ITV

Tag: WPP

  • Grey acquires majority stake in German digital media agency

    MUMBAI: WPP’s global marketing communication agency, Grey, has acquired a majority stake in the German-based digital media agency, k102 GmbH.

    Founded in 2006 by Lars Moltrecht and Jan Guntner, Dusseldorf-based k102 has worked alongside Grey since January 2010.

    The key clients of k102 include Deichmann, Transparo, MBT, Gard and Toshiba.

    k102‘s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were approximately EUR 1.3 million with gross assets as at the same date of approximately EUR 1.2 million, an official statement read.

    This new investment is in line with WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets and sectors and strengthening its digital capabilities.

    WPP‘s digital revenues totalled $4.8 billion in 2011, representing approximately 30 per cent of the group’s total revenues of over $16 billion.

    WPP has set a target of 35-40 per cent of revenue to be derived from digital in the next five years. Collectively, WPP companies in Germany employ around 7,000 people (including associates) with revenues of approximately $1.3 billion. On this basis, Germany is WPP‘s fourth largest market after the US, UK and China.

  • NY court orders NDTV to file revised lawsuit; WPP, Nielsen dismissal motions to be heard on 14 Dec

    MUMBAI: After a ding-dong battle between news broadcaster NDTV and global advertising major WPP, there is finally something one gets to hear from the New York Supreme Court which will decide the outcome of the legal dispute.

    The New York Supreme Court has ordered New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) to file and serve its amended complaint (lawsuit) against television ratings provider TAM Media Research, its owners Nielsen and Kantar and their associate companies by 5 October 2012.

    The court order follows a court-conducted conference call on 31 August between counsels for NDTV, WPP and Kantar (the defendants who have filed for dismissal of the lawsuit filed on July 26), and Nielsen.

    The conference call was held pursuant to a letter application by NDTV requesting a conference with the court to set forth an appropriate schedule for the motions to dismiss by WPP, the intended motions to dismiss to be filed by the Nielsen defendants and the intended amended complaint to be filed by NDTV.

    During the conference call, counsel for NDTV indicated that the broadcaster will investigate whether or not Kantar, IMRB and JWT (WPP group companies) have been improperly named in its lawsuit, as per the claim made by WPP in its petition to dismiss the lawsuit.

    NDTV has filed the lawsuit alleging that TAM and its owners knowingly allowed manipulation of ratings data to favour channels that offered bribes. In response to this, WPP which owns half of TAM through its companies Kantar and Cavendish B V, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds of invalid jurisdiction on 28 August.

    The dismissal motions of both Nielsen and WPP groups will be heard on 14 December 2012.

    Having considered all of the papers and arguments regarding the scheduling disputes, the New York court ordered that:

    1. NDTV file and serve its Amended Complaint on or before October 5, 2012, via electronic filing.

    2. The Moving Defendants file and serve their supplemental motion papers responding to the Amended Complaint, if any, on or before October 19, 2012, via electronic filing.

    3. The Nielsen Defendants file and serve the Nielsen Motions to Dismiss on or before October 19, 2012, via electronic filing.

    4. NDTV file and serve its opposition papers to the Motions to Dismiss and the Nielsen Motions to Dismiss on or before November 16, 2012, via electronic filing.

    5. The Moving Defendants file and serve their reply papers regarding the Motions to Dismiss on or before December 7, 2012, via electronic filing.

    6. The Nielsen Defendants file and serve their reply papers regarding the Nielsen Motions to Dismiss on or before December 7, 2012, via electronic filing.

    7. The return date for the Motions to Dismiss is adjourned until December 14, 2012.

    8. The return date for the Nielsen Motions to Dismiss shall be December 14, 2012.

  • WPP broadens digital network in Indonesia with PT Wunderman Pamungkas

    MUMBAI: WPP‘s wholly-owned global digital and relationship marketing network Wunderman has launched PT Wunderman Pamungkas Indonesia.

    The agency will be partnering Rahadian Nugraha Agung and Tommy Prastowo for the launch of the new entity. Wunderman will merge its existing digital team and client portfolio into the new entity.

    Nugraha Agung and Prastowo have experience in digital marketing from a range of digital agencies in Indonesia and will serve as head of planning and strategy and general manager respectively.

    PT Wunderman Pamungkas Indonesia will function as full service digital marketing solutions to global and local brands and is located in Jakarta.

    This investment is a further step towards WPP‘s declared goal of developing its businesses in the fast growing economies of Asia Pacific, as well as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe. Collectively, the Group, including associates, employs more than 46,000 people in the Asia Pacific region, generating revenues of $4.7 billion. In Indonesia, the Group, including associates, employs 1,300 people with revenues of over $80 million.

  • WPP forms Red Fuse to handle Colgate-Palmolive’s $1.26 bn global account

    MUMBAI: WPP‘s five agencies, which separately service Colgate-Palmolive, are combining under one operating unit to handle the world‘s 34th largest marketer with annual advertising spends of over $1.26 billion.

    Red Fuse Communications will house the dedicated team sourced from Y&R, MEC, VML, Wunderman and GHG so that the health and personal care brand can get holistic attention.

    WPP global managing partner (the current in charge of the Colgate account) Steve Forcione will function as the CEO for Red Fuse.

    Says Colgate VP global advertising and digital Jack Haber, “The move to Red Fuse will allow us to focus more of our agency resources on strategy and creative. At the same time, we will be able to invest in the new areas of expertise that are now required for our campaigns to delight our consumers.”

    Red Fuse will have operating offices in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Kansas City and Prague for the time being and will expand to cover all geographies by mid-2013.

    “WPP is merging resources from across its premiere networks into one fully dedicated and exclusive team to help Colgate win on the ground. The many excellent people who work on the account around the world are eager to move to the Red Fuse structure, so they can develop big, innovative campaigns in real time,” adds Haber.

    The objective of forming a dedicated unit is to fully integrate all communications to engage with consumers in real time across all touch-points and to drive efficiencies.

    Says Colgate CMO Nigel Burton, “It goes without saying that we already have a close-knit partnership with our agencies. But we are excited about Red Fuse because we believe that co-locating all the partners will lead to bigger ideas and better work created and executed smarter and faster.”

  • WPP financials steady in H1 2012

    WPP financials steady in H1 2012

    MUMBAI: London headquartered global media communications network WPP plc has reported a 5.5 per cent growth in revenues for the half year ended 30 June 2012. The revenues in the first half were ?4.927 billion, up from ?4.713 billion a year earlier.

    WPP‘s profit before interest and tax was ?570 million, which is a 10 per cent increase over ?518 million a year earlier.

    The first half of the year saw an estimated ?2.475 billion come in from new business while the total billing for H1 2012 was up by 1.2 per cent at ? 21.651 billion.

    Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe remained the strongest region, with revenues up 8.5 per cent from ?1.33 billion in the first half of H1 to ? 1.446 billion this year. Brazil, Russia, India and China were significant contributors to this figure. The region accounted for 29.1 per cent of the group‘s half yearly revenue.

    Advertising and media investment management (AMIM) contributed to 41.1 per cent of the group‘s revenue at ? 2.044 billion followed by branding and identity, healthcare and specialist communications (BI, HC and SC) at ? 1.278 billion (25.3 per cent).

    The revenue for the second quarter stood at ? 2.58 billion, which is 3.6 per cent higher than ? 2.49 billion for the first half of 2011. The APAC, Lat Am, Africa, Middle East and Western and Central Europe region together pitched in for 29.6 per cent of the group‘s total revenue in Q2 FY13 growing from ? 720 million in the second quarter of 2011 to ? 765 million in the corresponding quarter this year (up by 6.2 per cent).

    In Q2 FY13, AMIM contributed ? 1.071 billion (41.5 per cent) to the group‘s revenue followed by BI, HC and SC 25.3 per cent).

    In a statement released along with the results, WPP said, “The focus in 2012 will be revenue growth from leading position in faster growing geographic markets and digital, “horizontality”, premier parent company creative position, new business strength and strategically targeted acquisitions. We will also maintain continued emphasis on balancing revenue growth with headcount increases and improvement in staff costs/revenue ratio to enhance operating margins.”

    WPP said July 2012 revenues were up over 3 per cent like-for-like and showed a similar pattern to the second quarter, although the UK, Western Continental Europe, Africa & the Middle East and Latin America were ahead of the second quarter growth rates with the USA and Asia Pacific below. Cumulative like-for-like revenue growth for the first seven months of 2012 is now 3.5 per cent.

    The group‘s second quarter revised forecasts, having been reviewed at the parent company level in the first half of August, indicate very similar levels of like-for-like revenue growth for the year.

    According to the revised forecast, a slight reduction in like-for-like revenue growth from the first quarter revised forecast, with first and second half more balanced and headline operating margin target, as previously, of 14.8 per cent, up 0.5 margin points.

    In line with WPP‘s strategic focus on new markets, new media and consumer insight, the group completed 40 transactions in the first half of 2012 — 20 acquisitions and investments were in new markets (of which 14 were in new media), 13 in consumer insight, including data analytics and the application of technology, with the balance of 7 driven by individual client or agency needs.

  • WPP, Group firms file for dismissal of NDTV lawsuit against them

    WPP, Group firms file for dismissal of NDTV lawsuit against them

    MUMBAI: Global communications conglomerate WPP Plc and its group companies have filed an application for dismissal of New Delhi Television Ltd‘s (NDTV) lawsuit against them in the New York Supreme Court over corruption in television ratings system in India.

    Nielsen group companies and TAM Media Research are not party to the dismissal application.

    Law firm Davis & Gilbert LLP has filed the dismissal application on behalf of WPP, Kantar Market Research Services Pvt Ltd, IMRB International, Cavendish Square Holding BV and J Walter Thompson.

    NDTV filed its lawsuit on 26 July accusing 31 entities, including TAM, Nielsen, Kantar and their officials, of knowingly allowing continuation of manipulation of television viewership data in favour of broadcasters willing to pay bribes to its officials or representatives.

    WPP owns half of TAM in India through its subsidiaries – Kantar and Cavendish, and the other half of TAM is owned by The Nielsen Company.

    The title of the application filed by WPP group reads “Memorandum of Law In Support Of Moving Defendants’ Motion To Dismiss The Complaint In Its Entirety As Against Them”. WPP and its group companies are the moving defendants, which means defendants who have moved the application.

    WPP has cited the following grounds for dismissal of the NDTV lawsuit:

    • The complaint must be dismissed for insufficient service on the moving defendants. It also said that the New York court lacks personal jurisdiction over Kantar India as it does not maintain an office in New York and neither does Kantar India do business in New York.
    • The dismissal petition says that the complaint must be dismissed on grounds of forum non coveniens. WPP argued that neither New Delhi TV nor the moving defendants are residents of New York and the situs of the transaction points to India as the only appropriate forum for this dispute. It stressed in its petition that India is an available, appropriate forum for this Indian dispute and added that action will impose a substantial burden on this New York court and defending this action in New York will impose a severe burden on moving defendants.
    • The media agency network also pointed out in the dismissal petition that NDTV has failed to allege facts sufficient to pierce the corporate veil. The motion explains, “The concept of piercing the corporate veil is a limitation on the accepted principles that a corporation exists independently of its owners, as a separate legal entity, that the owners are normally not liable for the debts of the corporation, and that it is perfectly legal to incorporate for the express purpose of limiting the liability of the corporate owners.” It further explains that in order to depart from these accepted principles and pierce the corporate veil to hold the owners of a corporation liable for the corporation‘s conduct, a Plaintiff must allege facts establishing “(1) the owners exercised complete domination of the corporation in respect to the transaction attacked; and (2) that such domination was used to commit a fraud or wrong against the plaintiff which resulted in plaintiffs injury.”

    WPP has also claimed in the dismissal petition that each and every cause of action against Kantar India, WPP, Cavendish, JWT AND IMRB is not adequately pleaded and, therefore, must be dismissed.

    The petition also points out that in the lawsuit filed by NDTV, many of the companies have been improperly named. “Kantar Market Research Services Pvt. Ltd. (improperly sued as Kantar Media Research Pvt. Ltd.) (“Kantar India”), IMRB International, a division of Hindustan Thompson Associates Private Limited (improperly sued as IMRB International) (“IMRB”), Cavendish Square Holding BV (“Cavendish”), J. Walter Thompson (although no such entity exists and no proper J. Walter Thompson entity has any connection to the facts alleged in the Complaint) (“JWT”) and WPP plc (“WPP”) (which also has no connection to the facts alleged in the Complaint) (collectively),” said the petition.

    Before the filing of the dismissal application, WPP on 22 August started a war of words with NDTV through media statements. In the first statement WPP said, “In any event, there is no merit, whatsoever, in any of the claims made in the hypothetical Law Suit relating to the WPP Parties, nor do the courts of New York have any jurisdiction to hear any such claims.”

    TAM India and Nielsen have so far not reacted to the filing of the lawsuit by NDTV.

    In its lawsuit, NDTV said after countless efforts to resolve with TAM the issue of corruptionin ratings system, for many years prior to 2012, to no avail, in January 2012, NDTV complained directly to David Calhoun, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nielsen, about the serious defects in the Nielsen Process, as applied to the Indian market.

    Following NDTV’s complaint in January 2012 to Calhoun, senior officials from Nielsen and Kantar attended several meetings with NDTV in January, February and April of 2012 and have made decisions as well as provided (which NDTV says have now known to be false) assurances to NDTV.

    NDTV’s lawsuit said senior Kantar officials such as Eric Salama, CEO worldwide, and senior Nielsen officers such as Paul Donato, Global Head of Research and Measurement and Science, Robert Messemer, Global Head of Security and Piyush Mathur, President, India Region, have been directly and actively engaged in initiating and leading the investigations within TAM in India as well as from the US where Nielsen and Kantar have ordered forensic examinations of IT Systems of TAM officers.

    Nielsen and Kantar personnel dominated these meetings, rendering all key decisions affecting TAM’s future course of conduct, and making it abundantly clear to NDTV that Nielsen and Kantar were in total control over TAM’s operations, the lawsuit pointed out.

    It further stated that Nielsen entities such as the “The Nielsen Company” based in the United States and senior officers at Nielsen including the Global Head of Nielsen Research Services Paul Donato and Chief Security officer Robert Messemer have, on behalf of Nielsen, witnessed and in Messemer’s case, additionally provided contractual assurances to whistle blowers in India who provided evidence of manipulation and corruption within TAM in India.

  • NDTV seeks clear answers, asks WPP to stop obfuscating real issues

    NDTV seeks clear answers, asks WPP to stop obfuscating real issues

    MUMBAI: In typical NDTV reportage style, the news broadcaster has fired a fresh salvo at Sir Martin Sorrell seeking answers from the CEO of global marketing communications agency WPP on issues that relate to corruption in televisions ratings in India.

    NDTV (New Delhi Television Ltd), which filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of New York on 26 July 2012 against TAM, Nielsen, Kantar and WPP, has sought to know why TAM has not stopped publishing its ratings from 1 July despite assurances by Thomas Puliyel, President IMRB International, a subsidiary of Kantar.

    TAM Media Research, which is owned equally by WPP (through its subsidiaries including Kantar) and Nielsen, is the only agency providing the television ratings service in India.

    The news broadcaster also sought to know if Sorrell was aware that Kantar CEO Eric Salama had apologised to NDTV at a meeting on 11 April 2012 after hearing Robert Messemer, head of security at Nielsen, admit to “severe corruption” in TAM system.

    The past few days have seen a ping pong match of accusations and clarifications between WPP and NDTV, after WPP first issued a statement on 22 August saying it is considering filing a defamation suit against NDTV and would also be moving the court in New York for dismissal of the NDTV lawsuit arguing India was the right jurisdiction for hearing the NDTV case.

    After WPP disclosed contents of emails written by NDTV’s Vikram Chandra and Eric Salama, NDTV on Monday evening issued another statement demanding answers from Martin Sorrell.

    Reproduced below is the statement from NDTV:

    NDTV ASKS FOR ANSWERS

    The past few days have been a master class in how to obfuscate the real issues behind the TAM ratings row.

    Sir Martin‘s large team has avoided answering the key questions we had asked. We‘d like to ask again if Sir Martin is aware of some of these facts. Here are just 6 of the real key questions:

    1. Is it true that on the 11th of April 2012, the head of security for Nielsen, Robert Messemer admitted to severe corruption in the TAM system? And that the head of research, Paul Donato admitted to other severe errors in TAM data and systems?

    2. Is it true that Nielsen and Kantar launched their own investigation in January this year, following which they witnessed and verified details about corruption in the system, including audio and video recordings, and statements from a whistleblower?

    3. Is it true that the CEO of Kantar, Eric Salama apologised to NDTV at the meeting on April 11, after hearing Mr. Messemer, and promised immediate action?

    4. Is it true that Sir Martin Sorrell was personally informed about the problems in August 2011, in the presence of several witnesses? What were the specific steps that were taken after this?

    5. Is it true that the flawed TAM data continues to be published, despite an assurance that it would be stopped on the 31st July?

    6. Is it true that other broadcasters and NDTV have been pointing to flaws in the TAM system for years? And that the News Broadcasters Association of India has now asked for TAM ratings to be suspended till issues are resolved?

    While it is true that NDTV has suffered extensive damages, we have consistently been focused on helping Nielsen, Kantar and TAM to fix their own systems.

    The issues with TAM ratings were first raised by NDTV eight years ago, when it was a clear undisputed number one even according to TAM.

    For several months this year, NDTV worked closely with the highest levels of Nielsen and Kantar, as they investigated their own TAM ratings system in India. We didn‘t breathe a word about it to the press. There was no talk of “financial settlement”. What we asked was that the TAM system be cleaned up.

    We first made the threat of legal action on June 4, after it became clear that no meaningful action was being taken. Finally, we had no choice but to file the lawsuit because it was felt there was no other way to secure real change in the TAM system.

    In our statement two days back we said NDTV‘s lawyers have made no approach for settlement after the lawsuit was filed and communicated. This is perfectly true. The email from NDTV CEO Vikram Chandra, which WPP has selectively quoted from, was in fact the communication of the lawsuit to Nielsen and Kantar. It was a lengthy mail containing details of the suit, the cause for
    damages and the reason why it was filed in the USA. As is routine in such communications, it also contained an invitation to talk, together with the attached lawsuit. Just as we have been working for a long period together with Nielsen, Kantar and TAM to repair their system in India.

    NDTV has no desire to get into a prolonged trial by media with WPP.

    Our key intent in all these years has been to secure the cleaning up of the TAM ratings system. That desire is clearly shared by just about every stakeholder in the Indian broadcasting sector, and we are deeply grateful for the extensive support that this demand has received.

    We would now urge WPP to avoid a further obfuscation of the real issues and to turn its attention to the basic facts that are contained in our lawsuit. (End of NDTV Statement)

    The news broadcaster‘s intent has been to extract solutions that would clean up the TV ratings system in India. And in this overriding concern, NDTV feels it has extensive support of the broadcasting sector in India.

    Also Read:

    The fight gets vengeful; WPP discloses Vikram Chandra‘s email

    NDTV-WPP spat gets ugly; NDTV reveals Kantar CEO’s email sought end to litigation

  • The fight gets vengeful; WPP discloses Vikram Chandra’s email

    The fight gets vengeful; WPP discloses Vikram Chandra’s email

    MUMBAI: It is a full-blown battle with both NDTV and WPP reacting with vengeance against each other. NDTV’s (New Delhi Television Ltd) lawsuit in the Supreme Court of New York accusing Nielsen, Kantar, TAM and WPP of knowingly allowing manipulation of TV viewership ratings in India in favour of channels which bribe TAM officials is at the centre of this acrimonious battle.

    On Saturday, NDTV revealed that it had received a mail from Kantar CEO Eric Salama on 8 August wherein he suggested halt to litigation. That was NDTV’s retaliation against London-based WPP CEO Martin Sorrell divulging to Indian media that the news broadcaster had proposed a settlement.

    The disclosure that Kantar CEO had written a mail to NDTV made WPP furious. WPP decided to strike back and disclosed the content of the mail sent by NDTV’s Vikram Chandra on 27 July, the day the lawsuit was filed, to Salama and also what exactly the Kantar CEO said in his 8 August mail. The WPP statement was email to journalists in India late Saturday night.

    This is what Vikram Chandra wrote to Eric Salama on 27 July 2012, according to WPP:

    “As you may know, our lawyers wrote to your representatives on June 4, 2012 proposing we meet in relation to disputes personally known to you since at least January 2012. ….Accordingly, our lawyers have now filed a Complaint, attached hereto. If we are compelled to litigate, each of our companies will spend tens of millions of dollars in legal fees. Before we proceed with costly litigation, I write to ask if you would like to meet so we can attempt in good faith to resolve our differences. We can meet in India, London or the US, along with our lawyers.”

    WPP says Kantar CEO Salama’s reply on 8 August was:

    “I am not copying anyone else on this note and it goes without saying that we will contest any papers which are served on us as we think that the allegations are without merit and we do not accept the damage which you allege. As we discussed in Delhi when we met, we have examined the evidence, investigated further and have proceeded to address the issue in the way we discussed. If you are prepared to call a halt to the proceedings, a meeting may be possible. If not, then at the moment I cannot see how a meeting will assist us. Let me know if you want to approach this issue pragmatically and draw a line under the litigation now, rather than spending money on lawyers to fight a long and costly forum dispute.”

    When contacted, the NDTV spokesperson said no immediate comment was available and it would require legal consultations before any response statement was made public.

    The mail NDTV‘s Chandra wrote to Kantar CEO was basically to communicate the filing of the lawsuit in the US a day before. It was a long email and in the process NDTV expressed its willingness to meet and talk even though it had taken legal recourse to settle issues it had against TAM ratings. The next communication was by Kantar CEO on 8 August, where he stated that a meeting to discuss the issues was possible only if NDTV was “prepared to call a halt to the (legal) proceedings”.

    Kantar CEO’s response was that he was willing to meet and talk, if NDTV withdrew the lawsuit. Kantar CEO’s reply also included an admission of the fact that the issues raised by NDTV had substance. Kantar CEO writing: “As we discussed in Delhi when we met, we have examined the evidence, investigated further and have proceeded to address the issue in the way we discussed.”

    TAM Media Research is an audience measurement (or television ratings) service provider in India. It has a monopoly with no rival agency providing the service. WPP is a global communications agency and owns half of TAM through its subsidiaries Kantar and Cavendish Square Holdings. The other half of TAM is owned by The Nielsen Company.

    WPP, annoyed at what it cited as trial by media over the NDTV lawsuit, started commenting on NDTV’s raising of questions about the authenticity of TAM television ratings. Martin Sorrell, the celebrated CEO of WPP, even spoke to Indian media against NDTV and became TAM’s face of the fight against NDTV. The other defendants named in the lawsuit have remained silent not willing to react in public.

    Reproduced below are the six points NDTV raised on Saturday and below each of them are WPP’s responses:

    NDTV: Sir Martin Sorrell knows better than all of us that the first rule of any PR campaign is never to get your facts wrong. Hence we can only conclude that Sir Martin Sorrell has been misled by his team into making several incorrect statements. Let us list some of the errors.

    But first, we request Sir Martin not to take India lightly. We request him to clean up his ratings operation in our country and to refrain from using his global PR clout to perpetuate corruption in his India ratings operation; to respect our country and the serious issues raised in our very real lawsuit (Sir Martin referring to it as “hypothetical” was bizarre) and take real steps to correct them. We, like all other Indian broadcasters, are happy to work together with Sir Martin to establish an honest, reliable and credible institution to measure ratings in India. This has not happened, despite repeated requests by us and promises made by Kantar and Nielsen.

    The first error: Sir Martin has alleged that NDTV‘s lawyers reached out to his lawyers to ask for a settlement. This is completely untrue. There was no such approach after the Complaint was filed and communicated. In fact, it was his own CEO, Eric Salama, the CEO of Kantar, a WPP company, who sent a confidential mail to NDTV on the 8th of August, suggesting a meeting if NDTV would “halt litigation”. A further mail exchange followed. NDTV has respected Mr Salama‘s confidentiality by not making this public till now- but Sir Martin would do well to check with his own senior executives before making baseless charges.

    WPP’s Response:

    The possibility of settlement meetings was raised by NDTV and no such meeting has been agreed, given NDTV‘s conduct. Vikram Chandra wrote to Eric Salama on 27 July 2012 to say: “As you may know, our lawyers wrote to your representatives on June 4, 2012 proposing we meet in relation to disputes personally known to you since at least January 2012. ….Accordingly, our lawyers have now filed a Complaint, attached hereto. If we are compelled to litigate, each of our companies will spend tens of millions of dollars in legal fees. Before we proceed with costly litigation, I write to ask if you would like to meet so we can attempt in good faith to resolve our differences. We can meet in India, London or the US, along with our lawyers. On 21 August his lawyers they said they had “put service on hold since Eric had told Vikram that there might be a meeting to try to resolve the case.”

    In fact Salama‘s reply was:

    “I am not copying anyone else on this note and it goes without saying that we will contest any papers which are served on us as we think that the allegations are without merit and we do not accept the damage which you allege. As we discussed in Delhi when we met, we have examined the evidence, investigated further and have proceeded to address the issue in the way we discussed. If you are prepared to call a halt to the proceedings, a meeting may be possible. If not, then at the moment I cannot see how a meeting will assist us. Let me know if you want to approach this issue pragmatically and draw a line under the litigation now, rather than spending money on lawyers to fight a long and costly forum dispute.”

    NDTV: The second error: The biggest accusation against Sir Martin‘s TAM rating system in India has come from Nielsen‘s own global head of security, Mr. Robert Messemer, not just from Indian broadcasters and NDTV. Mr. Messemer, formerly of the FBI, in a meeting in Delhi on 11th April, in front of two dozen people (including the CEO of Kantar), called Sir Martin‘s TAM India operations the most corrupt in the world — and he has been to many, many countries to fight fires for Nielsen. Sir Martin needs to check his facts with Mr. Messemer or would he perhaps threaten to sue him for defamation?

    WPP’s Response:

    This will be dealt with, presumably by Nielsen, in the proceedings. We are not going to engage in a trial by media, as we have repeatedly said. We are more than happy for this to be dealt with in the proper courts – in India – at which the evidence can be heard properly.

    NDTV: The third error: Sir Martin seems to have finally discovered that this is not a “hypothetical” lawsuit. It is available on the website of the Supreme Court of New York for his team to read if Sir Martin is busy. Strangely, Sir Martin contradicts himself by now applying to the New York court for dismissal of the real lawsuit, using a plea based on technicalities of jurisdiction. Sir Martin and his lawyers (presumably) are not refuting any facts; they are merely using legalistic technical grounds to challenge NDTV. Our request is for Sir Martin and his team to argue the substantive factual merits of the case, and demonstrate a desire to stop the bribery and corruption.

    As an aside, Sir Martin must know that his sudden outbursts have done even more to prove that jurisdiction is indeed in the US and not in India, as Sir Martin has openly acknowledged how deeply involved he and thus Nielsen ( his partner) are, in Indian TAM viewership ratings operations.

    WPP’s Response:

    It is hypothetical in that it may have been issued but there has no meaningful attempt to serve the lawsuit. Our view remains that this is an inappropriate “lawsuit” to issue. Its purpose is to provoke a settlement, not a real airing of the facts, as can be seen above . Our dismissal application, as NDTV and their lawyers know, is based not solely on jurisdiction but on a lack of a proper claim. To the extent there is a claim we will be delighted to have it dealt with by the proper court.

    We don‘t understand the aside, in any respect. We do not see how Sir Martin‘s statements on this case, which were not, for clarity, made from within the United States, confer any jurisdiction on the New York courts.

    NDTV: The fourth error: No amount of maliciously false and defamatory statements will work against our lawyers. Sir Martin‘s 10 billion pound global operations – for which we normally have great admiration – may indeed be able to hire the biggest and most famous legal names, but Sir Martin should know that the truth wins in the end – not lawyers. We leave it to our lawyers to respond to the allegations made against them.

    We may not have a 10 billion pund empire backing us, but WPP should realize that a court case is fought on the merits. We urge them to read the 194 page lawsuit, which contains indisputable facts, and respond to it on the factual merits, not with personal attacks.

    WPP’s Response:

    We do not understand how any comment about NDTV’s lawyers is defamatory or malicious. We will be happy to deal with this in due course.

    NDTV: The fifth error: Sir Martin keeps referring to NDTV‘s low market cap (vs. his 10 billion dollars). Size matters? We would like to point out that it is indeed near impossible for an honest Indian media company to function in the dishonest environment his company has helped create in India. If Sir Martin had a similar corrupt system in the UK or US, he wouldn‘t be where he is at the moment. Yes, if NDTV‘s true ratings were reflected as 62% (see attached evidence for this) rather than TAM‘s corrupted 25%, the impact on NDTV‘s revenues and market cap would be hugely significant. Sir Martin, or rather his team, knows that too. The details can be found in our (non-hypothetical) lawsuit.

    WPP’s Response:

    We do not think it is right, or fair, for NDTV to blame its poor financial performance on TAM data. Again, we will be happy to deal with this, at the appropriate time, in the correct forum.

    NDTV: The sixth error: Sir Martin said “We will do everything to improve the system but not with a gun to our head” In fact, Sir Martin Sorrell was personally informed about all the problems with TAM ratings at a meeting at The Oberoi Hotel in Gurgaon in August 2011, in the presence of a large number of media journalists and eminent people. That was a year ago, and there was no “gun to the head”. Why was nothing done?

    Finally, we would like to thank Sir Martin for respecting NDTV‘s editorial position. We are a fiercely independent Indian news operation and proud to be a leader in India. Sir Martin Sorrell has appeared on many occasions on our channels, which clearly shows a mutual respect (and perhaps an indicator that he actually recognizes that NDTV is larger than his TAM ratings suggest).

    WPP’s Response:

    As NDTV knows, very well, there has been a continuous process of improvements and investments by TAM, in the TAM process. It is not at all true to say “nothing was done”.

    The WPP statement concluded giving a background on WPP’s presence in India. It said India is one of WPP‘s fastest growth markets, with revenues of approximately $500 million including associates. The Group collectively employs around 12,000 people.

    Also Read:

    NDTV-WPP spat gets ugly; NDTV reveals Kantar CEO’s email sought end to litigation

  • NDTV-WPP spat gets ugly; NDTV reveals Kantar CEO’s email sought end to litigation

    MUMBAI: The NDTV-WPP spat took an ugly turn on Saturday. In an onslaught against WPP CEO Martin Sorrel’s tirade against NDTV for its lawsuit against TAM TV ratings, NDTV has disclosed that WPP-owned Kantar has, via an email on 8 August 2012, suggested the Indian news broadcaster bring an end to litigation.

    A fuming NDTV went on an offensive as Sorrel continued his tirade against the broadcaster saying WPP, its subsidiaries Kantar and TAM Media Research were being subjected to trial by the media at the behest of NDTV.

    WPP is a global communications agency and owns half of TAM Media Research in India through its subsidiaries, with the other half owned by The Nielsen Company. NDTV filed a lawsuit in the US on 31 July 2012 accusing Nielsen, Kantar, TAM and WPP of knowingly allowing manipulation of TV viewership ratings in favour of channels that are willing to provide bribes to its officials.

    NDTV has sought $810 million as compensation for the loss in revenues it has suffered over the years and $580 million in penalty for negligence by Nielsen and Kantar officials.

    NDTV, in a statement on Saturday, said it did not wish to make public the receipt of mail from Kantar CEO Eric Salama. The broadcaster said it was forced to do so after Sorrel was reported in a newspaper as saying that NDTV has asked for a settlement of the dispute.

    NDTV said the biggest accusation against Sir Martin‘s TAM rating system in India has come from Nielsen‘s own global head of security, Robert Messemer, not just from Indian broadcasters and NDTV.

    “Messemer, formerly of the FBI, in a meeting in Delhi on 11th April, in front of two dozen people (including the CEO of Kantar), called Sir Martin‘s TAM India operations the most corrupt in the world – and that he has been to many, many countries to fight fires for Nielsen. Sir Martin needs to check his facts with Messemer or would he perhaps threaten to sue him for defamation?”

    The following is the full text of NDTV’s statement that seek to point out the errors that Sorrell has committed:

    Sir Martin Sorrell knows better than all of us that the first rule of any PR campaign is never to get your facts wrong. Hence we can only conclude that Sir Martin Sorrell has been misled by his team into making several incorrect statements. Let us list some of the errors.

    But first, we request Sir Martin not to take India lightly. We request him to clean up his ratings operation in our country and to refrain from using his global PR clout to perpetuate corruption in his India ratings operation; to respect our country and the serious issues raised in our very real lawsuit (Sir Martin referring to it as “hypothetical” was bizarre) and take real steps to correct them. We, like all other Indian broadcasters, are happy to work together with Sir Martin to establish an honest, reliable and credible institution to measure ratings in India. This has not happened, despite repeated requests by us and promises made by Kantar and Nielsen.

    The first error: Sir Martin has alleged that NDTV‘s lawyers reached out to his lawyers to ask for a settlement. This is completely untrue. There was no such approach after the Complaint was filed and communicated. In fact, it was his own CEO, Eric Salama, the CEO of Kantar, a WPP company, who sent a confidential mail to NDTV on the 8th of August, suggesting a meeting if NDTV would “halt litigation”. A further mail exchange followed. NDTV has respected Mr Salama‘s confidentiality by not making this public till now- but Sir Martin would do well to check with his own senior executives before making baseless charges.

    The second error: The biggest accusation against Sir Martin‘s TAM rating system in India has come from Nielsen‘s own global head of security, Mr. Robert Messemer, not just from Indian broadcasters and NDTV. Mr. Messemer, formerly of the FBI, in a meeting in Delhi on 11th April, in front of two dozen people (including the CEO of Kantar), called Sir Martin‘s TAM India operations the most corrupt in the world — and he has been to many, many countries to fight fires for Nielsen. Sir Martin needs to check his facts with Mr. Messemer or would he perhaps threaten to sue him for defamation?

    The third error: Sir Martin seems to have finally discovered that this is not a “hypothetical” lawsuit. It is available on the website of the Supreme Court of New York for his team to read if Sir Martin is busy. Strangely, Sir Martin contradicts himself by now applying to the New York court for dismissal of the real lawsuit, using a plea based on technicalities of jurisdiction. Sir Martin and his lawyers (presumably) are not refuting any facts; they are merely using legalistic technical grounds to challenge NDTV. Our request is for Sir Martin and his team to argue the substantive factual merits of the case, and demonstrate a desire to stop the bribery and corruption.

    As an aside, Sir Martin must know that his sudden outbursts have done even more to prove that jurisdiction is indeed in the US and not in India, as Sir Martin has openly acknowledged how deeply involved he and thus Nielsen ( his partner) are, in Indian TAM viewership ratings operations.

    The fourth error: No amount of maliciously false and defamatory statements will work against our lawyers. Sir Martin‘s 10 billion pound global operations – for which we normally have great admiration – may indeed be able to hire the biggest and most famous legal names, but Sir Martin should know that the truth wins in the end – not lawyers. We leave it to our lawyers to respond to the allegations made against them.

    We may not have a 10 billion pound empire backing us, but WPP should realize that a court case is fought on the merits. We urge them to read the 194 page lawsuit, which contains indisputable facts, and respond to it on the factual merits, not with personal attacks.

    The fifth error: Sir Martin keeps referring to NDTV‘s low market cap (vs. his 10 billion pound). Size matters? We would like to point out that it is indeed near impossible for an honest Indian media company to function in the dishonest environment his company has helped create in India. If Sir Martin had a similar corrupt system in the UK or US, he wouldn‘t be where he is at the moment. Yes, if NDTV‘s true ratings were reflected as 62% (see attached evidence for this) rather than TAM‘s corrupted 25%, the impact on NDTV‘s revenues and market cap would be hugely significant. Sir Martin, or rather his team, knows that too. The details can be found in our (non-hypothetical) lawsuit.

    The sixth error: Sir Martin said “We will do everything to improve the system but not with a gun to our head” In fact, Sir Martin Sorrell was personally informed about all the problems with TAM ratings at a meeting at The Oberoi Hotel in Gurgaon in August 2011, in the presence of a large number of media journalists and eminent people. That was a year ago, and there was no “gun to the head”. Why was nothing done?

    Finally, we would like to thank Sir Martin for respecting NDTV‘s editorial position. We are a fiercely independent Indian news operation and proud to be a leader in India. Sir Martin Sorrel has appeared on many occasions on our channels, which clearly shows a mutual respect (and perhaps an indicator that he actually recognises that NDTV is larger than his TAM ratings suggest).

    NDTV has provided enough fodder for WPP to react offensively. Watch this space for more in what promises to be another bout of war of words!

    Also Read: The fight gets vengeful; WPP discloses Vikram Chandra‘s email

  • Penn Schoen Berland strengthens India presence with 2nd office

    MUMBAI: Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), a global research based strategic communications advisory which is a part of Y&R Brands and WPP, launched its second office in India at Mumbai.

    The agency started its South Asia operations in April 2011 with the launch of its Gurgaon office.

    Along with the launch of Mumbai office, PSB also announced the introduction of Capital Market Communications (CMC) to its bouquet of services. PSB will help create business and financial communication roadmaps that will guide CEOs and CFOs of publicly traded companies to maximise returns to their shareholders.

    Chartered accountant and an investor relations expert Mehul Mehta with close to 15 years of experience has joined PSB Mumbai as a director and will lead the CMC team.

    PSB South Asia MD and CEO Ashwani Singla said, “As the Indian economy tries to regain its strength; companies have their own challenges as they struggle to sustain investor’s interest in them. Combining our research and capital market communications capabilities will provide clients with deep insights and an actionable programme to protect and enhance shareholder value.” He further added, “Mumbai being the financial capital of the country, it was only appropriate that we take this opportunity to expand our presence.”

    PSB brings the lessons learnt from its campaign trails into the board room to help companies negotiate their corporate image and corporate affairs challenges. Almost 30 years old now, PSB serves Fortune 100 Corporations, Hollywood Studios and has worked with nearly 30 presidents and prime ministers around the world.

    PSB South Asia serves clients comprising Indian transnationals and multinational corporations operating in the Indian Sub-continent, South East Asia and The Middle East.