Percept Headed to Become a US$ 1 Billion Company by 2010

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India , 2006-08-11

Percept has announced its target of becoming a US$ 1 billion company by the Year 2010, at its recently concluded international conference, held at the Taj Lands End, Mumbai.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Harindra Singh, Vice Chairman & MD, Percept Holdings, said, “Our strength stems from the fact that we have some of the best brains in the communications, media and entertainment industry. We are taking an aggressive stance looking at the future of Percept, not just in numbers, but in terms of market share and size. The challenge is to continuously sustain our growth on a year-on-year basis. The 2010 figure of US$ 1 billion is just a benchmark figure. Looking at the market opportunities and our strengths, I am sure we will be well past this figure, come 2010.”

The Percept Annual Conference is an annual event held for the senior Management of all the Percept Group companies from across the world. The Percept Annual Conference witnesses Percept stalwarts congregate under a single roof to brainstorm the current and future strategies for the business. It is a platform where the companies recap upon the past year and share their vision and plans for the future.

Says Mr Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept Holdings, “The opportunities out there are immense. We will do that extra bit to sniff out these opportunities and utilize the potential of the market to the fullest. Strong economic growth along with booming young adult population with unprecedented levels of disposable income have made people more conscious of the latest trends & fashion. Entertainment is no longer a luxury. It’s a matter of identifying opportunities, creating essential content and being visible at every touch point for the consumer.”

This year’s conference saw stalwarts from the industry like Mr Kishore Biyani, CKO of Pantaloons India, one of India’s largest retail chains and Mr Mike Cooper, CEO Asia-Pacific, OMD (Omnicom) addressing the august gathering.

Speaking on the Retail Business, said Mr Kishore Biyani, “The media and advertising business that Harindra & Shailendra have built is very unique. They have looked at all the opportunities in media. This is what we are trying in terms of the retail business and consumption.We draw a lot of parallels in that sense with Percept. We realized that there was a lot of opportunity in the branded apparel business and our organization was designed to capture and exploit these opportunities. We believe that more consumption will help the economy to grow further. Retail is the forefront of our business, which brings in our customers. We are building brands, which we can differentiate and sell to the customer. We are building spaces where we can sell all our retail concepts and brands, and media is an opportunity which we are looking at cashing in because of the footfalls it brings in.”

Mr Mike Cooper covered the arena of New and Future Media. Said Mr Cooper, “Some of our biggest clients across the world are McDonalds, Nissan, J&J; and Pepsico and you will not go through a single meeting with their media personnel without talking about High-growth media. When we try and summarize modern media, there are 3 major trends that we look at that are like tectonic plates moving together. The first, Consolidation, is seen in media all over the world. Atomization is the other trend where it has become very difficult to reach the consumer easily because of the fragmentation of the media. The third trend is Convergence and is a very fascinating one, with TV shows on Intranet and music release in gaming.”

The conference was also a time to reward the Best Performers at Percept during the ‘Percept Excellence Awards’ Night. This is an annual glorious tradition within the Percept Group, which strives to acknowledge and recognize outstanding achievers and performers from across the Group. It has been recognized as a symbol of excellence that embodies challenge, learning and success within Percept. It encourages development of thought, leadership, exemplary communication skills, creativity, resourcefulness and successful solutions. The Awards Night interspersed with some imaginative in-house entertainment by the employees, was also attended by special guests including cricketer Yuvraj Singh, directors Madhur Bhandarkar, David Dhawan and Nagesh Kukunoor, music director, Anu Malik and actors Shiny Ahuja, Randeep Hooda, Sandhya Mridul and Mandira Bedi amongst others.

The Percept Annual Conference was held from July 21 to July 23, 2006.

Founded in 1984, Percept Holdings is the strategic holding company that promotes, owns and manages a spectrum of marketing communication companies. With a capitalized billing of INR 13.21 billion, Percept operates in a continuum of disciplines and specialties in 6 businesses - Advertising, Through-the-Line and Below-the-Line, Media, Content, Public Relations and IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) Consultancy. As the parent company, Percept Holdings works towards building partnerships and complements the existing processes for all the companies through practice development and knowledge sharing. Percept has tied up with global leaders – Hakuhodo, the second largest agency in Japan and the world’s 9th largest agency group in terms of gross income, and Aegis Group Plc - a leading marketing services company listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in London. Percept employs over 900 people across 3 continents with 61 offices.

Contact

Sangeeta Chacko, Head - Corporate Communications, Percept Holdings Pvt. Ltd, + 91 9820567170
[email protected]