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Top media investment forms in India are working to refresh their teams with future-ready talent. According to industry estimates, media agencies in India are increasing their workforce strength by about 12-15 percent this year. A quarter of these recruits will be on-boarded to drive new capabilities from content to commerce.

Marketing is rapidly transforming on the back of evolved consumers, believes Ajay Gupte, CEO – South Asia, Wavemaker, a WPP group company. “Instant access to information and products/services has put the consumer purchase journey on steroids. Ability to access, enhance and activate data in ways customized to cater to every individual need of our massive consumer base is key to success,” he says.

Today, the GroupM-owned agency is looking for data analysts, audience scientists, content specialists, and more performance marketing experts to augment teams. The company wants its talent to be entrepreneurial to keep up with the scale and speed of work today. Much like the mainline creative and digital marketing companies, media investment agencies are also ideating in real time for several brands and are no longer just crunching weekly viewership numbers or strategising one big project at a time.

The talent quest

Homegrown company Madison World has been hiring more freshers from various academic streams to increase the agency’s bench-strength, says the company’s executive director Lara Balsara Vajifdar. She adds, “We are hiring for more thinking roles as doing roles are getting automated. We are also looking at more specialized roles to boost domain expertise across categories.”

Madison World also wants its talent to “be happy”. The agency uses Happyness.me, a proprietary tool that measures the happiness quotient of corporations and its people. Happyness.me is a part of media veteran Raj Nayak’s company House of Cheer. Vajifdar says the agency is setting up periodic surveys to keep a check on employees’ happiness quotient.

Last year, Omnicom Media Group India launched ‘OMG Bootcamp’, with a focus on training and developing aspirants for the future. This paid internship program focuses on helping young graduates hone their craft and not only tests their mettle but also gives them the opportunity to work full-time at OMG and its agencies. 

Anju Kurien, talent head at Omnicom Media Group – India, is looking for “problem solvers and integrated thinkers”. OMG India is also invested in adding new skill sets to its existing team members. Kurien shares, “With transformations in the advertising ecosystem, brands today are turning to media-agnostic professionals with a keen understanding of integrated thinking. It plays a key role in having a larger understanding of the brand and consumer needs.”

Identifying the roadblockers

Attracting and retaining the right talent is the biggest challenge facing ad companies today. Gupte points to the increasing level of competition agencies are facing from companies in other industries looking for similar profiles and fishing in the same pool. “Apart from media agencies, today we compete with marketers, consultants and even tech companies for talent. As industry leaders, the onus is really on us to add to the talent pool,” says Gupte.

The agency is building a steady supply of talent suited for the roles that are opening up. Wavemaker India regularly hires freshers from colleges and gets them on board after grueling classroom and on-the-job training. The agency is also upskilling its current workforce to keep them future-fit.

Kurien notices another trend that’s proving to be a challenge for recruiters at agencies. 

“The challenge faced during the courtship journey from recruitment to joining is a new phenomenon. Candidates are on the lookout for opportunities, sometimes even while they are in the courtship period. Today, it is more important than ever to keep potential candidates engaged until they are fully assimilated into the system.”

The advertising industry is grappling with one of its worst talent crises ever. The problem isn’t that there aren't enough talented people. It’s that many people don’t want to join agencies these days. Making matters worse is the exodus of talent to brands’ side, with new-age companies like D2C firms and streamers attracting the best of the lot with bigger paychecks and better work-life balance.

Further exacerbating the issue are phenomena like ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘the Great Reshuffle’ which is defined by a large-scale resignation by working professionals who are prioritizing both flexibility and fulfillment. In April 2021, according to LinkedIn data, globally two-thirds of the workforce had either left a job or considered leaving a job. The trend continued into 2022.

The Great Skill Reset: Audience scientists, integrated thinkers, people with high HQ in demand

Truecaller and Wavemaker

GroupM-owned Wavemaker India bagged Swedish caller identification app Truecaller's business after a competitive multi-agency pitch. India is the largest market for Truecaller. With over 220 million active users, the country accounts for as much as 70 percent of Truecaller’s global active user base of 300 million. India also accounts for a large part of the company's workforce. Wavemaker in India has been on a roll. It added a total billing of Rs 1500 crore in the last two years. The agency, which counts Mindshare, MediaCom and Essence as media stablemates, also beat all competing agencies to bag ‘Agency Of The Year’ at the Emvies this year. 

Roposo and BBH India

Publicis Groupe’s BBH India has been roped in by Roposo, video-sharing social media service as the Agency On Record (AOR). The account was won following a multi-agency pitch. BBH India will now develop both consumer-focused and business-driven marketing campaigns. Together, Roposo and BBH will develop integrated creative and strategic communications. The partnership comes at a time when Roposo is enhancing its consumer experiences and expanding its marketing efforts for LIVE Shopping and entertainment. Recently, the agency appointed George Sebastian as the executive reactive director, and the agency’s former managing director Arvind Krishnan teamed up with Leo Burnett’s Prajato Guha, former national creative director, to launch a new agency Manja that aims to create full funnel answers to help power brands in the digital world.

Madhur Sagar and Big Trunk Communications

Sugar brand Madhur Sugar has awarded the digital mandate to Big Trunk Communications, a digital integrated marketing agency. Through this collaboration, the aim is to strategically drive and execute an effective 360 degree digital marketing campaign in order to create brand awareness for the company. In November, Big Trunk Communications won the SEO mandate for Aster Labs, national reference laboratory network following a multi agency pitch.

Tata 1mg and Dentsu

Media agency from Dentsu International India, Dentsu X won the media mandate for Tata 1mg, the digital healthcare platform. The account, which would be managed by the agency’s Gurugram office, as per the mandate, will oversee the brand’s planning and buying duties for traditional as well as digital media. Tata 1mg announced complimentary health checkups for more than 1,000 doctors across India.

Nikon India and Magnon eg+

Nikon India, a 100% subsidiary of Nikon Corporation, awarded its creative and digital mandate to magnon eg+---part of the magnon group—a leading marketing performance agency. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch and will be managed by the agency's Delhi NCR office.

magnon eg+ will be responsible for the creative strategy and execution across online and offline platforms. It also includes strategizing and executing influencer and creator-led content. Further, the agency’s focus will be to partner closely with the team at Nikon to further build and strengthen equity for the brand, and manage the entire portfolio of their imaging products.

Garden Vareli and Rediffusion

Garden Silk Mills owned Garden Vareli awarded its communication mandate consisting of creative, media and digital to independent full-service advertising agency Rediffusion. The account, which was won after a multi-agency pitch, will be handled by the agency’s Mumbai office. Recently, Rediffusion appointed Rahul Vengalil as the executive director of Everest Brand Solutions.
 
Kohler India and Efficacy Worldwide 

Full-service marketing agency Efficacy Worldwide became the agency of record (AOR) for luxury sanitary brand Kohler India. The brand said the association would add fresh perspective to the brand’s advertising and marketing strategies.

PepsiCo and Publicis Media

Multinational food, snack and beverage corporation PepsiCo awarded its Rs 600 crore media mandate to Publicis Media, part of Publicis Groupe. The account was won following a multi agency pitch and with this move PepsiCo India has consolidated its media, creative and digital business with Publicis Groupe.

Yellow and Sephora India

Yellow, an integrated global creative agency, has announced the acquisition of global cosmetic retail giant, Sephora. The agency will be responsible for the brand's online and offline communications, including social media, celebrity campaigns and e-commerce. The agency will work on the brand's creative marketing and digital footprint provisions across the country. 

Infectious Advertising and Bayer

Infectious Advertising won the creative mandate of five brands of pharmaceutical company Bayer. The account, which was won after a competitive pitch, will see the agency strategise and deploy creative campaigns for the brands like Arize, Dekalb, Laudis, Native and Vayego. 

Madison Media Ultra and 88Guru.com

Madison Media Ultra became the media agency of record (AOR) of educational website 88Guru.com, where they handle traditional media and digital mandates. 88tuition is a Singapore-based firm that aims to provide students high quality learning experience. The company is set to launch in India under the brand name 88Guru.com.

The Glitch and OLX Auto

The Glitch has been appointed as the global car marketplace OLX Autos’ agency of record (AOR). Having won the account after a competitive pitch, it will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office. 

Wunderman Thompson India and Cera

Wunderman Thompson India won the creative mandate for sanitaryware brand Cera after a multi-agency pitch. Its responsibility would be to help the sanitaryware brand come up with a new mission and outlook to help connect with the millennials.

Rediffusion and Tata Power 

Rediffusion won the digital, creative and media mandate of Tata Power. This includes all its business clusters including generation, transmission and distribution, renewables and new services including ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance - I think) and CSR domains. The mandate was won following a multi-agency pitch. Previously, Wunderman Thompson looked after the creative aspects of Tata Power, and the mandate of the media duties were fulfilled by GroupM’s m/SIX. Rediffusion also won the account of Garden Vareli, Tynor (largest manufacturer and exporter of orthotics) and Glucon-D (glucose powder brand). 

Havas Media Group India and Slurrp Farm

Havas Media Group won the integrated media mandate of Slurrp Farm, a millet-based children’s food brand. The mandate includes both offline and online media duties, and will be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. Earlier this summer, the brand launched its first-ever brand campaign, ‘Yes Ka Time Aa Gaya’ that featured investor and brand ambassador, actor Anushka Sharma. Two weeks ago, the advertising conglomerate launched Cake, an agency with its concentrations on sport, culture and entertainment.

iProspect India and Monster.com

Dentsu India’s iProspect India has won the digital mandate for the global employment website Monster.com. The account was won following a multi agency pitch and would be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. The agency’s focus would be on performance marketing, and would manage the brand throughout India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 
 
Gozoop Group and Spexmojo

Integrated marketing solutions agency Gozoop Group has won the social media mandate of Spexmojo, an online eyewear discovery platform. Having won the account after a multi-agency pitch, the brand would be handled by the agency’s Mumbai office. The focus of the agency would be on the management of the brand, which includes monitoring, listening, responding to queries and reporting to users online. Further, the agency will also focus on creating content on Instagram, Facebook, and on Twitter.

Duroflex and Vector Brand Solutions

Brand and communications consultancy Vector Brand Solutions has won the brand and communications mandate of sleep solutions company Duroflex. The agency’s responsibility would include brand building and communication development across formats, platforms and channels for the company. Recently, Duroflex released an ad starring actor Alia Bhatt who was seen advocating to buy expert-approved mattresses. The TVC was created by Tilt Brand Solutions.

MullenLowe Lintas and Vadilal Ice Creams

Marketing communications company MullenLowe Lintas has been appointed as the creative agency for Vadilal Ice Creams, ice cream brand. The agency will be responsible for Vadilal Ice Creams’ creative mandate for international business.

WatConsult and OLX Autos

Digital marketing agency WatConsult bagged the online reputation management and social listening mandate for digital automotive solutions provider, OLX Autos. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch, and will be managed by the agency’s Mumbai office. As per the mandate, WATConsult will be in charge of response management of the brand, which includes monitoring, listening, responding to queries and reporting to users online.

Absolute Barbecues and Schbang

Barbecue buffet restaurant Absolute Barbecues has awarded its digital mandate to marketing solutions agency Schbang, to increase engagement with its repeat customers and potential customers. In January, Schbang had bagged the digital creative and media mandates for CavinKare's Spinz, Nyle and Chik. The accounts that were won following a multi-agency pitch. The agency’s mandate would be to handle the strategic content and design across all social media platforms as well as performance media for the brands. 

Tally Solutions and Social Panga

Enterprise resource planning company Tally Solutions has appointed digital marketing agency Social Panga as its social media marketing partner. The mandate involves fulfilling the brand’s objective of establishing greater connect and engagement across customer and segment profiles. In May, Social Panga—which had established its presence in Bengaluru and Delhi/NCR—completed one year of its operations in Mumbai.

upGrad Placements and Olevea

The placement arm of edtech major, upGrad has awarded the social and digital mandate to Olevea, a marketing and advertising agency. The agency’s mandate would include assisting upGrad Placements by strategising, conceptualizing, and managing their social and digital media presence.

RenewBuy and Maverick India

Maverick India, an integrated marketing communication creative advertising agency has bagged the digital and creative solutions mandate for RenewBuy, an online insurance distribution platform. Maverick India’s responsibility would include bringing a fresh set of ideas to achieve the brand’s objective of achieving better engagement across their B2B channels. Recently, RenewBuy appointed Nishant Mehta as the chief business officer where he would be responsible for driving new growth avenues for the firm's insurtech business model. And in February, RenewBuy acquired Bengaluru-based fintech start-up Artivatic.AI in order to scale up business and improve technology solutions.

Kingfisher Premium and Kingfisher Ultra, and Zoo Media Network

Kingfisher has given its creative and branded content duties for its flagship products Kingfisher Premium and Kingfisher Ultra to multiple agencies within the Zoo Media Network. The mandate was won by Foxymoron following a multi agency pitch. The business will be handled by the agency’s Gurgaon office. The branded content mandate was won by Rabbit Hole, a video content solutions agency that would be handled by the agency’s Mumbai headquarters.

Biz Moves: BBH, Rediffusion, Schbang, Publicis, Wavemaker, Social Panga & Dentsu win big accounts

Home-grown conglomerate ITC has assigned its media and digital planning and buying duties to IPG Mediabrands. An agency executive has confirmed the development to Storyboard18.

A multi-agency pitch was called earlier this year. As part of the pitch, agencies had to present media handling and media buying strategies for television, print, outdoor, and digital. The Rs 600 crore-plus business has moved from GroupM’s Wavemaker. Wavemarker had been handling ITC’s media account since 2017. Madison, OMD, Publicis India are the other agencies that pitched for the account.

The Kolkata-based company owns multiple brands across its packaged foods, personal care, stationery, lifestyle retailing and safety matches and incense sticks categories. Brands like Aashirvaad, Bingo, Sunfeast, Engage, Fiama Di Wills, Vivel, Candyman, Yippee noodles, among others, are in ITC’s kitty.

The company is betting big on digital advertising innovation. Earlier this year, ITC’s Fabelle made its debut in the metaverse by being a part of two weddings hosted on the Yug Metaverse and the TardiVerse (metaverse wedding partner - CoinSwitch Kuber) platforms.


ITC reported an 11.8 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs 4,191 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31 due to strong growth across all operating segments. Consolidated revenue rose 15.3 percent on year to Rs 17,754 crore. Revenue from the cigarette business grew 9.96 percent while non-cigarette FMCG revenue was up 12.32 percent.

The company is also investing in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) segment to diversify its portfolios. In 2021, ITC picked a 16 percent stake in online-first mother and baby care Mother Sparsh brand for Rs 20 crore. In May this year, ITC acquired a 10.07 percent stake in Blupin Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the company behind D2C brand Mylo, for up to Rs 39.34 crore.

According to reports, by bringing on board these brands, the company plans to fill the gap between more mass market brands - that Indian packaged goods firms have spent years building - and premium goods.

WAVEMAKER