THE PEOPLE
MUMBAI (Corporate Office)
ASHISH BHASIN, Chairman India & CEO South East Asia
ANAND BHADKAMKAR, CFO
S YESUDAS, MD, Vizeum Indian Subcontinent
HARESH NAYAK, MD, Posterscope India
SHAMSUDDIN JASANI, MD, Isobar India
ZAHIR MIRZA, Director, Doosra
HIMANKA DAS, SVP, Carat Media
SIDHARTH GHOSH, VP, Carat Fresh Integrated
GURGAON
KARTIK IYER, MD, Carat Media
VIDHU SAGAR, EVP, Carat Media
BANGALORE
PRITHA KURUVILLA, Global Financial Controller
JOYDEEP RAHA, SVP, Carat Media
RAJESH SANTHANAM, AVP, Posterscope India
CHENNAI
E M SREENEELAKANDHAN, Sr GM, Vizeum
K RAVINDRANATH, Media Director, Carat Media
THE STORY
In India, Carat, launched in 1997, remained the only brand of Aegis Media until 2008, when in a major relaunch, all the other power brands of Aegis Media - Vizeum, Posterscope, Isobar and Iprospect - were brought in within an eight-month period. Apart from this, considering the local requirements, over time Carat Fresh and Doosra were also launched.
Globally, Aegis Group plc is a listed company on the London Stock Exchange. The company employs almost 11,000 staff in over 80 countries. Japanese media conglomerate Dentsu is buying out the Aegis Media Group for a whopping $4.9 billion, in a deal expected to become effective during October - December 2012.
THE NAME
The business can be traced back to the founding in France in 1968 of the media agency Centre achete radio et television (Caret). In 1984, WCRS Group acquired Caret. WCRS Group was led by Peter Scott who went on to found Aegis in 1989 as a separate company based on the original WCRS media buying division. In 1990, the name of the company was officially changed from WCRS to Aegis Group.
THE BRANDS
• Carat, Vizeum (Integrated Media)
• Posterscope, Brandscope (Out of Home Media)
• Hyperspace (Retail Design and Management)
• PSI (Airport OOH)
• Isobar (Digital Media)
• Iprospect (Digital Performance Media)
• Doosra (Creative)
• Carat Fresh (Activation, Urban and Rural)
THE BUZZ
• exchange4media OOH Awards -
Gold in Strategic Planning and Effectiveness in OOH & Gold in Innovative Creation of a New Medium & OOH Professional Of the Year awarded to Haresh Nayak
• Gold Best Social Media Campaign for Reebok, at e4m IDMA awards
• Gold for Reebok for Best Social Media Campaign from India Social
• Silver Best Banner Campaign for Adidas, at IDMA awards (no gold in this category)
• Silver for Best Search Campaign for BMW at IDMA awards (no gold in this category)
• Bronze for the Reebok EasyTone campaign
• Campaign India DMA Bronze for best Social Media campaign
• Bronze for Best Social App for Reebok
• Bronze for TATA Winger Search campaign in Yahoo Big Idea Awards
THE FUN
Aegis Media is like a family, and, in many ways, almost an extension of college for a lot of our young people. We celebrate festivals together, eat and drink together and, once a year, every Aegis Media employee gathers under one roof, usually outside the country. We have both a structured and an informal system of regular fun practices and a lot of joy is derived from family-like bonhomie.
THE CLIENTS
ADIDAS, ARIEL, BMW, ESSAR GROUP, EXPEDIA, FOX STAR STUDIOS, GENERAL MOTORS, KELLOGG, LOTUS HERBALS, LUXOR WRITING INSTRUMENTS, MATTEL, MTV, NICKELODEON, SONIC, PHILIPS, TATA HOUSING, TATA WINGER, GOODYEAR, TI CYCLES OF INDIA, TOTAL LUBRICANTS
THE NEW ADDITIONS
20TH CENTURY FOX, KOOVS, KELLOGS, EXPEDIA, BORGES, NESTLE AND OTHERS
THE ESSENCE, ACCORDING TO ASHISH BHASIN
Q] What is the USP of Team Aegis Media?
That we give our clients all the benefits of specialization without the hassles of siloization. We are able to do this due to our unique One Aegis P&L.
Q] How does the road ahead look like? What are the new frontiers the agency is looking at?
The road ahead really looks bright. We are recruiting and growing at a very rapid speed. In the last four years, we have grown our revenues ten-fold and our staff strength nine times. By 2015, we hope to be among the top three media agency groups in India. Going forward, we will build upon our strength and leadership position in OOH, Retail and Digital. We will also focus on Search and get into the top three players in each of these segments in two years.
Q] What is the one word that sums up the essence of Aegis?
Entrepreneurial
