Grant takes over from Paolo Lanzarotti who will now be taking up the position of Managing Director of SABMiller’s subsidiary Plzensky Prazdroj in the Czech Republic. Grant’s key responsibilities include overseeing the company's operations, expansion & growth in the country and working towards building the business in the diverse and challenging Indian market. He will be taking over the mandate from 1st of August, 2013.

Grant is a chartered accountant, who has held various senior roles both within SABMiller and externally. Most recently he has led Cervejas de Mozambique (CDM) as the Managing Director, based in Maputo, Mozambique. Prior to this he was the Managing Director of SABMiller`s Ghanaian subsidiary, Accra Brewery.

Grant commenced his career in 1985 with KPMG and held several Finance Director positions prior to taking on business leadership roles. He comes to India with a strong knowledge and expertise of several markets including South Africa, Hong Kong, Swaziland, Zambia, Ghana and Mozambique.

Ari Mervis, Managing Director- SABMiller Asia Pacific said, “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Grant Liversage to the position of Managing Director of SABMiller India. I am confident that Grant’s leadership, vision and extensive experience will be instrumental in further driving the company’s growth and performance that has been well established under Paolo’s leadership. I would like to thank Paolo Lanzarotti for his contribution to the business and wish him success for his next challenge within the Group”.

On the eve of his appointment, Grant Liversage, Managing Director designate, SABMiller India said, “I feel privileged to join our India operations. Given its current size and changing demographics, India offers a great opportunity and I am happy to be part of the team driving SABMiller India’s commitment to grow and expand in the country.”

The Meaningful Brands Index outperforms the stock markets by 120% - an out performance on par with the top hedge funds

The majority of people worldwide wouldn't care if 73% of brands disappeared tomorrow.Only 20% of brands worldwide are seen to meaningfully positively impact people's lives.

The results from Havas Media Group’s 2013 Meaningful Brands statistically demonstrate that Meaningful Brands outperform the stock market by 120%. It demonstrates in hard financial terms, how the relationship between people and brands can benefit from measuring, communicating and delivering increased well-being.

Despite this, Meaningful Brands reveals that this disconnect between brands and people continues with the majority of people still not caring if over 73% of brands ceased to exist.

Meaningful Brands - Havas Media Group’s new metric of brand strength - is the first global analytical framework to connect human well-being with brands at a business level. It measures the benefits brands bring to our lives. It’s unique in both scale – 700 brands, over 134,000 consumers, 23 countries - and scope. It measures the impact of the brand’s benefits alongside its impact on 12 different areas of well-being (such as health, happiness, financial, relationships and community among others) for a full view of its effect on our quality of life.

Top ranking brands

The Meaningful Brand Index (MBi) forms the core of the Meaningful Brands framework. In 2013 it shows significant shifts in both sectors and brands since its last report in 2011. The global rankings place Google in first place followed by Samsung, Microsoft, Nestle and Sony as the top five meaningful brands of 2013 followed by IKEA, Dove, Nike, Wal-Mart, DANONE, Philips and P&G.  This year, half of the top ten brands are technological.

Sara de Dios, Global Director of Meaningful Brands:

“Technology brands are becoming new personal icons, empowering us to expand our potential. Not only do they make our lives easier, help us become smarter, fitter or enhance our capabilities, they more importantly, have become aspirational icons. They help people express themselves and connect with others making people feel better, happier and more satisfied with their lives. Technology brands are becoming more meaningful in our lives because they are the key enablers that help us achieve our full potential.”

Brands gaining momentum in this report include Nike ranked globally as number 7, Mercedes Benz and Adidas both ranked globally as number 11 and Dove which comes in globally at number 6. Brands which continue to flourish according to the Meaningful Brand Index include Wal-Mart, Microsoft, P&G and Samsung, among others. This clearly demonstrates that brands with higher MBi scores build stronger brands, gaining stronger brand equity, greater preference, loyalty and emotional attachment.

Geographical trends

Continuing the trend from 2011 only 20% of brands make a significant, positive difference to people’s well-being with a strong and growing gap between developed and emerging markets (Europe 5%, USA 9%, LATAM 27% and Asia 39%). Although on a global basis most people would not care if 73% of brands disappeared, this relationship between people and brands differs widely amongst markets with a strong polarisation between developed and developing markets.

In Europe and the US people would not care if 92% of brands disappeared. In Latam it’s 58% and in Asia it’s 49%. In Latam and Asia, people are attached six times more to brands than western markets

Expectations in the West are largely unmet, fuelling a growing lack of trust and indifference towards brands. Only 29%/36% of people in Western Europe and the US think brands work hard at improving our quality of life and only 21%/26% feel that brands communicate honestly in comparison to 32% globally, 36% in Latam and 52% in Asia.

A move towards the individual

Since 2011, enhancing our individual quality of live and personal well-being has become increasingly important in western economies. In emerging markets, people place relatively more importance on a brand’s impact on their community and environment. At the same time, people in India, China and Mexico increasingly expect that brands enhance their individual and personal lifestyles, as many brands in these countries become aspirational symbols of an improved standard of living and status.

The importance of brands delivering on personal benefits has seen an increase, with the US seeing a jump of 5%, Europe 2% and APAC 2%. However, when looking at the data from the top performing brands, the majority take a holistic approach, balancing and contributing to both our personal well-being as individuals and to the collective well-being of our societies.

Sector trends

2013 shows a marked increase in the importance of ITC. The top 10 sectors ranked as Retail, Food & Beverages, IT & Consumer Electronics, Travel & Tourism, Consumer Goods, Media, Public Transport, Auto, Oil & Energy/Utilities, Telecom and Finance & Insurance. Brands are however able to break the limitations of their sectors. Examples can be found even in the more difficult categories such as oil & energy with Petrobras in Brazil, EDF in France and Repsol in Spain who are breaking the sector barriers and gaining increasing levels of meaning

Umair Haque Author, Thinkers50 member and Director at Havas Media Group:

“Across the globe already slowing economies are losing steam. This is not a simple crisis but a transformation in the nature of global growth. A new model for prosperity is emerging centred around the idea of human potential and well-being. Human well-being is what matters if economies are to prosper. Meaningful Brands is pioneering because it helps us to understand whether, where, when and how corporations are impacting on people’s lives. In this hyper connected and transparent world people are more willing and able than ever to punish brands that fail to positively impact their lives. Conversely those institutions that do build meaningful brands don’t just succeed in the short-term they consistently outperform their rivals and the stock markets in the long-term. The case for Meaningful Brands isn’t just about altruism, responsibility or reputation but the creation of real financial value by delivering what matters economically.”

Amy du Pon, Global Head of Data Insights:

“Meaningful Brands is both our wake-up call, and a practical but inspirational guide. In order to fix the largely broken relationships, and survive in 21st century terms, we need to evolve from our increasingly commoditised world. Relying on incremental marketing dollars alone is not sustainable. The opportunity today is for us to reinvigorate our brands, the role they play and the human value they realize. Learning from the leading brands coming from emerging markets and moving on from the prior practices in developed markets, will help achieve tomorrow's success. The results from this year’s analysis allow us to redefine current expectations, who achieves them and how to meet. And upon activating the areas of opportunity, we can naturally track and see your business performance meaningful rise."

MRSS India has brought on board Mr. Kalyan Karmakar, as Advisor Consumer Insights.

MRSS India is the Indian arm of one of Asia's leading market research agencies Majestic MRSS. Mr. Karmakar, a senior marketing professional has completed almost 16 years analyzing markets across multiple countries.

Mr. Karmakar has previously worked with TNS as the head of their Qualitative Practice and as the National Head of the Digital Practice.

Mr. Karmakar will be working with MRSS India as Advisor     Consumer Insights. Given his background, he will be advising the Digital, Automotive, Financial Services, and FMCG verticals for MRSS.

On his appointment Mr. Karmakar said: - “I am really happy to come on board on MRSS. The team here is extremely forward thinking and is focused on helping clients face their business realities in the today’s world. MRSS’s extensive international experience in research and the possibility of using these tools in a modern Indian context is very exciting. I am quite looking forward to this opportunity to bring together my interests in social media and people watching together with the team at MRSS.”

Commenting on Karmakar's appointment, Mr. ‘Sarang Panchal’, Chief Mentor and Principal Advisor, MRSS India said, "We know Kalyan through his work and contribution to the market research industry in India as well as abroad. His knowledge, associations and active presence in the industry will contribute a lot to make MRSS India as a brand with global technological leadership and hyper-local understanding. We believe that embracing digital is the new marketing imperative. It is a game changer, and how companies will win, moving forward."

In the past Mr. Karmakar has been associated with multinational agencies such as TNS India, The Nielsen Company, and IMRB International.

Arnab Banerjee, ED – Operations CEAT, quotes “This is the first time that we are tying this technique, which will approximate the real view as seen by a biker on the road. We have a fantastic all season tyre which is excellent for wet conditions. We know how Indian roads are, there is no road sense and we feel like yelling out. It’s important to keep ourselves and everyone safe on the road during the monsoons, which is why the CEAT All season tyre is great. We never had a wet condition film, and this is the first time we are doing such a thing and we are sure it will give our customers an additional assurance that you are safe on Indian roads even on wet conditions”

Prabkahar Tiwari, GM Marketing CEAT, adds “ We have focussed on superior grip which is a major product benefit to the customer and therefore offer safety as a key consumer benefit; in this communication also you will see superior grip in wet conditions and how one can be monsoon smart using CEAT Tyres.”

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Anup Chitnis ECG O&M quotes “this is a new offering from CEAT and we therefore wanted to enhance what actually happens in rainy seasons, where the biker needs very good grip on the road, because its slippery, and people are trying to avoid a pothole, so we thought it would be beautiful to show what the biker actually goes through and what he faces, hence we came up with a script that shows the point of view of the biker in the real conditions”

Prabhakar Tiwari also mentions that the communication is not only limited to a TVC but this time they are going to launch a first-of-a-kind property called CEAT Monsoon Smart where they are reaching out to bikers across the country to create the awareness of safety during the monsoon via an on-ground activation medium like a tyre check-up camp, a demo tool to showcase the wet grip trye and its benefits, and some dealer level activation; The idea will also be extended to the digital medium extensively.

Credits:

• Client: CEAT Ltd.

• Creative Agency: Ogilvy & Mather

• Executive Creative Director: Mr. Anup Chitnis

• Creative Director: Mr. Mangesh Someshwar

• Associate Creative Director: Mr. Rohit Dubey

• Senior Copywriter: Mr. Lester Fernandes

• Planning: Mr. Kawal Shoor (President Planning), Mr. Nirav Parekh (Planning Director)

• Client Servicing: Mr. Ajay Menon (Vice President), Mr. Murli Krishnan (Management Supervisor), Mr. Saurabh Acharekar (Group Account Manager), Ms. Disha Dhami (Account Executive)

• Production House: Flying Saucer Films

• Director: Mr. Puspendra

• Producer: Ms. Pooja Krishnamoorthy

Designed and developed to increase transparency and create awareness amongst the customers about the various customer-centric service initiatives and offerings, www.withyouhamesha.com  is a one stop service information repository. To further enhance customer experience, the My Mahindra section provides a world of class leading features and privileges to Mahindra owners. In addition to viewing their vehicle service history, customers have the option to rate the service advisors who would have attended their vehicles at the workshop. This is an industry first initiative. Further, the service cost estimator is expected to bring in transparency as it provides the estimated cost for parts and labour for the scheduled services. On the convenience front, customers can set and receive personalized reminders about their upcoming service/PUC/insurance/license renewal or view vehicle service history details, besides offering a wide range of information on service network, vehicle care, maintenance and value added services.

Speaking about the initiative, Arun Malhotra, Chief Sales & Customer Care Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said “Mahindra has always endeavored to be at the forefront of customer engagement. With the launch of www.withyouhamesha.com, we aim to take our customer’s experience to a new level. Developed for utmost convenience, this initiative will provide a wholesome experience to our customers at the click of a button. We are sure that this will be a significant step towards achieving our goal of Customer Delight”.

Negi possesses more than eighteen years of experience in strategy, business and operations at leading companies in India, having worked across a diverse range of industries including hospitality, restaurant and entertainment. Most recently, he served as the Business Head of Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) at Reliance Group where he successfully conceptualized, planned and launched the first QSR brand of Reliance Retail, Chicken Comes First restaurants.  Prior to that, Negi served as Chief Operating Officer of FAME Cinema’s Multiplexes and Pizza Hut restaurants where he was instrumental in the planning, development and operations management with direct P&L responsibilities. His earlier experience also includes a ten year stint with the Taj Group of Hotels. Negi is a graduate in Hotel Management with additional studies completed under the General Management Program from IIM, Bangalore.

“We are happy to have Rishi on board to lead the operations end of our diversified portfolio of operating assets, which include Endemol, Only Much Louder, Graphic India and FLUENCE. Throughout his career, Rishi has earned distinction for out-of-the box thinking and driving organizations forward with world-class benchmarks, ideas and execution. While Rishi’s key area of focus will be planning, development and operations management, we will also be leveraging his expertise in evaluating investment opportunities in the fast-growing consumer retail entertainment business.  We welcome him to the CA Media team and look forward to benefiting from his talent and experience.” Said, Rajesh Kamat, CEO, CA Media India.

“I am excited about my new role at CA Media India. In a short time, they have already acquired significant stakes and have partnered in the success of their investee and incubated businesses, in both the traditional and digital domains. I look forward to joining this team of extremely talented people and establishing new partnerships while growing and driving forward existing ones,” said Rishi Negi, EVP Investee Operations of CA Media India.

Sorabh Pant, one of India’s leading top 10 stand-up comedians to bring alive the taste of Drambuie in the ‘extraordinary nights’

Drambuie, a specialty scotch whiskey, the personal drink of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (more commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie); will now be officially available in India for scotch whiskey lovers. Drambuie is only made in Scotland from aged Scotch whisky infused with a secret selection of herbs, spices and Scottish heather honey.  It dates back to 1745 and its name is derived from the Gaelic An Dram Buidheach, ‘the drink that satisfies.’ A unique blend of aged Scotch whisky with a secret combination of spices, heather honey & herbs results in an extraordinary taste experience for the 25 years + consumer who is discerning and willing to experiment.

To promote Drambuie in India, Advent Brand House has engaged India’s leading stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant to bring out the extraordinary experience of Drambuie. The series of the ‘extraordinary nights’ will be held at Mumbai and Delhi in leading hotels and clubs in June 2013. Sorabh Pant is one of India’s best and most traveled comedians, having down 300+ shows in 17 cities in 3 years with his first comedy special, “Pant on Fire.” He was listed by The Times of India as one of India’s top comedians.

During these ‘extraordinary nights’, Sorabh Pant will attempt to bring out the unique character, taste and legacy of the brand, and create and extraordinary experience for the guests at the evening. This will be accompanied with the guests sampling Drambuie, some for the first time, and also enjoying a range of cocktails created using Drambuie. The ‘rusty nail’ is one of Drambuie’s most famous cocktails, which originated from the USA during prohibition and continues to be a hot favorite among Drambuie lovers.

The tie-up with Sorabh Pant for the ‘extraordinary nights’ reflects the brand promise of Drambuie’s extraordinary taste, a powerful expression that depicts a surreal and extraordinary world as a metaphor for the taste experience of Drambuie

Drambuie targets 25+ years’ old males, currently drinking premium (brown) spirits – Scotch and are experimental who enjoy discovering authentic and multi layered brands. In addition to the ‘extraordinary nights’, there is a new communications campaign for Drambuie, which has been brought to life in fantastic creative photography of iconic surreal images. Photographed by top photographer, John Ross, they have been created to feel “real” and crafted, like the drink itself, not slick or over produced.

Advent Brand House India Pvt Limited (Advent) manages premium brands for global companies in India, in a professional manner. It builds and nurtures global brands as a one-stop shop. Advent has been managing Drambuie, wherein it imports, stores, markets and manages Drambuie’s distribution through a network of distributors. Advent helps develop and execute the most efficient marketing and selling model. It acts as an extension of the Drambuie Liqueur Company, almost like its own organization in India. The tag line for Drambuie is ‘taste the extraordinary’.

Parle’s, Hide & Seek Caffé Mocha, ‘Like a Coffee with your Morning Paper?’ campaign in the Media-Print category won a Bronze for the innovation of making the audience wake up to a newspaper with the strong whiff of coffee inducing the awareness of the Caffé Mocha cookie.

Quikr.com was awarded the special DMAi 2013 Synergy Award in the Media-Integrated category for ‘Buy, sell anything Quikrrr...’. Here the missed call facility was the hero of the communication across media platforms reaching high affinity engagement touchpoints of Movies, Sports, Music and News broadbasing the online audience.

“We are delighted with the awards. It comes at a good time in tandem with the new business wins. We look forward to an eventful year ahead”, said Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India and South Asia.

“The campaigns resulted in meaningful connections with the brands target audience at a personal level to achieve their goal of mass awareness and impact. In keeping with our Meaningful Brands framework we impart holistic solutions to brand marketing”, added Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

The DMA ECHO Awards India are instituted by the Direct Marketing Association of India in alliance with the DMA International ECHO Awards that honors the creative par excellence in marketing and advertising campaigns that have raised the bar of originality, response strategy, interactivity and marketing impact. In their second year, they recognize marketing excellence & celebration of result oriented marketing campaigns in India.

64% of Egyptian consumers with Internet access prefer to buy new products from a familiar brand, according to a new study from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy.

The Nielsen Global Survey of New Product Purchase Sentiment surveyed more than 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries and shows that brand familiarity is one of several key characteristics that resonate strongly with consumers worldwide.

"Consumers are more willing to experiment with new brands when the economic environment is optimistic. But in times of political and economic uncertainty such as what we are experiencing now, people cling to the safety and comfort of well-known brands when trying out new products. So this is good news for established brands, which may find greater acceptance when expanding into new product categories," said Ram Mohan Rao, managing director, Nielsen Egypt.

However, the study also indicated that 62% of consumers are willing to switch to a new, lesser-known brand provided they have a compelling reason.

"Smaller or lesser-known brands have the opportunity to induce switching provided they can offer a compelling reason: either price or value. However, in the current climate they will need to work very hard now to establish themselves in new product categories. Hence unless they have a strong price advantage, the smaller or newer brands should go slow on brand extensions until the economic climate improves."

Attributes of New Product Success

Egyptians are found to be slightly lower than the Middle East average in the willingness to switch to a new brand.

Nielsen's survey shows that value and proof-of-concept make a difference: more than half (58%) of Egyptian respondents say they would consider value or store-brand options (possibly because of the price advantage).

But even here, the new brand has to first prove itself through endorsements (either from friends or online) before consumers will buy them.

"So similar to the political situation, we are facing a polarised consumer market in Egypt today. At one end we have consumers wanting to buy new products launched by only the well-known, established brands. And at the other end we have the other set of consumers who are looking at value and who will experiment with new products from lesser-known brands, provided they are given some assurances about quality through endorsements," said Ram.

Economic factors also play a role in purchase decisions, as 45% of global respondents and 50% of Egyptian respondents report that challenging economic conditions make them less likely to try a new product.

Nielsen's survey shows that distinctions exist with regard to preferences for local and global brands. 40% of global respondents say they are partial toward local options, with North Americans most in favor of local brands (47%) followed by Egyptians (46%).

Importance of a Mixed Media Approach

Nielsen's review of 21 methods to reach consumers across various media and advertising platforms shows that a mix of word-of-mouth communication, traditional advertising, and Internet activity are the most persuasive ways to drive awareness. However, potential reach and ease of execution varies substantially.

61% of Egyptian Internet users acknowledged that professional or expert advice was the most persuasive source of new product information, while 59% chose word-of-mouth advice from family and friends.

Receiving free samples is another powerful tool, as 59% said they are likely to buy a new product after receiving a free one. Active Internet searching (56%), traditional television advertising (54%) and social media postings (51%) also remain influential. However, emails, mobile phone texts and mail are the least influential for consumers to decide on new products.

Interestingly, respondents say the Internet is very or somewhat important when making a new product purchase decision for electronics (86%), appliances (84%), book (83%), clothing (80%), personal hygiene categories (79%),cars (78%), food and beverages (77%), personal health/over-the-counter medicines and music (75%), and cosmetics/perfumes/hair care categories (78%).

"So if a relatively lesser-known brand wants to enter a new food product into the category, they should rely heavily on free sampling. More expensive products such as electronics or automotives will need to generate a lot of word-of-mouth endorsements in the online world. Online is becoming the most crucial media for checking out a new product," said Ram.

"What this study indicates is that despite the prevailing uncertainty, there are sizeable sections of the Egyptian population who will buy competitively priced local brands," said Ram.

"Given the depreciating value of the Egyptian pound, import of foreign brands will become expensive. So this is a good opportunity for local brands to start entering new product categories through locally sourced materials. The price advantage will certainly give them a strong advantage - and all they will need to ensure is that they generate positive product trial and endorsements."

Micromax, India’s leading handset manufacturer has set new benchmarks with its unique online engagement activation for the launch of Canvas 3D, the latest smartphone in the Canvas series.

The phone offers a unique experience to users which need no 3D Glasses to view its content in 3D, thereby giving the user a hassle free rich life like experience. The brand activated a unique 3D campaign in the online space to bring alive the unmatched 3D experience for the consumers.

Interactive and engaging in nature, the campaign is as unique as it sounds. Micromax’s online partner, Interactive Avenues came up with the idea of building a compelling launch activity across MSN & Yahoo homepages. All visitors to the respective pages were urged to click on the Micromax Canvas 3D banner ad placed on the homepage, transforming the entire website into a 3D webpage.  The campaign saw the brand engage with top portals for building engagement and excitement among the consumers in online space.  The banner, with the help of Mediamind, was served on various websites using the browser’s 3D rendering engine for the first time ever.

The takeover on Yahoo innovation generated a whopping 15% engagement rate against global benchmarks of close to 1% resulting in over 894,000 impressions that generated more than 900 tweets & 8719 Facebook link visits setting new benchmarks in the online space. On the other hand, the thrilling campaign witnessed over 1.3 minutes as the avg time spent on MSN resulting in a 2.83% interactivity rate .

The digital activation highly supported in  liquidation of the entire online stock of Micromax Canvas3D .

“The online medium has become a platform that connects youth with their favorite brands beyond boundaries. The online campaign has helped Micromax reach out effectively to both new and existing customers and the exemplary response is a proof to the same. The latest campaign offered a spectacular 3D moment and brought alive our commitment of providing unique experiences to the users” said Mr. Shubhodip Pal, CMO, Micromax.