Campaign India Agency Report Card 2011: Aegis Media + Carat + Vizeum

Ownership:  Aegis Group 

Key Personnel: Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO, Kartik Iyer, MD (Carat), Anand Bhadkamkar, CFO, Haresh Nayak. Head, Posterscope, Shamsuddin Jasani, head, Isobar, S Yesudas, MD, Vizeum, Zaheer Mirza, MD, Doosra, Sampath Shenoy, north head, Carat Fresh, Siddharthh Ghosh, west head, Carat Fresh

Account won: Carat: Borges olive oil, MVN Education, Milagrow Tablet PCs, EyeQ Specialty Hospitals, Laurent & Bennon; Hyperspace (Retail specialist division): Puthiya Thalaimurai, Phoenix Market City, Sony, MTV, Nickelodeon, Lodha, Intel, Renault, Bosch, Nissan, Rustomjee, Sab TV, Timex, Olympus, Carrier, Hitachi, Korea Tourism, Tata Sky, DBS, Heineken, Preethi, Amrutanjan, TI Cycles; IProspect: Kelloggs, P&G, Expedia, Ariel, Tata Housing, Tata Winger and Goodyear (all digital); Vizeum: IMS Learning Resource, Nickelodeon TV Channel, MTV, Fox Star Studios, Lotus Herbals; Carat Fresh: Olympus, Baskin Robbins, Tilak Nagar Industries (Blacpower), Indian Business Pages, Aventis, Reliance Entertainment, Pret-amoda

Account lost: None reported

A year of new account wins for the divisions of the Aegis Group – Vizeum, in particular, picked up MTV,  Nickelodeon and the latter’s new channel Sonic by the end of 2011. The Group also invested in Doosra,  Zahir Mirza’s agency, with the aim of providing creative and media solutions for non-traditional advertising areas in India. The Group also shifted to a new office in Mumbai in July, which brought all its employees under one roof. According to the jury, in media, Aegis Group should be what a W+K or BBH are – they’re supposed to change the game. The jury felt that the Group is maintaining itself, but there isn’t any real fire to be seen as yet.
How Campaign India rates the agency: 5

How Aegis Group rates itself: 8
2011 saw Aegis Media continuing in its growth path achieving over 100 percent growth compared to the previous year. This was the year when all the companies of Aegis Media which had been launched over the past two years grew and established themselves in the market.

Carat continued its process of substantial organic growth at one end and new business wins. It also invested in research and tools and in providing localised solutions for the Indian advertiser. A research initiative will be launched in January 2012 .Posterscope launched another OOH brand Brandscope. They brought in PSI, a specialist in airport advertising. Hyperspace, the retail specialist division has continued its expansion becoming a key player in the retail display management business.

Some of the awards won by the Posterscope Group include: Gold in Strategic Planning and Effectiveness in OOH, Gold ininnovative creation of a new medium, OOH professional of the year awarded to Haresh Nayak (OOH Awards).

On the back of the successful Isobar launch, Aegis Media launched Iprospect in India which, like other Aegis companies hit the ground running, winning premium brands like Kellogs and P&G. Some key accounts won by the digital brands include Expedia, Kellogg , Ariel, Tata Housing, Tata Winger, etc