Sebastian Joseph, Chief Technology Officer, DDB Mudra Group

SuperNova Award Category

Future of Work

The Company

The DDB Mudra Group, a member of the Omnicom/DDB Worldwide Group, is India’s largest integrated marketing communications and services network. DDB Mudra Group comprises three agency networks, six specialist agencies and eleven strategic business units which offer their expertise under four disciplines (Media, OOH, Retail and Experiential).
DDB Mudra Group has more than 1,100 employees and a reach across 175,000 villages, 4000 towns, 3500 schools and nearly 7 million students. 

Its scope of services run the gamut through Advertising, Media Planning & Buying, Digital & New Media, Data-driven Marketing, Health & Lifestyle, OOH, Retail Design and Visual Merchandising, Navigation Solutions, Experiential Marketing (Promotions, Events, Rural), Trade Marketing, Youth Marketing, Localization Pre-Media Services, Content Creation, Strategy and Design Consultancy.

The Problem

1. Existing Knowledge Management and Portal initiative failed miserably since they addressed structured data.

2. Usage was an issue due to "unpleasant" user experience and inaccessibility through various mobile devices.

3. Users  were falling back on traditional methods of phone calls, physical meetings, informal chats, etc. thus resulting in loss of capture of organizational knowledge and collaboration.

The Solution 

1. Implemented Enterprise Social Networking (ESN) using MangoApps.
2. Facebook like interface helped in faster user adoption and acceptability.
3. Ease of user, rich user experience and accessibility through various mobile devices (as native apps) contributed to increased ideation and effective collaboration.

The Results

1. Increased user adoption - face book like interface, rich user experience, accessibility on various mobile devices as native app
2. Increased ideation & collaboration activities resulting in effective strategies
3. Decreased travel & communication costs due to increased collaboration

The Technology

MangoApps from MangoApps (www.mangoapps.com)

Metrics

1. Encourage Sharing
       a) Create  multi-way dialogue – collaboration through Posts.
       b) Makes business personal – bring in transparency through ideation
       c) Reduces power distance to leaders – no need for appointments for discussions, “virtual posts” helps in cutting down the bureaucracy
       d) Connects across  - need to have physically met a colleague does not exist any more. Profiles are available and one can easily start a “virtual” conversation.
       e) Private Groups – ensures interactions with like-minded teams thus improving relevancy.
2. Capture Knowledge
      a) Avoid duplication and have better coordination – no more email copies.     
      b) Communications are direct and “virtual”.
      c) Transfer Knowledge – interactions with like-minded people/Groups ensure relevancy. Outcome of ideations/interactions helps in ensuring capturing/debating/accepting different view points.
      d) Improve best practices – multiple ideation results in creation of best practices.
3. Enable Action
       a) Solve problems faster and better – collaboration helps in cutting down bureaucracy and solving issues faster.
       b) Streamline Processes – helps in developing “practical” SOPs (standard operating procedures).
4. Empower People
       a) Give employees a voice – employees are empowered to voice their ideas through various mediums of collaboration. No more fears. All communications are transparent and “open”.
       b) Make meaningful contributions and Innovations – innovations that result through ideations get acknowledged in a transparent manner. Entire community get visibility on the original contributors. No more fudging around and taking “wrong” credits.
       c) Increase engagement, satisfaction and retention – transparent process ensures who the real “hero” is.

Disruptive Factor

1. Employees are empowered to collaborate cutting across hierarchies in a transparent manner any time any where through any device.
2. Solve problems faster and better - collaboration helps in cutting down bureaucracy and solving issues faster.
3. Make meaningful contribution & innovations - innovation that results through ideation gets acknowledged in a transparent manner; acknowledgement of original contributions.

Shining Moment

This initiative has won NetApp India Innovations Award 2013 - Enterprise Mobility Award (http://www.netapp.com/in/company/news/press-releases/news-rel-20130320-9...)

About The DDB Mudra Group

The DDB Mudra Group, a part of the Publicis-Omnicom-DDB Worldwide Group, is India's largest integrated marketing communications and services network. It has more than 1,100 employees operating from seven offices and is represented in more than twenty other locations.

Its services encompass Advertising, Media Planning & Buying, Digital & New Media, Data-driven Marketing, Health & Lifestyle, OOH, Retail Design and Visual Merchandising, Navigation Solutions, Experiential Marketing (Promotions, Events, Rural), Trade Marketing, Youth Marketing, Localisation Pre-Media Services, Content Creation, Strategy and Design Consultancy.

DDB Mudra Group was India's most awarded agency network at Cannes, Spikes and Abbys in 2011. In 2012, at the Adfest Awards, the Group led the Indian tally and at ABBYs, Group stood #4. The Group also won a Gold and a Silver award at the IAA Olive Crown Awards. At the coveted D&AD awards the Group bagged the 'In-Book' award. In 2013 the Group bagged a bronze at Adfest, Clio and also won 17 metals at ABBYs.

The DDB Mudra Group's clients include Aircel, Ashok Leyland, Asian Paints, Bata, Castrol, Cipla, Colgate, Dabur, Emirates,  Gillette India, Godrej, HDFC Bank, HPCL, Hindustan Unilever, HP,   ITC,  Jyothy Laboratories - Henkel, ICICI Prudential Mutual Funds, Idea Cellular, Johnson & Johnson, LIC, L&T, McDonalds, Malayala Manorama,  Nestle,  Novartis, PepsiCo, Peter England, Philips Healthcare, Standard Chartered Bank, UNICEF, Union Bank of India, United Spirits, Videocon, Volkswagen, Western Union, World Gold Council, Wipro, Wrigley  and Zydus.