Creative major Ogilvy has teamed up with GroupM’s media, content, and technology agency Wavemaker, to create Effectiveness Lab in India. Branded content is to be the first area of study by the Effectiveness Lab.

Terming it “a great initiative to combine the best of left brain and right brain to drive value for clients," CVL Srinivas, Country Manager, WPP India and CEO, GroupM South Asia, told BusinessLine , “So far we have not seen too many effectiveness studies in the area of branded content. The initiative could help address this need gap.”

The best forms of content created by advertisers are easily becoming pieces of work that consumers want to share with their friends, tweet about and exchange.

It is here that branded content gets its due share, since the stories need to be well constructed. The collaboration, between the two WPP agencies, is set to develop data-validated points of view on creating effective communications across consumer interaction platforms.

It will initially explore how consumers respond to different content strategies, creative approaches and formats.

GroupM-owned media agency Wavemaker was created from the merger of Maxus and MEC. Noting that the company knows how effective marketing can be, Kartik Sharma, Managing Director, South Asia-Wavemaker, added in a statement, “By being able to better understand how content moves consumers to action along their purchase journeys, we will be able to help our clients make informed decisions on how and when to create engaging content and therefore drive growth for them."

As marketers increase spends on the creation and deployment of content, it is crucial to bring intelligence to what drives effectiveness in the content space.

The Effectiveness Lab would "throw light on creative effectiveness across new age platforms," said Kunal Jeswani, CEO, Ogilvy India.

"With digital communications across multiple platforms becoming core to any integrated campaign strategy, the industry needs new thinking on effectiveness. The more informed we are, the better we will get at delivering creative effectiveness," he added.

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