VivaKi Partnerships Plans to Expand to More Tier II and Tier III Cities in India

VivaKi Partnerships, a venture by the media buying agency VivaKi Exchange that partners with local advertising agencies in mostly tier II and tier III Indian cities aims to double its network by the end of 2013. The agency currently works with 10 small, self-service advertising agencies in Lucknow and Kanpur; they are targeting at least 4 more tier II and tier III cities which include Ludhiana, Pune, Nagpur and Indore. They  are also planning to host media workshops in 2013 in order to educate local advertisers about various media options available now.

VivaKi, a part of Publicis Groupe, world’s second largest media counsel and buying group, works with big shot national advertisers like Nestle, BlackBerry and Samsung and have an annual billing of close to Rs.2,800 crore.  On the other side, local agencies usually have 40 to 60 local clients on an average and may have Rs.50 to 70 crore in annual billing. By tying up with local agencies, VivaKi can access the local markets. According to VivaKi, smaller markets are coming up very fast; they account for 55% of the total Rs.16,300 crore print media advertising.

According to Tarun Nigam, Chief operating officer, VivaKi Partnerships, media expenditure from tier II and tier III Indian cities is growing exponentially. Businesses in the growing sectors like real estate, tourism, education, retail are spending more. “Purchasing power of people in smaller towns is going up and the market place is changing. Media is expanding there,” said Mona Jain, chief executive officer, VivaKi Exchange. “Clients are becoming more aware and willing to explore newer mediums.”

Digital media spending is increasing in small markets as well. Digital media, which is of Rs.3,500 crore valuation today, is increasing at a great pace in mini-metros. According to the report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (Ficci) and KPMG, the digital advertising market jumped to Rs.1,990 crore in 2012 from Rs.1,540 crore in 2011. Not only big brands, but local small businesses will start spending more on digital advertising. To educate local agencies and businesses about the potential of digital advertising, VivaKi Partnerships will organize workshops. This will boost local markets and help them grow fast.

VivaKi Partnerships started its operations two years ago; it followed the same model they had in China where large agencies support the ecosystem by identifying local agencies in mini-metros and small towns.

Not only the VivaKi unit, many other agencies are aiming to expand to the small cities in India as well. “It’s natural for us to expand to smaller towns and cities, since that’s where the growth is coming from,” said an executive at GroupM, Kerala based media buying agency of WMP. After Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, “the next round of growth will be from the non-metro markets”, said Ashish Bhasin, chairman, India, and CEO, South East Asia, at Aegis Group Plc.

Since large agencies are up to help the local small agencies in tier II and tier III cities, we can expect a more balanced ecosystem in next couple of years which will definitely be helpful for the local economy as well. Fingers crossed!

Story Source | Livemint

Image Courtesy |  bestmediainfo

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