The consultancy will provide overall strategic direction to Samco’s communication

Samco Securities, India's leading online discount broker, has signed Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting, a new-age strategic advisor, to provide them with direction on their communication campaigns to support their ambitious growth plans.

SAMCO Securities has maintained its position as one of India's fastest growing companies in the Discount Broking Industry. It is one of the most sought-after brands by customers who actively trade or invest in Indian capital markets and are looking for solutions to complex problems like high brokerage and unproductive capital application. The company’s retail broking solutions at a flat fee model (Rs. 20 per transaction) on India’s leading exchanges (NSE, BSE, MSEI, MCX and NCDEX)across stocks, futures, options, currencies and commodities have disrupted the broking industry.

Jimeet Modi, CEO, SAMCO Securities, said: “We are delighted to have Pitchfork Partners on board as our strategic communications partner. We are positive that their expertise will play a pivotal role in the success of our communication agenda. We have aggressive growth plans and we need a partner who can work as our extended team to create communications and public relations strategies that defy norms. We look forward to a long-lasting affiliation.”

Sunil Gautam, co-founder, Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting, said: “We are excited about our association with Samco Securities. We are impressed with the company’s growth; they have done phenomenally well in a short span of time. It shares a unique proposition with its differentiated offering of simplifying the intimidating experience of trading and investing in stock markets for Indians at an affordable cost. We are looking forward to merging our wealth of experience and expertise with the business goals of our new partner to create a strategic and insight-driven communication that resonates with the brand’s target audience.”

Socialyse, Havas Group’s social media solution, has announced that Philippe Torloting will be joining the agency as Chief Operating Officer.

His responsibilities will include developing new offers (influencer marketing, listening, performance content, etc.), improving Socialyse’s platform and products, leading the organization of the global trading team, connecting and amplifying the agency’s international network, as well as strengthening and driving the development of Socialyse’s global business.

Philippe joins Socialyse after 11 years of experience at Publicis Groupe, where he was Deputy General Manager of Blue449, developing new business with the group’s experts. Prior to Blue499, Philippe was Digital Strategist for Moxie, where he was responsible for the agency’s marketing strategies and key clients’ business developments. During his time at Moxie, he also held the position of Innovation Leader which led him to manage the connection with the investment funds (such as VivaKi Ventures and Iris Capital). In 2007, Philippe created for Permormics Publicis Groupe’s first Social Media department and, in 2012, the “Social Tools” benchmark tool for Publicis Groupe. At the start of his career, Philippe worked at DigitasLBi, Publicis Groupe’s global marketing and technology entity, where he was Social Media Consultant and Head of Digital Accounts. During his time at Publicis, he managed key accounts such as LVMH, Richemont, Coke, Toyota, Warner, BPCE, Nissan and Ferrero; he was also involved as a mentor in several training programs.

Passionate about everything digital, Philippe brings a wealth of social media experience to the agency. In his spare time, he enjoys developing and managing websites. He also enjoys writing and is the author of a book about Google.

Olivier Gonzalez, Global Head of Socialyse stated: “I am proud to welcome Philippe to our global team. His experience and past success will ensure stronger collaboration, renewed innovation and added value for our clients across our global network.”

Philippe Torloting added: “In this day and age, a strong social presence is key for brands to stay relevant to their consumers. New social media developments such as influencer marketing and performance content help brands stay on top of their game and build genuine and lasting bonds with consumers. I am thrilled to help develop new offers to improve Socialyse’s holistic suite of products across our global network to unlock brands’ full social potential.

Today, we're announcing steps to dramatically increase transparency for all ads on Twitter, including political ads and issue-based ads. We will also be improving controls for our customers and adopting stricter advertising policies.

All Ads: Advertising Transparency Center

In the coming weeks, we will launch an industry-leading transparency center that will offer everyone visibility into who is advertising on Twitter, details behind those ads, and tools to share your feedback with us.

Specifically, the Transparency Center will show:

All ads that are currently running on Twitter, including Promoted-Only ads

How long ads have been running

Ad creative associated with those campaigns

Ads targeted to you, as well as personalized information on which ads you are eligible to receive based on targeting

People can also report inappropriate ads or give negative feedback (i.e. “I don’t like this ad”) for every ad running on Twitter, whether the ad targets you or not. This feedback will help us more quickly remove inappropriate ads from Twitter, and show you more relevant ads in your timeline.

Political (Electioneering) Ads

Electioneering ads are those that refer to a clearly identified candidate (or party associated with that candidate) for any elected office.* To make it clear when you are seeing or engaging with an electioneering ad, we will now require that electioneering advertisers identify their campaigns as such. We will also change the look and feel of these ads and include a visual political ad indicator.

In the Transparency Center, there will be a special section for electioneering ads that will include:

All ads that are currently running or that have run on Twitter, including Promoted-Only ads

Disclosure on total campaign ad spend by advertiser

Transparency about the identity of the organization funding the campaign

Targeting demographics, such as age, gender and geography

Historical data about all electioneering ad spending by advertiser

We are also updating our policies for electioneering advertisers to:

Include stricter requirements on who can serve these ads and limit targeting options

Require electioneering advertisers to self-identify as such

Introduce stronger penalties for advertisers who violate policies

Regarding Issue-Based Ads

We are committed to stricter policies and transparency around issue-based ads. There is currently no clear industry definition for issue-based ads but we will work with our peer companies, other industry leaders, policy makers, and ad partners to clearly define them quickly and integrate them into the new approach mentioned above.

The Way Forward

We will make these updates first in the U.S., and then roll them out globally. We will share our progress here with all of you along the way.

Last week, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John McCain (R-AZ) and Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA), and Mike Coffman (R-CO) introduced the Honest Ads Act legislation. We thank these members and others for their foresight in drawing attention to these issues as well as Chairman Hurd (R-TX) for holding a public hearing today on political advertising laws and regulations to facilitate a thoughtful discussion on disclosure policy. We look forward to engaging with Members of Congress and other key stakeholders on these issues as the legislative process continues.

*“Electioneering Advertisements” Definition

Twitter is basing our definition of “electioneering” ads on the FEC’s existing definition: this means ads that refer to a clearly identified candidate (or party associated with that candidate) for any elected office, are targeted to the relevant electorate for that federal candidate and are publicly distributed within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election. This policy will also apply to ads on our platform that run at any time and expressly advocate for a clearly identified political candidate.

Written by Bruce Falck,GM Revenue Product and Engineering, Twitter

A trip on the New York subway soon reminds you that we live in a mobile-first culture. Out of the ten people in the same carriage as me most were using their phones: listening to music, reading the news or streaming video. This is the environment in which today’s advertising needs to exist and thrive.

The intriguing thing about watching the people using their phones is just how much attention is devoted to the screen. It is not just that people are insulated from outside noise by their ear buds, their eyes are locked on the screen to the exception of all else. In a subway carriage these digital zombies are pretty innocuous; it is just a problem when they get out on the street and start bumping into things.

Research commissioned by Facebook IQ with Kantar Media agrees with my observations. Apparently Millennials in the UK are more likely than all respondents to say it’s easier to focus when watching on mobile (vs on a computer). So how best to take advantage of this heightened attention? Interruptive advertising is not the answer because heightened attention brings with it heightened annoyance of interruption.

Until recently I had assumed that younger people, the mobile natives if you like, would be more accepting of advertising on their mobile devices. Not true. The 16 to 19 year olds, the people most likely to spend more than an hour a day on their mobile phones, are also the least accepting of ads seen on mobile devices, particularly pop-ups and pre-roll ads over which they have no control. In North America over 70 percent of Gen Z stated that ads interrupt them when they want to do something else, higher than Millennials.

So what do they want to instead? It should come as no surprise that they are watching snack-sized bites of video, either free or clips from their social feeds. A lot of this content is not professionally produced. Kantar TNS Connected Life study finds that 39 percent of 16 to 24 year olds agree that “Most of the content I watch is produced by other users or celebrities”. This sounds like another problem for advertisers, however, I do not think we should get too fixated on it because younger people watch lots of video both professionally-produced and not.

I believe the real challenges for advertisers continue to be 1) how to create mobile videos that resonate with the target audience, particularly one that is increasingly fragmented in its views and values, and 2) how to reach a sizeable audience with those videos (at a reasonable cost). Yes, we can reach people more easily than ever but the accuracy and safety of the placement remains in question. For me I think the answer to the second challenge lies with the first. Create great content that does not feel like a sales pitch and people will watch it. Make that content remarkable, inspirational or useful and people will be likely to share it with others.

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

Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi has been appointed as the creative agency on record for Sterling Holidays Resorts Limited, a leading experiential holiday company in India.

The account which was won following a multi-agency pitch / discussions, will be handled by the agency's Mumbai office. The agency will be responsible for the integrated communications mandate of the brand.

With experience spanning over 30 years and expertise that successfully manages over 30 resorts across India, Sterling Holidays now plans to redefine the holiday and leisure hospitality space.

Commenting on the win, Anil S Nair - CEO and Managing Partner, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi India says, "Sterling Holidays is a leading holiday company in India with diverse vacation options for the avid traveller. They are at a stage where they are infusing a fresh perspective to holiday experiences in the country. We are very excited to partner them to chart out the next chapter of exciting holiday experiences for the Indian customer.”

Peshwa Acharya - Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited adds, "We are in the business of creating Experiential Holidays for our guests. Consumers today want holiday experiences that go beyond great rooms, outstanding locations and wonderful food, and that is what we would provide. In line with this, we found L&K Saatchi & Saatchi’s strategy and approach in sync with our brand ethos and believe that their innovative ideas will enable us in creating impactful brand communication. We are excited to have L&K Saatchi & Saatchi as our creative partner."