MAM
Telecom ad spend continues to grow: Nielsen
MUMBAI: Though many industry sectors are spending cautiously in today‘s uncertain economic environment, telecom companies invested significantly more on advertising in the first half of 2012 than they did last year, according to Nielsen‘s Global AdView Pulse report.
With a 7.9 per cent increase in global ad spending, the telecom sector saw the largest increases in emerging markets, like Latin America (32.5 per cent) and the Middle East and Africa (28.3 per cent).
After more cautious spending during the first quarter, the automotive sector also boosted ad spending by 6.3 per cent during the first half of 2012, compared with the same period last year.
Even in the embattled region of Western Europe, advertising spending increased by 1.4 per cent when comparing the first halves of 2012 and 2011.
Entertainment‘s ad spend grew by 6.3 per cent. The media sector grew by 4.9 per cent. The financial sector‘s spend grew by 4.5 per cent. The durables segment saw a reduction in ad spend by 4.4 per cent. The healthcare sector along with Industry and Services also saw reductions in ad spend.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
