IPG Mediabrands launches media analytics division in India

A month after finally taking shape in India, IPG Mediabrands has launched its data analytics division in the country.

Sue Moseley, worldwide director, research and futures, Mediabrands, says, "India is just like anywhere else in the world. There is more analytics required because there is more data available. Every market is difficult but we do have a lot of benchmark data that helps a marketer answer the difficult questions, such as whether the communication adds value or helps drive sales."

Moseley says that the entry of big retail chains in the country has made it imperative to interact with the shoppers. Thus, Mediabrands intends to launch a shopper science division in the country in the near future. "This will help our clients understand how a consumer reacts to their brands," she clarifies.

Earlier this year, IPG Mediabrands took shape in India. The company formed a Mediabrands Committee that would be in charge of all its business interests in India. Mediabrands companies in India include Lodestar UM and Lintas Media Group. The various units of these companies such as Reprise, Lintas Initiative Media and Initiative Lintas Outdoor (ILO) together ensure a wide scale of services from Mediabrands.

IPG Mediabrands has undertaken a series of changes to empower the new committee. The first step is to ensure Lintas Media Group's complete integration into Mediabrands. For this, IPG has moved Lintas Media Group's structural reporting from Lowe to Initiative.

IPG Mediabrands recently appointed Arun Kumar to the new position of president, Mediabrands Audience Platform (MAP) G14 .

Reporting to Brendan Moorcroft, global CEO of MAP, Kumar will drive the IPG Mediabrands digital practices that include Cadreon, Spring Creek Group, Ansible and Reprise, and help instil a fresh, new approach across the G14, evolving and developing the agencies and their exciting performance-driven capabilities.

The Indian data analytics business will be supported by the Singapore hub of the data analytics division of Mediabrands. Currently, it is a four-member team sitting in Mumbai. However, it will soon expand along with the business.

In its current form, the data analytics division will help and try to bring on board the existing clients of the Mediabrands companies. Later, the division may look to service other clients, too.

"The plans are to get as many clients as possible to our various analytics practices in India and to build a strong team for this division in India," concludes Moseley.