Week at a glance: Q1 IRS 2019; Avengers marketing; WPP’s results; BARC ratings

Q1 IRS 2019: Dainik Jagran continues to lead Hindi dailies; TOI tops English dailies
As per Q1 IRS 2019, Dainik Jagran continues to lead among the top 20 dailies in terms of Last 1 month read (Total Readership) as well as Read Yesterday (Average Issue Readership) [12+ years; Urban+Rural]. Among English dailies, The Times of India retained its numero uno position with a TR of 15,236,000, an increase from 13,045,000 in IRS 2017. The paper was placed 9th among all publications. 

The marketing success of Avengers: Endgame – how Marvel got it right
‘Avengers: Endgame’, the 22nd film from the Marvel series that is expected to conclude the decade-long Avengers franchise, is all set surpass previous records of Hollywood films in India. Online booking platform BookMyShow has reported that more than 2.5 million advance tickets have been sold for the film’s premiere. Mobile Payment service, Paytm has reported 1.5 mllion tickets sold in advance bookings. 

Legacy issues, client losses pull down WPP’s Q1 2019 revenues
WPP has reported revenue of £3.588 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up 0.9 per cent from the same period last year on a reported basis and -0.6 per cent on a constant currency basis. Like-for-like revenue was -1.3 per cent, compared with last year. Revenue less pass-through costs was £2.926 billion, down 0.7 per cent on a reported basis, -2.3 per cent in constant currency and -2.8 per cent like-for-like. 

My job is to make sure that a great idea goes around: Ashish Bhasin
Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has grown into a complex organisation with an intricate web of group companies. Recently, DAN rejigged the senior leadership in its group companies and also streamlined the operations across the network to bring in efficiency. Adgully spoke to Ashish Bhasin and Anand Bhadkamkar on their new roles, the enhanced network structure and their vision for 2020. 

I don’t mind calling data my boss: Emmanuel Upputuru, Cheil India
Cheil WW India is on a high after its wins at Goafest 2019. The agency bagged a total of 8 Gold, 5 Silver and 7 Bronze metals, and in the process became the Branded Content Creative Agency of the Year. Emmanuel Upputuru, Chief Creative Officer, Cheil WW India, speaks to Adgully on the Goafest wins, focus areas for 2019, creative Vs data, integrating AI and more. 

The challenge of many Indias and their transition to digital strategy
In the last couple of months, iProspect has not only seen an array of new businesses coming in, but also a lot of new hires have been made to cater to the specific demands of the work coming in. Adgully caught up with Rahool Talukdar, Senior Creative Director, and Creative Directors Nihal Gopinath, Dhanesh MS and Raijith Ravi, to speak about formulating strategies that encompass the numerous mini-markets within India. 

HT Media Limited acquires 51% stake in Next Mediaworks Limited
HT Media has acquired 51% majority stake in Next Mediaworks, which operates seven FM radio stations across major metros under the brand “Radio One”, including some in international genre. NRL’s FM stations across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune and one more have now come into HT Media’s fold. 

Blackstone to purchase 51% stake in Essel Propack
Blackstone Group Lp, one of the world’s largest equity players, has signed a deal with Ashok Goel to purchase 51% stake in Essel Propack at Rs 134/share. Currently, Ashok Goel who own 57% stake in the company through the Ashok Goel Trust will retain a minority stake in the company once the deal is closed. According to media reports, the estimated cost of the entire acquisition would be in the range of Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 3,200 core. 

BARC Wk 16: 2019 Elections, IPL take a toll on Hindi GECs’ viewership
BARC India data for Week 16 (Saturday, April 13 to Friday, April 19) of 2019 [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals], there was no change in the rankings of the top 10 Hindi GECs in Rural+Urban. Faced by the twin events of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections and IPL 2019, eight of the 10 top Hindi GECs saw decline in their gross viewership this week. 

Publicis cracks the formula of pay parity; celebration stuns ad world
Last week, April 17, 2019 to be precise, saw social media splashed with images of the senior leadership at Publicis Communications India and Publicis Media India cross-dressing. The photographs took social media and the advertising world by storm. The campaign – #AllEqual – was created by Leo Burnett India. 

Manish Maheshwari, ex-CEO of Network18 Digital, joins Twitter India as MD
Reporting to Maya Hari, Twitter’s Vice President and Managing Director of Asia Pacific, Manish Maheshwari will be responsible for driving an integrated business strategy to accelerate Twitter’s audience and revenue growth in the country, overseeing Twitter India’s teams in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. 

Durgesh Kaushik joins Snapchat as Head of Market Development, India
Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has hired its first employee in India – Durgesh Kaushik will lead local market development activities, including strategic partnerships, community development and overall ecosystem initiatives that support growth. 

Podcast ad market could reach $1.6bn by 2022, driven by Spotify’s growth plans
WARC has found that podcasts could account for 4.5 per cent of global audio advertising spend in 2022, or $1.6 billion. This is almost double the $885 million in expected investment this year, equal to 2.5 per cent of the audio market (inclusive of broadcast radio and online formats such as in-stream ads). 

Tiktok ban lifted; win for Bytedance but needs to course correct quickly: experts
Chinese short form video sharing app, TikTok that was banned on the Playstore and Apple Store following a decision by the Madras High Court on April 18th is available for download once again on those platforms. 

Sindoor Khela, Carvaan among Asia’s best campaigns: WARC Rankings 2019
WARC has released the results of Asia’s ‘Best of the Best’, a report showcasing the region’s top campaigns and best all-round performing Asian agencies and brands. Whilst Mindshare Shanghai takes the top spot for the best agency in Asia across the WARC Rankings, there are six Indian agencies in the top ten. The majority of the Indian campaigns from the Asian rankings deal with societal issues such as hygiene, disabilities and illness, and gender discrimination. 

How Mother’s Recipe is converting love into a successful marketing strategy
Mother’s Recipe’s new proposition & tagline - ‘Taste the Love’ - aims to break stereotypes and celebrate womanhood not just on a particular day, but throughout. In conversation with Adgully, Sanjana Desai, Chief Strategy Officer, Mother’s Recipe, sheds further light on the campaign strategy, the brand journey, marketing strategy and more. 

Offbeat: Shyam Motwani – Obsessed about making every home safe
Shyam Motwani, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (a business division of the Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd), has in the past 29 years, spearheaded important roles in his previous assignments with the group. Over the years, Motwani has steered his business functions to exceptional growth. 

The W Suite | The gender wage gap is the highest in India: Aditi Balbir
“Businesses should never need to give back to society; rather businesses should be built around the needs and upliftment of the society in which they operate” – this firm belief led Aditi Balbir, Founder & CEO, V Resorts, and celebrated Indian eco-tourism entrepreneur, to lay the foundation of her venture – V Resorts, now India’s largest hospitality chain focused on micro-level eco-tourism. 

Sony YAY! lines up 109 new episodes & 13 movies this summer as channel turns 2
Sony YAY!, the first kids offering from Sony Pictures Networks, India, is completing 2 years in April 2019. The kids’ channel is adding 100 hours of fresh content this summer with new episodes and 13 movies. Sony YAY! is all set to go multi-platform with long and short content formats on Sony LIV, mobile games, screen integration initiatives and more. 

Former Oath India MD Gurmeet Singh to support global education firm betterU
Gurmeet Singh has come aboard as a consultant for betterU, a global education-to-employment platform. Singh is supporting the firm through his company DAUWAU and will help betterU in providing access to education across India.