue. For advertisers, bundles can be offered and revenues can be maximised. The GEC business is always profitable and IPL will only add profits to the GEC business.”

    On the digital front, he thinks that Reliance due to Jio as a Super App will be able to monetise it slightly better compared to if another OTT platform had got the rights to Package B. The IPL can help add subscribers to Reliance’s telecom business. The IPL will be a bigger loss leader in digital. Ad revenue on digital is not that significant based on research that his company has done. “Ad revenue, the way it has been monetised so far on OTT platforms is not that material. But the IPL can be used to improve the subscription monetisation of the platform including the GEC, and movie library business. So digital ad revenue will not be that important. It will mostly be about the subscription. I have not seen OTT platforms monetise advertising that well.”

    He also does not think that the rights being split up will affect monetisation ability. “I don’t see a major difference compared to one party having both TV and digital rights. The advertisers and subscribers are anyway different. Star and Hotstar from a subscription point of view were not bundled together. The packages were different.”

    When asked about the per match value of the IPL from a broadcast rights point of view being the second in the world ahead of the premier league he noted that cricket is advertiser-friendly. Meanwhile, soccer relies more on subscriptions. Also, in the premier league often more than one match is played at the same time. So the viewership gets spread out. The IPL matches only take place one at a time, which is an advantage. In soccer, a Manchester United fan will only watch matches featuring that club. Whereas with the IPL even if you are a RCB fan you will still watch an IPL match not featuring that team as there are no other IPL matches going on at the same time.

    In the context of ratings, IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha said as far as TV is concerned, the ratings are an indicator, it is a question of advertiser’s supply and demand. If there is a huge demand then the property will do well next year. He noted that one will have to see how the economy is faring when the next edition of the IPL happens.

    “Ratings are one part of it but finally it is about supply and demand. Ratings are just an indicator. We will have to see what big product launches are happening around the IPL. What are the new categories coming up? If the economy grows then the advertiser response will be good. If the Indian economy does not grow then it will be a problem. It is also not a question of just one year,” Sinha added.

    He said that the winner must have taken a call of the economy doing well in the next five years. Sinha also noted that competitor’s pressure will play a role in IPL sponsorship. He gave the example of Byjus doing a deal with FIFA for the World Cup later in the year. For him the ability of Disney-Star to take the sponsorship and spot rates up will depend on the economy. It will also be upto Disney-Star on whether they go for an increase in rates at one go or raise rates gradually over the years.

    He further noted the digital rights holder, in this case, Viacom18 will depend a lot on subscription. “All sports properties including EPL rely on subscription to an extent. Sometimes the dependence on subscription is higher. I am sure that Reliance will focus on subscription being a major telecom player,” he concluded.

  • Shashi Sinha, Vikram Sakhuja join Axis My India advisory board

    Shashi Sinha, Vikram Sakhuja join Axis My India advisory board

    Mumbai: Consumer data intelligence company Axis My India on Tuesday announced the constitution of a pioneering advisory board with IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha and Madison Media Group CEO Vikram Sakhuja joining the board. Sakhuja is nominated as chairman of the board.

    “The company has embarked on an audacious mission of solving the problems of 25 crore Indian households and transforming a billion lives, and the advisory board will serve as the guiding ship to enable the success of these endeavours,” it said in a statement.

    “Our company is certainly at an inflection point, as we look to take to fruition some marquee ideas – India’s first offline-online people empowerment platform focused on listening and facilitating resolution of various issues of an everyday Indian, the country’s largest syndicated brand study, Consumer Trust Index, as well as aggressively expanding by engaging with all echelons of industry with our superior data and research offerings,” stated Axis My India CMD Pradeep Gupta. “Shashi and Vikram along with other advisory board members, with their deep understanding of India’s business landscape will be invaluable as guides and mentors as we navigate challenges in our trajectory towards rapid growth and disruption.”

    The board’s primary responsibility would be to keep track of the big picture of the organisation, anticipate challenges in the ambitious path and suggest mitigation tools to avoid the same.  Board members would also be expected to bring in diversity of thought and action, and help broaden the company’s horizons to engage with constituencies and stakeholders out of its conventional realm, said the statement.

    “Axis My India has over the years established itself to be the most accurate psephologist in India. Underlying that is one of the most innovative organisations I have encountered, in terms of their leadership, team and processes,” said Vikram Sakhuja. “As they now roll out more exciting products, they have the potential to provide not only authoritative insights about both Bharat and India, but also create a platform for meaningful dialogue with consumers that can be invaluable for marketers and policy makers. It is my privilege to be able to participate in this journey as an outside-in advisor.”

    “There is tremendous innovation and bustling activity coming out of India’s non-metros. India’s small towns and villages will power its rise to an economic powerhouse in the 21st century,” remarked Shashi Sinha. “It is my privilege to be able to engage with Axis My India on its larger vision to empower these communities and to be a part of this exercise underpinned in nation-building.”

    Axis My India, recently launched Consumer Trust Index (CTI) which is India’s largest syndicated consumption study measuring current product consumption and future purchase intent across 40 categories with yearly one million+ sample spread across 737 districts. The All-Media Measurement module (AMMS) of CTI will capture media consumption habits across touchpoints – TV, print, OTT, digital, social media, daily used apps, radio, cinema, OOH. As part of CTI, brands will also be able to do media and product consumption linkage analysis.

  • Zee5 launches OTT-first ‘Intelligence Monitor’

    Zee5 launches OTT-first ‘Intelligence Monitor’

    Mumbai: Streaming service platform Zee5 on Friday announced its plans to launch an industry-first fortnightly knowledge series ‘Zee5 Intelligence Monitor’ to decode the latest and imminent consumption trends, consumer preferences, and new insights across various product and service categories. 

    According to a statement, the new offering aims to add incremental value to the brands’ range of advertisers.

    With its audience spread across the country, the ‘Zee5 Intelligence Monitor’ will track transformative consumer behaviour across industry verticals spanning diverse categories such as auto, beauty, health and wellness, smartphones, gaming, cryptocurrency and more, said the statement.

    This model will bring together renowned industry leaders for expert viewpoints especially pertaining to the new-normal accelerated by the rapid adoption of the internet and technology, it added.

    “The ZEE5 Intelligence Monitor knowledge series will bring on board brand custodians and product leaders from diverse industries to analyse and examine the deep implications of the emerging and imminent trends, consumer perceptions and outlooks, and further discuss how each product category can take maximum advantage of these disruptive transformations,” said Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd COO for revenue Rajiv Bakshi. “Our objective is to offer our advertiser partners a multidimensional understanding to traditional and emerging product categories, coupled with insights into the minds of consumers and to effectively drive targeted engagement, combat ambiguity and boost smarter business decisions.”

    “It is intriguing and exciting to hear about the imminent launch of the ZEE5 Intelligence Monitor. We all read category analyses from different forums, but I believe this is the first time an entertainment major is publishing perspectives on emerging and established categories,” remarked Madison Media & OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja.

  • Saif Shaikh elevated as COO, Madison Media Pinnacle

    Saif Shaikh elevated as COO, Madison Media Pinnacle

    Mumbai: Homegrown media agency Madison Media on Tuesday announced that it has elevated Saif Shaikh to the position of chief operating officer (COO), Madison Media Pinnacle. The unit will house the agency’s first and leading account, Godrej Consumer Products for traditional and digital media, it said in a statement.

    Shaikh comes with an overall experience of over 19 years in strategy, planning implementation and buying, having joined Madison Media in 2017, he has led the AOR for Godrej across the company’s larger portfolios such as Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, Godrej Properties and other businesses like frozen foods and has managed media campaigns for almost 20 brands across portfolios such as hair colour, soaps, handwash, home insecticides, car and room freshener along with real estate.  

    Madison Media & OOH, partner & group CEO, Vikram Sakhuja said, “Over the past few years Saif has consistently delivered on the biggest challenges given to him thanks to his hands on, passionate, inclusive and never say die approach. We congratulate Saif on his promotion.”

    On his new role, Shaikh said, “I’m happy to lead Madison’s foremost client, Godrej. I look forward to leading the integrated account and further strengthening the brand and helping it achieve its outcomes.”

  • Madison Media promotes Vandana Ramkrishna to COO, Madison Media Ace

    Madison Media promotes Vandana Ramkrishna to COO, Madison Media Ace

    Mumbai: Homegrown media agency Madison Media on Monday elevated Vandana Ramkrishna to the position of chief operating officer (COO), Madison Media Ace. While Ramkrishna heads the Kolkata operations of the agency, she will continue to handle the Mumbai accounts as well.

    “Ramkrishna will continue to lead the businesses of Raymond, Pidilite, Cipla Health, Weikfield, Balaji Wafers, Dhani Services in Mumbai, and those of Joy Personal Care, Bandhan Bank, MP Birla Cement in Kolkata and further strengthen Madison’s east region operations”, said the agency in a statement.

    Ramkrishna is a seasoned media and communication planning specialist with over 22 years of experience spanning across the Indian and overseas markets. She is well-versed with offline as well as the digital ecosystem.

    “Vandana brings rare passion, aggression, and integrated thinking into delivering great client value. This also recognises her evolution from strong client leadership to business leadership,” said Madison Media & OOH, partner & Group CEO, Vikram Sakhuja.

    Speaking on her new role, Ramkrishna shared, “Elevation is the highest form of recognition to one’s ability and contribution to their organisation and I feel honored to be working for a company like Madison that believes in my capability to take on this role. I look forward to strengthening our client relationships by driving their business outcomes to create new milestones within Madison and the industry.”

  • Digital will not checkmate television anytime soon, says Madison Media’s Vikram Sakhuja

    Digital will not checkmate television anytime soon, says Madison Media’s Vikram Sakhuja

    New Delhi: Despite facing a tough competition from digital, Television will continue to remain the preferred option for viewers and brands, said Madison Media and OOH, Group CEO, Vikram Sakhuja, highlighting that TV gives rise to ‘tribal moments’ which digital cannot handle.

    “While penetration of digital is very high, it is difficult to get a high amount of reach in a single show. Any advertiser for reach still needs TV. By that token, reach build-up on TV will always be the preferred option,” he said while speaking to Governance Now MD Kailashnath Adhikari during the live telecast of the Visionary Talk series held by the public policy and governance analysis platform.

    The industry veteran said that today digital is 30 per cent of AdEx and TV is close to 40 per cent. Within digital, video which really threatens TV is only 5 per cent of Ad Ex and forms a very small part.

    Secondly, Sakhuja said that TV gives rise to ‘tribal moments’. He gave the example of live sports and said if people can watch it on big screen TV at night, why would they watch it on the phone when they are at home at night. “These are tribal moments very difficult for digital to handle,” he said. “Digital has to come out with its tribal moments for advertising to really see if it has checkmated TV. Digital is a very powerful force but has it checkmated TV? Absolutely not.”

    According to Sakhuja, YouTube will form the base of the video plan in near future and the share of OTT will go up. “With agencies and marketers getting evolved in their video planning more OTT’s will supplement YouTube,” he said, adding that lack of verified data on OTT is a drawback but most responsible agencies are doing seamless TV and video planning.

    Responding to the question, if Ad Ex will rebound to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, the advertising veteran said, “At present, we stand on a good level versus the first half of 2019. The second half will depend on if a third wave will happen or if there will be another disruption. If everything goes well our estimates will hold good. I am writing off estimates yet.” 

  • Madison Media wins 23 new businesses in FY 2020-21

    Madison Media wins 23 new businesses in FY 2020-21

    Mumbai: Madison Media has created a record by winning 23 new accounts in a financial year, the agency said in a press statement. Amidst the nationwide lockdown and work-from-home, the new business wins amounted to a billing of $211 million as per Convergence New Business Report published in March 2021.

    The agency bagged the accounts of various firms, including Abbott Nutrition, RSPL Group, RSH Global – Joy Cosmetics, Welspun, Indira IVF, Licious, Weikfield, M3M India, Liebherr, Educational Testing Service (ETS), Aliens Group, Wonder Masala, Vijay Bhoomi, Practo, Gold Drop Oil, NextGen Software, McDonald’s integrated performance, Dhani Loans, Atomberg, Alchem Industries, Sunpure Oil, PAPA Brands, amongst others.

    Madison Media OOH partner & group CEO Vikram Sakhuja said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going. As the pandemic impacted advertising spends profoundly we saw an opportunity to establish the link between media and marketing outcomes and doubled down on our pitch efforts. The result – 23 wins! I am overwhelmed by the teamwork, spirit, and smarts of our Madison family.”

    The home-grown agency also received a top score of A+ in the Comp Pitches Report for 2020 by Recma.

    Meanwhile, it also continues to handle media planning and buying for blue chip clients like Godrej, Marico, Asian Paints, Titan, Tata Consumer Products, Blue Star, TVS, Raymond, Viacom 18, Ceat, Pidilite, Bajaj Electricals, McDonald’s, Lodha, gaana.com, and many others.

    Madison Media is part of Madison World, India’s largest homegrown communication agency established in 1988. Madison World through its 11 units served last year, as many as 500 Advertisers.

  • Vishal Chinchankar tapped as CEO of Madison’s Digital & Media Ultra units

    Vishal Chinchankar tapped as CEO of Madison’s Digital & Media Ultra units

    MUMBAI: Madison Media has promoted its chief digital officer Vishal Chinchankar to CEO at Madison Digital and Madison Media Ultra.

    Chinchankar has been involved in shaping the digital arm of Madison Digital since his appointment at Madison Media in 2017. In addition, he has also been given the responsibility to drive a few integrated mandates under Madison Media Ultra, the unit that handles Marico, Atomberg, amongst other businesses. He will continue to be a part of the agency’s Exco and strengthen its value proposition under his leadership.

    With over 22 years of experience in domestic and international markets, Chinchankar has worked across marketing services and business development involving both start-up and growth organisations.

    Madison Media & OOH partner and group CEO Vikram Sakhuja said, “Vishal has been an exceptional leader. His clarity of vision and relentless passion has put Madison Digital right on top over these past three+ years. In addition to strong domain expertise, he has also been highly successful in building the business. As a natural evolution it is only fitting that in addition to leading the agency’s overall digital agenda, he also runs the whole media business of Madison Ultra. I wish Vishal all the best, in building a world class practice for Madison.”

    Chinchankar said, “I am absolutely excited with this opportunity. Clearly, the work done at Madison Digital has been exceptional and completely on the back of an extremely talented team. We’re determined to work towards making Madison Digital bigger and better than it already is, while keeping clients and the Madison values at the core of our work.”