Sign up for afaqs! Newsletters
MCCS appoints Mindshare as its media agency
Mindshare will the handle media duties for three MCCS brands – STAR News, STAR Ananda and STAR Majha
Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS) has appointed Mindshare as its media agency. Mindshare will handle three MCCS brands: STAR News, STAR Ananda and STAR Majha.
Speaking to afaqs!, Neeraj Sanan, marketing head, MCCS, says, "Being a media channel, we are supposed to have a good understanding of the media business. But getting a media agency on-board allows for a better and fresh perspective on our own strengths and weaknesses. The media space is cluttered, and in such a situation, there is a possibility of us holding a biased opinion of ourselves. Thus, it helps to have a neutral party, which comes with years of experience in the commodity business, and can help one move closer to a more structured marketing strategy."
Without sharing the account size, Sanan says that a lot of things in the media industry happen on a barter basis; so, it's unfair to peg a tag to the account size.
As a media partner, Mindshare will have more responsibilities than just being involved in media buying and planning for the three brands. In the case of MCCS, since the product itself is media, Mindshare will act as a brand, product and marketing consultant.
Chirantan Chandran, general manager, Mindshare shares the agency's plans for MCCS. "MCCS, as such, does not have proper communication architecture. Our aim would be to put in place a more formalised thinking process. Second, the idea is to suggest what the brand should be, by adding value to their promo plans – suggesting changes in channel promos as well as for individual products. We will also provide consultancy related to better programming, leading to higher viewership."
He, too, declines to share the account size, adding that unlike other clients, the account size doesn't matter here, because there would be minimal media buying. Instead, a lot of deals would be on barter basis.
MCCS believes that Mindshare is the perfect media partner. Its expectations from the media agency are high; since it has talented people with strong systems in place and also has the intent to invest in the media space.
Mindshare is expected to help MCCS with the use of media such as print, TV, outdoor and radio for broadening its audience base. The organisation has also set its sights on taking a quantum leap on the sales front.