Week at a glance: Cause marketing, podcasting, acquisitions and a breach

The week (July 31-August 5) saw two major acquisitions effected – Madison Media picking up a controlling stake in Bangalore-based performance marketing agency, HiveMinds Innovative Market Solutions; and digital ad-tech company Fork Media acquiring a majority stake in a start-up, Rappio Advertising. Cause marketing and Podcasting in India are our special feature offering this week. 

Other headline makers included: 

• Account wins by Havas Media, Performics.Convonix and Matchbox Media
• Zee Anmol climbing up to No. 1 as per BARC ratings for Week 30
• Episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7 being leaked online and Star India confirming the breach
• Q1 FY18 results of Colgate-Palmolive India and NDTV India

The CSR factor is gaining grounds in brands’ campaigns as they seen to bring about a social change, along with building up the brand. According to a study commissioned by Havas Media, brands which embed social and environmental benefits in their core products outperform the stock market by 120 per cent and generate higher levels of loyalty, purchasing intent and overall consumer advocacy. What happens when a brand goes the ‘cause-way’ and keeps it at the centre? Our two-part Deep Dive feature report explores cause marketing in India. 

Deep Dive: How brands are building stronger equity the CSR way – Part 1

Deep Dive: How brands are building stronger equity the CSR way – Part 2

Great potential, but not finding too many takers to match this potential – this has basically been the journey of podcasting in India. The medium has not been able to come out of its niche positioning and gain a mainstream status. We take a look at the Indian podcast scene, which has a handful of notable players – Audiomatic, India’s first podcast network launched in 2015; Indus Vox Media; and digital music offerings like Saavn, Gaana and Hungama. 

Podcasting in India:Need to build a strong listening culture – Amit Doshi

As Chief Executive Officer of My FM, Harrish M Bhatia is the driving force behind the station’s record breaking performance in its over decade-long existence. In a tete-a-tete for Adgully’s ‘Offbeat’ section, Bhatia reveals a lesser known side of him. 

Offbeat: Harrish M Bhatia – once a leader, always a leader

Madison Media has taken a controlling stake in Bangalore-based performance marketing agency, HiveMinds Innovative Market Solutions, which counts among its clients Big Basket, ABOF, ClearTrip, and CloudNine Hospitals, among others. HiveMinds’ strengths have been in search, social, performance marketing and programmatic buying and specialising in e-commerce, education and travel. 

Madison Media fortifies digital biz, acquires majority stake in HiveMinds

Digital ad-tech company Fork Media has acquired a majority stake in Rappio Advertising, a start-up that has a unique platform for digital audio advertising. With this acquisition, Fork Media plans to introduce audio-based advertising at scale using its large inventory of premium publishers and create new avenues for brands. 

Fork Media acquires majority stake in audio advertising platform Rappio

Havas Media Group, India has bagged the integrated media duties of Faircent.com, India’s largest peer to peer lending platform which caters to retail and business loans. The account will be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. 

Havas Media wins integrated media mandate for Faircent.com

Continuing its recent run, Performics.Convonix, the digital end-to-end solutions company under Starcom India, has won the SEO duties of Aditya Birla Health Insurance. The agency had recently bagged the SEO mandate for Jeep India. 

Performics.Convonix bags SEO mandate for Aditya Birla Health Insurance

Following a multi-agency pitch, Matchbox Media, the media arm of ITW Playworx, has bagged the media duties of Richfeel, a leading trichology centre, hair and scalp clinic for more than 3 decades. The account will be serviced out of the agency’s Mumbai office. 

Matchbox Media bags media duties of trichology centre Richfeel

BARC ratings for Week 30 (July 22-28) [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals] saw Zee Anmol surging ahead to be placed at No. 1 for the first time since BARC ratings came into being. Meanwhile, Star Plus, slid to the third spot from No. 1 last week. Reality show, ‘Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi – Pain in Spain’, on Colors entered the list of most watched shows on Hindi GECs in Rural+Urban this week. 

BARC Wk 30 ratings: Zee Anmol surges ahead to claim No. 1 spot

Episode 4 of popular fantasy drama Game of Thrones Season 7 was leaked online ahead of its date of airing on August 6 on HBO globally and on August 8 in India on Star World. It is now known that the breach happened at Star India, HBO’s distribution partner in India. Star India’s watermark appears in the multiple screen grabs of the leaked Episode 4. “For internal viewing only” also appears on the top left hand corner of the screen. 

Game of Thrones Season 7 Ep 4 leaked online; Star India confirms breach

Marking its 100th anniversary, Grey Group has promoted Michael Houston to Worldwide Chief Executive Officer of Grey Group. He has become only the fifth person to hold the CEO position since Grey’s founding in 1917. James R Heekin, who has led the company, as Chairman and CEO of Grey Group since 2007, will remain Executive Chairman of Grey Group. 

Grey Group announces leadership appointment for its next generation

Prasad Kathe has been roped in as Editor of Marathi news channel IBN Lokmat, a joint venture between Network18 and Lokmat Group. Kathe joins in from NDTV, where he produced and anchored shows like ‘Money Mantra’, ‘Marathi Ke Naam Par’ and ‘Ek Bhaiyya Dooja Marathi’. 

NDTV's Prasad Kathe joins IBN Lokmat as Editor

Colgate-Palmolive India has reported net sales of Rs 1,109.9 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, a decrease of 3 per cent over Q1 of the previous year, largely due to destocking in the trade channel ahead of the implementation of GST. Volumes declined 5 per cent during the quarter. The company saw an 8 per cent increase in its net profit after tax for Q1 FY2018 at Rs 136.4 crore. It also continued strong media investment behind its core equities. 

Colgate-Palmolive India Q1 FY18 net profit up 8%, net sales down 3%

NDTV’s digital business has enjoyed spectacular growth in the first quarter ended June 30, 2017. Revenues jumped by 65 per cent to Rs 38 crore from Rs 23 crore in the same quarter last year. Profit after Tax improved to Rs 7 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 3 crore in the same quarter last year. The group EBITDA improved by Rs 19 crore, compared to same quarter last year. EBITDA from Television & Digital segments achieved break-even in this quarter. 

NDTV’s digital business revenues jump 65% to Rs 38 cr in Q1 FY18