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Tag: ZenithOptimedia

  • Digitisation: Ad deals may be reworked on short term basis

    Mumbai: Advertisers may have to enter into transitory arrangements with broadcasters if some homes are left without digital cable connections in the four metros after 1 November.

    The government has mandated compulsory end to analogue delivery of television channels after the digitisation deadline, resulting in the possibility of a significant number of cable TV homes going without television signals for failing to have set-top boxes (STBs) installed to receive digital television signals.

    “In the worst case scenario, when we do have 30 per cent dark homes in the four metros, there may be need to rework the commercial deals on a short term basis,” Leo Burnett Indian sub-continent chairman and CEO Arvind Sharma told Indiantelevision.com.

    The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry last week said 68 per cent of cable TV homes in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata have already installed STBs to receive television channels in digital form. It said Mumbai leads the progress in digitisation with 95 per cent homes digitised, followed by Kolkata with 67 per cent. In Delhi, 53 per cent of the cable homes have switched to digital and in Chennai, 49 per cent.

    The number of households, however, is based on census data and a broad section of the broadcast industry does not believe this reflects the actual estimate of the STB requirement in these four metros.

    “In my opinion, digitisation will ramp up and only in the interim period will we as industry (advertisers, agencies and broadcasters) have to work out short term commercial deals. More importantly, the events of the next 40 days will be crucial,” Sharma said.

    So will TAM, the television audience measurement agency, report from digital homes only in the four metros after 1 November? A TAM spokesperson said: “TAM started reporting Digital TV Homes viewing data since 2008 when Digitization crossed threshold levels in some of the markets. TAM currently reports data from Non-C&S households (Terrestrial Antenna reception mode)and two types of C&S households: Digital C&S and Analog C&S – depending on whether households receive channels through a Set-Top Box (STB) or without Set-Top Box.

    As per TAM JAN 2012 TV baseline report, almost 35% of All India C&S homes have already adopted Digital way of watching TV, with 1/3rd of them coming from Urban markets. The government, by its DAS notification, has mandated that from November 1st 2012, C&S channels can be legally received in the Municipal Corporation (MC) limits of the four major metros (NCR for Delhi) only through a Digital STB. Therefore, from NOV 1st, TAM will not report data of channels viewed in TV Homes that are not received through a Digital STB in these areas (exception being, viewing happening in TV Homes through Terrestrial Antenna signal reception)”.

    The spokesperson added: “In other words, TAM will only be reporting Digital TV viewing data and Non C&S TV viewing in the DAS implemented areas of the 4 City. Data from Homes in the non-MC area of the cities (which does not fall under Phase I of DAS implementation) will continue to be reported as usual. We will be sending out a formal communication to our clients in the coming few days spelling out the details.”

    As a broad section of the industry feels that a total 100 per cent STB penetration will not be possible on day one itself (1 November), there will be some empty homes. If TAM sticks to its current statement, this will mean the analogue coverage in the four metros will not be reported by TAM. So what happens if cable TV operators transmit the analogue signals illegally (take digital signals through a STB and convert it through a modulator for carriage on their analogue networks)? The government, however, is determined to implement digitisation and may take recourse to strict action by arresting the ‘violators‘ under criminal offence.

    Media agency ZenithOptimedia CEO Satyajit Sen fears some kind of temporary disruption in business. “We presume that there will be disruption in the business. In the four metros, there aren‘t enough STBs to make them (cable TV homes) all go digital. Majority of the consumption of various categories happens in the four metros. Our clients will demand for TAM ratings and hence we will also ask for it,” Sen said.

    Lodestar UM CEO Shashi Sinha, however, is not disturbed by the disruption in TV viewership. “People who matter to us are the consuming class and they will switch to digital. May be in the beginning for two to three months, we will see some impact but gradually everyone will switch to digital. At least the consuming class will by the last week of October,” he said.

    Broadcasters to switch off analogue, Rajat Sharma to work in interests of viewers

    Broadcasters are largely confident of a smooth changeover to digital delivery of television channels from analogue. Like Lodestar‘s Sinha, Times Television Network MD & CEO Sunil Lulla too felt there is no need for any worry as the first phase of digitisation is happening at good speed.

    “Digitisation will happen. People who want to get STBs will get those who don‘t want won‘t,” Lulla said.

    The government is dead serious this time around in ensuring digitisation happens in the four metros by the deadline of 1 November and that all the stakeholders are brought on board. It has issued orders directing broadcasters to switch off analogue decoders in the four metros, unlike in 2003 when certain pockets in the metros were asked to shift to digital delivery of television channels.

    The government has gone a step ahead and made carriage of analogue television signals after the digitisation deadline in the four metros a criminal offence.

    BAG Films CMD Anurradha Prasad said, “All broadcasters want digitisation and, hence, we all will be switching off our analogue signals from 1 November. This is an order of government.”

    An NDTV spokesperson said, “The government order is sacrosanct and the broadcasters are adamant on switching off the analogue signal from 1 November.”

    India TV chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma sounded a different note. He said, “For all stakeholders — IBF, NBA, I&B Ministry and MSOs, the viewers‘ interest is foremost. We will take a call keeping in mind that the viewer doesn‘t suffer.”

    Pay TV channels will be more than willing to shift to digitisation as early as possible as it will mean a rise in their subscription revenues as the number of cable television subscribers disclosed by local cable operators will rise. In analogue, cable operators under-report the number of cable TV connections and thereby cause a loss of revenue for broadcasters with pay TV channels.

  • ZenithOptimedia bags media account of Bharti Retail

    MUMBAI: Bharti Retail, which operates a chain of multiple format stores, has awarded its media duties to ZenithOptimedia.

    Says ZenithOptimedia CEO Satyajit Sen, “It‘s a big win for us. Bharti Retail is a major client and retail is a great space to be in. We are also feeling good about it because we have won it against a media giant like Madison.”

    The account was being serviced by Madison Media. ZenithOptimedia had earlier taken the media account of Yatra.com from Madison.

    Madison Media had won the Bharti Walmart account in 2008 and had been handling it since then.

  • Maxus and Lodestar UM to jointly handle Wipro’s media biz

    MUMBAI: Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has awarded its media duties to Maxus India and Lodestar UM following a multi-agency pitch that took place about a month ago.

    The account size is estimated to be around Rs 1.5 billion collectively.

    Wipro has about 20 brands and they will be handled by Maxus including Santoor deo. Santoor‘s other products will be handled by Lodestar UM.

    Prior to this, the account was jointly handled by ZenithOptimedia, DDB Mudra Max and Lodestar UM.

    Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCLG), a business unit of Wipro Limited, has a range of consumable commodities. The first product to be introduced by WCCLG was vegetable oil, later popularized under the brand name ‘Sunflower Vanaspati‘. It offers personal care products, such as Wipro Baby Soft and Wipro Safewash, toilet soaps like Santoor and Chandrika and international brands like Yardley. Its portfolio of lighting solutions includes products like Smartlite CFL, LED and emergency lights.

  • ZenithOptimedia revises global ad spend to 4.3% in 2012

    MUMBAI: Media agency ZenithOptimedia predicts global ad expenditure will grow 4.3 per cent in 2012, reaching $502 billion by the end of the year.

    ZenithOptimedia is a slight downgrade of the 4.8 per cent growth forecast in March. But the forecasts for 2013 and 2014 are unchanged, at 5.3 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively.

    The ad market slowed in April and May as advertisers became more cautious about the state of the global economy. The Greek elections have revived fears of a Eurozone break-up, causing investors to withdraw from risky assets. Partly as a result, economic growth has slowed across the developed world, and recessions have deepened in the southern Eurozone. Several developing markets have slowed as exports to the developed world have tailed off, although their growth generally remains much firmer than in developed markets.

    The first of the year’s big sporting events – the Euro 2012 Football Championship – has begun in Poland and Ukraine, to be followed by the Olympics in the UK in late July and August. These events, together with the US elections, provide a regular boost to global ad spend every four years, known as the ‘quadrennial effect’. This year we expect these events to add $6.3 billion to the global ad market, almost all of it concentrated in the five months from early June to early November. The agency, therefore, expects ad spend growth to pick up from June onwards.

    The Eurozone appears to have avoided a recession under the technical definition (two consecutive quarters of GDP decline) by maintaining flat output in 2012, but its economy is clearly in serious trouble, with deep recessions and painful unemployment in markets like Italy, Spain, Portugal, and of course Greece.

    These are the four markets where ad spend is shrinking rapidly, as local advertisers struggle to maintain their cash reserves, and international advertisers reconsider the long-term potential of their investments. Elsewhere in the Eurozone adspend is flat, except in Austria, Finland and Germany, where it is growing at about the rate of inflation. Overall, it forecasts ad expenditure to decline by 1.1 per cent in the Eurozone in 2012.

    The forecasts assume that the Eurozone avoids economic disaster (such as a break-up of the euro) this year, followed by slow but steady economic improvement. On this basis, ZenithOptimedia predicts Eurozone adspend will grow 2.3 per cent in 2013 and 3 per cent in 2014.

    “The Eurozone is weighing down our predictions for Europe as a whole.

    It has reduced our 2012 forecast for Western Europe from 1.5 per cent growth to just 0.4 per cent, and the forecast for Central and Eastern Europe from 6.5 per cent growth to 6.2 per cent,” said ZenithOptimedia.

    Zenithoptimedia has also downgraded Asia Pacific slightly from 7.4 per cent growth this year to 6.7 per cent, and Latin America from 9.2 to 7.8 per cent.

    “The advertising recovery remains robust in North America, however, which we have held steady at 3.6 per cent, also holding the Middle East and North Africa at one per cent while the political and social unrest continues,” ZenithOptimedia.

    In the longer term, it expects gradual but sustained improvement in ad expenditure in North America, Western Europe and the Middle East and North Africa in 2013 and 2014. Meanwhile, Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America should all achieve 7 per cent to 10 per cent annual growth over these two years.

  • Vikas Gulati joins Vserv.mobi as VP – biz development SEA

    MUMBAI: Global mobile advertising network Vserv.mobi, which has a strong focus on emerging markets, has announced the appointment of Vikas Gulati as vice president – business development for South East Asia.

    Gulati will be based in Singapore and spearhead the company‘s growth in the region.

    He comes with over 14 years of experience in media and marketing. He moves from Sprice.com, an online travel network (now a part of Travelport), where he was VP – marketing and business development, Asia.

    He was instrumental in raising Sprice‘s revenues and company profile in Asia Pacific through business development, partnerships and marketing programs.

    He has also held various leadership roles at ZenithOptimedia and Carat India amongst other companies.

    Vserv.mobi co-founder and CEO Dippak Khurana said, “Expanding our operations in the burgeoning mobile market of South East Asia is a key phase of our growth strategy. Vikas‘ solid experience and customer relationships in this region will help us leverage newer opportunities and strengthen our goal of being the #1 mobile ad network in emerging markets.”

    Gulati added, “Over the last two years, Vserv.mobi has grown to be an admirable company in the segment, and I am excited to join them at this opportune time. Given the growth momentum the company is witnessing, I look forward to being part of the success story. With our differentiating proposition in the marketplace, we are attractively poised to capitalise on this growing demand of the mobile medium amongst developers, publishers and advertisers in South East Asia.”

  • Yatra.com awards media mandate to ZenithOptimedia

    Yatra.com awards media mandate to ZenithOptimedia

    MUMBAI: ZenithOptimedia has won the media duties for online travel company Yatra.com and will handle all media planning and buying duties for it.

    Yatra.com said its marketing spends are in the region of Rs 300 million.

    The win was the result of a multi-agency pitch held in Gurgaon. The other media agencies that participated in the pitch include Madison, Maxus and Universal McCann.

    The media account was handled earlier by Motivator.

  • Goafest firms up list of speakers

    Goafest firms up list of speakers

    MUMBAI: The Goafest Committee has announced the first list of internationally acclaimed speakers for the event.

    The speakers are: The Coca-Cola Company VP- global advertising strategy and content excellence Jonathan Mildenhall; Publicis Groupe SA COO and member of management board Jean Yves Naouri; Omnicom Group vice chairman Tim Love; ZenithOptimedia CEO Steve King; and Intel Corporation Apac director- strategy, media and integrated marketing Jayant Murty.

    The advertising Conclave will be held on 19 April, which will be followed by two days of Goafest on 20-21April.

    Goafest 2012 chairman Arvind Sharma said, “We have lined up a great festival and a fabulous line up of speakers for the Conclave as well as the seminars. The list of speakers addressing the Conclave have the width of vision and experience to make us think about ‘Ideas for impacting the full circle’- the theme of the Conclave. We will announce the seminar speaker names soon. I am certain that these speakers will present to delegates a rich future-facing perspective.”

    Another aspect Sharma touched upon was the Marketing Wizards initiative in association with the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). Each member of the ISA can nominate up to two rising stars from their marketing teams under the age of 30 years to Goafest 2012.

    “This year we are focusing on getting more clients to be a part of Goafest. Marketing Wizards was created as an initiative to drive young advertisers’ participation. I must share that our efforts in getting more clients participation through the Marketing Wizards initiative are delivering rich dividends. We have received a good response from young clients. Many seats have been filled and we are expecting the remaining seats to be filled in soon,” Sharma added.

    Goafest 2012 is being organised by Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Ad Club Bombay in partnership for the fifth year.

    Over the years, specialist areas like OOH and ambient, design, digital and mobile advertising, direct, and integrated advertising have been growing in importance. In recognition of this phenomenon, in 2012, Abbies at Goafest will have provision for Grand Prix in all the nine verticals- the Grand Prix is being introduced in media awards as well.

  • Best Foods awards media duties to ZenithOptimedia

    Best Foods awards media duties to ZenithOptimedia

    MUMBAI: ZenithOptimedia India has bagged the media planning and buying duties for Best Foods after a multi-agency pitch.

    The business was won through a competitive pitch amongst the top four media buying agencies in New Delhi.

    Best Foods is one of the largest rice producers, engaged in supply and trade of series of rice, health and wellness products.

    “As traditional Indian companies expand their market base to an evolved consumer, in an over cluttered marketplace, it becomes imperative to communicate through effective communication mediums. Our neutral touch point approach will help optimise the best marketing mix for the launch. We are very excited to work on yet another launch in India and are confident of achieving the desired ROI,” said ZenithOptimedia India CEO Satyajit Sen.

    Best Foods business director Aayushman Gupta added, “We are delighted to have ZenithOptimedia as our media partners for our India launch. It is their deep understanding on launching brands in India and their holistic approach to reaching all consumer touch points helped us decided on ZO. They are able to give Best a complete 360 solution to our go to market strategy.”

  • ZenithOptimedia launches search engine marketing unit in India

    ZenithOptimedia launches search engine marketing unit in India

    MUMBAI: Tapping into a growing segment, Publicis Groupe‘s ZenithOptimedia (ZO) has launched its search engine marketing unit, Performics, in India.

    ZO said Thursday the India launch is critical to Performics‘ global plans “as it is one of the fastest growing markets and the clients in India are more focused on ROI”. The range of Performics‘ services are also more suitable for India.

    Performics is going to work on current ZO clients like Timesjobs.com, Ebay, and global Performics clients like Air France and Microsoft.

    “We strongly believe India will be a key market for Performics and our ‘One Search‘ proposition and performance skill set will deliver great value to our clients,” said Performics global managing director Andras Vigh.

    Performics will focus on bringing in the concept of OneSearch that optimises SEO (Search engine optimization) and SEM (Search engine marketing) in an integrated and embedded way.

    Performics‘ agnostic approach pairs third-party platforms with proprietary technology, including BenchTools, Global Analytics Tools and Socialtools, to deliver solutions.

    Said ZenithOptimedia India CEO Satyajit Sen, “Search today is central to intended consumer and fundamental to our Consumer Pathway and with clients demanding best in class specialized skills and seamless digital integration, I believe that Performics‘ capability provides that extra edge to our robust ROI offering.”

    For Microsoft in India as around the world, the demand for search and performance marketing solutions always shows an upward trend. “I am delighted that we will now be able to leverage on Perfomics‘ capabilities in India,” said Microsoft India CMO Vineet Durani, on the launch of Performics India.

    According to ZenithOptimedia‘s Advertising Expenditure Forecasts released in December 2010, global paid search advertising expenditures are expected to grow by more than $15 billion within the next three years. Total paid search spending in 2010 was more than $30.5 billion, which is predicted to exceed $46 billion by 2013.

    Performics was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2008 and has been part of ZenithOptimedia Group since 2010.

  • OMD wins global media account of Tourism Australia

    OMD wins global media account of Tourism Australia

    MUMBAI: Edging out incumbent Carat Media, OMD has won the global media account of Tourism Australia for three years.


    In addition to Carat, that worked on the business for the last six years, OMD competed with other agencies like WPP’s MediaCom and Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia.


    OMD has already begun work since 1 July.


    After the three-year conytact, OMD will have an option to extend it for two additional 12-month periods.


    Australia recently launched the 2020 Tourism Industry Potential, an initiative aimed at increasing tourism.