MAM
Pester power picks on more products
MUMBAI: Pester power is on the rise. Even Cartoon Network, the channel that commissioned NFO to study brat power of persuasion on the purchasing power of their parents, is pleasantly surprised to note that Indian kids (particularly in the advertiser friendly SEC A & B categories) have greater influence on the brands bought in their homes than they did last year.
New Generations 2002, the December 2002 study that surveyed a total of 3218 kids and their mothers across 14 cities, six of them metros, found that a whopping 75 per cent of the kids that receive pocket money get it weekly or oftener, a trend that’s showing an increasing trend in Generations surveys since the first one conducted in 1998. 39 per cent of children from all cities surveyed get at least Rs 100 monthly as pocket money, the list led by the relatively smaller northen city of Ludhiana where nearly 69 per cent of kids draw regular pocket money.
Pester power this year also comes with a measure of parental validation. A good 31 per cent of parents today are willing to let kids accompany them when they are out to buy a durable, 43 per cent would take their kids along when on a trip to buy a computer and 39 per cent when out to purchase a music system.
Done with a focus on India as one of its key markets, the Cartoon Network survey ostensibly aims at studying juvenile media habits and the growing phenonmenon called pester power that enables advertisers to target elders using children as a via media. The number of categories to which pester power is increasingly applicable over the years makes for what ad guru Alyque Padamsee terms the transformation of parents into an ‘extension of kids’ desire to buy.’
Interestingly, as many kids in smaller cities like Ludhiana, Jaipur and Guwahati get pocket money to spend as they wish, as do their counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai, and often more than kids in Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The amount pocketed too is on the rise, if the results of Generations 2002 are to be believed – 20 per cent of those who get pin money get it once a week, 23 per cent get it two to three times a week and 32 per cent get it daily.
A good 53 per cent of the kids who get allowances receive over one hundred rupees a month, most of which is spent on indulgences like chocolates, soft drinks and chips. Pester power however extends to products like cornflakes, biscuits and milk food drinks, where the reasons for brand choice among kids could range from liking the advertisement for the product to freebies that go with it and noticing its presence in the shops.
Parents interviewed during the month long survey show an amazing tolerance for their children’s brand preferences. For a product like a kids’ bicycle, 42 per cent said they would buy a brand the child preferred, if it met their requirements. 32 per cent said they seek the child’s opinion before buying and 16 per cent said they would buy the brand the child liked most, indicating that in nearly 90 per cent of the cases, the child has a distinct say in brand choice.
For the first time, the Generations survey also studies the values and attitudes of kids in urban India, revealing that while achieving good grades at school remains a top priority for all children, the freedom to do what they please too ranks high (72 per cent) as does owning the latest things in the market (59 per cent) and looking good (90 per cent).
As regards kids’ media habits, the study indicates that three quarters of the kids choose the channel they want during kids’ prime time between 4 pm and 8 pm. Star Plus, the general entertainment channel follows Cartoon Network as the most watched channel among kids, with 46 per cent children voting it their favourite channel.
AD Agencies
WPP Media elevates Dipti Gulati to vp, client growth for APMEA
Singapore-based executive to commercialise AI-powered solutions business across the region
SINGAPORE: WPP Media has promoted Dipti Gulati to vice president, client growth, handing her the mandate to lead the commercialisation of its solutions business across APMEA.
Based in Singapore, Gulati steps up after serving as senior director, client growth, where she drove expansion across APAC spanning programmatic, search, social, CTV, DOOH and cross-channel offerings. Now, she is tasked with translating advanced AI, data and technology ecosystems into scalable growth strategies for global brands across FMCG, luxury, F&B and financial services.
“I commercialise the future of media — at scale, across APMEA,” Gulati said, announcing her appointment. She added that she turns advanced data, AI and technology ecosystems into real commercial outcomes, shifting the conversation “from a pure media play to owning business outcomes”.
Her brief is unapologetically future-facing: addressable, accountable and AI-powered media. She will work with cross-market teams across APMEA, bringing together diverse perspectives and cultures to accelerate growth and build what she calls the “future of media”.
Gulati’s rise caps nearly two years at WPP Media and follows a six-month stint as regional director of growth, APAC, at Mindshare, where she led new business development and expanded capabilities for existing clients. Earlier, as global account director for integrated marketing communications on the Unilever business, she drove communications strategy for multi-million dollar beauty and wellbeing brands across Southeast Asia.
Before that, Gulati spent close to two years as associate director at Warner Bros. Discovery in Singapore. She also served as director, strategic partnerships and market development at TrustSphere, leading go-to-market and growth initiatives across Asia and evangelising relationship analytics to C-level executives. TrustSphere, credited by industry and Harvard Business School case studies as a pioneer in relationship analytics, became a springboard for her deeper engagement with data-driven growth.
Her board and evangelist roles at the Asia Cloud Computing Association and its Asia Analytics Alliance further sharpened her regional policy and analytics credentials. Earlier chapters include marketing consultancy at Blockchain Foundry and a seven-year run at Warner Bros. Discovery in India, where she led ad-sales and business development for HBO and WB across north and east India, delivering record billings. She began her career at Diligent Media Corporation Ltd and Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd..
From ad-sales floors in Delhi and Mumbai to boardrooms in Singapore, Gulati’s arc mirrors the industry’s own shift — from selling spots and slots to engineering outcomes through data and AI. At WPP Media, the brief is clear: scale smarter, move faster and turn algorithms into advantage.
