Draftfcb Opens Asterii Analytics in India

Global marcoms group Draftfcb has opened a brand analytics division called Asterii Analytics in India, headed by ad agency veteran Niteen Bhagwat as Chief Executive Officer.

The new division, which is based in Mumbai, is supported by Draftfcb's global network of more than 100 analysts, based across Europe and the US.

Asterii's solutions will cover a wide range of marketing disciplines - such as assessment, relationship management, and monitoring and optimisation - which will be used to develop communication programs and marketing strategies that are based on consumer insights.

Commenting on the launch, Bhagwat (pictured) explains: 'Analytics will play a big role in a country like India because of the flow of information due to the Internet and social media, and the proliferation of channels, which will increase audience fragmentation.'

Bhagwat has been a director of the group's Indian division Draftfcb Ulka for the past six years, prior to which, he was CEO of Cognito Consulting and of Interface Communications. He began his career at J Walter Thompson.

Paula Fedoris, Chief Analytics Officer of Draftfcb, says that the adoption of data analytics in India has been more rapid than in the US market. 'We are coming to India as we want to expand rapidly in this market. Today, we live in a world of automation and algorithms. We are looking at patterns to happen and predict them for the future.'

Web site: www.draftfcb.com .