Week at a glance: Influencer marketing; Josy Paul’s offbeat skills; New AAAI president

Indepth: Influencer marketing in an era of fake followers, bots, lack of faith – Pt 1
Unilever created quite a stir in June this year in the influencer ecosystem by demanding that the influencer marketing business clean up its act. With this call to action by the industry, it has become necessary to check if the underlying assumptions about influencers and the value addition they bring to a brand come from the right place. 

Indepth: Influencer marketing in an era of fake followers, bots, lack of faith – Pt 2
Globally, the importance of influencer marketing for brands is on the rise. As revealed by a research carried out by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), 65 percent of the multinational brands surveyed said that they intend to increase their spending on influencer marketing in the next 12 months. However, transparency continues to be of prime importance to marketers, with the top criteria being the credibility, reputation, and quality of followers of the influencers.  

Offbeat: Getting to know Josy Paul anew
Adgully’s special feature section – ‘Offbeat’ – seeks to give a peek into the lesser known facets of our very well-known industry leaders. Everyone knows JosyPaul – the Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of BBDO, India, and much awarded creative think tank. But few know about his quirks (he has a permanent tremor, which he believes is because he was born during an earthquake), the explorer in him, that he is an amateur ventriloquist. 

DAN’s Ashish Bhasin elected President of AAAI
Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network Media India Pvt Ltd, has been elected as the President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2018-2019 at its Annual General Body Meeting held on Thursday. 

Ram Sehgal conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2018
The Advertising Agencies Association of India honoured legendary ad man Ram Sehgal with this year’s AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday (July 26, 2018) in the presence of the who’s who of the advertising industry. This is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the advertising industry. 

The W Suite | Lack of ambition holding back women leaders: Kranti Gada
AdGully’s ‘The W-Suite’ series features interactions with influential women leaders in India, who share some deep insights on what being a woman leader means in India’s business landscape. Kranti Gada, Chief Operating Officer, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, is the second generation of promoters of Shemaroo, having joined the family business in 2006 after a successful stint of over two years in marketing at PepsiCo, where she worked on brand Kurkure. 

Total TV viewership in India up by 12%; TV homes grow 7.5%: BARC’s BI report
TV homes in the country have seen a 7.5 per cent jump, outpacing the growth of homes in India which grew at 4.5 per cent, as per the Broadcast India (BI) 2018 Survey released by BARC India. India currently boasts of 298 million homes, of which 197 million have a TV set, having an opportunity of almost 100mn more TV homes in the country. The BI 2018 Survey is based on a sample study of 3 lakh homes in India and offers data and insights that go beyond TV ownership and viewing habits. 

Google revenues grow 26% in Q2 to $32.7 bn; ad revenues up $28.08 bn
Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, has reported a 26 per cent growth in its revenues $32.7 billion for the second quarter of 2018, as against Q2 of 2017. The revenue growth is seen despite a fine of $5.07 billion levied on Google by the European Commission as it decided that certain contractual provisions in agreements between Google and Android partners infringed European competition law. 

Music Broadcast PAT up 25% in Q1 FY2019; topline grows to Rs 75.7 cr
Music Broadcast Limited (MBL), which owns Radio City, has reported a 25 per cent growth in its Profit After Tax (PAT) for the first quarter ended June 30, 2018. PAT margin improved by ~240 bps to 17.8 per cent. The private FM radio broadcaster saw continued improvement in its operating profit, which was up by 17.5 per cent YOY. Topline increased by 8 per cent to Rs 75.7 crore in Q1 FY2019. This was due to the rate hike seen by Music Broadcast in all its core markets. 

TV18 revenues up 11% in Q1 FY19 to Rs 1,088 cr; narrows losses in regional news
TV18 reported a consolidated operating EBITDA of Rs 39 crore in Q1 FY2019 (a sharp improvement YoY) despite impact of losses from the start-up of Colors Tamil. Business-as-usual EBITDA margin for Entertainment business improved significantly, while losses in Regional News also reduced. Consolidated operating revenues at Rs 1,088 crore grew 11 per cent YoY (on a comparable basis) from Rs 979 crore in Q1 FY2018. 

Publicis launches branded content & entertainment marketing arm in India
Publicis Communications has announced the launch of Publicis Entertainment, its new entertainment marketing unit in India. The unit was formally set up in June 2018. Publicis Entertainment will help all of Publicis Communications’ agencies (Leo Burnett India, Leo Burnett Orchard, Publicis Worldwide, Publicis Capital, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, MSL Group, Indigo Consulting, Publicis Beehive, Digitas, Sapient.Razorfish, Prodigious India) collaborate with big players in the content and entertainment space by leveraging social and digital marketing.  

Future Group’s fbb fortifies sleepwear brand Shyla, eyes double digit growth
Future Group’s fbb is out to strengthen its sleepwear brand, Shyla, with a new campaign. Created by DDB Mudra, the campaign showcases the wide range of sleepwear fashion for women from Shyla and seeks to establish the brand as a one-stop destination with a large variety of options to choose from. The ‘Pretty Har Pal’ campaign aims at making every woman feel beautiful – wherever she is, however she is – every moment. 

Yes Bank’s green initiatives garner 4.2 mn impressions, 1.6 lakh engagements
Since inception in 2004, Yes Bank has believed in creating sustained value for its stakeholders, through social, economic and environmental dimensions through its ‘Responsible Banking’ ethos. Differentiated and out-of-the-box communication campaign and online content has been developed to promote #GreenGoodDeeds pledge. 

Client cost-cutting affecting over 60% planners globally: WARC Strategy Report
WARC has released the results of its recent worldwide survey of senior strategists, highlighting their challenges and the impact the strategic function is having on the ever-changing marketing landscape. This is WARC’s second Future of Strategy report; the 2018 version is based on an expanded global survey of more than 500 planners and strategists, providing both quantitative and qualitative data on the current state and future expectations of the industry. The trends that emerged are supported and debated by essays from expert contributors from brands and agencies in different regions. 

BARC Wk 29: Zee Anmol scores highest-ever ratings; Naagin 3 propels Colors to No. 3
BARC ratings for Week 29 (July 14-20) [HSM (U+R): NCCS All : 2+ Individuals] saw Zee Anmol further consolidate its numero uno position by securing the highest-ever gross viewership ever since BARC ratings came into being. Meanwhile, ‘Naagin 3’ continues to go from strength to strength, registering 15,466 (000) Impressions this week, and in the process has also helped Colors move up the ratings charts. 

FIFA World Cup 2018 Final viewership over 50 million in India
The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia has broken viewership barriers with over 250 million viewers tuning in to the tournament in India. The ‘greatest show on earth’ which was telecast live on Sony TEN 2, Sony TEN 3 and Sony ESPN channels and live streamed on SonyLIV app & website, garnered over 250 million viewers across 64 matches played until the end of the tournament.