CHENNAI: Global advertising firm Dentsu Aegis Network announced its foray into the media investment business in India with the launch of Amplifi. The firm’s global investment arm in India will be headed by Kartik Iyer, president-media agencies and Amplifi.
Amplifi will offer specialised services including media investment management, media partnerships, programmatic buying and branded content. “In today’s world, our media partners have much more to bring on table for our clients, than just media inventory. Amplifi’s is uniquely placed to drive this supply-side convergence by harnessing data, technology, insight and content to help all members of the Dentsu Aegis Network operating model,” said Ashish Bhasin, chairman and chief executive, South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network.
Amnet, Dentsu’s programmatic unit, and branded content arm The Story Lab, both functional in India for three years will now become part of Amplifi. “Unlike a media planning and buying agency which only focuses on clients, Amplifi will build strong relationships with media partners like publishers, Facebook and YouTube so that it can deliver value for both clients and media platforms,” Iyer said.
Sujata Dwibedy, currently executive vice-president of the firm’s media buying and planning arm Carat will take over the group buying and trading head function from current head Harsha Joshi. Dentsu Aegis Network’s presence in India includes global network brands Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope, Vizeum, MKTG, Amnet and mcgarrybowen, along with various other Dentsu branded agencies.