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Speaking exclusively with Adgully, Neeraj Chandra, COO & VP, Britannia Industries Ltd. shared some insights about the brand and also explained how he plans to drive growth for the FMCG major.

Neeraj Chandra, joined Britannia in July 2005 as Vice President – Marketing, Sales and Innovation, responsible for orchestrating the revenue side of the business. He was later promoted to hold a more eminent position of COO of the company. Chandra has worked with Hindustan Lever, and has also worked on building several power brands like Pond’s, Fair and Lovely, Lux, Lifebuoy and Clinic.

Adgully (AG): Share with us some highlights of your brand ‘Britannia’.

Neeraj Chandra (NC): Britannia, as a brand is a part of our culture, is part of our history and we have been in the industry for over ninety years. The brand always been a relevant, active and updated one and has always catered the needs of its consumers which is very important for a brand. So it has always provided healthy options. We have lived up to offer consumers with the products which are good in taste and good for health, which is a very tough combination. In a context of giving healthy and tasty food we have always renovated our brand, we have had so many innovations for our consumers. So we have innovations coming in not only in the biscuits space but also in dairy space, cakes and therefore we have always offered delicious and healthy products. We are a very wide and democratic brand.

AG: Shed some light on Britannia Nutrichoice and the reason behind this launch of Nutrichoice.

NC: Britannia Nutrichoice is brand which is catering to provide healthier options to the consumers and today people are seeking health in whatever they eat. So we introduced biscuits like Nutrichoice High Fiber and also we have more specific entries like Diabetic friendly ones etc. Today the scenario is that what people eat is main meal outside and some snacks on their move. So basically, now a day’s food is getting defused over time and place. So it was really natural for a brand like Nutrichoice, who has always focused on healthier side, to come up with a healthier option for people to have healthy food products. The brand has reached the number position in terms of providing nutritious and tasty food.

AG: What have been your key marketing and communication strategies?

NC: One of the key parts of our communication strategy is to find out really our people looking for and having a right message for them. For example: we are right now advertising cakes, with a story giving the message that ‘milk + eggs + fruit is equal to health’. And this is the right message which consumers get and therefore they adopt it. So the important part of our strategy is to find what consumers want and what is relevant for them and communicate that. Secondly we will embrace the channels which are doing really well in the digital space. Thirdly, we will be constantly doing things which are really pertinent for the society and will be always connecting with what is the latest buzz.

AG: Share with us your thoughts on the advertising and promotion plans and strategies.

NC: At the end of the day whatever we do in terms advertising, promotions etc, it is about building the brand and meeting the consumer needs. According to me whichever way we go, our priority will be meeting consumer needs and you are going to deliver business and that however you do it, may be by building campaign or whatever, it will finally come back to you..

AG: How has Indian market grown in terms of your brand?

NC: We on the Indian context have had good growth in terms of economy. But more importantly, since we work in the food industry, we have faced a very fast changing sector as food preferences of the consumers change at a very fast speed. In many senses India is at inflection point on food.

AG: How do you see 2012?

NC: What we did ten years ago no longer holds true in the market now. The market is growing bigger and better with newer products and innovative needs and demands. On the whole we would see a dynamic, ground-breaking, pioneer and a good year ahead, obviously full of new challenges as the inflation will be high. There will challenges that will be positive in terms of delivering to the needs of the consumers as well as challenges in terms of handling things like inflation and make sure that it will not impact the consumers.

AG: What has been you share in the market?

NC: Our share is around a third of the market. We are leaders in products like cakes, national leaders in bread; we have a large share of value added dairy products and we are probably the leaders in cheese products. So basically, we have differential shares in most of the sectors. We are very much consumer focused. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]

Check out the video interaction with Neeraj Chandra, COO & VP, Britannia [CLICK HERE]

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Among Kopp’s recent accomplishments at SS+K, he was a member of ‘Obama for America’s National Media Team, using an integrated mix of digital and traditional communications to connect with younger voters.

Adgully caught up with Jonathan Kopp, Partner & Global Director, Ketchum Digital to know more about Ketchum’s strategies, their growth plans and much more…

Adgully (AG): How about your trip to India?

Jonathan Kopp (JK): It has been really nice up till now. I am here for several reasons. One was being ‘World Brand Congress, where I was a speaker. At the Congress, I spoke about some digital trends and how communication is shifting towards social media. More importantly I am here for Ketchum Sampark because we are working on the launch of Ketchum Digital.

AG: What will be the two key things which will be used to put in a gear and also what does digital refers to you: the social media part of it or the whole bunch of digital?

JK: The world has changed and to me the distinction between that being digital and that being social has been world. We have now entered in the era of social web and there is not a single corner of the web which is not social and the place is perfectly to communication business because if you don’t create the content on web it becomes difficult to drive the content in that direction where the communication is really essential. We create content to drive conversation not to drive traffic. The reason behind this that we want consumers and influencers to frankly tell our brand stories in a influencing way. Today it is brand engagement that drives relevance and it is the trust that drives more engagement. So basically we need to do both, create the content and develop a conversation.

AG: Are you somehow monetizing the social content?

JK: Most of the people are in a business of monetizing the content today. We as an organization monetize the business in many ways.

AG: What kind of social media trends do you see in India?

JK: Facebook usage is increasing so rapidly. It is now at number 3 when it comes to social media engagement. Indian market in terms of social media is growing at a very rapid speed. Linkedin has also become an open source for professionals. But I think mobile can drive the whole attention. The numbers in terms of users of internet here in India are already great. Also it seems that blogging activities here in India are taking a toll which shows how the country is growing. Today it becomes really important to maintain relation with our customers because the consumers today do not want to engage with brands, they want engage with the people.

AG: since you have been with other international companies, so what are the trends outside India?

JK: facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, mobile-videos are at the top among the list. The trend of ‘Gamefication’ and ‘Info graphics’ both are taking a toll there. ‘Gamefication is basically creating more engagement towards relevant information with fun.

AG: What according to you are the two key things that a client should follow to engage more towards social media.

JK: I think there should be a proper social media training that should provided because there are many Indian companies that are blocking social media in a work place. What we found out here is that people think social media is a distraction, it decreases productivity but what we have seen the opposite side of that coin. I think it would be better to harness towards increasing the enthusiasm towards social media. I think I would be best if you could train your employee towards social media engagement.

AG: what does an Indian advertising agencies need to do in terms growing their business at international level?

JK: They need to be social media compatible and they need to train themselves in a way to handle that particular platform. I think they need to get into the process of listening. They should have the capability to know and track the conversation among the brands as you need to understand the environment before you are stepping into that.

AG: What are the challenges that you see as far as working with Indian market is concerned.

JK: My challenge would be to get more and more clients for Ketchum Sampark here in India. We are a firm with offices around the country, fluent with the languages and culture of the industry. So this fact basically removes other challenges that might be faced. According to me bandwidth is a challenge as most of the audience is shifting to digital platforms, there would be some kind of structural challenges, changing and adapting the mindset of the people here is a big challenge.

AG: What growth path do you chart for your team?

JK: you should take the traditional boundaries as past, there should be more and more engagement towards brands and consumers, there should be more engagement towards social media. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]

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EMM distinguishes itself by being the client’s critical friend, streamlining and analyzing data and illuminating opportunities to increase effectiveness of media spend. EMM India is a partnership between EMM International and Indraksh Media & Management Services (IMM), Mumbai.

Stephen White, EMM International’s founder and a respected figure in the global media industry, the Chairman of EMM India, shared some insights about the company while speaking exclusively with Adgully.

Adgully (AG): Please tell us a bit about the workings of EMM.

Stephen White (SW): EMM is an international company which provides highly professional approach to all media agencies. EMM helps it’s clients to optimize their media investment. It has been providing specified searches to the advertisers from last 18 years. That is done through various steps which includes checking clients latest paid proposals, their activities, their contracts and then we look at whether the client has better activities organizationally. We need to work really fast with all this to get better results for the client which could be: smarter media solutions, enlightened media strategies, greater transactional clarity, rigorous accountability, sharper media efficiencies and protection from expensive mistakes.

AG: Do tell us the services that you intend to launch in India.

SW: The services include: Media Performance Evaluation, Media Agency Contract Reviews, Improving Client Media Process, Auditing Contractual Deliverables (e.g. Financial Probity Auditing), Media Planning and Strategy Benchmarking, Clarification of Volume Rebates from the Media, Media Agency Pitch Management. We have tried and tested all the services and for better results we should be updated on all old and new mediums like, social media, and internet and traditional.

AG: What trends do you see in Indian market and hence where do you place India in your road map?

SW: Firstly, I would say that we were really amazed to see that there is only one player Spatial Access that is playing a significant role in the Indian market providing such services. A market like such can come up with so many consecutives. There is a need to expand the place. The numbers here are really low in terms of media auditing, broadly speaking, there is a 30-35 percent spend in the UK and 60 percent in the US but only about 5-10 percent of the total media spends in India are audited, but the trend is changing, of course not because we are here, but because if there is a slowdown here in India then advertisers will be looking closely either for more value or for expenditure.

AG: Do you think if there is a slowdown, is there an opportunity for you?

SW: Yes, of course I guess there will be a great opportunity for us. In harder situations people will use more out of our company and so even a slowdown looks attractive to us.

AG: Being international media audit agency will it be a challenge to understand Indian client’s mindset?

SW: It’s not about being international, it’s about being good and we retain that position all over then will be great and once we are done with that we think that we will be more comfortable in giving what are clients want and help them their business.

AG: What are your expectations from Indian market?

SW: there are lots of opportunities in the market and I expect a 100% growth in the first year itself. Simply to start here I would say that India is a open market and as long we retain our goodwill we will be there.

AG: How important it is to make your mark in the Indian market and settle down your business here?

SW: I guess it is important. The trust between the advertisers and the agencies and the openness from them is very critical for us. Here to get settled you need to earn your trust. And as I guess as per our research, there is strong need of a, ‘client’s critical friend’. There is a strong need for Indian market for a media audit agency.

AG: how will the India media industry will benefit from EMM and IMM.

SW: IMM has been in the business since 18 years and has been a neutral party. EMM has the international business expertise so we partnered with IMM, who has the right expertise and knowledge about the Indian market. We understand that there is a huge requirement for media consultancy but for such a step you need to have strong pool of local experts. The partnership is expected to be really amazing and effective. The new company will be focused in offering best media practices with in-depth local knowledge and for the first time advertisers in India will have access to specialist media accountability practices and processes which have been tried and tested internationally. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]

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Adgully (AG): You have kind of worked in different markets and knowing the fact that Indian market is new to you, will it be a challenge to start here?

Matt Seddon (MS): Yes, obviously it will be a challenge but a positive one rather being a negative challenge. Saatchi being a wonderful agency and people here are really amazing would definitely help me to cope up. There will be a lot to learn. The position of Saatchi here shows that we are in-tune with the Indian consumers. The understanding between the consumers and the agency is amazing which will be a bonus for me. My role here would be to set up a division, to build a team, set up proper resources on place so that the work can be transmitted properly.

AG: What are your mandates right now?

MS: Firstly, we would plan to jump onto the next level and before that I would prefer taking a look on the previous records of the agency and also would like to study the relations of our agency. Internally, the challenge is to ensure that we are digital by nature and not by design and also would ensure that our team focuses on targeting social media etc. because that is the best way to connect with our clients and consumers. Also we would make sure that Saatchi would become the best in terms of developing digital centric ideas. Our job is to deliver ideas. We have a plan called, “business model for transformational ideas.” Firstly, when we have the ideas then we will ensure that various media is used to bring those ideas live that could be television, print, internet, mobile.

AG: Would Saatchi and Saatchi India rope in more skilled resources and would expand?

MS: I think it is too early to ask this! As we have a wonder full and well experienced team with all creative minds set. It will take some time to gage but we would need to refocus and reset our minds and creativeness towards digital space.

AG: What will be your two key responsibilities at Saatchi and Saatchi now?

MS: One is to ensure that we act and behave towards the point that how we can make Saatchi grow. Secondly we would focus towards transformational ideas which will bring in a position for our agency among the brands. The challenge is to make our business grow and the purpose is to work as a team. We will make sure that we use and utilize the tools and strategies in a beneficial way. So basically, two key responsibilities are: vision and the team.

AG: Saatchi and Saatchi, in terms of growth path and client acquisition has been a little slippery over past few months, how would you place the creative scenario in India at this point?

MS: No, I think, we have been doing well since last one year. We have taken up many new projects also. In India, the agency has a strong base in terms of brand Advertising, clients and an experienced team. We would just like to take our focus towards transformational ideas. Indian market has huge potential to improve.

AG: how would you project growth in India?

MS: We need to get ahead of other agencies. We need to grow dramatically. Secondly, we need to grow our agency digitally. We would like to move ahead of the players in the same domain. We would also put together the team and the business model to transform our ideas.

AG: Since you have worked in various markets; you have great learning’s from different markets, so would you like to implement some changes or ideas in the Indian market?

MS: I have seen the age of no advertising to free advertising. I would say that Indian market is very creative and has a strong capability of growing. Saatchi and Saatchi was also started from a scratch. Here at Saatchi, we have a clearly defined DNA model. I would again say that we should focus more towards digitalization. People here in India are less passionate about their work and we cannot teach passion. To stay in this field, you need to express your love towards advertising. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]

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At this occasion, Adgully exclusively caught up with Kelly Cark, CEO, Maxus Worldwide to know how events like these would help them as an agency, plans at Maxus India and much more.

Kelly Clark holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kelly started his career with JWT New York where he held a number of media management positions. Later he was Head of TV Programming & Syndication, JWT China, CEO, MindShare Asia Pacific, CEO, MindShare UK, CEO, GroupM EMEA and currently holds the position of CEO, Maxus Worldwide.

Throughout his career he has worked closely with leading blue-chip clients including Unilever, Pepsico, Nike, IBM, Nestlé, Kellogg, Ford Motor Company, Fiat Group, UPS and HSBC, among many others.

Adgully (AG): At Adasia 2011, we have been talking about ‘uncertainty is the new certainty’. What are your thoughts on it?

Kelly Clark (KC): I think while uncertainty could be sometimes create difficulty in the way we work, perhaps, it may be frightening to someone that the media landscape is changing so much. It is creating enormous opportunities for the companies and media agencies that work with them to find new solutions to reach to consumers, to building relationships over time and to proving business results. It’s a much more challenging world that what we used to live in, but it’s a lot more fun and certainly interesting as well. W e looking at building an agency that embraces change, try and build and deliver teams that can take the ownership of the clients business problems.

AG: What shall be the current key focus areas for Maxus India and Maxus Worldwide?

KC: The key focus area for Maxus India in a lot of ways is to try and continue what we have always been doing. Maxus India is in the top five for us in the world, our revenues let’s put a third between Asia – Pacific, North America and Europe, and that reflects the importance of not only the Asian region, but India specifically. We are to increasingly ask our Indian team to lead projects on a global basis, whether it is investments in software or tools that could be used, in the way we work with our clients in the development of creative solutions, in the way we work with media owners and also the way we uncover consumer insights for our clients. So the Indian wing is going to play a really important role in the intellectual growth of Maxus global.

AG: What shall be the key focus geographies for Maxus Worldwide?

KC: For Maxus Worldwide, the key focus would be the growth of the agency in North America since it a relatively small company in comparison to the North American business. While our UK company is doing well, there is huge scope for growth in other parts of Europe. While our offices in Japan, Germany and Russia are doing really well, our focus is certainly the Asia – Pacific region, with huge focus on India. The reason for this would be both because the markets are growing, as compared to other slower western markets like Europe and North America, and secondly, we think we can build more market share and bring in more business and be more competitive. Therefore, India, China, Indonesia, Thailand are huge focuses for us in the investment for the next five years.

AG: So, if one may say, are you looking at any sort of acquisitions in the market?

KC: We are not looking at any acquisitions. The WPP leads all the acquisitions in the group and there are always looking at the market for excellent opportunities. At this point in time, we have a great team of people, a great client list and we are passionate about our future here in the Indian market and we think we can continue to grow at least at the rate that we are growing in the last five years.

AG: In the recent times, a lot of media agencies have started to get involved in giving their views in terms of creative outfits. How do you see Maxus moving in that direction?

KC: Our ambition is not to become a creative agency. We think that clients want agencies that are specialist in certain areas, but also have a broader view and opinion and insight in to the business. Lines are of course going to blur; we are going to be asked our opinion and advice on creative issues, particularly as we move in to a world where we build media plans for one individual at a time because of addressability and targetability. The creative challenge for all of us is finding ways to deliver increased number of creative messages to smaller groups of people, indeed individual, based on what is most effective to them rather than developing one communication or ad campaign to reach hundreds or millions of people. So that naturally will require agencies to collaborate more effectively for clients. But we don’t see that there is a ‘one agency’ solution, at least in the perceivable future that would be right for clients.

AG: How do you see the future of social media and the digital medium in India?

KC: Digital is an overused word, in the sense that all media are increasingly ‘digital’. It is not a specialist area any longer. Understanding how consumers move between channels and distribution platform for content is what is important. I think that said, the growth in digital channel is going to continue at a phenomenal rate and it is only going to become more and more important in Indian market. I think the Indian consumer is and has been one of the fastest adopters of new technology. The penetration of mobile in the market is thriving and as tablet and functionality of mobile communication increases, I think India will lead the way in many regards. And this is another reason that we are putting significant investment in the Indian market.

AG: What are your thoughts of events like Adasia 2011?

KC: I think Adasia is a fantastic opportunity. Having lived in this region and visited India numerous times, personally I find it very rewarding to come back to this place and see how the markets are innovating, re-connecting with old colleagues and client. I leave from here with a sense of optimism, passion and excitement for the future of our business.

AG: The markets are predicting a slowdown. What are your thoughts on it? How is Maxus trying to grow in this situation?

KC: It’s difficult to say since we are getting mixed messages from the clients. Some clients remain very optimistic and bullish about their investments, marketing and new communications, while some are being cautious and conservative. I just hope that we continue doing what we have doing all this while which is investing in our highest growth opportunity markets, we have been very aggressive in new business over the past two years and been successful and that is not going to change.

AG: What would be your expectations from Maxus India?

KC: My expectation from Maxus India is enormous profit growth and incredibly delighted clients who are satisfied with our services. We have had phenomenal growth in the last three years and hope that we continue the same not only in the natural market growth but also market share for our agency. I expect that Maxus India takes an increasingly important role in the global development of our company; in terms of how we use technology, how we understand consumers, how we deliver solutions to our clients and most importantly how we foster culture, innovation and creativity.

AG: 2011 is almost nearing its end. What are your plans and strategies for 2012?

KC: In 2012 we are significantly investing in technology within our agency. We are now established in all major markets in the world. There is rapid growth, especially in the last two years. We have doubled the size of the company not only in terms of number of clients we are working with, but also the kind of investments they are making in media campaigns around the world. We have also grown in terms of the size of our team from 750 to about 1500 employees world over. So we are really focused on finding new clients with whom we can build long term relationships, bringing in new talent, making investments in technology and looking strategically at a few geographies that Maxus is not present. | By Ankita Tanna [ankita(at)adgully.com]

Check out the video interaction [CLICK HERE]

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Ever since then, they have grown to become a trusted media group as the contents are evenly balanced with the Indonesian values. The company continuously flourishes to provide various brands and products that are very well appraised by Indonesians. With 14 magazines, as well as other divisions like creative boutique, event organizer, radio station, publishing house and online publications, they have moved beyond the limits.

In an exclusive chat with Adgully at the precious World Magazine Congress 2011, Svida Alisjahbana, CEO of Femina Group, shared some insights about her company and their strategies.

Svida’s career in the publishing industry began as Commercial Director responsible for the operational and directing the group’s future directions. Now, as CEO, Svida is reporting directly to shareholders ensuring all lines of business to run efficiently and its corporate development to include meeting the current multi media challenges to transform print into content maker in digital format.

Working closely together with the senior team devising strategic plans, that will generate revenues, creating new business opportunities, to maintain its leading position, is her motive as a CEO.

Prior joining Femina Group she worked for GE Capital in Connecticut for five years. Svida (46) obtained her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1988 and continued her MBA degree at Columbia University, New York.

Svida is actively involved with the Young President Organization (YPO) as Regional Board Member and has been honored to Chair the magazine section for the Indonesian Newspaper Publishing Association. Svida is also a Board Member of The International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP)-World Magazine since 2008. Svida was a fellow of the Eisenhower Fellowships’ 2010 Women Leadership Program.

Adgully (AG): Firstly, state some of the key highlights of your company?

Svida Alisjahbana (SA): Femina group, a company that was found 39 years ago, was a family business started in Grash with my family. It has grown from the liberalization of press into a number one print magazine company. Now we have 16 magazines including Femina, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health etc. mostly we have women magazines.

AG: What have been your strategies in terms of marketing?

SA: Our main focus is to produce women magazines in lifestyle structure. It is more like a marketing company. We have magazines that are really dominating the market. We try bringing out stuff that is really close to women community. We try to know women more deeply like what they are in the vein of, what they aspire, what they love. Most importantly we believe that we should bring fresh aspirations for them. Secondly we towards providing entertaining stuff for them. Also we make sure that our approach is community oriented. For example our magazine, Femina, is completely publishes about latest trends, apparels, Bollywood, Hollywood, who goes on diet, etc. we even focus on career oriented women and women entrepreneurs.

AG: What have been your growth plans?

SA: We want to produce content that touches women’s heart. We want our company to grow in a way that it marks its presence everywhere, whether it is social media or business websites and what not. we want to come up with e-magazines as well.

AG: What has been the growth and vision of the company?

SA: The vision of the company is to be part of Indoasian modern community and make the valuation correctly so as we can grow at a faster rate. We want the women community to grow in a smarter way.

AG: What according to you, have been the key issues that have been faced by the magazine industry?

SA: It is just an identity crisis. Whole world face such kind of issues. And we being a magazine company we dwell more into a specific community unlike a television channel. Our focuses are different in terms of content, publishing and marketing. I guess this media industry does not find these points relevant.

AG: How are you looking at utilizing social media and the digital medium in monetizing the digital property?

SA: At the moment social media alone cannot be met. Our richest investment is when we engage to a particular community. We focus on how we engage towards a specific community, it could be through anything whether digital media, social media or anything else. Our prime focus is not towards cracking the social and digital media platform but obviously yes both these terms are really important and we will move on towards that direction at a slow rate because we need to make our content very strong at that particular platform. And yes, utilizing a wide variety of modern platform such as the Internet, brand activation and the communities, enables us to optimize the potentials of all divisions and create collaboration in any form.

The word ‘impossible’ does not exist in our vocabulary. Every opportunity is a step to progress, and every challenge is the chance to innovate.

AG: Where do you rate the Indian magazine market in your graph?

SA: I think Indian market is great. I guess Indian market is in far much better state than we are. Here in India people engaged very deeply in a magazine.

AG: How important or easy, do you think, is it to hit the Indian market?

SA: It is really difficult to hit Indian market as people have a very specific and particular taste. Also the have developed their tastes since long and it is not easy for them to change and shift their preferences. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]

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In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Rajesh Mehra, MD, Jaquar tells the readers more about the bathroom fittings and solutions industry, its success path and much more.

Rajesh Mehra has been the Director and Promoter of Jaquar since 1978. From the beginning his elementary mission has been of giving India the highest quality bath fittings in the premium, luxury and economical sectors. He has played a crucial role in changing needs and preferences in the bath fitting sector by using innovation and technology. Apart from bath fitting industry, Jaquar has also entered into concept lighting business in the year 2001.

Adgully (AG): Firstly, tell us a little bit about the current offerings at Jaquar.

Rajesh Mehra (RM): Jaquar today offers a complete bathroom solution, right from faucet to sentry wear, to wellness products to glass interiors to water heaters and lightings for the bathroom. Thus it’s a complete bathroom solution which is coming from one source.

AG: What shall be the market size of the industry in India?

RM: The size of the industry, faucet, sanitary all put together is estimated to be around 4000 corers. Jaquar today holds around almost 50 % of the market share in the complete bathroom solution domain. Whereas, in the bathroom fitting segment like forests, Jaquar has almost about 60 % share.

AG: Why did you feel the need to re-position the company at this point of time?

RM: Jaquar has been in the market for about 25 years now. And with time, one has to come up with new image and image. The brand which was launched in the year 1986, has to look youthful, constantly, it has to be able to relate to the present generation of consumers. That is where we thought that it’s high time we come up with a new identity for the brand and give it a youthful look to be able to revive the freshness of the brand for another 25 years.

AG: What went into giving the brand a lift?

RM: One can see that the brand has been repositioned completely. Even the corporate identity of the brand has been re-worked and that has been really appreciated by the customers who have related very well to the re – positioned brand. Even the marketing and promotions have gone for a complete change. We have our own in-house team and the Cresenct advertising which has been our agency for a really long time.

AG: What has been the media mix like, for this entire campaign?

RM: We have tried to cover most possible streams in the media, so as to cover the widest possible spectrum of consumers. So be it print, electronic, other communication methods or the digital and social media space, which have been becoming key drivers, we are availing all options of the media.
In terms of branding and re – positioning, we believe that every medium has its own value and utility. In the 25 years of the brands existence, any form of media we have been associated with, it has worked out very well for us, in terms of return as well. So I don’t think that any one specific medium can be used to serve the purpose; every medium when used optimally, should be beneficial.

AG: Why this venture now, when it was expected quite long time back.

RM: This has been the endeavor with Jaquar all the time. Jaquar has been a trend setter as far as products, design and innovations are concerned. And our thought process has been to think a little ahead of the market standards and try to bring out something new every time, which the customers can experience and enjoy. In sanitary wear, we do agree that we are a bit late, but the reason behind this is Jaquar’s philosophy – we always go steadily. So we thought that faucet, which is our core business, there is lot to be done. So once we establish ourselves firmly in the forests business, we then took on to diversifying in to the other verticals also. So if you may note that though sanitary wear comes in a little late, in the last five years we have added wellness products, glass enclosures, water heaters in to our range, and now with this venture, a complete bathroom range is being provided. So we believe that it’s a very unique experience for the consumers to get everything in a co-ordinate manner and design under one source.

AG: Five years back, one can say that you have a home grown brand to enter the bathing solutions domain and revolutionize it. What kind of research and thoughts went in to making this?

RM: Jaquar has always enjoyed the trust of millions of customers all across the country and the other markets world over where we Jaquar products are being supplied, the response has been fantastic. Though the journey has been long to reach this place, but sticking to our philosophy and thought process of innovativeness and freshness in designs and products, we are now offering a different unique experience with our solutions. We have always been doing thorough market research taking customer inputs into consideration and then accordingly, we design our products to provide a gratifying experience to the customer than what he / she had been enjoying all along with similar products in the market so far.

AG: With other international brands coming in the market, do you feel the heat and the need to push further?

RM: Competition is always welcomed and we have been very positive about it. The other brands have been in the market for about 10 years and with the kind of innovations and initiatives, we have managed through the years very well. With more and more players, it gives an opportunity to develop the market and take it as a challenge to produce innovative and better products.

AG: Can you tell us something about your marketing and promotion strategies?

RM: We feel that the products which are ultimately meant for the consumer, we always try to reach across to our consumers. All our media activities are directed in providing the necessary information to the consumers. One of the very important activities in our marketing strategy is our orientation centers. We have 21 centers all across the country, where the complete range of all our products is on display under one roof. This is where different professionals, architects, builders and the end consumers’ walk-in and get wholesome information about the products, which many of them were unaware of. This we believe has been a key initiative in our marketing strategy which has made significant changes in the way these products were sold and marketed earlier.

AG: If you have to highlight some of the key USP’s of Jaquar as against others, what would that be? Also highlight the 5 marketing funda’s that Jaquar follows.

RM: Amongst a long list of USP’s, the most important will be product quality done through product specifications – we have completely customized our products to Indian usage. Secondly, various customer care initiatives that we have taken, especially off late is also one of our crucial USP. I think that a good product backed up with an equally good service is a winning combination. With the fundamentals remaining the same, one has to have strong adherence to the following five enumerated funda’s; i.e – product, product quality, pricing, promotions and customer services.

AG: What are the other regions that you are looking at diversifying?

RM: Internationally, today we are in to a lot of regions today. For example, we are very strong in the Middle East, The response in Africa in the last few of years has been positive and growing; also very have a good presence in the Far East and the SAARC region as well. With these markets being our primary focus, in the European region, we hold strong presence in the United Kingdom.

AG: What would be Jaquar’s growth strategy in the next five years?

RM: Well there is nothing specific about it. We basically believe in commitment to our work and industry and consistent hard work. In the last 10 years, we have able to have almost a 30% annual growth rate, and we are confident to maintain it. By introducing markets – in to markets, we have in a way pioneered the piecing process of putting together the unorganized sector in to organized sector. Thus see lot of opportunity and possibility in the sector and are positive and confident to continue the growth in a similar fashion.

AG: Lastly, any piece of advice or concern you would like to give the new entrants in this industry.

RM: All I would say is that all your business needs is sincerity and commitment and note that there are no short cuts and no compromises. So one has to absolutely honest with the approach and if one gets out the right products, with the right value for money for the consumers and the right package of services, the customers will certainly appreciate and patronize you for sure. | By Ankita Tanna [ankita(at)adgully.com]

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In exclusive conversation with Agdully, Glenn J. Hansen, President & CEO, BPA Worldwide shared some interesting insights about digital measuring, multi – platform brand reach and much more.

Glenn J. Hansen completed his 12th year as President and Chief Executive Officer of BPA Worldwide and his 31st year with the organization. Under his leadership, BPA pioneered independent circulation auditing in China beginning in 1996 and has expanded its presence in greater Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. He is past Chairman of the International Committee of the American Business Media (ABM), served 8 years on the Executive Board of the International Federation of Audit Bureaus of Circulation (IFABC), is past President, current Treasurer of the Asia Pacific ABC regional group of the IFABC and is chair of the IFABC Digital Publication Committee tasked with establishing global standards.

Adgully (AG): Firstly, tell us a bit more about BPA Worldwide, its purpose and functions.

Glenn Hansen (GH): BPA Worldwide is the global industry resource for deep-rooted audience data and media knowledge. BPA delivers consumer and business media audits of unmatched firmness, objectivity, accuracy, transparency and timeliness—audits that provide firm guarantee for media owners and media buyers. With rich, in-depth information, BPA audits provide advertisers, agencies and media owners with audience insights that they can turn into competitive advantage.

AG: How and where do you see the Indian media market in this aspect?

GH: BPA is quite similar to what India has in the form of ABC for newspapers. But it does not measure the ‘dot com’ properties, which I think is a shortcoming. The media buyers, I believe are quite unclear of what metrics to be used for the same. Measuring traffic, knowing who visits the site or consumes the product, demographic profiling, etc; there is not much information regarding this. The challenge lies in deciphering the metrics and information availability.

AG: Can you share with us your views on the Indian Magazine media scene.

GH: The Indian magazine, of what I have seen, score high on the quality phenomena – both content and presentation. But from the price point, it is very different from the other countries; ad revenues being major drivers for it. Also, if one compares the bandwidth of Indian magazine business with that of West Europe, the difference is about 40%. Though business logic suggest that it would flourish, but technology suggests that Indian will go the mobile way since there is a huge population using smart phone here; while, the West uses tablets to consume digital magazines.

AG: With growing popularity of social media, do you social media as a reliable measuring tool?

GH: Unfortunately, unlike other mediums, in social media, you don’t exactly know who the consumer is. One may get the numbers, but the desired demographic, psychological and other measuring tangents fall feeble. You may know what they do, but not who they are and this becomes very difficult for the media buyer to gauge his mediums.

AG: Share with us your perspectives on digital monetization and its success or failure in India.

GH: It clearly depends on the population size which throws great opportunity. If one increases its audiences, it has higher possibility of attracting more eye balls. Also, it depends on the environment in which the consumers live and their preferences. Is it paper friendly market or a digitally motivated one. For example, in Canada, since print products were saturated, media owners moved and expanded to the digital front. But unfortunately, people do not venture out to this medium, thus one may not be wrong in saying that it was almost a failure there. On the other hand in India, because of the huge population, there is great opportunity. It also is about the cost-saving issue, which then leads to market expansion aspect.

AG: Which are the markets you think that Indian publishers should tap now on?

GH: I feel that the B2B scene in India is pretty weak, as compared to the consumer market. It is highly underpriced. The focus should now be on proving their worth, leading to creation of deals, pushing the ad rates high up the scale.

AG: Given the Indian media scenario, what and where do you see growth in India happening?

GH: India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and everybody is eyeing on this country. The only change that needs to happen is a bit more transparency in the functioning coming in, get better prices for both consumers and advertisers. And being highly optimistic, in the next 2 – 3 years I see India growth and only growth for India.

AG: Any word of advice or concern you would want to give to your Indian counterpart from the fraternity or the new entrants.

GH: Well, to the fraternity counterparts here, be more transparent and think global. And to the new entrants, all I would like to day is welcome to the world, which will change the way you think! | By Ankita Tanna [ankita(at)adgully.com]

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Adgully (AG): What are the three things which clients in India can look forward to from your rich experience?

Wain Choi (WC): Advertising in India is getting mature with the passage of time. This is evident in the kind of concepts and creative executions they engage in. Also, in India culture has always been close to consumer, which I believe should be used to the highest potential. Secondly, to the advertisers, I feel that they should not too much to come across to the consumer. The messages should be sharp and brief and that according to me is always a success. Also, India is seeing an increase in the number of multinationals entering in the country. This, according to me should encourage the employment of more and more culturally diverse work force, especially in the creative department, to enhance multi-culturally wholesome work in a mature market like India.

AG: Having worked with some big international brands in India, which brand would you like to give your special touch to?

WC: I think the music industry is quite exciting and impulsive. Especially in India, it’s very exciting to work on projects like music, which make up core essentials of any culture. It would be an elating experience to work on something that is non-technical to the company, but yet gives the creative heads a jolt to get the best out of them.

AG: How would you rate India creative agencies in the creative arena?

WC: Well, honestly, the agencies in India are no different from its contemporaries around the world. Regardless of the origin, the creative’s in India, show great strength and progress with not much difference. In the last few years, Indian agencies could be ranked among the top ten agencies in the world.

AG: With recognition at your perusal, what are the learning’s Indian creative agencies can take from it?

WC: The most important thing would be integration and smooth amalgamation of the process of living through different nationalities, especially in the organization. A multi cultural environment would lead to multi-cultural growth, the presence of various cultures, their colour, flavor, taste would help achieve multi dimensional growth on a creative piece of work. Also, since it’s a business, this would encourage thinking with one mind to move the consumer and his heart to consume the product / service.

AG: In India, with a lot of independent agencies flourishing around, what would you attribute their success to?

WC: It’s amazing to see so many small and medium sized agencies coming up at the given pace. The kind of coverage these have taken is commendable and threatening as well. The creative industry works on the motto of ‘living the dream’ and these independent agencies are doing so, with compromise at all. According to me, the big network agencies need to watch out to these new and steadily growing creative work houses.

AG: What vision do you have for the Indian market and advertisers?

WC: According to my knowledge, be it a global market or a local market; the situation is not that different. The ultimate goal and vision remain the same, i.e. to inch work that will engage consumers and lead to positive results.

AG: What is your task at hand for your Indian team? What would you want their focus to be on?

WC: Be it Indian or any global project. We believe that the ultimate goal and aim is to find the best solution for our clients.

AG: What will be your advice to your Indian team?

WC: My only tip of advice would be, to sell and persuade the client as creatively and convincingly as possible. Rejection is nothing when it comes to creative work. If one idea fails, take two better ideas next time. To keep pushing yourself to get the best of creativity and pushing ideas are what will make for a wholesome and satisfactory project life and personal peace.

AG: Going forward, what is the way ahead?

WC: The way forward is to getting the feet well cemented in gaining high quality ideas. Also, having a critical view of each piece of work; supported with appropriate sharing and discussing ideas to be encouraged to generate superior quality work.

Wain Choi joined Cheil Worldwide in September 2010 as Global Executive Creative Director to lead its global creative division. Earlier he has been associated with Bates, Canada’s largest advertising agency, Cossette Communications, as Associate Creative Director. In May 2001, he made the leap to Young & Rubicam as Vice President, Group Creative Director. In January, 2003, Wain made move to Dentsu Brussels to become Executive Creative Director. In March, 2007, Wain was honored to join the Seoul office of Ogilvy as Vice-President and Chief Creative Officer.

Wain’s work has been recognized by some of the most prestigious award shows, including Cannes, The One Show, Communication Arts, London International, New York Festival, Clio, Eurobest and Spikes

He had the opportunity to leave his mark on such recognizable brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, GM, Hyundai, Warner Lambert, Hilton Hotels, AT&T, Campbell’s, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford and Bombardier. | By Ankita Tanna [ankita(at)adgully.com]

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Adgully caught up with Abhinav Kumar, CEO, Brand Concepts to understand this new and considerably uncovered market.

Adgully (AG): Tell us a little bit about the market size of the industry and the share that Brand Concepts holds in it…

Abhinav Kumar (AK): Brand Concepts as a fashion and accessory licensing company deals in about 3 : 4 categories. The industry, though highly unorganized, approximately is of the nature of about 1500 crore. The belts and wallets category is of about 1200 crore, while that of handbags is about 1000 crore. Different segments have a different market share, but unfortunately the organized sector in this industry barely touches the 4 % mark.

AG: Share with us the reasons behind the launch of Paris Hilton bags in India…

AK: We have always been associated with internationally acclaimed brands. Associating ourselves with the stature of Paris Hilton is like going another level upward. Paris herself as we all know is very stylish and fashionable. And the fact that she hails from a business empire, her business sense is also commendable. Also affixing a popular face like Paris Hilton always has advantages in terms of brand recall. This, like in any other any business is always important for the brand itself. Thus, a business outfit like ours coming together with that of Paris Hilton seems quite obvious and exciting.

AG: What is the pricing strategy that Brand Concepts will follow for this particular venture?

AK: The product range is this venture is huge and wide. We are focusing on good quality, fashionable products that attract everyone from all segments. We are making this association as an ‘affordable luxury brand’.

AG: Is the focus of the product launch and its availability only metros or do other towns and cities also see Paris Hilton bags coming their way?

AK: The metros will always be a vital part of the market we look at, but B and C towns are also becoming a highly potential space for us. We have learnt that the disposable income and the purchasing power of the people in these towns and cities is growing rapidly, and in some areas exceeds that of metros as well. This we believe opens a new road for us since; accessibility of products like these is very low in these areas. Hence, we would like to tap these geographies as well.

AG: Tell us a bit about the distribution and availability pattern of this bag range…

AK: Initially, the Paris Hilton bags range will be distributed in three ways. Firstly, it will be available in stores like Lifestyle, Shopper’s Stop etc. Also, we plan to have Paris Hilton standalone stores, along with a franchise model as well. This works as an advantage from sales point of view since it helps increasing the product’s visibility and accessibility to its target consumers.

AG: What would the marketing strategies that would go in promoting this venture?

AK: The Paris Hilton bag range has a persona of upper premium presence. So in the process of promoting this, we are not painting the town red. We have planned to come across through premium niche magazines, and are involving in a lot of BTL activities. To attract our target, apart from regular end : of season sale, we have also made an effort to reach out through the digital front. The Facebook page of Paris Hilton India has recorded about 25,000 hits in the first 6 days of its opening. Very soon, we shall hit Twitter as well. For all these activities, we have a very strong team behind us. Percept Swift is the ad agency on board, while Adventure and Percept OOH will handle the media and outdoor duties respectively.

AG: Tell us about the expansion plans for Brand Concepts as a business outfit…

AK: Currently, our focus is on the big venture -Paris Hilton’s bag range. Tough in the initial phase we shall import all the goods, since the expenses in manufacturing them here will involve high costs. But we definitely see something big in the near future.

AG: Can you shed some light on the growth strategy and the road map for Brand Concepts…

AK: One of the few fastest growing segments is branded apparels segments. While the apparel industry is about 8 : 10 % organized, we see a huge scope in the accessory sector since currently, its just 2 : 3 % with a total growth bracket of about 30 : 40 %. Thus a clear and big opening for people like us is all that is required for growth. | By Ankita Tanna [ankita(at)adgully.com]