Week at a glance: Lintas Mediahub, Zenith retains Nestlé, global adspends

MullenLowe Group today announced the entry of MullenLowe Mediahub into the India market with the launch of Lintas Mediahub. In India, the media agency will operate as a division of MullenLowe Lintas Group’s omnichannel agency, PointNine Lintas. Lintas Mediahub is being launched as a full service media offering for a digitised world, and will offer media strategy, communications planning, media planning and buying across all touch-points, both on and offline. 

In a significant development, leading food and beverage conglomerate Nestlé India has retained Zenith as the AOR (agency of record) for its media business. Just recently Nestle also consolidated its Nutrition digital marketing business with Zenith and DigitasLBi. The FMCG major called for a review after five years in November 2017, which saw some leading media groups from across the country participate. 

Reacting to the TRAI’s recommendations on Net Neutrality, the Internet Association of India (IAMAI) has said that that the recommendations are progressive and are in line with the debates in the industry and user groups that have been raging since the last two years. Welcoming TRAI’s views, Manav Sethi, CMO, ALTBalaji, called them “very progressive” and which established quality and equitable treatment. Also coming out strongly in support of TRAI’s recommendations was Vivek Bhargava, CEO, DAN Performance Group. 

Zenith has predicted that global ad expenditure will grow 4.1 per cent in 2018, reaching US$578 billion by the end of the year in its annual Advertising Expenditure Forecast. According to the forecast India is placed No. 4 in the Top Ten contributors to global adspend growth 2017-2020. India follows the US, China and Indonesia in that order. 

Zenith expects internet advertising’s share of global adspend to continue to rise, reaching 40 per cent in 2018 and 44 per cent in 2020. Its value will rise from US$203 billion in 2017 to US$225 billion in 2020. In India, internet adspend will capture 11.6 per cent of the market in 2017. Zenith forecasts 20.4 per cent growth in internet advertising in India in 2018, compared to 8.4 per cent growth for the market as a whole. By 2020, internet will account for 15.4 per cent of total adspend in India. 

Speaking at the CII Big Picture Summit in Mumbai on December 5, 2017, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18 and Chairman, National Committee on Media & Entertainment, CII, highlighted that the M&E sector in India has the potential to add 1-5 million jobs over the next 5 years. Additionally, this sector can provide jobs that are future proof, because creativity requires human interface. Vats also stressed that the need of the hour is to look at the M&E industry with a different lens so as to enable it to exponentially grow. 

Isobar, a leading global digital agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network, predicts that 2018 will be the year of Augmented Humanity, a year where technology enhances and scales our most human attributes. In 2018, technological interfaces will become more natural and instinctive, technology will automate repetitive tasks to free up time for creativity and compassion, and artificial intelligence will meet emotional intelligence. 

Terry Savage, Chairman of Cannes Lions, will leave the Festival following the 2018 event. Savage has been associated with Lions for 33 years, initially as the representative for Australia, then as CEO, and for the last decade as Chairman. 

As 2017 draws to a close, Twitter continues to showcase that it’s the best place to find out what’s happening in India and the world at large. This eventful year, Twitter reflected the vibrant diversity of the Indian society across voices, topics and regions -- from Bollywood to South Indian Cinema, Cricket’s Championship Trophy #CT17 to Women’s World Cup #WWC17, and #GST to #JusticeForJallikattu. 

BARC ratings for Week 48 (November 25 – December 1) [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals] saw the see-saw battle continue for the top spot. This week, it was Zee TV that climbed up to the lead, whereas Zee Anmol dropped to the fourth spot. Star Bharat, Colors, and Sony SAB saw gains this week in their rankings. 

Giving a new twist to the crime dramas on television, Zee TV has come up with a new show, ‘Detective Didi’, which is going on air from December 9. “The show will tease the inner detective in all of us,” quips Deepak Rajadhyaksha, Deputy Business Head, Zee TV. Speaking to Adgully, Rajadhyaksha sheds more light on the show, its USP, inviting fresh audience to sample Zee’s content, the marketing strategy and more. 

Inclined towards technology from an early age, Vivek Bhargava decided to move away from his family business under Bhargava Group and venture out on his own, taking the entrepreneurial road. He has fought his way through the dotcom bust, facing bankruptcy, even having to tweak his business model several times. Giving a boost to budding entrepreneurs is not the only passion of Bhargava. He is also a table tennis enthusiast and plays the game competitively. In fact, he won medals in the 40-plus category of the last two national tournaments. Bhargava is taking forward the cause of table tennis with his Kamgar Academy situated in Elphinstone Road, Mumbai. 

CEO, marketing connoisseur, digital entrepreneur, pet lover – Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch, dons several hats. As a digital native, it was only natural for Jauhari to believe that digital will soon drive all business. Her focus remains to develop an ecosystem where brands can rely on purpose led creative sans platform to move the needle for their business and brand needs. 

Aakash Chatterjee is Senior Account Manager at WATConsult. He started his career in 2013 as an Account Lead at WATConsult and over the past four and a half years, he has worked on brands like Zee, HE Deodorants, SBI Mutual Funds, Mahindra Motorcycles, and Nikon Bestseller Group, among others. 

Pogo has launched yet another home-grown animated series, ‘Andy Pirki’. Created by Mangaluru-based AUM Animation Studios, the silent slapstick comedy went on air on December 3, 2017. In conversation with Adgully, Turner India’s Krishna Desai speaks more on the conceptualisation of ‘Andy Pirki’, the importance of humour in kid’s shows, the digital side content consumption and more.