NEWS RECAP

exchange4media Conclave 2009 – A flashback

‘Thriving in Challenging Times’ was not just the theme of the fourth edition of exchange4media Conclave, but also reflected the general mood of all those who attended the annual event held in Mumbai and Delhi on June 3 and June 5, respectively. exchange4media Conclave 2009 was presented by STAR News and powered by Hindustan Times. Encompass was the event partner.

An annual event, the Conclave is designed as a platform that brings together all stakeholders of the Indian media, advertising and marketing domain, with the single objective of charting out a definitive roadmap for the industry. The exchange4media Conclave was first held in the year 2003. The platform has been used by Government officials, industry veterans and future leaders to make important policy announcements, take stock of the industry, and pave the way forward.

In 2009, the topic of discussion had been widened to bring in the advertiser and media agency service’s points of view. Given the economic scenario, the Conclave looked at ways in which the three key stakeholders of the Indian media and the advertising industry could discuss ways to collaborate to ensure growth.

Impressive list of speakers
What makes an event more interesting and engrossing, besides various panel discussions and case study presentations are the speakers. And exchange4media Conclave 2009 had lined up an impressive list of speakers – Mark Patterson, CEO, GroupM, APAC; Asit Mehra, EVP, Omnicom Worldwide; and Andrew Rashbass, CEO, The Economist Group, among many others.

In a special address, Andrew Rashbass, CEO, The Economist Group, defined ‘Mass Intelligence’ as a key demographic that The Economist targeted. According to him, ‘Mass Intelligence’ as an audience was growing in India, which had led to the growth of the magazine in the country.

Mark Patterson spoke on ‘The Opportunities of Slowdown…’. Patterson’s address was followed by a conversation between him and LV Krishnan, CEO, TAM India, who wrapped up with a rapid fire round crafting a lighter mood.

While giving his witty take on life for brands and advertising in general, Asit Mehra presented some hard-hitting facts and findings and came up with formulae that brands and companies could adopt to steer ahead in a frail economy.

Mumbai musings
The exchange4media Conclave 2009 spanned two major metros of Mumbai and Delhi. Held in Mumbai on June 3, it was for the first time that exchange4media Conclave had been made a paid conclave, unlike in the last three years.

The Conclave began with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp by Anurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media; Nawal Ahuja, Co-founder and Director, exchange4media; Amit Agnihotri, Co-founder and Director, exchange4media; Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, GroupM South Asia; and Mark Patterson, CEO, GroupM APAC.

Among the packed audience were well-known names such as AP Parigi, MD and CEO, ENIL; Prasanth Kumar, Managing Partner CTG, GroupM; Sunder Hemrajani, MD, Times OOH; and Bharat Kapadia, Director, Lokmat, to name a few. The audience also comprised a huge chunk of young turks from across the media and advertising fraternity.

The day was choc-a-bloc with several interesting sessions on topics such as ‘Opportunities in the Current Economic Scenario: Is media responding to it?’, ‘Media Services Agencies: Is it time to rework the media agency model?’, ‘Accountability helps? Has the current economic scenario given any advantage to mediums that can be measured?’, and rounding up the day’s proceedings was the Chief Executive Roundtable, where industry honchos discussed ways to emerge from the slowdown. This session was chaired by Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, while the panellists comprised Saugata Gupta, CEO, Marico India; Sameer Nair, CEO, NDTV Imagine; Mark Patterson, CEO, GroupM – APAC; Lynn de Souza, Chairman & CEO, Lintas Media Group; Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India; Harindra Singh, MD, Percept Holding Company; and Sivakumar Sundaram, BCCL Secretary and CEO, Times Private Treaties.

The Mumbai leg of the Conclave concluded with a valedictory address delivered by Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India TV.

Delhi deliberations
The Delhi leg of the Conclave saw session discussions on topics such as ‘How should media respond to clients’ needs in the current environment?’, and ‘What comes first: Media or the message?’, which brought integration and 360 degree communication under the scanner again and looked at who was leading and was better positioned to lead the new age communication – the creative agencies or the media agencies. The session on ‘From Available to Accountable: Ad Spends Movement Between Mediums in Slowdown’ looked at the thought process of advertisers on ad spends allocation during slowdown.

There was a special address by Suhel Seth, CEO, Counselage on ‘Changing Rules of Media Accountability’.

The day culminated with industry heads discussing some of the steps that companies were taking to manage slowdown, and where eventually this would lead the industry. The panellists at this session included Vishnu Mohan, CEO, Havas APAC; Rajesh Aggarwal, President, Dentsu India; Ishan Raina, CEO, OOH Media; Sandip Tarkas, President - Customer Strategy, Future Group; and Charles Cadell, Lowe Lintas India.