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Tag: WPP

  • 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.”

  • WPP’s Data Alliance expands with India launch

    WPP’s Data Alliance expands with India launch

    MUMBAI: WPP has launched Data Alliance in India with an aim to enhance data-driven solutions and activate e-commerce, mobile, and social data strategies. The Mumbai based operation will draw upon expertise from WPP’s global network to India to harness unique data sets. The focus is to accelerate development and enhancement of data-driven solutions while activating e-commerce, mobile and social data strategies in India. India is the first market to launch Data Alliance in the Asia-Pacific region.

     

    WPP’s Data Alliance in India is supported by GroupM (Mindshare, Maxus, MEC, Mediacom, Motivator, Xaxis and Madhouse), Kantar (IMRB, Millward Brown, TNS and Worldpanel), Wunderman and Ogilvy. Collectively, these companies will partner on projects to enhance the use of data across WPP solutions increasing speed, cross-fertilization and decreasing costs in this strategic market.

     

    This launch is part of a campaign in WPP for “data horizontality” – the ability to better leverage WPP’s people, data and technology across the globe and replicates models in United States, United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

     

    “Data Alliance has successfully implemented ‘data horizontality’ by helping WPP companies access and leverage data creatively and optimally across multiple verticals and geographies, Growing in India is an exciting opportunity for WPP to scale enterprise data assets and partnerships for e-commerce, mobile and social data-driven marketing,” said Data Alliance director of global partnerships Anas Ghazi.

     

    “We are thrilled to help bring Data Alliance to India. Data is forming the foundation layer of smarter decision making and with strong emergence of digital channels data is becoming an increasingly critical part of the conversation with our clients. Data Alliance is a powerful way to help us shape the market and provide competitive advantage to all our clients across a very broad range of data requirements,” said GroupM South Asia chief strategy officer Tushar Vyas.

     

    “There is a tremendous opportunity for Wunderman in India to work with Data Alliance to bring a much richer set of data into everything we do for clients, from generating insights to targeting our work, to measuring results,” said Wunderman Global CEO Mark Read.

     

    “In today’s complex environment we need to deliver consumer understanding from multiple lenses to our clients, Data Alliance offers the ability to leverage diverse datasets for rich insights across multiple data sources to better understand motivations behind consumer behavior to help clients transform consumer insight into business impact,” added Kantar Group’s IMRB International senior vice president Hemant Mehta.

     

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  • Martin Sorrell unveils WPP’s big ticket plans in India

    Martin Sorrell unveils WPP’s big ticket plans in India

    MUMBAI: After recently having met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York at the CEOs’ Roundtable Conference, WPP CEO Martin Sorrell is in India and has unveiled some major plans.

    DATA ALLIANCE INDIA LAUNCH

    In the first of four separate announcements, WPP has launched Data Alliance in India with an aim to enhance data-driven solutions and activate e-commerce, mobile, and social data strategies. The Mumbai based operation will draw upon expertise from WPP’s global network to India to harness unique data sets. The focus is to accelerate development and enhancement of data-driven solutions while activating e-commerce, mobile and social data strategies in India. India is the first market to launch Data Alliance in the Asia-Pacific region.

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    GEOMETRY GLOBAL | ENCOMPASS NETWORK

    Additionally, WPP has also formed India’s largest experiential marketing network – Geometry Global | Encompass Network (GGEN), which is a result of the collaboration between the two experiential marketing companies – India’s Encompass headed by Roshan Abbas and experiential marketing company Geometry Global. With over 400 employees in Mumbai and Delhi, the Geometry Global | Encompass Network specializes in shopper marketing, rural marketing, large-scale events and exhibitions, urban consumer marketing, digital activation and field marketing.

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    RS 33 CRORE CSR INITIATIVE

    Sorrell also launched WPP India Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Foundation and has partnered with Genesis Foundation, Hope for Children and Magic Bus for the same. The WPP India CSR Foundation will be launching a Rs 33 crore ($ 5 million) education, life skills and vocational training programme targeted to reach 20,000 children aged from 11 to 18 years over the next three years.

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    ISDI | WPP SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION LAUNCHED

    As was previously reported by Indiantelevision.com, WPP has partnered with the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI) for its foray into the Indian education sector. Under this alliance, the two have launched the ISDI WPP School of Communication, which was inaugurated by Sorrell in Mumbai.

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  • Viacom Asia ropes in WPP’s Added Value finance director Lee Shin Yng as CFO

    Viacom Asia ropes in WPP’s Added Value finance director Lee Shin Yng as CFO

    MUMBAI: Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Asia has appointed Lee Shin Yng as chief financial officer (CFO).

     

    In this position, Yng will be based in Singapore, and reports directly to VIMN Asia COO Tan Chee Kiat.

     

    With 16 years of accounting and finance experience, Yng was mostly recently the finance director for Greater China at Added Value Limited, a part of the WPP Group.

     

    She will drive Asia’s financial strategies and performance and will be responsible for the company’s financial reporting and planning. Yng will also serve as a business partner to VIMN Asia EVP and MD Mark Whitehead and Kiat, providing financial guidance and counsel on the company’s strategic direction.

     

    “Shin Yng’s extensive regional experience and acute financial acumen provide her with a deep understanding of the Asian markets we operate in, making her well prepared to take up this important leadership of Asia’s financial operations,” said Kiat. “I am confident she will help build upon the strong progress we have made over the past year, to help make many contributions to further VIMN Asia’s success in the future.”

     

    Prior to Added Value Limited, she spent seven years with the Reed Elsevier Group where she last served as the finance director for Greater China in the LexisNexis division of the Group. Her previous assignments included holding office as the financial controller for China within the same division and as the business controller for Asia Pacific and Japan in the Elsevier division.

     

    She previously held roles in public listed companies such as Neptune Orient Line Ltd and United Overseas Bank.

  • WPP’s tenthavenue & Ozonetel partner to strengthen mobile marketing platform

    WPP’s tenthavenue & Ozonetel partner to strengthen mobile marketing platform

    MUMBAI: WPP’s tenthavenue and Ozonetel have inked a partnership to strengthen developing market mobile marketing platform – Electra.

     

    The new tenthavenue and Ozonetel partnership sees the development of new features and improved capabilities on top of the existing Electra platform – a single technology stack through which advertisers can deliver mobile asset formats through USSD, SMS, Interactive Voice Response and compressed video routes across 150 countries.

    Combining the Electra platform capabilities with Ozonetel technology means that brands can utilise enhanced mobile marketing capabilities including:

     

    ·  Measurement of consumer behaviour and engagement levels in real time for a more comprehensive understanding of what content will work

    ·  Consolidation and delivery of value exchange mechanisms, such as mobile airtime and talk-time top-ups to consumers

    ·  The delivery of personalised content and messaging to the consumer through an advanced logic engine

    ·  Multiple enterprise communication models to scale the offering to across all brands and categories of a company

     

    The deal will also allow tenthavenue to integrate new messaging pipes to work with Electra to create new media distribution products moving forward.

    Tenthavenue CEO for Emerging Markets Sudipto Roy said, “According to Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends report, there are still 3.12 billion feature phones globally and yet most technologies focus on an in-app advertising based eco-system for mobile. It’s for this reason, combined with the emergence of smartphone ad-blocking technologies, that there is a stronger demand for device ubiquitous mobile formats and subsequently a gap in the market for a platform that can do this at scale (with robust data, content optimisation capabilities and measurement). We are resolving that gap by improving Electra and embedding it with the ability to drive ‘value exchanges’ with the consumer, taking them a few steps closer to actual sales and loyalty than traditional approaches do.”

     

    Ozonetel growth advisor Anurag Banerjee added, “We are a product centric company, much like Hubspot and our solutions enable hundreds of companies to manage personalised communications with their customers. We are excited to now extend this support to WPP clients.”

     

    Tenthavenue global CEO Rupert Day said, “This deal is an incredible leap forward for brands operating in developing markets who understand the value in reaching consumers with optimal personalised content. The partnership with Ozonetel aligns with tenthavenue’s investment in TMARC in January 2014, the leading USSD mobile platform in South Africa. It reflects our vision of driving personalised communications of value to the consumer, and elevates the tenthavenue proposition across Asia, Africa and very soon, LatAm.”

    The Ozonetel technology platform underpins more than 1000 enterprise customers globally, providing clients with a single entry to connect with over four billion addressable connections through 226 telecom operators. Current clients include Unilever, Zomato and Big Basket.

  • GroupM to only work with partners using TAG anti-piracy services to stop ad fraud

    GroupM to only work with partners using TAG anti-piracy services to stop ad fraud

    MUMBAI: WPP’s GroupM will only work ad network partners who use the Trustworthy Accountability Group’s (TAG) anti-piracy guidelines. The agency has mandated that its media partners either become or use TAG-certified providers of anti-piracy services to participate in GroupM’s Trusted Marketplaces.

     

    GroupM’s media investments on behalf of clients are approximately $106 billion (RECMA 2014); the company’s action will make a significant impact on pirated content trafficking worldwide.

     

    “We’re in the business of giving the world’s most valuable brands marketing advantage with smart media strategies. This inherently means we’re vigilant for clients’ brand safety. Our work with TAG in the development and now full adoption of anti-piracy guidelines is a major leap forward. With IAB, 4As, and ANA, we’ve worked years to make the digital ecosystem more trustworthy. Fighting pirates of copyrighted content required every ounce of our tenacity and ingenuity, but with the advent of TAG’s Brand Integrity Program Against Piracy, we have powerful new tools and safeguards,” said GroupM Connect, North America chairman and TAG Anti-Piracy Working Group co-chair John Montgomery.

     

    Announced in February 2015, TAG’s anti-piracy program helps prevent ad placement on websites that facilitate distribution of pirated content and/or the illegal dissemination of counterfeit goods. Through the program, providers of anti-piracy tools and services will be validated as Digital Advertising Assurance Providers (DAAPs) by independent third-parties including Stroz Friedberg and Ernst & Young, working with TAG. To be validated, DAAP companies must show how they identify risky sites, prevent ad placement, disrupt site transactions, monitor and assess the safety of ad placements, and/or prevent payment to sites that are deemed likely to offer pirated content or counterfeit goods. The first validated DAAPs are expected to be named in Q3 2015, and GroupM will require that all of its partners receive such validation by Q1 2016.

     

    “It’s very gratifying to have the world’s largest media buyer commit to the TAG program for itself and its partners. Major marketers want to protect their brands from being placed on sites that are associated with criminal activity. TAG is building the trusted marketplace for buying and selling inventory in the digital supply chain,” said TAG CEO Mike Zaneis.

     

    A report from the Digital Citizens’ Alliance estimated that pirate content sites made more than $200 million in 2014 from advertising placed inadvertently on those sites, damaging copyright holders across music, movies, TV, books, games and more. Advertisers whose brands inadvertently appear on such sites suffer reputational harm. In addition, consumers that visit these sites are made to believe the content is legitimate due to the presence of brands they recognise and are often damaged by malware or other malicious code that infects their computers.

     

    The Brand Integrity Against Piracy Program has also been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), CreativeFuture, and Copyright Alliance, among a number of other advertising industry groups and companies.

     

    “We applaud GroupM’s leadership and commitment to enhancing trust and transparency in the digital marketplace. As a premium content provider and a digital advertiser, NBCUniversal is committed to protecting its brand from appearing on illegitimate sites and stemming the flow of ad dollars to pirate site operators. We encourage the entire market to follow GroupM’s lead,” said NBCUniversal EVP of business operations and strategies and TAG board member Krishan Bhatia.

  • Ogilvy acquires majority stake in Brazilian marketing agency Jüssi

    Ogilvy acquires majority stake in Brazilian marketing agency Jüssi

    MUMBAI: WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Ogilvy has acquired a majority stake of Jüssi Intention Marketing Ltd, an online performance, programmatic and conversion marketing agency in Brazil.
     

    Jüssi’s clients include Allianz Global Assistance & Corporate, Amazon, Decathlon, FNAC, Google, LinkedIn and Terra. Founded in 2010, the company employs 120 people and is based in S?o Paulo. Jüssi will be part of the Ogilvy Group in Brazil (Ogilvy & Mather, David Agency, Nine, Etco and Foster) and will continue to operate under the Jüssi name. 

     

     

    This investment continues WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growing sectors such as digital and its commitment to developing its strategic networks throughout Latin America, while bolstering the Group’s leadership position in Brazil.

     

    In Brazil, the Group (including associates and investments) generates revenues of around $600 million and employs over 7,000 people

  • EMVIES 2015: Mindshare named agency of the year

    EMVIES 2015: Mindshare named agency of the year

    MUMBAI: The battle between siblings in EMVIES 2015 was as one sided as the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium where Serena Williams overpowered sister Venus rather easily. WPP’s media agencies Mindshare and Maxus both were neck in neck in the initial stages but eventually Mindshare won the agency of the year award with 30 metals (5 Gold, 8 Silver, 17 Bronze) and 240 points.

    At the end of the tally, Maxus was spotted at the third slot with 19 metals (6 Gold, 4 Silver, 9 Bronze) and 175 points. Sam Balsara’s Madison Media bagged the second spot with 21 metals (6 Gold, 6 Silver, 9 Bronze) and 195 points.

    With 4 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze in its kitty, Tata Sky won the client of the year award at EMVIES 2015. In the second spot stood, Procter and Gamble (P&G) with 4 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze statuettes, while Marico captured the third slot with 3 Gold, 2 Silver, and 3 Bronze metals.

  • India’s Top 50 brands are worth $92.2 billion: BrandZ report

    India’s Top 50 brands are worth $92.2 billion: BrandZ report

    MUMBAI:  On the back of government’s efforts to create a more conducive business environment and brands’ successful response to the rising sense of empowerment among Indian consumers, India’s top 50 brands are now worth $92.2 billion from just under $70 billion in 2014. The finding comes from the second annual BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands report released by WPP and Millward Brown.

     

    The report also indicates that the total value of India’s strongest brands has risen by a third (33 per cent) over the last year. This is the highest rate of growth achieved by any BrandZ ranking in the 10 years, exceeding that of the Global Top 100 as well as the rankings for China, Latin America and Indonesia.

    “The 2015 study shows that India is a market of great opportunities where consumers are feeling empowered, and this is increasingly reflected in their brand choices. The new Modi government is committed to creating an environment in which brands can flourish. Any brand intending to compete in India must gain deep insights into its nuances – such as the need to modernise while respecting the past, and the desire to remain fundamentally Indian,” said WPP’s The Store CEO David Roth.

    Millward Brown south Asia managing director Prasun Basu states that even with this growth there is no room for complacence.  “The top four had to grow their value by 37 per cent on average to hold on to the same positions as last year, and close to 10 per cent of the brands that made the Top 50 in 2014 have dropped out,” he pointed out.

     

    “To benefit from the continuing rise in consumer confidence and optimism brands need to understand the changing consumer, respond with innovative products and breakthrough communication, and experiment and invest in new media that reflect the spirit of the country today,” he added.

    Brands in the financial sector (+49 per cent growth) made the largest contribution to the overall increase in value, but significant lifts were also seen across most other sectors. Home and personal care brands achieved a combined increase of 32 per cent, followed by the auto aftermarket sector (28 per cent), automobile brands (27 per cent) and telecom providers (21 per cent).

    52 per cent of the brands in the Top 50 are privately-owned, evidence of India’s entrepreneurial energy. 30 per cent of the brands are owned by multinationals, which have successfully adapted to the needs of Indian consumers, becoming so embedded in their lives that they are perceived as ‘local’.

    Key highlights of the 2015 BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands study are as follows:

     

    .   Financial brands dominate: With 13 brands in the Top 50 accounting for 41 per cent of its value  the financial sector has built brand strength by making a consistent effort to serve consumers better. Biggest risers: Union Bank of India (no.46, +72 per cent), Punjab National Bank (no.22, +61 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (no.13, +46 per cent).

     

    .   Home and personal care brands grew 32 per cent: Thanks to increased disposable income and spending on premium products and investment by marketers across traditional and new media. These 12 brands hold 15 per cent ($13.4 billion) of the ranking’s total brand value. Fastest risers: Lakme (no.44, +69 per cent), Lifebuoy (no.31, +49 per cent) and Colgate (no.26, +44 per cent).

     

    .   Brands with a purpose:  Indian consumers expect brands to actively participate in building a better society, and those that do have a higher brand value. Examples include Lifebuoy (no.31)  and Asian Paints (no.5) .  

     

    .   The trust factor:  In stark contrast with other markets, trust in brands is growing steadily. 33 per cent of Indian consumers say they trust brands. Among the most trusted are jeweller Tanishq (no.21) and Colgate.

     

    .   New entrants: Axis Bank, Canara Bank, MRF (tyres) and Royal Enfield are of Indian origin. The three are privately owned, and one is an SOE.

     

    .   Disruption is on the horizon – from e-commerce and mobile brands that are building scale and connecting with consumers at a frenetic pace. These are not yet eligible to be ranked in the Top 50 because they are not publicly traded.

     

    .   The BrandZ India Top 50 outperforms sensex. It has a weighted index of 30 stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange, showing how valuable brands deliver superior returns. A stock portfolio comprised the Top 50 increased their share value 18.6 per cent between August 2014 and July 2015, while India’s sensex index increased only 1.5 per cent. The ROI produced by the BrandZ portfolio was over 12 times greater.

  • Mullen Lowe Lintas Group hires Sriharsh Grandhe to head LinEngage

    Mullen Lowe Lintas Group hires Sriharsh Grandhe to head LinEngage

    MUMBAI: LinEngage, the experiential marketing and activation arm of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, has appointed Sriharsh Grandhe as executive vice president based in Mumbai. 

    Grandhe will report to Mullen Lowe Lintas Group CMO and president – group marketing services Vikas Mehta.

     

    Prior to joining LinEngage, Grandhe was with the WPP firm, Possible Worldwide Singapore as the engagement director. At Possible, Grandhe was managing the global rollout of Standard Chartered’s Responsive Website, a first in the Banking domain across 55 countries in APAC, EMEA & Americas.

     

    Mehta said, “Our ambition for LinEngage is to make consumer engagement an essential part of a brand’s narrative. A lot more innovation is possible in the area of creating meaningful consumer experiences. Under Harsh’s leadership, we are keen to make strides in strengthening this practice in an industry that’s largely driven by tactical activations.”

     

    LinEngage offers specialist brand engagement expertise to a host of clients in India. Apart from its focus on the urban pockets, it boasts of a bespoke rural offering – LinTerland. The motive is to help clients capitalise on the consumer-engagement opportunities in heartland India. Both the urban and rural offerings of LinEngage have been growing steadily over the past few months with host of new business wins. Notable clients include Johnson & Johnson, Franke Faber, Bayer, UltraTech, Castrol, ICICI Prudential and Byju’s  to name a few. His remit will be to evangelise the experiential marketing practice for the group and further expand the portfolio.

     

    Grandhe added, “The strong lineage of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group is no secret. India is at an exciting phase of development and the agency is experiencing both momentum and growth. LinEngage is in a sweet spot right now with only one direction to go – upwards.”