Zed Digital India eyes mobile developers

Betting on spectacular growth in online and mobile ad spends, media agency ZenithOptimedia has announced the launch of its digital unit, Zed Digital, in India. Globally, Zed Digital’s billings, €2 billion in 2006, are 15 per cent of ZenithOptimedia’s revenues.

Zed Digital’s core services include display advertising, paid search or search engine marketing (SEM), and mobile advertising. It will be working closely with the parent company, which caters to traditional media. The company expects online ad spends in India to increase three-fold to Rs 700 crore by 2009.

Speaking to agencyfaqs!, Frederic Joseph, global CEO of Zed Digital, said, “We have developed strong capabilities in search and display advertising. We believe that mobile is the next big thing in advertising. But I think mobile advertising is in an infant phase and we need to figure out how to make money out of it.” Joseph added that ZenithOptimedia is planning to acquire mobile developers globally as well as in India. “It’s on the table,” he says.

When asked about his predictions for the market, Mathur said, “I expect clients to scale up their advertising budgets to 10 per cent for online spends.”

The company is also working on a mobile advertising application that will help advertisers deliver contextual advertising on SMS to consumers. Zed Digital is in talks with developers, manufacturers and operators to get the ad platform off the ground.

Though a small team now, Zed Digital will expand operations and will soon put a creative team in place.

Mobile is emerging as a promising medium for agencies and advertisers alike. With a player like ZenithOptimedia betting big on digital media, the game will only get more exciting.

© 2007 agencyfaqs!