World Rugby has announced the appointment of SONY SIX India’s premier sports and entertainment broadcaster, as Rugby World Cup 2015 rights holding broadcaster.

In a major boost for the visibility and development of rugby in a market where participation has grown by 33% per cent since 2011, SONY SIX and SONY KIX will screen all 48 matches exclusively live along with daily highlights of all the action from rugby’s showcase event.

With England 2015 set to be a very special and record-breaking global celebration of rugby, the deal will deliver unprecedented coverage in India, underscoring World Rugby’s mission to grow the global rugby family.

World Rugby Chief Executive Officer Brett Gosper said: “Rugby is on the rise in India and we are delighted to have secured such a strong platform for Rugby World Cup 2015 to reach new audiences across India and inspire the next generation of players and fans.

“We look forward to working in partnership with SONY SIX to showcase Rugby, its character-building values and spirit of entertainment and enjoyment to record audiences within an exciting rugby growth market.”

Prasana Krishnan, Business Head, SONY SIX and SONY KIX commented: ‘‘The Rugby World Cup is seen as one of the most prestigious competitions in the global sporting calendar and we are proud to have this celebrated event in our bouquet of international content. Rugby as a sport is growing at a consistent clip and with that it’s our primary aim to raise our viewer experience to the next level. The raw nature of the sport will appeal to both our loyal and bench viewers alike.”

World Rugby Head of Commercial, Broadcast and Marketing Murray Barnett added: “Working with the leading sports broadcaster in India underlines the Rugby World Cups global significance and adds to the record breaking roster of international broadcasters that will be taking the Rugby World Cup to the largest audience ever.”

Rugby World Cup 2015 kicks off with hosts England versus Fiji at Twickenham on September 18, beginning a six-week event played across 13 iconic venues the length and breadth of England and Cardiff, culminating in the final at Twickenham on October 31.

After successful two decades in the Media Monitoring Sector, IPC now forays into Research and Media Evaluation. This will enable IPC to get into the Media Intelligence sector where in, not mere data collection but processed information with analytical approach will be an added edge to its Services. IPC’s approach is to be “One for all, All for One” which will make it a Complete Integrated Media Service provider.

IPC with its immaculate tracking process will provide analytical study to its existing platter of services. Using a number of media evaluation techniques we’ll measure the effectiveness of your media relations and present the results in an easy-to-read report. Your report will have details of the publications, date, audited circulation and other relevant data.

Mr. Paawan R. Bali CEO of IPC says that, “We will cumulate best of industry knowledge and vast years of experience of this field in determining the various parameters to enable our clients with highly processed and evaluated information to effect accurate and quick decision making, which has been our prime focus throughout.”

The report will contain dashboard analysis of Tone of the media release, reach of the release, approximate costs of the release, competitor tracking, etc. This will enable our clients Quick and Accurate Decision – Making, Strategize Media Plans, increase Media Presence, etc.

Being in Media Monitoring business gives IPC an advantage over its peers in understanding requirements of its clients and of the industry as a whole. With deliverables designed to give an insight in the media usage by industry leaders, plans and strategies of competitors and overall reach of the brand through various medium will be strength of IPC’s Evaluation services

Agency network picks up six trophies and two highly commended

The title was awarded at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London last night where the agency picked up awards for its work on Bose, Dell, P&G, Shell and Sony. Campaigns for Bose and VW were also highly commended.

MediaCom client, Shell, were also named International Advertiser of the Year.

The M&M Global Awards recognise and celebrate leading multi-market advertising campaigns, the most innovative and effective work and the finest coordination of multi-local advertising strategies.

The success at the awards follows a strong performance at shortlist stage, where MediaCom was recognised as the best-performing media agency network with 13 different campaigns securing 31 shortlist places in total.

The win maintains MediaCom’s impressive historical performance at global media awards competitions. Over the past seven years it has now been named Agency Network of the Year at the M&M Global Awards an unprecedented five times including 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013. Earlier this year, the agency was the most awarded media agency at the Cannes Advertising Festival, picking up seven Media Lions. MediaCom also won Agency Network of the Year at the Festival of Media Global in 2010 and 2012.

Stephen Allan, MediaCom Worldwide Chairman and CEO, said, “I’m thrilled that so many of our cross-market campaigns have been recognised at the 2015 M&M Global Awards. This success, following closely on the heels of our wins at Cannes, is testament not only to our innovative people and forward-thinking clients, but also to our recent repositioning as The Content + Connections Agency. Core to that progression is our application of systems thinking which has been ingrained into every one of our staff around the world to ensure a global consistency in planning excellence regardless of geography. I’m delighted to see all our hard work is paying off on behalf of our clients, helping to create real results for their businesses. Congratulations to the entire One MediaCom team!”

MediaCom India’s much awarded campaign Whisper #touchthepickle was a winner in two categories : Best Content Creation and The Effectiveness Award. This campaign has been lauded across international and local awards, including wins at the Cannes Festival earlier this year.

Other winning campaigns at M&M Global were:

The Effectiveness Award: P&G Whisper: #touchthepickle

Best Use of Mobile: Sony Z3: Superiority Complex

Best Partnership Award: Bose: #listenforyourself

Best Content Creation: P&G Whisper: #touchthepickle

B2B Campaign of the Year: Dell: Take IT Easy

International Creativity Award: Shell: Power of Sport

MediaCom’s highly commended campaigns were as follows:

Best Use of Video: VW: Ready, Set, Gooolf!

Best Use of Social Media: Bose: #listenforyourself

Vandana Verma named Executive Vice President

The Leo Burnett Group India today announces the launch of Leo Burnett Experience, a specialist unit that will focus on rural marketing, activation, events and exhibitions across metros and 5,000 small towns and cities.

Leo Burnett Experience has a pan-India presence with a team of 40 professionals working on some iconic brands in the country such as Dabur, Vodafone, Uninor, McDonald’s, ITC Foods, OnePlus, Amazon, P&G, Fiat, Axis Bank, Ruchi Group, and Bajaj Discover.

Leo Burnett Experience offers a unique solution for brands and operates under its global philosophy of PLAY, BUY, SHARE.

Vandana Verma, Executive Vice President, Leo Burnett Experience, will oversee the division’s operations. She will report to Group CEO Saurabh Varma and will be based out of Leo Burnett India’s Mumbai office.

Apart from Vandana, the leadership team of Leo Burnett Experience includes Nishith Sharma (National Creative Director), Ankit Grower (Head of North and East), Pratik Maitra (Head of South), Sandesh Shetty (Head of National Operations) and Kiran Dodiya (Head of West).

Commenting on the occasion, Saurabh Varma, CEO, The Leo Burnett Group India, says, “One of our key HumanKind pillars is participation. It is my belief that the future is in creating experiential platforms. Our unique methodology of PLAY, BUY, SHARE gives Leo Burnett Experience a truly differentiated offering. Already it is the fastest growing part our business. And our ambition is to add technology to create immersive experiences for consumers.”

Vandana Verma, Head of Leo Burnett Experience throws some light on the division’s unique offering, “ROI is the biggest black hole in India’s experiential industry. None of the existing agencies seem to effectively manage crisis and identify likely risks that affect ROI. At Leo Burnett Experience we give foremost importance to foreseeing risks and managing real time crisis to maximize the output for clients. Our revenue growth has been significant in the last 18 months. Going forward we will build on this momentum and surpass the industry average growth of 25%. We define our objectives clearly and develop strategies based on HumanKind’s philosophy of building brands and changing human behavior using creativity. As for the most exciting opportunity – it is the rural markets, where brands are increasingly demanding strategy based experiential services – a big gap in the industry which we will address. These are surely exciting times at Leo Burnett Experience.”

Tata Consultancy Services’ omni-channel promotion for the Amsterdam Marathon surpassed its business goals by going way beyond conventional marketing.

Content marketing is still searching for its purpose. In the past few years brands have been given a “publish or perish” mandate in article after article yet, despite the apparent consensus, the business case for investing in great content is not often made clear. Without a definite idea of the unique value that content-driven engagement brings, over and above conventional marketing campaigns, brands will remain inclined to view success stories as flukes and stick with what they consider tried-and-true approaches.

A recent study from Yahoo EMEA brings us closer to understanding what separates outstanding content marketing from just another viral video. The research found inspirational articles or videos linked to a product or brand made consumers nearly twice as likely to make a purchase and significantly more inclined to feel positively about that brand and share the content. These numbers point to a key consumer need: The increasing amount of junk content on the internet has left people hungry to be inspired.

Inspiration is the key driver

Inspiration can’t be forced. To capture consumers’ emotions, you have to know what they want and be strategic about getting the message out.  A great example of how this can work is Tata Consultancy Services’ #TCSsuperheroes recent campaign for the annual TCS Amsterdam Marathon (TAM), which won the 2015 Silver Corporate & Financial Award (CFA) in the category of “best use of digital media”.

For the last decade or so, TCS has gotten involved in athletic sponsorships around the world as a way to bolster brand recognition and strengthen local ties. After forays into Formula 1, cycling, and other sports, the company chose to focus on marathons and currently partners in seven of them worldwide, including New York, Mumbai, and Singapore. Led from the front by its CEO N. Chandrasekaran, who is a prolific marathon runner, the company had also instituted a major fitness programme for its own employees, who logged 6 million kilometers running for charity (equivalent to 150 laps around the world).

By 2014, TCS - Europe was four years into the Amsterdam partnership and had seen the event grow into one of Europe’s largest and most popular marathons. Yet it seemed to lack a unique identity. Its brand identity was primarily a derivative of what the city of Amsterdam stood for.  It was time, in line with its growing international status, for TAM to come into its own as a brand. TCS also believed it could do more to get existing clients engaged in the marathon. And, as an additional motivating factor, the organisation wanted to raise more money for TAM’s charity partner VUmc CCA, the Netherlands’ top cancer treatment centre.

TCS put together a cross-functional team from its branding, communications, events, and social media departments to build a campaign that would dramatically elevate TAM’s digital brand profile.

Running Through the Data

The team began by poring over surveys filled out by about 1,000 runners over the previous three years. Two points stood out from the analysis:

·         Amsterdam’s level urban terrain, as opposed to more hilly cities like Boston, gave the runners a special feeling of high achievement, encouraging them to push toward their personal best times

·         The marathon’s family-friendly atmosphere made it about more than just the runners and their personal progress.

Runners especially loved that the race began and ended in Olympic Stadium, amidst throngs of cheering supporters. It made them feel that they were doing something amazing not just for themselves but also for their family and community. The idea of seemingly ordinary individuals inspired by others to achieve extraordinary things, crystallised into a campaign using a figure that people of all ages would recognise and enjoy: the superhero.

“Every Runner Is a Superhero”

In order to bring that great feeling the runners received at Olympic Stadium into the digital world, TCS acted to create an online community. It used storytelling to draw people in and introduce the idea that every runner could be considered a superhero – with worthy stories of passion, commitment and grit behind them. Eight people with compelling stories to tell —many of whom were affiliated with TCS client companies or partners—were made the focus of written, video, and visual content.

Among the eight was 48-year-old VUmc CCA ambassador Hans van der Lans, who was the first to admit, “I’m no fast Kenyan, and I know I’ll be way at the back with the last ten runners. This race is about something else.”  Hans shared how, with the exception of his father, cancer had taken every male member of his family as well as one of his very close friends. His wife was a cancer survivor; a recurrence couldn’t be ruled out. “I run to raise funds and support cancer research”, Hans said.

While not every runner has a story as emotional as Hans’s, there is inherent drama to the long, demanding process of training for a marathon, especially when balanced with all the other complex demands of life. When TCS asked runners to share their own “superhero” stories on social media, staff were surprised at the volume and intense enthusiasm of the response. Not only were runners willing to share details of their personal struggles as they prepared for the big day, but they were also reaching out through social media to support one another. And, thanks in part to a series of print ads made from runner-generated content, the stories were gathering a wider following eager to show their support by donating to VUmc CCA. The #TCSsuperheroes hashtag brought together a community that had not engaged with TAM in this way before.

The Finish Line

Let’s look at just some of the concrete results of TCS’ successful community-building around inspirational content:

·         The #TSCsuperheroes and #TCAM14 hashtags earned more than 15 million impressions

·         The overall reach exceeded 80 million, including engagement with major social media influencers such as Adidas, astronaut Andre Kuipers, and influential sports publication Bleacher Report

·         More than €250,000 was raised for VUmc CCA, an increase over previous years

TCS also created extremely strong client engagement with 1200 of its clients from 30 organisations running in joint teams with its 600 employees. This was augmented with a host of marathon-related services, including a special Facebook group for corporate runners featuring exclusive content. The group remains active year-round.

#TCS superheroes did several things right that content marketers would do well to emulate. By maintaining a strong customer orientation from the beginning, it avoided the three big mistakes brands commonly make on social media, as mentioned in a previous post. It deftly balanced owned, paid, and earned media, making all relevant channels sing the same song. But above all, #TCSsuperheroes wrapped all these well-executed pieces in an instantly accessible and inspirational theme that galvanised a community in a way that would have been impossible with a conventional campaign.

No less than marathon runners, marketers need inspiration to carry them across the finish line.

Written by Joerg Niessing, INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Marketing, and Abhinav Kumar, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Tata Consultancy Services Europe

Source:INSEAD