GroupM Trading bullish on delivering a competitive edge for clients
In conversation with exchange4media, two top level GroupM hands – Jeurgan Blomenkamp, Global Head, Trading, and Andrew Meaden, Regional Director, Asia Pacific – throw light on the competitive edge that GroupM Trading has been delivering for its clients and future plans.

In conversation with exchange4media, two top level GroupM hands – Jeurgan Blomenkamp, Global Head, Trading, and Andrew Meaden, Regional Director, Asia Pacific – throw light on the competitive edge that GroupM Trading has been delivering for its clients and future plans.
Blomenkamp had recently been given the new profile of Global Head, Trading. Prior to this, his was CEO of GroupM in Germany. Talking about his new global role, Blomenkamp said, “My role really is to identify what works in which markets and what might have potential to roll out some tools, systems and thinking into other markets. But our particular focus is of course on what our overall future development in trading is and what our key ambitions are going to be.”
Elaborating further, he said that GroupM had two key ambitions – the first one being centralising all its trading power and trading approaches in order to help its clients stay competitive in pricing; and the second one was focusing on the digital medium and creating new opportunities and developing technologies that allowed them to engage in one-to-one advertising on targeted platforms.
GroupM is perceived to be a media buying agency rather than being a client partner. Commenting on that, Blomenkamp affirmed, “I think we are already a client partner. Naturally, the contribution of the organisation is in media buying and finding new ways to gain activity in media buying. When it comes to media strategy, individual media solutions rule our agencies. GroupM is really the platform where we try to leverage our agency volume in order to be most competitive in pricing.”
‘India has a more complex & fragmented market’
Talking about the media vendor and owner space in the APAC region and their role in partnering with the agency, Meadan was of the opinion that the broadcast media in most of the Asian markets tended to be strongly associated with the government and also at times in a monopoly of sorts. However, according to him, India was very different as it had a more complex and fragmented market.
Giving his take on the digital medium, Meadan said, “When we look at newer media such as digital, we do find a much higher degree of flexibility amongst those channel as they are trying to build and trying to make a case for themselves. If you look at digital, typically, they have less inventory, so they are less worried about the price that they are selling it for, but they are more concerned about the total dollar they are taking in and are more interested in growing the revenue. On that basis, their inventory is quite flexible and we have been able to do very nice content partnerships with some of our clients such as Unilever and Pepsi around the region and build much more interactive campaigns.”
Giving some further highlights on procurement, Blomenkamp mentioned, “Sometimes, I feel that we are the most controlled company in the world by internal audits. What I can say is that WPP takes compliance very seriously. It’s important for them and we have had this discussion with different clients with all different companies. I think it is very important for us to show to clients and external media auditing companies that we are always very compliant for them.” He also felt that in the next year there would be more understanding between the client-agency trading, about who is really doing what and the specific rules of this business.
Adding to that, Maedan said, “I understand that clients are under pressure, so naturally they are looking for more value and everyone has growth margins. But the reality in Asia, and particularly in high growth markets such as India, is that it is not something that can be straightforward to sell and I think our buying team has done a very good job of suppressing inflation for the clients.”
Sharing the reason for their visit to India, Meadan said, “We are not here for any tactical reason, we are here only for a strategic reason and that means that we will be coming here regularly. We are not here to interview anyone or announce any promotion, but we are here only because India is important for us and we want to keep on coming here and this is a long term relationship.”
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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