THE PEOPLE
Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison World
Lara Balsara, Director, Madison World
Gautam Kiyawat, Group CEO, Madison Media
Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO, Platinum Media
Vanita Keswani, COO, Madison Media Sigma
Sushma Y Jhaveri, COO, Madison Media Infinity, Mumbai and Director, MMRC
Dnyanada Chaudhari, COO, Pinnacle
Dinesh Rathore, COO, Madison Media Omega
Neelkamal Sharma, COO, Buying
Karthik Lakshminarayan, COO, Crest
Ruby Bana, Chief Strategy and Insight Officer
THE STORY
Started in 1988, by the legendary Sam Balsara - soft-spoken Sam, as the industry knows him - Madison World (the holding company of Madison Media) today is a 24-year-old diversified communication group. Sam is the Chairman, MD and majority owner of the completely Indianowned Madison World. The agency initially operated as a full service agency up to 1994, then got into specialization.
Under Sam’s expert guidance, Madison survived the nineties when foreign agencies started acquiring Indian ones. Over the years, the agency has gone on to become one of the biggest media planning/buying conglomerates in India with a billing of over Rs 3,000 crore.
Sam is one of the most influential names in the Indian advertising space. His daughter, Lara Balsara has followed in his footsteps and is now the Director at Madison World. After completing her postgraduation from Bristol University in the UK, she joined her father in 2003.
Gautam Kiyawat, a graduate from IIM Bangalore with over 17 years of experience, has just joined the agency as Group CEO, Madison Media. Madison Media has five offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Colombo.
Overall, Madison World today has 23 units across 10 specialized functions in Advertising, Media, PR, Out-Of-Home, Rural, Retail, Entertainment, Mobile, Analytics and Sports, employing over 1,000 communication professionals across cities in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
THE NAME
‘Madison’ was an agency which Sam Balsara bought over in 1988. He liked the name Madison, from Madison Avenue of New York.
THE PRACTICES
Madison Media Group comprises Madison Plus, Madison Infinity, Madison Sigma, Madison Omega, Pinnacle, Madison Sri Lanka, Platinum Media and Crest
THE BUZZ
Madison has won several awards this year for Best Social Media Marketing campaign for Airtel HFZH at IAMAI, Goa Fest, etc. At the Goa Fest 2012 it also won:
• GOLD for Best Use of Newspapers & Magazines for Marico
• SILVER for Best Use of Internet & Digital Media for Airtel
• SILVER for Best Use of Branded Content for Cadbury Celebrations
• BRONZE for Best Use of Special Events for Cadbury Celebrations Airways
The agency has won 33 EMVIES over the years and three Cannes Lions:
2009 – Bronze for Best Use of Mixed Media for BBC World Service Trust, Condom’s Campaign
2006 – Gold for Best Innovation in Television for P&G Whisper Choice Prerna Puraskar
2006 – Gold for Best Innovation in New Media for Cadbury Dairy Milk Exam Results. (This campaign also won the agency awards at The Festival of Media, Yahoo Big Chair Awards and EMVIES.)
THE FUNGAMA
At Madison, they really believe in having fun@work. Thank God Its Friday is a theme-based weekly activity wherein all offices across the country follow a theme like Jadoo ki Jhappi Day (employees have to hug one another), Sunshine Day (yellow dress code), Sabko Topi Pehnao Day (wearing head gear), Back to School Day, Chaddi Buddy Day (wearing shorts, capris, etc). ‘Tea with Sam’ is an informal session between the employees and the CMD where friendly bonds are established. Madison also forces people to leave the office latest by 8 pm to continue the ‘Fungama’ beyond work. Lights are switched off at 8 pm to discourage people from staying back late in the office!
THE CLIENTS
THE AGENCY HAS ABOUT 45 CLIENTS THE KEY ONES INCLUDE:
RS 200 CRORE PLUS: AIRTEL, GODREJ, ITC, KRAFT FOODS
RS 100-200 CRORE: MARICO AND CHEVROLET
RS 50-100 CRORE: BRITANNIA, TVS, ASIAN PAINTS, MAX NEWYORK LIFE INSURANCE, DISH TV
RS 25-50 CRORE: TATA TEA, MCDONALDS, DOMINO’S PIZZA, PIDILITE, CROMPTON GREAVES
LESS THAN RS 25 CR BLUESTAR, SPICEJET, ACER, LODHA, LEVIS, IDFC, CEAT, SHRIRAM, INDIAN OIL, TATA CHEMICALS, TIMES TELEVISION NETWORK, BEETEL, JOHNSON, BACARDI, CAFÉ COFFEE DAY, RADIO MIRCHI, GO, BBC WORLD SERVICE AND MORE.
THE NEW ADDITIONS
GO, CROMPTON GREAVES, DIXCY TEXTILES AND ENAMOR ARE ACCOUNTS THE AGENCY WON IN 2012
THE ESSENCE, ACCORDING TO LARA
Q] What is the USP of Team Madison?
Client-centred, committed, strong and valuesbased
Q] How does the road ahead look like? What are the new frontiers the agency is looking at?
With increasing FMCG client focus on Digital, we are looking at growing and consolidating our position in Digital
Q] What is the one word that sums up the essence of Madison World?
Client focus and delight
