The Meltdown: Time for the dreaded pink slip in the advertising industry? – Part 2
Continuing with the focus on the economic slowdown and its impact on the advertising industry, in this second part, exchange4media turns its attention on the media agencies. As in the case of the creative agencies, media agencies, too, have taken a cautious approach towards hiring, but there have been no firings, yet.

Continuing with the focus on the economic slowdown and its impact on the advertising industry, in this second part, exchange4media turns its attention on the media agencies. As in the case of the creative agencies, media agencies, too, have taken a cautious approach towards hiring, but there have been no firings, yet.
Giving her perspective, Anita Nayyar, CEO, MPG India, said, “I think most of us are being very careful about new hires, however, replacements are being hired as usual.”
As the overall financial year has seen good growth and with the allocated marketing budget for the financial year almost spent, the slackening is more of a concern for the approaching financial year. Sudha Natrajan, COO & Joint President, Lintas Media Group, commented, “This year has been good for us, so the slackening of economy and job cuts is not a concern for us now. Also, we don’t have any diktat on job freeze and we will be building resources in accordance with our business requirements.”
Media agencies are probably being more selective about new recruitments, but they are unanimous on the feeling that there is no panic in the industry yet and definitely no insecurity among people regarding their jobs. R Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare, South Asia puts it aptly as taking the ‘cautious optimism’ approach as he feels that the Indian market will recover much faster than any other market that has been hit. He added, “Only if this trend continues to till April next year, then we will be in a difficult situation. In our minds, we are clear that the ad rates will not be growing at the rate similar to what we have seen in the early part of this year. Hence, when we draw plans for the next year, we have to keep contingencies in mind and take an additional variable of slowdown in mind.”
Tough times call for tough measures, but job cut is definitely not on the agenda of many of the players. Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar Universal, said, “Only certain sectors are hit in India by the slowdown, but I don’t see retrenchment happening in the distant future. If we were to do cost cutting, I would prioritise by first tackling the high rentals on the property that we pay, second would be to find ways to optimise budget allocated for research, and then look at cutting costs on recruitments. But I believe that situation is not as bad as it is made out to be.”
A sentiment, which is emphatically advocated by Ravi Kiran, CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group, South Asia. He said, “I strongly feel that we are making the situation to be worse even though the dark clouds are somewhere in the distance. It would be better to manage this gloom and look at opportunities that these times provide. For one, I feel this is the best time to try out new enterprise and also fail, as failing in boom time could be bad, but there is nothing to lose during a slowdown. This is also a time to focus on customers so that we instil confidence in the existing ones and reach out to those who have future potential.”
Gowthaman noted, “Accountability becomes fundamental and all the more important now. There is a lot more questions on the potential of ROI. I guess the focus should be less clutter, reducing decay, less intrusive and taking the approach of being more TG specific and sector specific.”
On the talent front, the slowdown is also being viewed in the positive sense and there is hope that it will be easier to retain talent as people will be less willing to move. MPG’s Nayyar added here, “While the talent crunch continues, but over the last few weeks there are more CVs available in the market. The need to hire people is an ongoing process and the talent crunch makes it difficult.”
Offering his take on this, Ravi Kiran said, “There is no fear of job among people who have delivered in the past. In the Asian market, ‘employees’ are cautious of where they are joining and the preference is obviously to join well established brands. Also, the popular sentiment is to stay with the loyal employer, hence there is hope that we will see less flirtations with the job during this time.”
Also read:
The meltdown: Time for the dreaded pink slip in the advertising industry? – Part 1
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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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