Company ownership: Aegis Media
Key personnel: Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO, Kartik Iyer, MD (Carat), Haresh Nayak, head, Posterscope, Shamsuddin Jasani, head, Isobar, S Yesudas (Vizeum), Debashis Das, Carat Fresh Integrated
Accounts won - Carat: Tetra Pack, PVR Cinemas, Spire Edge, Qatar Airways, Vizeum: Giovani, Luxor,
BSA Motors Posterscope: World Gold Council, Shoppers Stop, Blue Star, UB Group, GO Air, Gujarat Milk, Elder Pharma, Titan, Levis, Samsonite, Essar
Carat’ s wins include Tetra Pack, PVR Cinemas, Spire Edge, Qatar Airways while the group’s OOH arm, Posterscope won World Gold Council, Shoppers Stop, Blue Star, UB Group, GO Air, Gujarat Milk, Elder Pharma, Titan, Levis, Samsonite and Essar.
The group’s alternative media brand, Vizeum, was founded with S Yesudas, ex-CEO of R K Swamy Group’s Media Direction, as CEO.
Aegis Media launched a 360-degree marketing solutions unit, Carat Fresh Integrated. The new entity was formed as a partnership between Aegis Media and Fresh IMCS, an independent integrated marketing solutions company headed by Linterland’s ex-president, Debashis Das.
Other leadership changes included appointment of Sushma Y Jhaveri as senior VP (West & South) Carat Media; Harit Pant as GM – North, Vizeum and E V Sreeneelakandhan as GM – South, Vizeum. The only prominent departure was Radhesh Uchil, GM, Carat Mumbai who moved to Platinum Media as GM.
Nokia, while handing over its media account to Carat globally, decided to stay on with Maxus in India. Carat will have to build considerable muscle and show consistency in performance to lure an account as huge as Nokia.
Lots of opportunties, lots of new divisions, average performance. Can Carat handle Nokia in the future?
Campaign Score: 5
How AEGIS+CARAT rates itself: 9
2009 has proven to be an outstanding year for the Aegis Media Group in India. This was achieved through a series of measures backed by some serious investments made in the country by Aegis Media. The launches of 2008, Posterscope and Isobar hit the ground running and have already shown themselves to be very profitable and ready for the next leap. 2009 was the year when Aegis media buttressed their presence in the country with three new companies. Carat Fresh, Hyperspace and Vizeum, the latest launch. Carat Media Services began the year with a series of new business wins like Spire Edge, PVR Cinemas and Tetrapak. They have further strengthened their presence in the country through investments in the area of people, technologies and training. Apart from the launch of new divisions, Aegis invested in some very senior manpower to lead the groups.