MediAvataar MENA, a leading media, marketing and advertising news portal has collaborated with New York Festivals to bring its ad screening for the first time in Dubai this year.

The screening will showcase the festival’s award winning entries from across the globe. It will be held at the REEL Cinemas, Dubai Marina Mall on Wednesday, 8th November 2017, 7 pm onwards. 

“Sixty years ago, New York Festivals International Advertising Awards was born in New York City, the epi-center of advertising and creative expression, a city of icons where creative legends were made. NYF’s mantra is “THINK BIG” and we recognize that it takes a global network of well-connected experts who are passionate advocates of creative inspiration, effective marketing/advertising communication, and champions of the big idea to support this legacy competition that defines creative excellence.” said Gayle Seminara Mandel, Director of Public & Media Relations, New York Festivals.

She further stated, that “This year, we are proud to partner with MediAvataar as our representatives in UAE, their dedication to the industry is only surpassed by their creative passion for sharing the important stories about advertising, marketing and communications from the regions that their trend setting media outlet serves. For the past four years, NYF has enjoyed working with the innovative and vibrant team at MediAvataar. This year marks the first year that we will join forces with MediAvataar to expand our global footprint in UAE, and to work closely with like-minded creative people who we respect and who are dedicated to celebrating the World’s Best Advertising.”

Commenting on the association Ashish Limaye, Co-founder  MediAvataar MENA, said “For more than four years MediAvataar MENA has been a trend setter in the way the industry has been updated with the news and happenings in the field of advertising, branding and marketing. Our long association with the New York festival is going to the next level this year.  We at MediAvataar MENA are very excited with the fact that, for the first time, Dubai will be witnessing the ad screening of the Festival and with it will be a start to a new working relationship.”

Since its launch in 2012, MediAvataarME is steadily heading towards being a foremost Media, Marketing and Advertising News Portal of the Region. Through path breaking content delivery it has set some new records when it comes to readership. Being Digital Media partners with the biggest advertising awards of the world for the past five years, goes on to say a lot about the publication’s efforts in making the region’s creative news consumption thrive immensely.

Founded in 1957, New York Festivals® has established a reputation of having high caliber of Jury members on its panel, a Diligent Monitoring System of the ever-changing World of Advertising, leading the Competition to be recognized worldwide for Honoring Global Creative Excellence in Advertising and Marketing Communications. 

Mindshare, the global media agency network that is part of WPP, has appointed Sudipto Roy Managing Director, Team Unilever for AAR (APAC, Africa, Middle East, Turkey, and Russia).

Roy’s mandate is to bring the collective power of WPP to Unilever, and help create a horizontal offering for one of the agency’s most important global accounts.

Roy first started at Mindshare heading strategy for the Mindshare Unilever team in Mumbai back in 2007. He relocated to Singapore in 2011 to lead the Unilever relationship out of the Singapore hub and went on to play a wider role as Chief Client Officer for Mindshare APAC in 2014. He later joined Tenth Avenue (WPP’s connected experiences company) as CEO of developing markets in 2015.

Roy will be based out of Singapore and will wear two hats in his new role. In his first role, he will assume leadership of the Mindshare central and market teams in AAR and ensure they remain ahead of the curve on new products and services. His other role will see him proactively work with various WPP agencies to create compelling offerings across digital, data, research, consulting services, content, shopper, and e-commerce.

“I am very excited to be back with WPP at such an interesting point in the development of this industry. We are perfectly poised to build on the advances of the last few years and create the next iteration of the marketing services model powered by data, technology, content & commerce. What we do now sets the tone for the next decade.” Said Roy.

Commenting on the appointment, Peter Dart, Global Team Uniulever Lead at WPP, said, “Roy joins us at a time when we are beginning a singinifcant business transformation task as we bring many of our units together to create a more impactful service for one of our largest global clients. His deep knowledge of our markets, our network, and of the Unilever marketing teams will serve as a great enabler to drive this change.”

Himanshu Shekhar, Chief Executive Officer, Mindshare South East Asia said: “It is great to have Roy back into the extended Mindshare & WPP family. He is a unique talent whose product and business orientation helps us create impact at speed. We look forward to exciting innings from him.”

Sudipto’s role is effective immediately

The campaign crosses 2.9M views!

The 2nd leg of the campaign, #NoConditionsApply, a revolution kicked off by Calcutta Times aimed at changing the division of tradition is creating waves across the country.

Crafted by FCB Ulka, the campaign has been released in print and on social media platforms.

The campaign, is based on the 400-year-old tradition of Sindoor Khela the last day of the auspicious Durga Pooja, an annual Hindu festival. The Sindur: that married women put in the parting of their hair, to indicate their marital status.

During the festive time, the warrior goddess, Durga, is worshipped by the Bengali community in India, for a period of 4 days at the onset of autumn. On the last day of this vibrant, rich, communal celebration, married woman endorse the goddess’ and their own marital prosperity by applying Sindur on to the idol’s face and then to each other. It’s a mad riot of vermillion celebration. It’s about a fertile world, a wedded world, a world that acknowledges the wifeness & motherness of a goddess who has just slain a demon. But while the married women come together the rest of sisterhood looks on…uninvited.

“This movement wasn’t for those who had opted out. It was for those who had been pushed out. It was about erasing a line not drawn by them, but by others. About two dots of red with no barrier in between. Me & my other sister. My transgender sister. My widowed sister. My sex worker sister. My outlier sister. It was about equality in symbology. Because after all, that is where it all begins and where it all flows back to. Every progressive, inclusive thought is only as powerful as the ritual it permeates. At least in a country like India – where ritual is everything” said Swati Bhattacharya, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Ulka.

Shedding light on the theme, Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman and CEO, FCB India said, “I have a special connection with this campaign. Having been born and brought up in Kolkata, Durga Puja was something I always looked forward to in my growing up years. Sarbojanin Durga Puja was how I always remembered it. Sarbojanin means for everyone. So Durga Puja was for everyone but Sindoor Khela wasn’t. Swati, Chief Creative Officer FCB Ulka and a feminist, created this campaign about social inclusion for TOI. Inclusion cannot be conditional. And so #noconditionsapply was the perfect articulation to spark off this behaviour change campaign.”

Speaking on the occasion, Sumeli Chatterjee, Vice President, Brand TOI said, “#NoConditionsApply is an initiative that is close to our heart and existence. There is a lot of talk of diversity of gender, this highlights the need to have diversity even within the gender. While we have hosted this inclusive Shindoor Khela initiative in Kolkata, the messaging is relevant to every occasion and every festivity. When we talk of Gender Equity, we cannot limit our conversations to only ambition and opportunities; we need to talk about inclusion in Festivals, Celebrations and every walk of life that will allow everyone to walk that step together. No Celebration can every be complete without including one and all.”

A couple of weeks ago I suggested that I would come back to the idea that there is a right time to advertise to someone. Right now the marketing world seems to have decided that the right time to get a message to someone is as close to point of purchase as possible, but is that really true?

As you may have realized, I have been giving a bit of thought to how people make decisions recently. And it reminds me that much as people’s decisions are shaped by emotions and context, individuals try to make the right decision; the one that will have the best outcome for them. This means that people will try to make up their own mind about what to buy, particularly if the purchase is expensive or risky.

Increasingly, however, we have the ability to reach people with advertising close to the point of decision. While the targeting may still not be as accurate as marketers might like, the chances of reaching someone close to making a purchase are probably improved. The only problem being that if someone cares enough about a purchase to exhibit behavior indicative that they are about to make a purchase – searching, reviewing, checking out websites – then they are likely also trying to make up their own minds about the purchase and will be more likely to discount the information provided by advertising.

Unfortunately reaching people at the time when they are most likely to consciously deliberate their choice - comparing brands in terms of features, benefits and prices - means that advertising needs to be more forceful than it might otherwise. Tangible claims and price discounts are more likely to sway someone’s deliberations. And all too often the price discount prevails at the expense of the brand’s profits.

Of course the ideal is combine strong predisposition to buy with a strong call to action. Then all someone might need to sway the purchase is a reminder of what the brand stands for. I remember being told that “America’s favorite” had proven to generate more sales when used as a point of sale claim than any price discount. Effective activation is all about triggering the right associations at the right time not creating them from scratch.

Brands grow by building salience, informed by perceptions of difference and affinity, through advertising, online content, reviews, PR and word of mouth. Given the diverse reasons why someone might consider a brand, it is important to ensure the brand is salient in relation to different category entry points for different people. This is where the true benefit of today’s targeting technology can really make a difference by ensuring that a timely reminder is delivered, triggering positive predisposition previously built through brand advertising.

I believe whether a message is right or not depends on when it is delivered before or during search and shopping.

Written by Nigel Hollis,Executive Vice President and Chief Global Analyst at Kantar Millward Brown.

Giants of UK industry lead the first BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable UK Brands

Study highlights ‘innovation gap’ that provides growth opportunities for UK corporations and disruptive start-ups

The first annual ranking of the BrandZ™ Top 50 Most Valuable UK Brands has been announced today by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown. The list includes some of the most famous brands in the world, and reflects the UK’s role as a centre for financial services, energy exploration and communications. Many of these brands are incredibly strong and enduring. They are also successfully keeping step with consumers’ changing attitudes and priorities as the UK prepares to leave the EU – providing value for money by demonstrating quality and longevity, and telling stories that resonate with people’s lives.

Services and infrastructure brands make up half of the Top 50. These brands, from the well-established telecoms, finance and utilities industries, hold eight of the Top 10 places and contribute 66% of the total value of the Top 50.

The BrandZ research reveals that the UK’s leading brands are well-known and highly regarded both at home and overseas. However, consumers do not perceive them as particularly innovative, which puts them at risk from smaller, newer rivals. Innovation plays an important part in value growth: the UK brands that consumers score highest on innovation are almost twice as valuable as those with low scores.

The combined value of the brands in the ranking is US$234.5 billion; equivalent to £173.7 billion. Vodafone is no.1 with a value of $27.3bn, accounting for 12% of the ranking’s total value. It has a strong company purpose – to connect everybody to live a better today and build a better tomorrow. This is expressed through a new positioning, ‘The future is exciting, Ready?’, and inviting people to benefit from new and exciting technologies. Countering a general lack of love for its sector HSBC (no.2) has invested in internal change programmes and service innovations to make customers’ lives easier. These are starting to be reflected in improved customer perceptions, reputation, and brand value.

Exporting is vitally important for ‘Brand Britain’. The Top 50 earn 54% of their revenues outside the UK; for the Top 10 the figure is higher at 63%. The exporters that generate most revenues overseas include ASOS, Dyson, Lipton and Vodafone. Brands that are clear on what they stand for, are innovative, and know how to deliver a great brand experience are better positioned to cross geographical borders and appeal to consumers across the globe.

David Roth, CEO EMEA and Asia, The Store WPP, says: “The potential is high for UK brands to succeed globally after Brexit. They are steeped in heritage, and what it means to be ‘made in the UK’ is held in high esteem by international consumers. By emphasising and building on what makes them loved and trusted, while cultivating a profound understanding of how to be relevant to consumers in each target market, brands can successfully redefine themselves as leading exporters in the post-Brexit world.”

Louise Ainsworth, Kantar Millward Brown’s UK CEO, comments: “The UK’s household names must behave like leaders to protect their value. Fame and scale have sustained them well, but they’re vulnerable to disruption from younger, more innovative rivals. Without losing what makes them loved and trusted, UK brands need to refresh what they stand for to make it relevant to today. They should be quicker to capitalise on technology to make consumers’ lives easier, and communicate their innovations effectively to build perceptions.”

Other trends highlighted in this year’s BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable UK Brands report include:

• The UK’s leading brands lag their global peers on five measures that lead to long-term financial growth. They score only slightly higher than average across the five – purpose, innovation, communications, brand experience and love – with Dulux, Boots, BBC, Tesco and BA amongst the highest scoring. Over a decade, the UK Top 10 have grown less than a third as fast as the Global Top 10 (66% vs 249%). They’re seen as less innovative than they were in 2006, and are less loved.
• There are 11 banking and insurance brands in the Top 50, contributing 21% of the total value.
• The nine entertainment and telecoms brands account for almost a third of the value of the Top 50.
• Retail also features strongly: the nine brands contribute $25bn to the Top 50’s total value. Tesco (no.7) has improved its performance in the market by refocusing on customers’ needs, successfully improving the experience and service it delivers.
• Trust is about more than being deeply established. The most trusted UK brands – which include BA, Cadbury, the BBC and Royal Mail – are more likely to be loved and recommended by consumers. However relative newcomer MoneySuperMarket, which is not currently in the Top 50, is 22% more trusted than the average brand, showing that newer brands can gain trust too.

The ground-breaking BrandZ UK Top 50 study ranks the UK’s most valuable brands, analyses their strengths, and identifies the key forces driving growth in this market. It is the first edition of an annual report that will track and anticipate the evolving environment for brands in the UK, and chart their changing fortunes.

The ability of any brand to power business growth relies on how it is perceived by customers. As the only brand valuation ranking grounded in consumer opinion, BrandZ’s analysis enables UK brands to identify whether they are seen as innovative, and provides clear strategic guidance on how to boost innovation for the long-term and, importantly, use communications to ensure that innovation is recognised as such by consumers. Businesses worldwide trust BrandZ to provide the information they need to measure, manage and protect their most important intangible asset: their brand.

The BrandZ UK Top 50 report incorporates new research from Y&R’s BAV Group, which examines what it takes to build powerful nation brands. According to BAV Group’s 2017 Best Countries report, the UK ranks third best overall out of 80 countries, and scores particularly highly on education, entrepreneurship, power, strong international alliances, and economic as well as cultural influence. How people view the UK is also a strong reflection of how they may view the country’s brands, and the UK’s reputation as a world leader bears significant weight on the global power of its brands.