Campaign India Agency Report Card 2011: MediaCom

Ownership: Madison (51%), WPP (49%)

Key Personnel: Debraj Tripathy, MD, Hemen Desai, GM, P&G AOR, Ashwini Kamat, GM, Mumbai, Anita Devraj Mookerjee, GM, Bangalore & Chennai, Vinish Joshi, GM, Delhi, Avinash Pillai, national director, trading, Latish Nair, national director, MediaCom Interactions, Niti Kumar, national director, new business and insights, Tushar Deshmukh, national finance director

Account won: Makemytrip.com, Volkswagen – Digital, Dell – Digital, Edelweiss - Digital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Corporation for Tourism Promotion (US Tourism), Shobha Builders, Edelweiss Insurance

Account lost: None reported

As Divya Gururaj was elevated to head of MediaCom South and Southeast Asia in May, Debraj Tripathy became the new managing director for MediaCom India. Niti Kumar also joined as national director, new business and insights. The agency won four metals at the Media Abbys, two metals at Spikes Asia and notched fourth position at the Emvies; it also picked up the Grand Emvie for the ‘Talking Newspaper’ innovation for Volkswagen. At the Campaign Agency of the Year Awards 2011, the award for media planner/buyer of the year (Indian sub-continent) went to Deepa Jatkar. The agency added a few accounts to its kitty, as work continued on P&G and Volkswagen (the latter did an innovation once again for the launch of the Jetta). While the jury’s opinion was that there hasn’t been anything substantial this year, the agency has shown what it’s capable of in the past, and will do well to bounce back in 2012.
How Campaign India rates the agency: 6

How MediaCom rates itself: 8
We grew 55 percent over last year – a faster rate than the year before (RECMA July 2011). Apart from wins such as Makemytrip.com, US tourism, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management,  we also consolidated client relationships with digital mandates from Volkswagen, Edelweiss and Dell. This has helped make MediaCom Interactions one of the largest digital agencies in the country.

We walked away with many awards at local and international forums – including the biggest award in India - the Grand Emvie 2011 for the Volkswagen Vento “Talking Newspaper” innovation. Work done across brands from P&G and Volkswagen have won accolades at all major award forums – we tallied at 22 awards won and over 45 shortlists this year, establishing us as one of the most creative media agencies in the market today.

Putting people first has shown results for us – we have one of the lowest attrition rates in the industry.

Staff increased by 50% including a head of insights and new business. Staff initiatives like training, Media COMETS, Freshness etc  have led to a stable, passionate and committed team.
We’re charged up and ready for 2012 and look forward to another rocking year!