Starcom MediaVest Group project for Axis Bank bags top prize at Data Creativity Awards 2014

A Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) India entry for work on Axis Bank has bagged Gold at the second edition of Data Creativity Awards 2014, winners of which were announced in Spain on 1 April.

The Awards are part of the I-Com Global Summit, which has just finished its fifth edition. The Starcom project for Axis Bank was titled ‘A POEM with Numbers - Confluence of Paid, Owned and Earned Media for Business’.

From among 80 entries, 10 shortlisted were presented at the Summit. Presenting the SMG-Axis Bank case, the only one shortlisted  from India, was Aarti Bharadwaj, VP, SMG India data and analytics.

An SMG statement on the win explained the entry thus: “SMG’s winning work with Axis Bank used advanced attribution modeling techniques to derive a framework that captures the impact of paid, owned and earned media on business, be it sales or salience, in a mesh of direct and indirect effects. The framework, therefore, evaluates the role of all media investments by the brand in terms of effectiveness in driving business. All media, be it traditional or digital media, are evaluated in terms of their relative contribution toward business, enabling comparison across media.”

Malli CR, CEO, SMG India, said, “SMG India has emerged as a center for product development and thought leadership in analytics that is then scaled across the globe. The India team has executed complex marketing analytics projects for SMG offices in India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.”

On the ‘POEM’ approach, Bharadwaj said: “The well-researched consultancy rendered to our clients has helped allocate investments so as to optimise paid media while also amplifying owned and earned media content.”

Sagnik Ghosh, head - marketing, Axis Bank, stated, “There were some very interesting observations and learnings that came through the POEM analysis done by SMG India. For a bank of our size and presence, it is important to understand the attribution that goes towards the Owned Medium Vs. Paid or Earned. We have a large presence on ground through over 2,300 Branches and over 12,000 ATMs, which is itself of tremendous media value. We also have a robust digital presence through our website, online banking and social media assets. It was important to understand what contributes towards building the brand. We have taken some of the learnings on board and are in the process of making some changes to our media mix. "

Read more on the Data Creativity Awards winners here.