From the desk of Strategic Resources For any query, discussion or feedback, please contact Pavan Chandra, Head of Strategic Resources at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com, +91-124-4195100. Office Address: 10th Floor, Vatika Tower, Block-B, Sector 54 Gurgaon -122002, Haryana, India.

Volume: IV

July 06, 2007

In these hyper charged times where news comes in as fast as it becomes outdated, we need a source that can keep track of what matters to us. At ZenithOptimedia we have created Wavelength to apprise all of us of the happenings in three areas i.e. 1. Trends in Digital, Retail, OOH, BRIC, Consumers and the International Advertising 2. Media & Advertising Research 3. Environment

Also included here are innovations and news that ZenithOptimedia is making across its network globally, under three sections 1. ZO Zone 2. Fast Forward 3. Touchpoints.

Simply click on any of the sections on our snazzy control panel and you will have the latest updates at your fingertips. Wavelength will reach you in the first week of every month so that you have information that leads to insights.

Drop in a mail at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com with your suggestions and comments.

Consumer Trends

01. Networking, Entertainment Biggest Gainers Online: Juxt Report – June 14 

Social networking gains popularity among Indian netizens

According to India Online 2007 survey conducted by JuxtConsult, an online research and advisory firm, communication, networking (both social & professional) and entertainment activities are the most popular online activities among the youth. Users are now moving to the next level of surfing and online activities such as dating/friendship, instant messaging, online gaming, job search and extracting information on sports. Online networking is increasingly catching attention of netizens. Popularity of Orkut and local social networking sites such as Minglebox and Desimartini indicates the same.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

 

02. Indians Join The League Of E-Shoppers – June 14 

Boom in E-shopping in India

Indians are increasingly shopping through the internet, with e-commerce in India touching Rs 2,300 crore in 2007. According to the India Online 2007 survey conducted by JuxtConsult, 10.8 million Indians, or 43% of the country’s total internet population, buy online, a 76% increase from 2006. Approximately 59% of Indian netizens surf from home and nearly 77% of these use broadband connections. Among all popular online shopping activities, virtual travel booking remains a favourite among Indian shoppers. 

 

Source: Economic Times

 

 

 

03. The Tween Advantage – June 02

Tween market grows

Currently in India, the tween (8-to-12-year-old) is more aware, more informed, more demanding than ever before. Couple that with rising household incomes, and increased tendency to amend parental guilt over not spending enough time with the kids by splurging on them, the tween market is booming and is expected to grow exponentially. They are playing a major role in making brand purchase decisions for the household, in product categories that are not children's products by any stretch of the imagination: from consumer durables to cars and homes. Some TV commercials that feature tweens include Asian Paints, HDFC Standard Life, Surf Excel, Maruti Esteem etc.

Source: Financial Express

 

Emerging Trends: Digital

04. Simply Taking Web Experience On Mobiles Won't Work – June 24  

Consumers look for value added web services on mobiles

In India, there is pent-up demand for value added services (VAS) on mobiles and the opportunity for its growth is abundant.  Consumers are demanding services other than ringtones, wallpaper, games and SMS. They are unlocking the value in their phone, which is a mini computer with transaction oriented services. However, few VAS providers have realized that simply taking web experience and miniaturizing it for mobile delivery does not work, therefore, service providers are focusing on making the mobile phone a more universal platform for accessing the internet.

 

Source: Financial Express

 

 

 

05. Digital: Quest For Speed-Dial In Mobile Advertising, Part One – May 28 

Content and information consumption to shift to mobile devices

In India, mobile internet consumers (the estimates vary, but approximately 5% of 170 million users have access to GPRS) do not look beyond the usual ring-tones, eye-candy downloads and games. Every publisher has a market strategy based on mobile advertising. According to an Airtel spokesperson, “Content and information consumption will continue to shift to the mobile device (such as music, gaming, TV and news), as more and more people will begin to utilise their time more productively while on the move”.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs  

 

Emerging Trends: Retail

06. How About Shopping At 30,000 Ft? – June 24 

Budget airlines to make air-journey a unique shopping experience

Budget airlines are not just means of transport anymore. SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo have decided to make the air-journey a unique shopping experience as well. GoAir has started selling merchandise such as watches, CDs and golf balls besides other gift items. They are also teaming up with other players on-ground to provide customers facilities such as hotel booking, car rental, special holiday packages bidding and buying travel insurance besides buying air tickets. 

 

Source: Economic Times  

 

 

 

07. India Tops Global Retail Index Again – June 22 

India tops Global Retail Development Index

India and Russia continue to occupy the top two spots in AT Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index, in 2007, since the last three years. As the retail sector in large cities reaches saturation point, global retailers are increasingly establishing shops in smaller cities. Modern retail, accounting for 2-3% of the market, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40% from $8 billion to $22 billion by 2010. Overall, India’s retail sector is expected to grow from its current $350 billion to $427 billion by 2010 and $635 billion by 2015.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

 

08. Brands, Malls In Revenue Sharing Deal – May 30

Retail brands and malls to use revenue-sharing model for expansion

Retail brands are exploring a revenue-sharing business model with mall owners wishing to grab prime retail spaces. The model seems to be favourable for stronger brands looking to enter new markets while for malls it’s a medium to attract better retailers.  According to an executive of a property consulting firm, certain malls and brands opt for the revenue-sharing model to enter new markets where sales cannot be immediately estimated. Indus Clothing, which has introduced Italian brands, such as Miss Sixty and Energie, is talking with mall developers to take its expansion plans ahead.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs 

 

 

 

09. Beaming To The Footfalls – May

Higher brand recall for ads run on in-store medium

Conventional media is giving way to new and innovative modes of communication such as retail media or in-store advertising. Though the glamour and charm of mass media is intact, the differentiation lies in understanding the significance of retail advertising, i.e., reaching at the place and point where it matters the most. India is rapidly holding on to the in-store medium to get better consumer attention, while they are shopping. It was found that consumers’ brand recall for ads run on the in-store media network is 2-3% higher than ads they view at home. 

 

Source: Pitch, Volume IV, Issue 7

 

Emerging Trends: OOH

10. The Great Outdoor Hunt – June 03

Growing awareness of outdoor media

OOH is a Rs. 1,000-crore industry and is expected to grow exponentially. There is a growing awareness about the media, with companies realising that outdoor is “the place to be” for brands wanting remote connect with consumers. An example is the “Zapak effect” for the instant recall, which the outdoor campaign has managed for the gaming portal zapak.com.

 

Source: Business Today

 

Emerging Trends: Others

11. Unbundling The Hot Shops – June 17

Advertisers resort to 360-degree campaigns

As clients become increasingly demanding and open to use every media available radio, print, internet, outdoor, television and cinema, for getting their message across to the target audience, ad agencies have recast their operations to be present at every touch point. Agencies, such as Leo Burnett and JWT, have set up separate units (Arc Worldwide and RMG Connect, respectively), which provide specialised services, such as direct marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), events management and promotions, under one banner. Some of the brands using 360-degree campaigns include Religare, Pond’s Age Miracle etc.

 

Source: Business Today

 

 

 

12. Attack Of The Old Media – June03

Print and television see more opportunity with internet booming

Print and television companies, whose internet usage was limited to putting their content online, are now beginning to look at the opportunity of an independent business that goes beyond news. Bennett, Coleman & Co., which publishes The Times of India and The Economic Times, has a separate digital venture called Times Internet that owns portals such as timesjobs.com (jobs classifieds), magicbricks.com (real estate) and simplymarry.com. Another media player is TV18, whose internet arm, Web18, is acquiring toeholds in various dotcoms such as Yatra.com, Jobstreet.com India, Cricketnext.com, Compareindia.com, Urban Eye and Big Tree Entertainment. NDTV too has spun off its internet division into a separate entity, i.e., NDTV Convergence.                     

 

Source: Business Today

 

 

Emerging Trends: International

13. Web Spending Seen Rising By Double Digits To 2011 – June 21 

Web spending by US consumers to rise

According to a PwC report on global entertainment and media outlook, internet advertising and access expenditure by US consumers will rise each year by double digits, on an average, through 2011. This growth will be stimulated by high-speed connections, social networking and entertainment sites. Spending on web advertising and fees paid by the US consumers to internet providers will reach $78.4 billion by 2011, up from $47.2 billion in 2006, a 10.7% average annual growth rate. The US online ad market, the largest in the world, is projected to grow to $35.4 billion by 2011. China is expected to leave US behind to become the world's largest internet territory in terms of users by 2009. 

 

Source: Reuters 

 

 

 

14. Where Were You Online? Advertisers Know – June 20 

Marketers to increase spending on behavioural targeting 

According to research firm eMarketer, US marketers will approximately double their spending on behavioural targeting to $1 billion in 2008 from $575 million in 2007. Industry executives opine that it would be a boon to the consumers, who will only receive commercial messages that suit them personally, while enjoying online entertainment or information for free.

 

Source: Express India

 

 

 

15. New MTVN, Visible Deal Gives Advertisers Creative Control – June 19  

‘Dynamic ad insertion’ gives advertisers creative control

Programmers and advertisers are looking into the concept of dynamic ad insertion for greater viewer engagement. For example, the MTV Network has inked a deal with the ad technology company, Visible World, which will enable the alteration of creative so that it carries greater relevance to a particular program. The programme will allow advertisers to offer ads with tweaks to reflect new information such as just-published praise or box office results of a movie. It could even call for viewers to text vote about a preference for a storyline and the advertiser putting it on-air.

 

Source: Mediapost

 

 

 

16. Upstart Websites Aim to Consolidate Social Networking – June 18 

Marketers look forward to social network aggregation

The latest trend in social networking space, aggregation, is enticing for consumers and marketers both. One stop media buying at a popular and engaging aggregate site or being able to target a person's entire web persona is becoming an ideal solution for marketers. For example, MyLifeBrand has a three-pronged revenue approach that relies on advertising, premium services and social commerce to support itself. Its users can add as many as four networks, tracks and cross-pollinate friends & interests, as well as create branded communities of their own. According to eMarketer, in 2006, marketers spent $350 million in advertising on social networking sites, and this is expected to rise to $900 million in 2007. 

 

Source: Adage

 

 

 

17. Optimize Content For Users First, Bots Second – June 15

Companies becoming search engine optimisation friendly

The universal purpose of a website is to generate user conversions. Therefore, companies are emphasising on becoming search engine optimisation (SEO)-friendly. Combination of right keywords; relevant, high quality & comprehensive content and user experience are the key factors for optimising a website. To retain searcher’s interest, the home page keywords should be broader and pertain to the site’s overall products and services.

 

Source: MediaPost Publications

 

 

 

18. Internet Advertising Revenues Soar Again, Near $5 Billion In Q1 07 – June 06

Internet advertising revenue reaches $4.9 billion in Q1’07

According to The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB represents over 300 leading interactive companies that actively engage in, and support the sale of interactive advertising. IAB members are responsible for selling over 86% of online advertising in the United States) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), Internet advertising revenues reached a $4.9 billion for Q1’07. These revenues represent a 26% increase over Q1’06 at $3.8 billion and a 2% increase over Q4’06 at $4.8 billion. 

 

Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau

 

 

 

19. Private-Label Goods On A Roll; Brands Take A Beating – June 05 

Private label products become more popular

Private Label Manufacturers Association’s (PLMA) study says that the popularity of private-label foods is creating a halo effect for other product categories. Approximately 41% of shoppers are now identifying themselves as ‘frequent’ buyers of private label food brands. The study also says that consumers in the middle-income ($30,000-$75,000) and high-income ($75,000-plus) brackets are much more likely to buy a larger amount of private label goods in the coming year than those in the low-income (under $30,000) bracket.

 

Source: Mediapost

 

 

 

20. Selling Web Advertising Space Like Pork Bellies – May 29

Advertisers using electronic exchanges for unsold ad space

Now advertisers and websites are buying and selling online advertisement space through electronic exchanges. These exchanges generally trade the unsold advertising space by using automated systems to match buyers with sellers of the space. By bringing together numerous ad sellers, exchanges can potentially help advertisers buy a larger quantity of such specifically-targeted ads across different websites. Michael Janes, Chief Marketing Officer at StubHub, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theatre and other live entertainment events at fair market value, said that in a few months of usage, ad networks and exchanges have become essential to their marketing mix.

 

Source: The Wall Street Journal

 

BRIC Zone - China

21. PwC: China Media Market To Reach US$130bn By 2009 – June 22  

China’s media market to reach $130 billion by 2009

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, income from the entertainment and media sector in China is expected to increase to $130 billion by 2009, exceeding that of Japan, and become the highest income market in the Asia-Pacific region. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are expected to increase the number of advertisements in mediums, such as television and radio, by 20%.

 

Source: NewsTrak International

 

 

 

22. China's Media Industry Reaps High Revenue – June 22

China’s media industry revenue rose 18% in 2006

According to State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China's total media industry revenue in 2006 rose 18% to reach RMB110 billion. Revenue from the radio and television sector grew 17%, while from the film sector it rose 19%. TV had a penetration of 96% in China's population of 1.3 billion, while radio came close by 95%.

 

Source: China Knowledge Press

 

 

 

23. China B2B Advertising Market To Top 9.3 Bln Yuan In 2007 – June 20

China’s B2B advertising market to grow by 25% in 2007

According to Analysys International, a consulting firm, China’s business-to-business (B2B) advertising market is expected to grow by 25% to reach 9.3 billion Yuan in 2007. In 2006, offline media, including trade publications and trade shows, dominated China's B2B market with 72% share, while online media accounted for 25% market share. The foreign trade-related advertising accounted for approximately 70% of China’s B2B media revenue in 2006.

 

Source: AFX – Asia

 

 

 

24. China's Internet and Digital TV Industries Develop Rapidly – June 14  

Rapid growth in China’s internet and digital industry

China witnessed a high development in its internet and digital TV industries. According to a report by Morgan Stanley, an international investment group, China's income from digital TVs, paid search services and online job advertising services increased by 95%, 60% and 41%, respectively, in 2006 from 2005.

 

Source:  China Industry Daily News

 

 

 

25. Big Rush For Mainland Retail Space Increasingly Affluent Chinese Are Encouraging Developers To Focus On Shopping Centres – June 13

Retail space in demand in first and second-tier cities in China

According to retail industry experts, the robust growth of mainland China’s economy has increased the buying power of the mainland residents. This has in turn benefited the country’s retail business and attracted investors towards the retail property sector. Therefore, both big and small domestic and overseas property companies are now investing in the growing retail property industry, in first and second-tier cities. 

 

Source: South China Morning Post

 

 

 

26. China's Broadband Users Total 97 Million  – June 07  

97 million broadband users in China

During the Broadband World Forum Asia 2007, held on June 5, Jiang Yaoping, Vice Director of the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry, said that the number of China's telephone and internet users reached 958 million and 144 million, respectively, with broadband users accounting for 97 million or 67.4%. He also added that China ranked second, only after the US, in terms of the number of broadband users.   

 

Source: China Industry Daily News

 

 

 

27. China Internet Penetration 62 Pct Of World Avg, Still Much Upside – June 05 

Internet penetration in China currently at 62% of world’s average

According to Wu Hequan, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, internet penetration in China is currently at 62% of the world's average level. The country’s internet users increased 23.4% in 2006, while traffic rates increased by 200%.

 

Source: Xinhua Financial News

 

 

 

28. China’s Advertising Industry Needs Repositioning – June 04

China’s advertising industry makes changes

According to statistics from the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, China’s advertising industry generated operating turnover of 157.3 billion Yuan in 2006, rising 11.1% year-on-year. With the changes in the market, the proportion of advertising of traditional media will drop and that of new forms of advertising, such as internet, mobile phones and promotion campaigns, will increase. Therefore, industry experts are putting efforts to reposition the advertising industry.

 

Source: South China Morning Post

 

 

 

29. Tide Of Change Despite Controls On The Mainland Media, There Is An Irreversible Movement Towards Freedom Of Expression, Writes Li Datong – May 26 

Media playing vital role in China’s social development

Media is playing a major role in China’s social development. The principal factors for this include growing consciousness of rights among people, changing ideas about journalism and the explosion of the internet as a universal medium.

 

Source: South China Morning Post

 

 

BRIC Zone - Brazil

30. Women Aged Up To 24 Represent 51% Of Brazil Internet Users – June 15

51% of Brazilian internet users are females

According to a survey by IBOPE/NetRatings, the number of home internet female users aged 2-24 was 3.6 million in Brazil at end-April 2007 – 51% of the total Brazilian internet users. The number of female users aged 18-24 grew by 35% (totalling 1.5 million) in April 2007 from April 2006.  

 

Source: AE Brazil

 

 

 

31. Brazil Ranks 11th Biggest Broadband Internet Market – June 14

Brazil secures 11th position in broadband internet market

According to a study by Point Topic, a UK-based broadband communication analysis company, Brazil is the world’s 11th biggest broadband internet market. The country had over six million broadband internet users at the end of Q1’07. Though the study showed that Brazil is the biggest broadband internet market in Latin America and the southern hemisphere, the country has registered a lower growth than the other countries in the Latin America region. Brazil's broadband internet market increased by 5.9%.

 

Source: Latin America News Digest

 

 

 

32. Brazil: Internet Purchasers Prefer Electronics – May 30

Customers of internet retailers increasingly purchase electronics

According to The Centre of studies on the Technologies of the Information and the Communication (CETIC.br), responsible for the production of pointers and statisticians on the availability and use of the internet in Brazil, customers of internet retailers are increasingly purchasing electronics. Around 24% of active Internet buyers mentioned electronics purchases in 2006, compared with 14% in 2005. Approximately 30.92% of the income of companies that have electronic retail sites comes from online deals.

 

Source: IT Digest

 

BRIC Zone - Russia

33. Number Of Internet Users To Grow To 40 Mln In Russia In 2008 – June 14  

Russia  to have 40 million internet users by 2008

According to Leonid Reiman, Information Technologies and Communications Minister, in Russia, the number of internet users will grow to 40 million by 2008. In 2006, this number was 27 million.   

 

Source: ITAR-TASS World Service

 

 

 

34. Russia Prefers Domestic Internet Resources – June 05  

Russia prefers domestic online search engines to Google and Microsoft 

According to COMSCORE analysts, Russia is the only European country where domestic internet resources, YANDEX, MAIL.RU and RAMBLER, are popular. Other countries where domestic online search engines are popular are the US and China.  Russia is at the bottom of the list in terms of internet access penetration rate (11%), but far from being last by the number of users who actively visit websites and is sixth after Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain in the rating.

 

Source: Novecon

 

 

 

35. Russian International TV Channel Goes On-Line With YouTube – June 04

Russia Today launches a channel on YouTube

Russia Today, a Russian English-language TV news channel, is launching its own channel on YouTube, the leading web-based video uploading service. Russia Today is moving into a new media environment which includes Internet users for whom it is already customary and convenient to watch TV on their computer monitors. The service will enable viewers to watch an interesting feature, programme or film at any time, in any part of the world even if they have missed it on air.

 

Source: BBC RIA Novosti

 

HOME

Media & Advertising Research Watch

36. AdEx India Analysis: Snapshot on Advertising by Tourism Industry on TV – June 19

Tourism industry advertising on television

AdEx India analysis on the advertising trends of the tourism industry on TV, showed a 12% rise in the TV ad volumes of tourism industry in January-May 2007 over January-May 2006. The ratio of ad volumes by the State Tourism and Private/International players was 55:45.  The ads were shown mostly on news channels in which prime time saw the largest ad volume. Private/international players advertised more number of commercials per day, compared to the State Tourism.

 

Source: indiantelevision.com 

 

 

 

37. AdEx Study: Overview Of Advertising In Home Appliances Sector In Print – June 15

Home Appliances advertising in print

AdEx India, a division of Tam Media Research, analysis showed a 14% rise in the advertising of home appliances during January-April 2007. Television sets contributed approximately 47% to home appliances ad volumes. Publications from south and west zones had the largest share of advertisements. More than 50% of ad volumes were contributed by sales promotion activities, with exchange and multiple promotions having the largest share.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

38. AdEx Study: Overview Of Advertising In Home Appliances Sector On TV – June 12

Home Appliances advertising on television

According to AdEx India analysis, ad volumes of the home appliances sector increased by 42% in 2006 over 2005. It registered an 11% rise in ad volumes in January-April 2007. Most advertisements were aired on news channels. Air conditioners and television sets contributed approximately 50% to home appliances ad volume.

 

Source: Indiantelevision.com

 

 

 

39. Radio Listenership Growth Slowing Down In Metros – June 09

Growth of radio listnership slowing down in metros

The findings of Media Research Users’ Council’s (MRUC) Indian Listenership Track (ILT), for which fieldwork was conducted during 17 February-28 April, 2007, (covering sample size of 4500 in each metro, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata), revealed that the growth of radio listenership in Mumbai and Kolkata was slowing down. Even Delhi is seeing a single-digit growth. In Mumbai and Delhi, the big gainers were Radio City 91.1 FM and Radio One 94.3 FM.

 

Source: indiantelevision.com

 

 

 

40. AdEx Study: Trends In FMCG Sector Advertising In Print – June 07

FMCG sector advertising in print

According to AdEx India analysis, print ad volumes of the FMCG sector grew by 14% in 2006 over 2005. In January-April 2007, the FMCG sector advertisement increased by 3% over January-April 2006. Personal healthcare contributed nearly 40% to the sector’s ad volume and approximately 76% of FMCG advertisements appeared in newspapers. 

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

41. India's Mobile Web Usage Doubled: Study – June 06

Indians are increasingly using mobile phones to access internet

India is emerging as a forerunner in using cell phones to access the internet. One in every 11 people logging on to the web across the world through mobiles is turning out to be an Indian. The number of people accessing internet in India through cell phones has more than doubled in the past year, thus making the country a home to the fourth largest population browsing the net through their mobile handsets. According to the data compiled by UK-based Bango Plc, which tracks users from over 190 countries accessing the mobile web, Indians account for 9% of the total number of mobile web users, which has grown considerably from 4% in 2006.  

 

Source: Financial Express

 

 

 

42. Snapshot of TV and Radio Channel Promotions in Print – June 06

Growth in advertising of radio & TV channel promotions in print in2006

AdEx India analysis on the advertising trends of radio and TV channel promotions in print showed that radio channel promotions grew 1.6 times in ad volumes, whereas TV channel promotions rose by 6% in Print in 2006 over 2005. Radio channel promotions grew by 175% in January-April ’07 over January-April ’06, whereas there was a dip of 23% in TV channel promotions. Apart from English language, TV channel promotions used high ad volumes in Hindi language publications. However, radio channel promotions focused on regional publications.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

43. AdEx India Analysis: Snapshot On Advertising By FMCG Sector On TV – June 05

FMCG sector advertising on television

AdEx India analysis showed a 39% growth in ad volumes of FMCG categories on TV in 2006 over 2005. During January-April 2007, ad volumes of FMCG sector rose by 26% from January-April 2006. General Entertainment Channels (GECs) received maximum number of FMCG ads. Among the other sectors, food and beverages contributed the most. Hindustan Lever was the leading player with 13% share in ad volumes.

 

Source: Indiantelevision.com

 

 

 

44. Services Sector Tops Radio Advertising In Q1 2007 – June 05

Services sector tops radio advertising

Radio AdEx, the radio advertising monitoring service from TAM Media Research, has expanded its monitoring base from 13 stations in four metros to 40 stations across seven cities for Q1’07. Among the top 10 sectors that contributed 83% of ad volumes in Q1’07, the services sector alone had 16% share. It was followed by the hair care and banking/finance/investment sectors with 13% and 12%, respectively.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

45. All Eyes For Discovery – May 31

Discovery Channel had the highest viewership among all English channels for January-April 2007

According to Television Audience Measurement (TAM) all-India viewership data released for January-April 2007, Discovery Channel achieved the highest viewership among all English channels, in genres as diverse as movies, news, entertainment or music channels. Though the channel tops on the all-India front, in the Hindi-speaking market and over a million population cities, in the six metros it falls a bit short and trails the channels MTV and Star Movies.

 

Source: The Hindu Business Line

 

 

 

46. AdEx India Analysis: Snapshot on Print and Radio Channel Promotions on TV – May 29

AdEx India analysis on print and radio channel promotions on television

According to the AdEx India Analysis, 42% more ad volumes were registered by Radio Channel Promotions on TV while Print Promotions grew by 7% in 2006 over 2005. There was a whopping 96% growth in radio channel promotions whereas only 65% rise in print promotions from January-April 2007 over January-April 2006. News and GEC channels were preferred the most by Print and Radio Channel Promotions. 

 

Source: Indiantelevision.com

 

 

 

47. MRUC To Conduct Pilot To Evaluate Radio Measurement Methodologies – May 28

Pilot study to evaluate radio measurement methodologies

With the media industry questioning the DAR (Day-After-Recall) methodology used in the survey by Media Research Users’ Council’s (MRUC) Indian Listenership Track (ILT), so far, the only syndicated radio research in India, MRUC has commissioned TNS India to undertake a pilot study that intends to evaluate two methodologies in radio research – the DAR and the panel-based diary methodology. The study also intends to understand the on-ground implementation problems with the diary panel.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

48. Coca Cola Fizzes Its Way To The Top 10 Advertisers List – May 28 

Coca Cola India Ltd. tops advertisers list in radio ad spend

According to the latest AdEx data, Coca Cola India Ltd. used 168,000 seconds of radio advertisement, making it the top overall advertiser for April. The company featured in the top five advertisers list in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. Consuming the largest ad spends in Bangalore and Chennai, with 57,000 and 53,000 seconds, respectively, the company topped the lists in both the cities.

 

Source: India Radio Bulletin

 

HOME

Environment Watch: Regulation

49. Now, Get Ready For Digital Entertainment – June 21   

Analog cable operators to convert to digital conditional access system by 2011   

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Government of India have drawn a roadmap for the country’s digitalisation. As part of the roadmap, new analog cable operators cannot register themselves and the existing ones need to convert to digital conditional access system (CAS) by 2011. CAS will be implemented in phases from October 2008 to September 2011.

 

Source: India Business Insight

 

 

 

50. DAVP’s New Ad Policy To Raise Share Of Newspapers In Ad Revenue – June 16   

DAVP announces new advertisement policy

Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity’s (DAVP) new advertisement policy for print media has come up with measures to raise the share of small and medium newspapers in the advertising revenue routed through DAVP. Policy for Empanelment of Audio-Video Producers and Policy for Empanelment of Electronic Media Channels were also reviewed for better efficacy, as well as facility for the electronic media.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

51. Social Messaging Code For Channels In The Offing – June 10     

Social messaging code for private broadcasters

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry will soon introduce a mandatory social messaging code in addition to a content and advertising code for private broadcasters, as a part of the proposed Broadcast Bill.  Channels failing to comply with the code will have to pay a fine, followed by a show-cause notice for the cancellation of licence. Mostly, the channels will be free to decide how to incorporate social messaging in their content, but the commercial segments will have to carry the centre’s social campaigns free-of-cost.

 

Source: Indian Express

 

 

 

52. TRAI's New Plan – June 08  

TRAI releases a policy for cable landing stations

TRAI has released International Telecommunication Access to Essential Facilities at Cable Landing Stations (CLS) Regulation 2007, which provides for non-discriminatory, fair and open access at the cable landing stations. The regulation will facilitate the provision of bandwidth to end consumers at competitive rates, availability of international bandwidth at competitive prices to ISPs (for rapid growth of broadband service), options to ILDOs to purchase international bandwidth on a diverse range of submarine cables and carriage of voice/data at a competitive cost. It will also boost competition thus reducing the price of international private leased circuits (IPLCs).

 

Source: Times of India

 

 

 

53. Unwanted Calls: Regulation In Place For Penalising Telemarketers – June 06

TRAI issues regulation against telemarketing calls

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a stringent regulation, which includes a fine of Rs 500 on telemarketers for every unsolicited commercial call or short message to subscribers who have got their telephone number listed on the National Do Not Call (NDNC) Registry. Telemarketers will also have to get themselves registered with the NDNC and verify their calling telephone numbers with the registry before making a call. Subscribers of both fixed line telephone and mobile phones, who do not wish to get calls from telemarketers, can get their numbers listed in the registry through their service provider.

 

Source: The Hindu Business Line

 

 

 

54. No Free Feed For DTH Players – June 01  

Government to stop DTH players from telecasting cricket feed provided free to Doordarshan (DD)

DTH players, such as Tata Sky and Dish TV, will soon be forbidden to broadcast live international cricket action starring India, unless they have a direct agreement with the sports’ broadcaster, holding the telecast rights. The technical sub-group (under the guidance of the state-owned Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd.), set up by the Union Cabinet to look into the issue of sharing live feed with DD, believes that DTH must be considered as a separate platform and not be allowed to ride on free telecast offered to DD.

 

Source: Economic Times

 

 

 

55. Coming, List Of Dos And Don’ts For TV – May 31  

Indian television gets a comprehensive code for content regulation

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has prepared a code for content regulation for the broadcasters, which will restrict the kind of content they telecast and also its time. The code puts programmes into nine categories, including for children and women, among others. It also prescribes the do’s and don’ts in each category. The channels found violating the privacy of an individual or a group will face action such as suspension of transmission or a ban for certain period.

 

Source: Hindustan Times 

 

 

 

56. TRAI Directs Cable Operators To Carry Doordarshan Channels – May 30  

TRAI directs cable operators to carry DD channels according to Prasar Bharati notifications 

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed all cable operators to carry Doordarshan (DD) channels on their cable services, according to the various notifications issued by Prasar Bharati. According to these notifications, certain DD channels are required to be carried in the prime band and others in non-prime. The TRAI has also warned that any violation of this direction may lead to the prosecution of the errant cable operator under section 29 and section 34 of the TRAI Act, 1997.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

57. Government Lifts Ban On FTV Before Deadline – May 28

Government lifts ban on FTV

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has lifted the ban imposed on transmission and re-transmission of FTV.com India channel on all platforms with immediate effect. The revocation is subject to the condition that the suspended prohibition period of six days will be added to the penalty in case of any future violation of the Cable Act/Rules.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

Environment Watch: Advertising & Media

New Media

58. Bharti Airtel Introduces Ad Friendly SMS Platform – June 22

Ad-friendly SMS platform by Bharti Airtel

In a partnership with UK-based mobile media innovations firm, Affle, Bharti Airtel has launched SMS 2.0, now available to mobile phone subscribers in Delhi and the NCR. With SMS 2.0, users can listen to advertisements and content such as news and cricket updates, strictly according to one’s choice, while sending an SMS instead of seeing a 'sending message’ icon on their mobile phone screens. Airtel subscribers can download and install this facility onto their mobile handsets for free.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

 

59. Microsoft Launches New Ad Platform 'Sponsored Spaces' – June 21 

Microsoft launches ‘Sponsored Spaces’

Microsoft has launched a new ad platform, ‘Sponsored Spaces’, in India, which allows advertisers to use the social networking scene and communicate & engage directly with the consumers. Sony Ericsson was one of the first companies to use this community-based advertising platform in April with its ‘Share the Real Me’ site.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

60. Reliance Comm Launches Mobile Radio Service – June 21

Reliance Communications launches mobile radio service

Reliance Communications has launched a mobile radio service on its phones. The service is available to both post- and pre-paid subscribers of Reliance Mobile, Reliance Hello and Reliance landline subscribers. All Reliance mobile customers, regardless of the type of mobile phone, can now avail mobile radio service across the country. This service is available in eight Indian languages, including Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam, among others.

 

Source: Financial Express

 

 

 

61. Tata Indicom Brings Internet Radio On Mobile Phones – June 19

Tata Indicom offers a combination of internet and radio on mobile devices

Tata Indicom has launched a mobile internet radio, which offers a unique combination of internet and radio on its mobile devices. The company will offer this service through ‘Brew’, an application that connects to a bouquet of 41 international and local radio stations. It will also enable users to download music and ring-tones from the internet.  It is available on Motorazr V3C, Samsung Wideo and Motorola World Phone, with a subscription charge of Rs 25 for 15 days. The company is also planning to provide this service on low-end mobile devices.

 

Source: Exchange4media 

 

 

 

62. Tata Indicom VSAT To Launch TNET Signage With Digifour Technologies – June 13

Tata Indicom VSAT launches TNET Signage

Tata Indicom VSAT Services (TIVS) has launched TNET Signage in association with Digifour Technologies in India. The company is offering the dynamic digital signage to provide complete control in the management and delivery of content to various destinations from a central point in real-time. It will offer tailored solutions across various verticals, including banking, retail, entertainment, and public facilities, such as airports, railways delivering multimedia content on monitors, plasmas and digital billboards screens.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

63. dgm India Launched; To Deliver ROI To Online Advertisers – June 07

Delivery of ROI through affiliate marketing by dgm India

dgm India, a subsidiary of Deal Group and a part of DGM Holdings plc, UK, was officially launched in India on June 6. The company’s principal activity is the delivery of ROI through affiliate & search engine marketing, display inventory and e-mail, either as individual channels or as a complete solution.  The company has already signed up advertisers, including Yatra, Naukri, Sify and Ferns n Petals. DGM Holdings plc is UK’s first affiliate network, which offered advertisers the single strategy of affiliate marketing (promotion of an advertiser’s campaign through many independent websites i.e. affiliates) to deliver ROI. 

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

64. Airtel Launches Instant Messaging Service – June 07

Instant messaging service by Airtel 

Bharti Airtel has launched an instant messaging service that will allow users to chat on their mobile handset. This service will give all Airtel mobile customers the advantage of having similar experience as on a desktop chat service. Airtel messenger users can send and receive messages in real-time through their mobiles without a computer. The service targets the youth and young professionals.

 

Source: The Hindu Business Line

 

 

 

65. The Beeb Has A New Web Address: YouTube – May 31

BBC content now available on YouTube

BBC has announced its partnership with the popular video sharing website, YouTube, to strengthen the channel’s reach to millions of internet users across the world. At BBC’s new web address users can log in and watch news clips gathered from the UK-headquartered BBC’s 58 international news bureaus and its 250 correspondents worldwide. Also breaking news will be made available on a specially-designed page on YouTube.  Indian news channels are also looking forward to this trend of combining internet and news that targets the youth.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

Television

66. Channels Bet On Music Shows – June 25

Music talent TV shows favourite with advertisers

 

Music talent TV shows such as SaReGaMaPa (Zee Television), Indian Idol (Sony Entertainment Television) and Star Voice of India (Star Plus) are attracting big ad spends as they command a high viewership rating. The three channels are expected to rake over Rs. 60 crore on advertising revenue and for companies such as Zee it already constitutes for 6% of their total ad revenue. Channel executives said that as the viewership involvement is high, advertisers find the programmes useful to connect with their consumers.

 

Source: Business Standard

 

 

 

67. TV18 Group Company GBN And Lokmat Group To Launch Marathi News Channel – June 15  

TV18’s GBN and Lokmat Group to launch a Marathi News channel 

Global Broadcast News Limited (GBN), a TV18 Group company, in a 50:50 joint venture with the Lokmat Group, will foray into the regional news space by launching a 24-hour Marathi news and current affairs channel. The new channel will target the “highly aware and conscious Marathi-speaking audience” in Western India with a delivery style to suit their pace of lives. 

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

68. NDTV’s Lifestyle Channel, ‘Life!’ To Go On Air By July – June 14  

NDTV’s ‘Life!’ to be launched by July 2007

NDTV’s first lifestyle channel, ‘Life!’ is expected to go on air by July 2007. This fully-Indian lifestyle channel in English will cover travel, leisure, luxury, adventure, partying, cuisine, health and wellness and gizmos. It will target the urban Indians, aged 15 and above, from SEC A and B.  A portal by NDTV Lifestyle, NDTVLife.com, will supplement the launch of this lifestyle channel.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

Print

69. Images Group Launches ‘Progressive Grocer’ In India – June 14

‘Progressive Grocer’ launched in India

The Images Group via a licensing arrangement with the Nielsen Company has launched the Indian edition of the international food and grocery speciality magazine ‘Progressive Grocer’. The magazine aims to capitalise on the country’s emerging retail boom.

 

Source:  Exchange4media

 

 

 

70. World Newspaper Sales Up 2.3%; India Grows 13% In 2006: WAN – June 04

Global newspaper sales up 2.3% in 2006

Despite the onslaught of television and the internet, newspapers have retained their position as the preferred media with global sales rising 2.3% in 2006, driven by a significant growth in India and China. According to the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), India, the world's second-largest market for newspapers after China recorded one of the fastest growth rates of 12.93% in sales during 2006 and 53.63% in the last five years. "As the digital tide gathers strength, it is remarkable that the press in print continues to be the media of preference for the majority of readers who want to remain informed", said Timothy Balding, WAN’s CEO. 

 

Source: The Press Trust Of India

 

 

Radio

71. Pressing Issues Of The Radio Industry – June 11

Panelists discuss pressing issues of radio industry

Radio measurement was the most concerning issue in the introductory session of India Radio Forums 2007. On the issue of the recently launched Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) by TAM, Radio Mirchi’s COO, Nandan Srinath said, “By 2010, not more than six to eight cities will be covered, national advertisers will be happy if measurement is available to around 13 to 15 markets by this stage”.  According to Hello FM’s COO, Rajeev Nambiar, “The recently launched measurement will not be able to monetise the popularity of the channel, as five to seven advertisers that have signed up with RAM are national brands, which do not pay attention to the smaller stations”. Other topics in the session included operational costs, retaining talent and maintaining a healthy mix of music and talk on Radio.

 

Source: India Radio Bulletin

 

 

 

72. Radio Today Launches Meow 104.8 FM, India’s First Radio Station For

Women – May 31

Radio Today Broadcasting Ltd. launches a talk-based radio station for women

Radio Today Broadcasting Ltd., radio division of the India Today Group, has launched Meow 104.8 FM, a talk-based radio station for women. The first station has been launched in Delhi with more due for launch in Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Patiala, Shimla and Jodhpur in the coming months.  

 

Source: Exchange4media 

 

 

 

73. TAM Enters Radio Listenership Tracking, To Launch RAM In India – May 29

TAM to add Radio Audience Measurement to its services

TAM Media Research will soon be adding Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) to its list of services. RAM will be launched jointly with IMRB International and Nielsen Media Research and operate as an independent division of TAM Media Research. It will delve into listenership tracking and use the diary methodology. The RAM ratings will be available on a weekly basis from September 2007.  Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore will be measured initially.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

 

74. BBC Radio’s Weekly Audience Grew By A Million In India – May 28

BBC’s weekly audiences grow by a million in India’s radio market

The global audience figure for the combined services of BBC World Service radio, BBC World television and BBC’s international online news service, bbcnews.com, has risen by 23 million from 210 million in 2006.  BBC World Service’s weekly radio audience alone is estimated at 183 million, an increase of 20 million from 2006. In India’s radio market, BBC’s weekly audiences grew over a million.

 

Source: India Radio Bulletin

 

Others

75. Railways Roll Out Message On A Ticket, Axis Gets Contract – June 15 

Advertising on railway tickets and reservation charts

One of the latest tools used by the Indian railways to capitalise on advertising and branding opportunities is the railway ticket. Advertisers can advertise on both sides of the multi-coloured ticket. Also, upper class passengers, which include First Class, A/C Three-Tier and A/C Second-Tier, will get their tickets in newly-designed envelopes that will carry ads and banners. Similar opportunities will be available to advertisers for the reservation chart, which will now be multi-coloured and carry messages from brands.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

 

76. Just How Design Drives Mobile WAP Sites – June 11

Design is the key to creating Mobile WAP sites

In India, mobile phones are used for e-mailing, instant messaging, tracking stock market prices, sports, news headlines and music downloads. Hence, developing a wireless application protocol (WAP) site is a must for every consumer brand. The key to making an effective mobile site is to provide clarity, limiting scrolling to one direction, providing the surfer with precise content and ensuring that the page size is within the memory limits of all basic devices. Content, delivery medium (i.e., the phone) and usability are the three basic elements for creating mobile WAP site.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

 

77. MRUC to launch Indian Outdoor Survey – June 11

Indian Outdoor Survey by MRUC

The MRUC will be measuring the untracked outdoor advertising space with its Indian Outdoor Survey (IOS) in association with Hansa Research. Through the implementation of IOS, MRUC intends to deliver a database for planning and buying of hoardings, bus shelters and kiosks; a count of vehicular traffic by vehicle type (5 modes); by road stretch; an estimate of the travelling population and pedestrians present on the road stretch and their profile; opportunities-to-see (OTS) for the site; a GIS map with software to view the plan-pan on the city; and a site selection and planning software.

 

Source: Exchange4media 

 

 

 

78. MSN India Partners With BBC Hindi – May 26

MSN India partners with BBC World Service

BBC World Service and MSN India have teamed up to make news content of the BBC Hindi website, bbchindi.com, available to the users of MSN India’s Hindi portal, MSN Hindi (http://in.msn.com/Hindi). According to the companies, the tie-up will provide the latest and quality news in Hindi to a majority of the Hindi-speaking population in India and around the world.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

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Touch Points

Touchpoints is a unique tool for ZenithOptimedia clients that provide clear actionable metrics for all contact points used in marketing products and services.

 

For a detailed presentation on Touchpoints contact Mr. Pavan Chandra at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com or call at +91-9899-3767-68

 

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79. Special Analysis

Viewership Analysis of General Entertainment Channels for 4 weeks for the period of 13th May 2007 – 9th June 2007

Top 2 Programs Across GECs

Source: TAM

Period : 13 May – 9 June 2007
Markets : North, East, West
TG: 25-44 SEC AB Female CS
 

 

Change in Channel Share 2007 Vs 2006

 

 

 

Source: TAM

Period : 13 May – 9 June 2007
13 May – 9 June 2006
Markets : North, East, West
TG: 25-44 SEC AB Female CS
 

 

Top 5 Programs Ratings Across Various Target Audiences

Channel	Programmes	4+ yrs, SEC ABC, MF,CS	4-14 yrs,SEC AB;MF;CS	25-44 yrs, SEC AB,Fem,CS	25-44,SEC AB,Male,CS	25-44yrs SEC ABC AA CS	4+ yrs,SEC A, AA CS
Star Plus	Star Parivar awards 2007	5.7	5.5	5.8	5.2	5.2	6.0
Star Plus	KSBKBT	4.2	3.6	4.7	4.2	4.2	3.7
Star Plus	Kumkum Spl	3.3	3.3	4.6	3.1	3.1	3.1
Star Plus	Kumkum	3.1	3.2	4.0	3.1	3.1	2.6
Star Plus	KGGK	3.3	3.3	3.7	3.2	3.2	2.9
Zee TV	Saregama Challenge	3.1	2.6	3.5	3.0	3.0	3.3
Zee TV	Saath Pheere	2.7	2.4	3.4	2.8	2.8	2.7
Zee TV	Maayka	2.3	2.2	3.0	2.3	2.3	2.2
Zee TV	Kasam Se	2.3	2.1	2.9	2.2	2.2	2.2
Sony	HFF Lage Raho Munna Bhai	3.2	3.9	3.2	2.9	2.9	3.8
Sony	Indian Idol 3	2.5	2.1	2.4	2.2	2.2	2.7
Sony	Boogie Woogie	1.7	1.3	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.7
Sony	CID	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.2
Sony	HFF Don (old)	1.4	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.3
Star One	TGILC	1.6	1.4	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.7
Star One	Laughter Special	1.2	0.6	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.1
Star One	TGILC Spl	1.1	0.8	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.3
Star One	TGILC Spl	1.3	0.8	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.3
Star One	Nach Baliyee Seeti Maar ke	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.1	0.8
Sab TV	Salaam E Bollywood	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.5
Sab TV	HFF Tere Naam	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.3
Sab TV	HFF Chupke Chupke	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.3
Sab TV	HFF Vishwatama	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.3
Sab TV	HFF Chandini	0.4	0.2	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Sahara One	Who rehne wali mehalon ki	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.8	0.8	0.8
Sahara One	HFF Judaii	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.5	0.4
Sahara One	Ghar Ek Spnaa	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.5
Sahara One	HFF Rani aur Lal Pari	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Sahara One	Solhah Singaar	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4

Source: TAM

Period : 13 May – 9 June 2007
Markets : North, East, West
TG: 25-44 SEC AB Female CS

 

Advertising Spend Analysis for Toilet Soap category for the Year 2005 & 2006 

Toilet Soaps

 Monthly Media Expenditure

Source: TAM
 

Toilet Soap Category – Brandwise spends

 

Source: TAM

Medium Breakup

 

 

 

Source: TAM

Genre Breakup

 

 

Source: TAM

80. Internal Note – June 26   

To All Employees:

 

The Cannes Advertising Festival brought us very good news. Publicis Groupe is a clear and strong number two in terms of awards. Given our relative size – this is huge.

 

Publicis Groupe collected 93 Lions, including 1 Grand Prix, 17 Gold Lions, 31 Silver Lions and 37 Bronze. The Groupe won 5 Promo Lions, 1 Titanium and 1 Integrated Lion. In addition, Publicis Groupe networks and agencies were recognized and awarded in all categories, and earned 7 Young Creative awards. Saatchi & Saatchi New York was awarded Agency of the Year while Saatchi & Saatchi, with 33 Lions, was the most-awarded Groupe network. The Groupe’s other networks and agencies also performed extremely well: Leo Burnett, with an impressive 26 Lions, Publicis with 17 Lions, BBH and Fallon with 7 Lions each. Finally, in media, Starcom won 2 Lions. Not to mention that Droga5 (a distant member of the family), won 2 Lions. And we should not forget Freud, which is probably the only PR agency to have won a Bronze Lion for Elvis.

 

This is a terrific success and we should all be very proud.

 

I would like to thank very warmly all the teams who have done such a great job and are making our Groupe famous for its creativity. Congratulations to everyone for their wonderful and tireless efforts in pursuit of excellence.
 

Special kudos to Saatchi & Saatchi New York, to Mary Baglivo, CEO, Tony Granger, ECD, and their teams for making history by getting the very sought-after “Agency of the Year” award. Bravo! This is absolutely wonderful and I’m sure you’ll join me in congratulating both of them.

A great year indeed for all of us! We still have a long way to go to be number one. We can get there and we should not rest on our laurels. Many of our operations have the clients, the talent, and have come very close to winning this year. Next year they will do better.
 

This tremendous success should make us all very proud and – not only encourage our clients to do better work, but attract new prospects to our Groupe. I am counting on everyone in our organization to consider that creativity and growth are their own personal tasks and priorities. With your support, all things are possible.
 

Thank you – and again – congratulations to all the awarded teams!

Best,

Maurice Lévy  

 

 

 

81. Publicis Groupe To Acquire Business Interactif – June 14 

Move in France to Strengthen Publicis Groupe’s Leadership in Digital and

Interactive Communications

• Acquisition by Publicis Groupe of the founding partners combined stake, representing 49% of the share capital of Business Interactif

• 10.10 euros per Business Interactif share; to be paid 50% in cash and 50% in Publicis Groupe shares

• Mixed Public Offer to be Filed Within the Coming Weeks

Paris, June 14, 2007 – An agreement was reached today between Publicis Groupe and the senior managers and founders of Business Interactif, Emmanuel Henrion and François de la Villardière under which they agree to sell to Publicis Groupe a block of shares accounting for approximately 49% of the capital of Business Interactif, a company listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. Through this project, Business Interactif will join Digitas, the leader in digital and interactive communication, which became part of Publicis Groupe in January 2007.

 

Business Interactif’s employee’s council (Comité d’entreprise) was consulted today on Publicis Groupe’s intention to acquire Business Interactif, and they gave a favourable opinion on this transaction. The Business Interactif Board of Directors met today and unanimously approved the project, considering it would benefit the company, its employees as well as its clients. The Board declared that it will formally recommend Business Interactif shareholders to tender their shares, after a satisfactory report of the independent expert, Associés en Finance, responsible for issuing the fairness opinion required by authorities.

 

Subject to the completion of the conditions precedent*, Publicis Groupe will file a mixed public offer with the AMF (the French securities market regulator) for the remaining capital of Business Interactif at 10.10 euros per share, under the same conditions as those under which the managers agreed to sell their shares. This offer will likely be filed within the next weeks.

*The Commissaire aux Apports report, and a fairness opinion by an independent expert.
 

The Strategic Framework of the Transaction

This acquisition is part of the Publicis Groupe strategy aiming to expand its leadership in digital communications and to reinforce its expertise with the best talent in this industry.

 

Founded in 1996, Business Interactif is the top independent French digital and interactive communications group, and is among the most successful companies in the industry. Business Interactif provides an extensive range of solutions and services including: recruitment and loyalty programs, sponsored links, e-mail and marketing campaigns, search engine optimization, site design, implementation and maintenance. Clients include L’Oréal, Nestlé, EDF, Bouygues Telecom, PPR, Ventes Privées, Lancôme, Seb, The International Olympic Committee, and others. Business Interactif employs 250 interactive communication specialists.

 

The acquisition of Business Interactif is a critical step in a strategic international expansion plan allowing advertisers to take increased advantage of Digitas’ unique know-how. It is natural to start in France. Emmanuel Henrion and François de la Villardière, the managers of Business Interactif, have made commitments to stay within the Groupe for at least three years and will now head Digitas France and will serve on the Digitas Global Board. The two will also manage Prodigious Europe.

 

Maurice Lévy, CEO and Chairman of Publicis Groupe said “The acquisition of Digitas at the beginning of the year was a major strategic turning point for our Groupe, and this repositioning has increased our momentum towards the digital revolution. Our ambition is to bring our clients the most advanced cutting-edge expertise in digital, interactive, and mobile communications. Business Interactif is the French leader in the market and we are delighted that Emmanuel Henrion and François de la Villardière, along with their talented teams, have chosen to join our Groupe. After the success of Publicis.Net, Zed Digital, and other specialized entities, Publicis Groupe will be in a position to bring its clients and prospects the full range of services in the digital space – and offer formidable career opportunities to the best and brightest digital talent in France.”
 

David Kenny, Chairman and CEO of Digitas, and Vice President of Publicis Groupe responsible for digital strategy, added “We are taking some very decisive steps at the moment implementing our international strategy, and rolling out our brand on a global scale. Concrete results include taking on global digital assignments for clients, recruiting several strong leaders, stronger analytic and operational ties to the major digital media companies, as well as today’s announcement of the acquisition of Business Interactif, and the arrival of these teams to the heart of the Digitas network. This important step follows the recent launch of Digitas London. Our objective is to be able to propose to our clients the best solutions in digital and interactive communications. Digitas is now capable of servicing the most demanding European clients from its French or UK platforms.”
 

Emmanuel Henrion and François de la Villardière, the senior managers and founders of Business Interactif, announced from their side “Our business sector is rapidly being consolidated by communications groups, Internet actors and media groups. We chose Publicis Groupe for two reasons: Digitas and David Kenny give Publicis Groupe an incredible growth lever to win the digital revolution. Digitas is very strong in the United States, and we are looking forward to contributing to its development in Europe from France. In addition, Publicis Groupe and Maurice Lévy represent an exceptional French success story that we – along with our teams – are very proud to join.”
 

Publicis Groupe has nearly 4,000 employees in France, its country of origin (out of 42,000 worldwide). The Groupe has been present since 1926, and today includes Publicis (and the very first agency Publicis Conseil), Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Groupe Media France (ZenithOptimedia, Starcom), as well as units dedicated to digital and interactive communication such as Publicis Modem, Publicis Net, Arc and Saatchi & Saatchi X. Publicis Groupe also has several marketing services networks such as Publicis Consultants, Publicis Events and Publicis Healthcare France.
 

The Terms of the Offer

The transfer of the senior managers’ shares was agreed at the price of 10.10 euros for each Business Interactif share, representing a premium of 9.8% to the closing price of Business Interactif’s shares on June 13. 10.10 euros per share represents a premium of 23.3% and 34.7% to the three-month and six-month weighted average price of Business Interactif shares respectively, prior to the press rumours of last April 16. 50% of this transaction will be paid in cash and 50% will be paid in new Publicis Groupe shares. Based on 100% of the capital of Business Interactif, this represents a total consideration of 137m€, split between a 68m€ cash component and 2.0m newly issued Publicis Groupe shares*.
 

The transaction is expected to close in the course of the third quarter of 2007 and will have a neutral impact on Publicis Groupe 2007 EPS.
 

In accordance with French stock market regulations, Publicis Groupe will offer Business Interactif shareholders to tender the remaining 51% of shares under a mandatory offer of 10.10 euros per share. The filing of this offer within the coming weeks is subject to the completion of the conditions precedent set in the aforementioned agreement. It is expected that the Publicis Groupe offer will be structured as a mixed public offer with a principal offer and two subsidiary offers subject to an aggregate limit of 50% in Publicis Groupe shares and 50% in cash.
 

Under the principal mixed public offer, Business Interactif shareholders will be offered to exchange 33 Business Interactif shares for 5 newly issued Publicis Groupe shares, and €167 in cash. Under the subsidiary exchange offer, Business Interactif shareholders will receive 10 newly issued Publicis Groupe shares for 33 Business Interactif shares. Under the subsidiary cash offer, Publicis Groupe will offer to purchase Business Interactif shares for €10.10 / share.
 

For this transaction, Lazard acted as financial advisor to Publicis Groupe and Messier Partners as well as Rothschild & Cie acted as financial advisors to Business Interactif and to the selling shareholders.

*Number of shares calculated on the basis of 20 trading days weighted average price of Publicis Groupe shares, June 11, taking into account 0.5€/share of dividend due to be paid on 3^rd July 2007

* * *

Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577 and NYSE: PUB) is the world’s fourth largest communications group, and a global leader in digital and online advertising, media consulting, and healthcare communications. With some 42,000 professionals in 104 countries, the Groupe’s activities cover advertising, through three global advertising networks:
 

Leo Burnett, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as through its two multi-hub networks Fallon Worldwide and 49%-owned Bartle Bogle Hegarty; media agencies with two worldwide networks ZenithOptimedia and Starcom MediaVest Group; and marketing services, including digital and interactive communications through Digitas; relationship and direct marketing, public and media relations, corporateand financial communications, multicultural communications, and event communications. The Groupe is also the world leader in healthcare communications. Web site: www.publicisgroupe.com
 

Business Interactif (Euronext Paris: FR 0000076051) is France’s leading and most integrated pure-play interactive marketing agency. The company offers a complete range of services and products designed to optimize multi-channel relationships and interactive marketing strategies such as: Recruitment and loyalty building e-mail and marketing campaigns, Search engine optimization, Site design, implementation and maintenance.

Business Interactif has a strong International presence with offices in Paris, New York, Tokyo and Shanghai, and has an impressive portfolio of long term top-tier clients: Accor, Airbus, Areva, Bic, Carrefour, Chronopost, International Olympic Committee, EDF, Lancôme, Lagardère, L’Oréal, Nestlé, PPR Group, SEB Group, Renault, Société Générale, and others. Business Interactif has specialized units, such as Webformance, European leader in search engine optimization, and I Base, a leader in email marketing. Web site: www.businessinteractif.fr
 

Contacts :

Publicis Groupe

Eve Magnant, Corporate Communications + 33 (0)1 44 43 70 25

Martine Hue, Investor Relations + 33 (0)1 44 43 65 00

Business Interactif

Emmanuel Henrion / François de la Villardière + 33 (0)1 49 68 12 12
 

About Business Interactif

As a leading interactive marketing agency in France, Business Interactif offers a complete range of services and products designed to optimize multi-channel relationships and interactive marketing strategies. The company offers the following services:

·      Digital Marketing Services: Website creation and design, e-marketing and e-commerce solutions

·      Traffic (Media and Data): Search engine optimization, loyalty building email and marketing campaigns, viral marketing, sponsored links, mobile marketing

Business Interactif uses a technical, multilingual, multi-device, platform allowing it to deliver on all kinds of marketing, and to measure and optimize performance (through tracking and reporting tools).

This platform is organized as follows:

·     E-commerce: BI Commerce is the top e-commerce solution shop.

·     Content Management: BI Content Management is a content management tool that integrates standard and adapted solutions based on different type of clients.

·      Tracking: Marketing Console allows to practically navigate in real time the different communications solutions based on their ROI

 

Key Figures

 (*) Including Webformance for the fourth quarter, (**) After exceptional and non recurring items related to relocation of company’s headquarters, (***) Public guidance from Business Interactif, March 27, 2007
 

Business Interactif executes over 250 projects every year for more than fifty active clients. Since 2000, the agency has received an average of 5 professional awards per year, including last year’s title of “Interactive Agency of the Year 2006”. 85% of its clients have worked with them for over 6 years. Its global reach spans 3 continents: Europe (France), Asia (Tokyo and Shanghai) and North America (New York). 
 

Senior Managers and Founders

François de La Villardière

François de La Villardière, 42, graduated from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques et des Relations Internationales and of the Institut Supérieur de Gestion. François has developed a wealth of experience in the deployment of complex IT solutions, with over 9 years of telecommunications consulting experience at SI Consulting and France Telecom. He now manages the Business Interactif's operations and supervises client strategy. He is in charge of Operations, and strategic follow-up for clients.
 

Emmanuel Henrion

Emmanuel Henrion, 42, graduated from the ESCP and began a career in media, where he managed various marketing, editorial and commercial services. Emmanuel has over 10 years of experience in new technologies and his responsibilities at Business Interactif include group management, client and service strategy. 

 

 

 

82. Zenithoptimedia Make Key Senior Appointments In India And Vietnam – May 21  

Philip Talbot announced today two senior appointments in India and Vietnam.

 

In India, Rabe.T. Iyer, the current General Manager of ZenithOptimedia Vietnam, will be relocated to run ZenithOptimedia Mumbai and will be responsible for the growing development of ZenithOptimedia’s operations in West and South India. Rabe will report to Ambika Srivastava, the CEO of ZenithOptimedia India.

 

Commenting on this appointment, Philip Talbot said “Talent management is a key element in ZenithOptimedia's ongoing success in the region. We aim to give all our key employees the opportunity and support, so that they can realise their career expectations.

 

Rabe is a great example of this. He has done a superb job for us in the 4 years he has been in Vietnam. In that time he has built the agency from the ground up to become one of the leading communication companies in Vietnam. Rabe is best suited to grow our Mumbai operation to match the success we have already had with our Delhi office”

 

“Rabe’s rich experience with network, working with a blue chip client portfolio over the last four years makes him an ideal candidate to build our operation both in Mumbai and the South” says Ambika Srivastava CEO of ZenithOptimedia India”

 

Rabe says “Vietnam has given me the laboratory experience in building capability and evolving the service portfolio in a landscape where consumers are high jumping traditional ways of interacting with brands. I see the opportunity to apply this know-how to a market with similar dynamics as Vietnam at this time but at a much larger scale”

 

Replacing Rabe in Vietnam will be Thomas De Foucaud, who joins as Managing Director. Thomas has been in Vietnam for 6 years and prior to this he was the Managing Director of TNS Media.

 

Philip Talbot said about the appointment, “Thomas was the ideal candidate for us as we going into our second phase of development in Vietnam. Thomas has an in depth understanding of the media scene in Vietnam and how it is developing. He is also a businessman who understands client’s needs. Thomas will be able to bring these elements together to ensure we continue to provide the best services for our clients in this rapidly growing market”

 

In a further move to strengthen the overall group structure, Venkat Kotamaraju has been named Associate General Manager for Zenithmedia.

 

For further information please contact:

 

Matt Semple

Regional Development Director

Tel: +852 2236 9083

matthew.semple@zenithoptimediagroup.com.hk

 

Ambika Srivastava

CEO ZenithOptimedia India

Tel: +91 124 4195 151

asrivastava@zenithoptimediaindia.com

Rabe T. Iyer

General Manager, ZenithOptimedia Vietnam

Tel: +84 8 827 6002

rabe_t_iyer@optimedia.com.vn

 

About ZenithOptimedia

 

ZenithOptimedia (ZO) is one of the world's leading global media services agencies with 170 offices in 60 countries partnering global giants like Nestle, L’Oreal, HP, Heineken, Whirlpool, Puma, British Airways, Toyota and Sanofi-Aventis.

 

ZenithOptimedia is committed to delivering to clients the best possible return on their advertising investment. This approach is supported by a unique system for strategy development and implementation, The ROI Blueprint. A suite of proprietary ZOOM (ZenithOptimedia Optimisation of Media) tools have been designed to add value and insight at each stage of the communication process.

 

 

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Fast Forward

83. Can The Digital World Teach Old Marketers New Tricks?   

 

Antony Young, Optimedia US, argues that marketers and their agencies need to

learn – and learn fast – from the digital world

 

There is much talk these days about the need to leverage digital more widely into companies’ marketing programmes. Marketers are streamlining their organisations to integrate their e-commerce or interactive marketing teams with the rest of the marketing department. Agencies are acquiring digital specialist agencies or building up their in-house digital divisions. And the likes of Google, Yahoo! and MSN are licking their lips in anticipation of further record revenue growth as online advertising budgets overtake national newspapers in importance (1).

 

The world’s got digital fever and the industry is clamouring to understand and employ digital in its central marketing efforts. But this has an inference that mainstream marketing should still lead the overall effort. Rather than assume that traditional marketers who control 90% of the money today are the ones best placed to provide the leadership, perhaps we need to think about flipping this on its head. Much of the innovation in marketing thinking in recent times has in fact been led by our digital colleagues.

 

In this article I offer the view that marketers and their agencies should look for inspiration from the digital world. Traditional marketing is looking decidedly, well, traditional in comparison, and in urgent need of some modernising. I believe that the industry would be more effective if we threw out some of our existing practices and, instead, adopted the sort of marketing thinking and skills that digital marketers have championed over the last decade. Rather than integrating digital into our world, maybe we need to join theirs. Perhaps the digital cart should actually be the horse.

 

Traditional marketing isn’t working

 

Need we remind ourselves that traditional marketing is not exactly in rude health. Marketing consultants Copernicus analysed over 500 marketing programmes for consumer and businessto- business products and services and found that 84 per cent of these programmes failed to drive value for their organisations (2). Despite the maturity of our industry and sophistication of our measurements and tools, we are still doing no better than last-placed Watford in the Premiership.
 

We need to rethink our approach beyond just marketing tactics and re-engineer our marketing functions. We think a lot of lessons can be learnt from our digital marketing peers. We offer up this view not as self-serving digital marketers with an agenda to take another dig at the establishment and in doing so declare the end of ‘traditional’ marketing; but as practitioners working with marketers who are struggling to reverse marketing’s poor hit rate which, the Copernicus marketing study shows.
 

No one ever referred to television as analogue TV until it became apparent that digital TV had arrived and there was a need to switch our analogue TVs off. That is an analogy that we need to start applying to our thinking about marketing. In reality, digital marketing has repositioned traditional marketing. We are in danger of looking as outdated as the oversized box cluttering up the corner of our living room, alongside the sleeker and streamlined LCD screen that hangs on the wall.
 

How digital marketing is finding solutions to traditional marketing issues

Let us explore some of the major challenges marketers are facing and compare how digital marketers have tackled analogue marketing issues (see Table 1).

Table 1

Comparison of analogue and digital marketing approaches

Brand versus ROI

What is more important, brand or ROI? Marketers worry about the brand, CEOs worry about the profit. Digital marketers have been able to walk the tightrope between the two more consistently. Marketing ROI remains a pressure-cooker issue for marketing directors. A recent US study confirmed this, suggesting that chief marketers face increasing pressure from bottom-line-focused CEOs and demanding corporate boards to improve relevance, accountability and performance of their organisations (3). A similar survey again highlighted the importance of measuring return on investment on marketing spend, with a study of UK marketing directors/senior marketers citing measurement of marketing effectiveness as their primary challenge (4).
 

The digital world has grabbed the ROI fever and the mantra. Interactive media have grown in popularity because of the metrics that they can use to track response, behaviour and actual sales. This has not necessarily just been a result of the availability of data: indeed one of the concerns we found in researching our book, Profitable Marketing Communications: A Guide to Marketing Return on Investment (5), was that marketers complained of too much data.
 

We have observed the comfort with which digital marketers manage data. They have built their discipline on establishing the metrics at the outset of a campaign and tracking performance against their objectives. This has manifested itself beyond response campaigns to brand campaigns. Metrics have quickly evolved from basic page views and click-through statistics to engagement and sales-effect metrics. Marketers became used to demanding better measurement from their digital agencies. In contrast, analogue marketing measures such as ad awareness and brand imagery appear soft in comparison and too often have very little line of sight to business outcomes.
 

Brands are about engaging consumers, and digital marketers have grasped this and found ways of backing it up with more meaningful and usable data –whether this is about tracking a user after they have been exposed to the advertising, or visited a site, or measuring the time they spend with an interactive marketing programme. Whatever the means, it shows a greater willingness to prove ROI and has left traditional marketing in the dust.
 

Specialists versus full service

The evolution of marketing agency specialists (direct response, media, CRM, design, sponsorship, entertainment marketing, custom publishing, and so on) has the industry debating whether this has led to a sacrificing of integration.
 

Digital agencies, with a few exceptions, have built their model on a fully integrated service. I have sat in debates where agencies and marketers have bemoaned the good old days and advocated a return to full service. Well, it now seems, as far as the digital marketers are concerned, ‘full service’ is the future. Digital marketers appear to multi-task best. We expect digital people to have an opinion on the website, creative, research, brand and direct response activity and to join it all up.
 

Marketers would love their offline teams to work in that way. Imagine having your creative team at your ad agency, sitting alongside media, and adjusting their work based on response!
 

Campaign planning versus campaign optimisation

Digital marketers allow themselves the flexibility to tweak marketing communications in real time. If an idea fails, they can make adjustments along the way. 70% of the ‘planning’ for a digital marketing programme takes place after the first ‘spot’ appears, whereas in the analogue world 95% of the planning takes place before the first ad runs.
 

The art of planning and developing campaigns in the analogue world is fast becoming outdated. Typical six-month lead times to develop consumer insights, plan copy and media strategies and then facilitate creative development and production is costly and time-consuming and doesn’t guarantee a home run. It also ensures that less time is dedicated to evaluating campaigns’ effect and building that learning into any been meaningful exposed actions.
 

The new thinking advocated by digital marketers is to constantly test and reapply. This has also led to creating different models and cost structures for developing creative executions and content. We found in our research that more progressive marketers were paralleling the digital world by foregoing pre-testing and experimenting with testing ads ‘on air’; and by building up to 20% of their budgets into testing media and messaging.
 

Cutting out waste

The ability to segment targeting has been around ever since the publishing industry launched special-interest titles. This went through another phase when satellite and cable television expanded.
 

However, the potential to cut waste or narrowly target through niche media and messaging never really got off the ground. The traditional marketing thinking of creating coverage and awareness took precedence over tightly targeting the messaging and cost. We continue to be locked into a media-buying currency of cost per thousand demographic audiences such as ‘All adults 18–34’. We rarely if ever see marketers employ different creative on, say, the Sci-Fi Channel versus MTV.
 

Digital marketers have actually made this happen and they are getting results. Sure, this has been aided by the technology of serving ads to profiled targets. One need only look at the rise and rise of search advertising over the past few years to notice just how advertisers are flocking to make the most of a medium that – at long last – offers exact targeting and no wastage. However, it has been the digital marketing industry’s priority to exploit targeting ahead of cost and build the expertise to execute this, which is what we in general marketing need to develop further and build into our existing approach.
 

Engagement, interactivity and personalisation

It was only a few years ago that the internet was being written off as an advertising medium as agencies tried desperately to fit old-media logic into the new-media environment.
 

Burger King’s ‘subservient chicken’ viral campaign in the US allowed 12 million surfers to type in commands to a man dressed in a chicken suit to reinforce its ‘have it your way’ proposition. Such campaigns are relatively cheap and easy to produce and, once a few people have enjoyed them, they will forward them into a friend’s inbox. This passes the baton to consumers to sustain a campaign’s momentum: if they like the idea enough, they will, offering proof, if it were needed, that it is not about how big marketing budgets are, but what their resources are and how they deploy them to best engage and interact with audiences.

What was interesting about this campaign is that it was developed by Crispin Porter Bogusky, one of a new wave of ad agencies that is springing up in the US that has crossed the divide between traditional and digital communications.
 

A number of US marketers are doing a lot more integrated traditional–digital thinking. Kia Motors’ current national TV campaign is focused on driving people to its website. It reasons that it will not be easy to convince the brandconscious car consumer about a little known car brand in a 30-second TV commercial; but that it is more likely to get success if it can engage them on the web, where all its potential customers are eventually likely to check it out. Kellogg’s is tagging its TV advertising to invite viewers to Google it for follow-up information.

In a consumer era of engagement, interactivity and personalisation, marketers need to be able to apply our trade across all its disciplines, not just the digital channels. As the disciplines come together, there is a strong case that a digital idea might well be the central marketing idea. I am not convinced marketers are in place to do this consistently.
 

Constant reinvention

The appetite and pace of change in digital marketing is matched by the actual change. With the widespread availability of broadband, the rules are changing as to what are ideal advertising formats. This is challenging the economics of developing creative work as we are not producing it for mass audiences on mass channels anymore. The digital marketers have got this and at least half of the innovation appears to be taking place experimenting with new creative formats as opposed to new creative executions.
 

Digital marketing is less than 12 years old and has progressed from the original static banner ad that AT&T first ran on HotWired to rich media, search, video podcasts, video on demand, interactive, gaming, product placement to virtual shops on Second Life. OK, much of this is technology-led, but you have to admit that digital marketers have kept pace and exploited these new media while developing new creative formats and measurement tools, and making rapid adjustments to their marketing strategies. That speed of adaptation and adoption is something that is missing in our marketing world.
 

Summary

The world is going digital. In my view this is not about moving more budget into digital, but becoming more digital. Having the expectation of the advertising being more integral to business growth is something that’s been missing in our business, and a key factor in getting marketers back to the top table. Whether we are discussing a search strategy or a brand campaign, marketers clearly want a stronger correlation between advertising and business leads. That is about being more metrics-led, but also a willingness to understand better how marketing drives return on investment.