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IMPACT INTERVIEW | |||||||||||
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Don Epperson is the global COO of Havas Media, the media arm of Havas. He is also the global CEO of Havas Digital, the interactive network of Havas Media. Epperson joined Media Contacts, the anchor brand of Havas Digital, in May 2001 as part of its acquisition of HookMedia, which was founded by Epperson. He founded HookMedia in 1998, raised venture funding to build what is now Artemis™, a proprietary reporting and analysis toolset, and built his interactive agency to over 90 employees with three offices across the US. From 2001 to 2003, he ran the US operations of Media Contacts, and in 2003, was promoted to global CEO. Epperson is now responsible for Havas Media’s digital, direct response and database marketing units across 23 cities and 19 countries around the world. He was in India recently, and he took time out to speak with Gokul Krishnamurthy. With Epperson was Kushal Sanghvi, MD, Media Contacts India. Sanghvi is responsible for setting up the team and operations of Media Contacts in India and to grow the business in the market. Prior to joining Media Contacts, he spent about two years heading the Business Intelligence team for Reliance ADAG. Excerpts from the conversation: Stephane
Foukes was in India in Oct ’07. He was quoted as saying that
Havas was looking at acquisitions in the digital space. While small
and medium enterprises were the stated targets, it was also said
that the pricing that was coming up in the space wasn’t attractive
for Havas Media. Would you like to comment? Epperson: Price is always going to be an issue for us. We don’t really want to overpay for anything. Media Contacts is a part of Havas Digital, which is a part of Havas Media, which is a part of Havas. Havas Media has ripped all of its media assets into Havas Digital. In Havas Digital, we have a number of brands and companies to take advantage of certain situations in the market (needs) or certain situations where we need competitive brands. The flagship brand for Havas Media is called Media Contacts and Media Contacts has been expanding. Then there is Latitud which is a competitive brand and we have another company called iGlue which is another media company but only digitally focused. It is therefore an online company which is supported by offline. Havas Media has just opened up in the region over the last couple of years. 2007 was the big year where we brought in a number of large number of agencies for Havas Media and MPG. We now have offices in New Zealand, in Australia. We have one (office) in Sydney, in China, Singapore, Honk Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. Here in India we have offi ces in Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and we are also starting one in Bangalore. We are definitely looking at small acquisitions but not any large ones. We are a company that likes to grow organically and likes to keep a certain culture within the network. Unlike some competitors, we do not want to be a company with 50 brands but would rather have one, two or three brands that make sense so that the culture and the tools remain the same through all the brands – so that we can guarantee the quality for our clients globally. (Full report in impact) more… |
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IN FOCUS | |||||||||||
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By Jyotsna Sharma This year, even though FICCI Frames was a few shades lighter than the previous year, the sun is shining bright on the Indian entertainment industry. The ninth FICCI Frames saw attendance from filmmakers of the Indian commercial cinema, cinema overseas and Indian regional cinema discussing the road ahead for filmmaking. While on the one hand filmmakers were caught looking forward to overseas tie ups, digital filmmaking tools and ways to encash the opening box office, on the other hand regional cinema was also given a platform to showcase their achievements and voice their challenges. While new avenues were being contemplated to multiply revenues, the industry also seemed woken up to restore the regional languages media. Looking ahead to next season As the Chairman of the FICCI Entertainment Committee and an acclaimed fi lmmaker, Yash Chopra of Yashraj Films addressed the issues and challenges faced by the Indian entertainment industry. While expressing concern on the menace of piracy in the entertainment and media industry, Chopra also voiced his worry on the recent banning of films such as Jodha Akbar, Parzania and Fanaa by various groups. “Once a film is passed by the Censor Board, I don’t think anybody should have the right to ban the movie.” While stating his concerns, Chopra also asserted that the Indian film industry will have to make sure that the content produced in the country is of global standards and should be able to easily cross the boundaries into the cultures and other countries. “Young and talented filmmakers, new technologies and ideas are here to take the industry forward. It’s a revolution that today we are making films all over the world. And it’s a challenge to enter more countries and expand our reach to countries like, Japan, China and Indonesia among others.” He also rejoiced the fact that keeping aside the differences, movies from India and Pakistan are crossing borders and are being released without any official treaty in place yet. “It’s wonderful to see the release of Indian films like Race, Welcome and Taare Zameen Par in Pakistan. Also we look forward to the release of Khuda Ke Liye; a movie from Pakistan here in India. We need to share our business with Pakistan too, and I urge the Indian Government to make policies that would help the two countries join hands in this regard.” Gold at the opening weekend? The
explosion of entertainment choices means that many more
fi lms – for limited duration. In other words a
film simply won’t last through its second weekend
if it doesn’t have a strong enough audience on the
opening weekend. While the filmmakers and the film critics
look for answers for a packed house on the opening weekend,
everybody stood clueless as to what kind of film works
for today’s audiences. “You need to decide
on your product – what kind of movie you would be
making. You need to understand your audience and decide
the actors, producers and script – all go into the
making of a successful film,” said Colin Burrows,
CEO, Specialtreats UK. Burrows added that the opening
weekend timing is important. Also, screening of the movie
at various film festivals can be beneficial. For marketing
the movie, “You must identify where your audience
would find its movies; web could be one besides television
and magazine,”
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OUTDOOR IMPACT | |||||||||||
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The smallest segment of the advertising industry – the online advertising industry recorded the highest growth in the year 2007. The Out Of Home advertising industry marked the next highest growth at 25 per cent - the segment grew to an estimated Rs 12.5 billion in 2007, up from Rs 10 billion in 2006. According to the FICCI-PwC report ‘Sustaining Growth’, its share in the overall ad pie too has increased marginally to 6.4 per cent in 2007, up from 6.2 per cent in 2006. Given the several growth drivers, the OOH industry is projected to grow by 14 per cent cumulatively over the next five years to an estimated Rs 24 billion in 2012. While the OOH industry is running on the fast lane, it’s under-representation at FICCI Frames 2008 was anything but surprising - maybe it is the case of an emerging industry still vying for it’s much deserved place in the ‘conventional’ media industry. According to Dennis Sullivan, Advisor, Outdoor Advertising Industry, UK one of the key drivers to the growth of the OOH media has been the change in the lifestyle of the consumers - people are spending more time out of home today. Also, an explosion of traditional media routes has caused fragmentation of the consumers. In addition,
Sullivan noted that a number of organised players such as JC Decaux
and Clear Channel have emerged in the OOH industry. The consolidation
of the ownership has given way to consistency in the quality of
creatives throughout the world. Sullivan also shared that advancements
in the technology has opened new avenues of content and growth
of international travellers has led to the growth of OOH media,
like airport advertising that is fast picking up. (Full report in impact) more… |
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articles by industry leaders from the Third Anniversary Issue
of impact, click here |
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