How We Did It

METHODOLOGY FOR THE

BRAND EQUITY AGENCY
RECKONER 2014
BE EDITORIAL: Ravi Balakrishnan, Amit Bapna, Delshad Irani, Shephali Bhatt and Priyanka Nair
DESIGN: Shubhra Dey, Subhash Kundaria and Vilas Pai ILLUSTRATIONS: Varani Sahu PHOTOGRAPHS: Bharat Chanda and Nitin Sonawane
2 AGENCY RECKONER 2014
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
T
he Brand Equity Agency Reckoner
2014 survey was conducted by Nielsen.
The survey methodology involved dif-
ferent segments being evaluated by rel-
evant professionals. Here is the list of
10 segments covered and the corresponding
respondents who evaluated them.
Compared to previous editions of the survey, a
major change in the methodology was getting
marketers and not agency peers to evaluate
media, advertising and brand promotion agen-
cies, and leading and influential persons in adver-
tising, creative and media.
Who did we speak to?
We approached professionals with a minimum
five years of relevant experience. 50% had 5-10
years' experience and 50% over 10 years of experi-
ence. The following four categories of respond-
ents evaluated different segments of the survey:
Marketers: Marketing professionals across indus-
tries such as FMCG, Finance, Consumer Durables,
Automotive, Pharmaceuticals/Healthcare, Tele-
com, Retail, Hospitality, etc.
Ad Agency Professionals: Professionals across
Creative, Account Servicing & Planning
Media Agency Professionals: Client servicing
professionals from all sectors
Allied Marketing Professionals: Mix of profes-
sionals across various verticals such as Digital
Specialists, Shopper Marketers, Promotion, Event
& Design consultants
A total of 688 interviews were conducted across
five markets: Mumbai (245), Delhi NCR (252), Chen-
nai (68), Kolkata (64) and Bengaluruangalore (59)
from May-2014 to Aug-2014. 675 interviews were
conducted in person and 13 through online/email
survey. There were 381 Marketers, 106 Ad Agency
professionals, 100 Media Agency professionals and
101 Allied Marketing professionals.
To evaluate the following categories: Ad Agen-
cy, Media Agency, Production House, Brand
Promotion Agency, Design Specialist Agency
and Digital Marketing Agency
Respondents were asked to rank the Top 10 agen-
cies (Top 3 for Brand Promotion and Top 5 for
Design Specialists) considering the work that
they have done over the past two years. Rank 1
was assigned to the best agency according to the
respondent, Rank 2 to second best and so on till
Rank 10. Though respondents were provided with
an exhaustive list of agencies to choose from, they
also had options to nominate any other agency
that they felt should be included.
Respondents further evaluated the agencies on
select parameters on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1
means Very Poor and 10 means Excellent.
Here is the list of parameters on which
respondents evaluated the agencies.
Most Influential Person in Advertising, Media
Planning & Buying
Respondents were asked to rank the Top 5 most
influential people in Advertising and Media.
Respondents had the option to nominate names
other than those provided in the list.
Leading professionals in Creative/Media
Planning & Buying
Without any aid/list, respondents were asked to
provide up to five leading professionals from Cre-
ative and up to five leading professionals in Media
Planning & Buying. Respondents were asked to
consider any professional irrespective of their
designation and years of experience. The Top 5
names were provided in rank order from 1 to 5.
Most Admired Marketer
Without any aid/list respondents were asked to
provide the Top 3 brands in rank order (irrespec-
tive of industry/category) that they would nomi-
nate for Most Admired Marketer. Respondents
were asked to consider following parameters.
Prompt and fair remuneration
Well defined marketing structure with an
effective chain of command
Creativity
Respect for agencies in their role as creative
partners
How was the ranking arrived at?
Ad Agency, Media Agency, Production House,
Brand Promotion Agency, Design Specialist
Agency and Digital Marketing Agency seg-
ments
Within each of the six segments, the final score
was arrived by combining weighted average rank
score and average attribute rating score both
these components were given equal weightage, ie
50% each. Within parameters for evaluation, all
parameters had been given equal weightage
except for Brand Promotion where execution
parameter was given 50% weightage and other
two parameters combined had 50% weightage.
Higher scores indicate a higher rank order
Most Influential Person in Advertising and
Media and Leading Professionals in Creative/
Media Planning & Buying side of business
and Most Admired Marketer
In each of the above four segments, the final score
was arrived at using weighted average rank score
only. Higher scores indicate higher rank order.
SEGMENTS
Top Ad Agencies
Top Media Agencies
Top Production Houses
Top Brand Promotion Agencies
Top Design Specialist Agencies
Top Digital Marketing Agencies
Most Infuential Persons in Creative & Media
Leading Creative Professionals
Leading Professionals in Media Planning & Buying
Most Admired Marketer

EVALUATED BY
Marketers
Marketers
Ad agency professionals
Marketers
Marketers & agency professionals
Marketers & agency professionals
Marketers
Marketers
Marketers
Ad agency professionals, media agency professionals
and allied marketing professionals
SEGMENTS PARAMETERS FOR EVALUATION
Top Ad agencies Client Servicing; Creative; Account Planning; Integrated Marketing; Innovation
Top Media agencies Best Deals; Effective use of research; Ability to provide higher return on media investment;
Ability to provide solutions that integrate different media
Top Production Houses Speed at which projects are delivered
Top Brand Promotion
Agencies
Creative and strategic inputs; Consumer understanding; Execution
Top Design Specialist
Agencies
Creative & strategic inputs; Effective use of design to strengthen the brand; Execution
Top Digital Marketing
Agencies
Creative and strategic solutions; Use of latest and advanced technology; Ability to promote
a brand across different aspects of digital media; Execution
LEADING CREATIVE
PROFESSIONALS
LEADING MEDIA
PROFESSIONALS
1
Piyush
Pandey
Ogilvy &
Mather
1
Sam
Balsara
Madison
2
CVL
Srinivas
GroupM
10
Gautam
Kiyawat
Madison
3
Kartik
Sharma
Maxus
6
Shashi Sinha
IPG Mediabrands
4
Ravi Rao
Mindshare
5
Nandini Dias
Lodestar UM
2
Prasoon
Joshi
McCann
Worldgroup
6
Bobby
Pawar
Publicis
7
Josy
Paul
BBDO
India
9
T Gangadhar
MEC
3
Agnello
Dias
Taproot
4
R Balki
Lowe Lintas
5
Abhijit
Avasthi
Ogilvy &
Mather
8
Abhinay Deo
Ramesh Deo
Productions
9
Arun Iyer
Lowe Lintas
10
Rajiv Rao
Ogilvy & Mather
7
Jasmin
Sohrabji
OMD
8
Anupriya
Acharya
ZenithOptimedia Group
10-16 September, 2014