MAM
Aegis Media aims at widening profits in 2012
MUMBAI: Aegis Media expects to widen its profitability in India this year after breaking even in 2011 as it has set itself the target of doubling growth from each of its business verticals.
“We broke even in 2011. And we expect 2012 to be the first year when we will be significantly profitable,” says Aegis Media chairman (India) and CEO (South East Asia) Ashish Bhasin.
Aegis Media, part of Aegis Group, has four main businesses – media planning and buying; digital and search; Out-of-home and retail; and activation and creative.
“Our target for this year is that every business will have at least double the growth of their own category,” says Bhasin.
Aegis Media does not believe in a silo structure, the way many agencies are run. “We have a unique operating model in that sense. We give the clients all the benefits of specialisation without the hassles of silo-isation. And we are able to do it because we treat India as one country with one P&L (profit and loss).”
WPP, for instance, has its different agencies work independently and report to the parent company separately .
“We are media and agency agnostic. We can work with any agency. We are just media specific and we tell clients what combination of media is good for their product or brand,” Bhasin adds.
Aegis Media‘s aggressively intent got reflected late last year when it acquired a majority stake in Doosra Brand Communications to add creative capability to its India outfit.
So what will Doosra do for growth? “We are looking at quality rather than volume of work from there. We want them to have one or two marquee clients. Take few great companies and do path-breaking work for them, that‘s the direction we are looking at. We have also planned if at some later stage we can get into end-to-end film solution for clients,” says Bhasin.
What about Carat, Aegis Media‘s flagship brand, which was a loss-making outfit? “We had good clients in Carat but were not doing full justice to them. So for the last three years our focus has been to give them more attention and quality. So rather than going out for new businesses we wanted to service them well and get more businesses out of them. So for clients like Philips, of which we had only small part of their account, we now have 100 per cent of it,” says Bhasin.
Brands
33 per cent of women believe the salary scale is rigged: Naukri report
Voices @ Work study finds rising calls for equal pay audits and lingering bias
MUMBAI: Progress may be visible in India’s workplaces, but many women still feel the need to tread carefully. A new report by Naukri reveals that one in two women hesitate to disclose marriage or maternity plans during job interviews, worried that such information could influence hiring decisions.
The findings come from the second edition of Naukri’s annual Voices @ Work International Women’s Day report, titled “What Women Professionals Want.” Drawing insights from more than 50,000 women across over 50 industries, the survey sheds light on evolving workplace aspirations alongside the biases that continue to hold women back.
One of the report’s most striking insights is the growing demand for equal pay audits. The share of women calling for regular pay parity checks has climbed to 27 per cent this year, up from 19 per cent a year ago. The demand now stands alongside menstrual leave as the most sought after workplace policy.
Interestingly, the call for pay transparency grows louder higher up the income ladder. Nearly half of women earning between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore annually say equal pay audits are a priority, suggesting that pay gaps become more visible as women move up the career ladder.
At the same time, confidence and ambition appear to be rising. About 83 per cent of women say they feel encouraged to pursue leadership roles, a significant jump from 66 per cent last year. Cities in southern India appear particularly supportive, with Hyderabad leading the way as 86 per cent of respondents there reported encouragement to step into leadership positions. The education sector recorded the highest sense of encouragement at 87 per cent.
Yet the report also highlights a growing trust deficit around pay equity. Nearly one in three women, or 33 per cent, say they do not believe men and women are paid equally at their workplace. That figure has risen from 25 per cent last year, pointing to widening perceptions of disparity as careers progress.
Bias in hiring and promotions continues to be the biggest hurdle. About 42 per cent of respondents say workplace bias is the main challenge for women from diverse backgrounds. The concern is consistent across major metros, with Chennai and Delhi NCR reporting similar levels.
Reluctance to discuss personal milestones during hiring processes is also widespread. While 34 per cent overall said they hesitate to share marriage or maternity plans in interviews, the anxiety increases with experience. Among professionals with 10 to 15 years of work experience, the figure rises to 40 per cent.
Info Edge group CMO Sumeet Singh, said the data reflects both progress and unfinished work. “Behind every data point in this report is a woman who is ambitious. The fact that 83 per cent feel encouraged to lead is something to celebrate. However, the fact that one in two still hide their marriage or maternity plans in interviews tells us the work is far from done. As India’s leading career platform, it felt not just important but necessary for us to shine a light on these gaps through the second edition of our report,” he said.
The report suggests that while ambition among women professionals is growing, structural changes around pay transparency, fair hiring and supportive policies will be key if workplaces hope to keep pace.
