Global mobile trade body Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) has published the A2P Messaging Fraud Framework - the first release from its new industry programme The Future of Messaging. It identifies 11 distinct fraud types that impact the global messaging business today.

25 companies have developed the Framework as part of a two-year programme launched to create awareness and develop industry best practices in mobile messaging that accelerate market clean-up and advance innovation to support sustainable growth across the ecosystem.

The multi-billion dollar A2P (Application to Person) market has enjoyed significant year-on-year growth as brands and enterprises increasingly use the trusted channel for authentication and customer engagement, as well as marketing. However, it is estimated that fraud is costing the ecosystem at least $2billion annually creating volatility in the market, as well as directly impacting enterprises and consumers.

The fraud types identified by the group include SMS Phishing, Hacking and Faking as well as Grey Routes and SIM Farms, are complex and often not well understood by those affected. The Fraud Framework is available to download now and is a living document mapping technology fraud in the sector. It defines the causes, impacts and affected parties of each of the 11 fraud types and will form the basis of future best practice guidelines to be rolled out during the programme.

The programme participants represent different stakeholder groups in the ecosystem including MNOs, SMS aggregators, signalling, application service providers and enterprise messaging companies and the Framework benefits from the collective expert knowledge of local and international companies active in Asia, Africa, Europe, North and Latin America where fraudcontinues to limit full market potential.

The Market Development Work Stream focuses on the future messaging landscape and the features, investment and innovations required to leverage the changing dynamics of this vibrant sector with the shared goal to build a premium and trusted channel with sustained growth.

Founders of MEF’s Mobile Messaging Programme include BICS, CLX Networks, CM Telecom, Eclipsoft, Infracast, IMImobile, Infinite Convergence, iTouch Messaging Services, Jersey Telecom, Mahindra Comviva, Mblox, Mitto, Movile, Nexmo, OpenMarket, rdcom.it, RealNetworks, SAP, Telefonica, TIMWE Group, Twilio, TWW, Veoo, Wau and Zenvia.

The Programme’s Director and MEF’s COO Joanne Lacey said: “The A2P messaging market continues to enjoy robust growth both in terms of traffic with new sectors embracing messaging for mission critical and other business to consumer communication. However, the prevalence of fraud across the value chain directly impacts monetisation today and threatens the market’s ability to sustain growth. The fraud framework launched today by MEF’s Working Group is a solid foundation for the industry to agree best practice and work together to accelerate the clean-up of the market.”

MEF’s CEO Rimma Perelmuter added “It’s essential that the industry works together to advance the future of messaging. Taking a cross-ecosystem approach representing the consumer and enterprise perspectives and fully reflecting the priorities of networks and the broader messaging industry will ensure that this initiative delivers long-term impact and enables this flourishing sector to unleash its full potential.”

The 11 Fraud Types

1. SPAM
2. SMS Originator Spoofing
3. SMS Phishing
4. SMS Malware / Hacking
5. Access Hacking
6. Grey Routes
7. MAP Global Title Faking
8. SCCP Global Title Faking
9. SMSC Compromise Fraud
10. SIM Farms
11. Artificial Inflation of Traffic

New York Festivals International Advertising Awards® competition announced the 2016 award-winners this evening at the New York Show℠ gala held at the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.  The annual event celebrating the World’s Best Advertising & Creative Communications℠ kicked off with a cocktail reception followed by the awards ceremony and after-party to toast trophy-winners from around the globe. 

This is the first time in the six year history of New York Festivals Executive Jury that two outstanding entries were selected unanimously to receive the coveted Best of Show Award.

"I think it speaks volumes about the caliber, quality and sincerity of this year’s Executive Jury.  It’s was a defining moment that not only helps further clarify the mission of New York Festivals, but the industry at large, underlining the fact that both pieces of work were so adamantly admired and supported, leaving us no other choice than to award both campaigns as Best of Show,”  said Michael O’Rourke, President of New York Festivals. “Each of these campaigns equally exemplify the very best this industry has to offer. The notion that award shows are all about stroking egos is something we’ve all heard before.  But if you had the opportunity to witness what I just did over the last 5 days, you’d immediately realize that the sole intention of this year’s Executive Jury was to recognize and celebrate the ideas that truly stood for something.  The NYF trophy isn't a pat on the back.  It’s an affirmation, and a symbol of genuine respect from over 400 professionals around the world, who day in and day out face the same challenges you do.  That has to mean something.

Asia Pacific agencies Y&R New Zealand and Watts of Tokyo Ltd. each scored a coveted Best of Show Award. Watts of Tokyo Ltd., was in the spotlight earning the Best of Show Award for “High School Girl?” for client Shiseido’s Products. The award-winning film campaign portrays beauty, which is an idea common to all humanity regardless of genders and provided triggers for individuals and for society to rethink their idea of beauty. 

“We would like to thank you for Show Yanagisawa, Jin Ohashi, and of course the School ”Girls” for their amazing patience to strike a pose and stand-still in a 7-hour-long shoot,” said Masato Kosukegawa, Creative Director, Shiseido.  Also our special thanks go to Akira Shima, a copywriter of Shiseido, who passed away on March 7, 2016.  We are sincerely grateful to the Jury for the recognition of this project done by small number of people.  I hope that many who watched it will feel happy by the concept of the film: “Everyone can be pretty.” 

Y&R New Zealand was also center stage earning Best of Show for their integrated campaign “McWhopper” for Burger King Corporation. Burger King raised awareness for Peace Day by offering a public olive branch to long time corporate rival to create a burger mash-up on behalf of world peace.

“Aside from boasting the sexiest trophy on the awards circuit, a win at New York Festivals is also amongst the industry’s most coveted. So to land the big one and rub shoulders with the likes of Inglorious Fruits (2015 Best of Show) and Epic Split (2014 Best of Show) is an incredible feeling and the agency couldn’t be prouder, “ said Tom Paine,  Creative Director, Y&R New Zealand . “If it wasn’t 5am here in New Zealand, we’d all be celebrating in true antipodean style: recklessly.”

REMY COINTREAU / LOUIS XIII, French alcohol manufacturer, was honored with the New York Festivals 2016 Brand of the Year Award for their commitment to creativity and innovation. Remy Cointreau was honored with the Grand Award, as well as 2 First Prize Awards, 6 Second Prize Awards, 2 Third Prize Awards, and 3 Finalists Awards.

BBDO was honored with the title of 2016 Network of the Year for the fourth running. The award is presented to the agency network that achieves the most awards and produces the finest caliber of work. In total, 20 global offices earned 2 Grand Prize Awards, 16 First Prize Awards, 15 Second Prize Awards, 22 Third Prize Awards, and 93 Finalist Awards. In addition, the network was honored with 2 UNDPI Finalist Awards.

The Regional Agency of the Year Award is awarded to an advertising agency that earns the highest score for entries in all competitions across all mediums. This year’s Regional Agency of the Year Awards salute the following agencies: Europe - Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden;  North America -  BBDO New York; South American - AlmapBBDO, Sao Paulo; Asia Pacific - Y&R New Zealand, Auckland; and Middle East - Impact BBDO, Dubai.

Tool of North America was honored with the title of 2016 Production Company of the Year. The Film Production Company of the Year Award is based on total points scored, irrespective of whether these have been entered by the production company, advertising agency, or another third party. Entries produced by Tool of North America earned 1 Grand Prize Award, 1 First Prize Awards 1 Second Prize Award, 4 Third Prize Awards and 1 Finalist Award.

The 2016 Executive Jury awarded the following prominent agencies with Grand Prize Awards:

ACTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT: Colenso BBDO/Proximity, New Zealand, “Brewtroleum” for DB Breweries, DB Export.

AVANT GARDE: Y&R New Zealand, “McWhopper” for Burger King Corporation.

BRANDED CONTENT/BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT: Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden “Look Who's Driving” for Volvo Trucks.

CREATIVE MARKETING & EFFECTIVENESS: Proximity Madrid, Spain “#NoMoreEvictions” for Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH).

DESIGN: Impact BBDO Dubai, United Arab Emirates “The Tribal Rapport Field Guide” for Mercedes-Benz / G-Class.

DIGITAL: BETC, France for “The Interactive Form” forCANAL+.

FILM: WATTS OF TOKYO INC., Japan for “High School Girl?” for Shiseido's Products (MAJOLICA MAJORCA / INTEGRATE).

FILM CRAFT: Quad Productions Quad Group, France “Shockwave” for Road Circulation Security Delegation.

INTEGRATED: Venables Bell & Partners, USA “#OptOutside” for REI.

MEDIA: DDB, SPAIN “Holograms for Freedom” for No somos delito (We are not crime).

MOBILE: McCann, France “Makeup Genius” for L'Oreal.

OUTDOOR: McCann London, United Kingdom “Survival Billboard” for Microsoft.

PACKAGE DESIGN: Publicis Colombia “FUNTASTIC HAND” for CIREC FOUNDATION.

PUBLIC & MEDIA RELATIONS: FRED & FARID, France “#NOTCOMINGSOON” for REMY COINTREAU / LOUIS XIII.

PSA: Schjærven Reklamebyråm, Norway “#DearDaddy: for CARE Norway.

Each year, New York Festivals, in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information, appoints a UN panel to select public service work that exemplifies the aims and ideals of the United Nations. The 2016 UNDPI Jury honored the following entries: T/A POLÂ AS, Norway “Save the Rainforest” for NRK TV-aksjonen earned the UNDPI First Prize Award; Ogilvy & Mather London, UK “It Happens Here” for 28 Too Many/FGM was awarded the UNDPI Second Prize Award; and Leo Burnett Worldwide, USA “Music Vs Gun Violence” for Chicago Ideas was honored with the UNDPI Third Prize Award.  

The 2016 International Advertising Awards competition received entries from 65 countries around the globe. The Executive Jury, comprised of 21 of the most awarded Chief Creative Officers, selected this year’s winning entries through 5 rounds of live judging from a Shortlist that was chosen by NYF’s Grand Jury comprised of 350 members from 60 countries. To view a showcase of this year’s award-winning work please visit: HERE.

Discovery Turbo brings an all new series Epic Mancave Builds which will feature the transformation of ordinary spaces into extraordinary and mechanical masterpieces. The series will follow metalwork mastermind Brandon Ruff and carpentry expert Tomas Aguirre along with their team ‘Firemass’ in an epic journey of transforming some impossible spaces into astonishing man-caves.

Epic Mancave Builds premieres on 21st May and will air every Sunday at 11PM.

In the series, team Firemass will be on a mission to build something superior and bizarre by demolishing old garages, basements and unused spaces across the globe to turn them into artistic abodes. These reformed spaces are full of custom creations and extreme designs that are a result of divergent viewpoints of the duo that drives their creativity and success.

Brandon and Tomas will be seen challenging deadlines, working on tight budgets to create designs that are unique and out of the box, elevating their clients request to the next level. From transforming a ramshackle cabin into a moonshiner's paradise to outfitting a bare garage into a military bunker or making a roll-away bar with enough booze to have a hell-of-a-time in the process, the duo makes sure to fulfill their clients’ requests and build a man-cave that will be the envy of all others.

Firemass is full of adventure and excitement as they never say no to any big challenge. You can catch all this excitement in Epic Mancave Builds, only on Discovery Turbo.

“Over the last one decade, I am seeing a gradual shift in how Indian companies are looking at branding. Earlier in India, branding was equivalent to creating a logo. In most cases, the only way of brand building was thought to be advertising. Now with increased competition in every sector and with every brand fighting for attention, Indian companies have started understanding the importance of brand building beyond advertising. Advertising may create campaigns that can run for at max 6 months, but core Branding services like ours, create assets that will be the face of the brand for at least 3-5 years if not more.” said Saswata Das, Co-owner & Managing Director WOW Design.

Branding and advertising have sure taken diverse turns in today’s marketing scenario; everybody is looking for that perfect message that strikes a chord with their target audience. In an interaction with MediAvataar India, Saswata divulged the changing trends of the designing industry and what made them launch a Strategic Brand Design firm.
Here is the complete Q&A...

MediAvataar: What is your vision for WOW Design?
Saswata: To become the most sought after Strategic Brand Design firm. We would continuously strive to use Strategy and Design as tools to solve business problems and help them grow.

MediAvataar:  What do you consider has been your greatest achievement in your career so far?
Saswata: I have had a career with many twists and turns. Just as when I have become a little comfortable in a position, I have shifted tracks. So the year I got promoted as a Senior Software Engineer at Wipro technologies, I left the job to undertake my PG in Marketing Communications at MICA. Post MICA, the month I was being promoted to being AGM, Marketing at a Brand Consultancy, I quit the job to start off on my own, and that was less than 2 years of entering the Marketing field. Ever since, I believe, I have never entered a comfort zone. Entrepreneurship throws in new challenges every day and that’s what keeps me going. Being an entrepreneur at an age as early as 27(even though Zuckerberg became a billionaire at this age) and being able to successfully sustain it has been my biggest achievement so far. I always had a dream of being the source of livelihood of 35 households before I turn 35. Having fulfilled the dream much earlier gives an immense sense of satisfaction.

MediAvataar:  How would you describe the Indian branding landscape?
Saswata: With Modi’s Make In India initiatives, Indian Startups and SMEs are witnessing a sea change. It has brought to them huge opportunities to showcase themselves against their global counterparts. Now to do that in an utterly competitive space, branding plays an extremely pivotal role and that’s what is fueling the branding landscape in India now.
If we are going to “Make In India”, we would need to Brand what we make and that lays down a humongous opportunity in the branding space. If we put together a list of top 50 global brands, it’s unfortunate that we would have very minimal or next to no Indian brands in the list. However that situation is soon going to change. We do have home grown brands that are the best market leaders in their sector. eg. Café Coffee Day in Bangalore or Hi Design, the leather goods manufacturer.

MediAvataar: What differentiates your firm in its approach to its work?
Saswata: Whenever a new employee joins the team, I sit with him personally to take him through what Brand WOW Design stands for and how we live by our philosophy of “Thoughtfully Fresh” every single day. I believe it’s this philosophy of taking a Thoughtful approach to Design which makes us different. We are in love with human culture and delve into the ethnography to derive from customs, traditions, attitudes, behavior, etc. We love to spend time with the consumer and many a time do observational research rather than direct questioning.

MediAvataar: How do you stand out to win the pitch?
Saswata: I have always guided the team to go beyond the brief. Sometimes the brief may be stating a symptom as a problem and seeking a tactical solution, but when we read between the lines and see it in light of category and consumer research (an essential part of our approach), the real problem statement is identified. Our proprietary processes, based on strong Design Thinking principles, helps us redefine the problem statement and overall objective of the exercise, which eventually leads to more strategic and long term solutions. So essentially our strategy and design solutions are not necessarily what the client would like to hear, but definitely what the consumer would love to see and experience. So when we were pitched against all the biggies in the Ghadi Detergent Brand revamp pitch, what led us to win the pitch was not by telling them how drastically to change and modernize, but articulating how little to change, considering the economy market and rural consumer who were not ready to see her brand change overnight.

MediAvataar: What’s the secret to attracting the best talent and keeping clients happy while balancing the books?
Saswata: In today’s world, just doing good work doesn’t help, you need to be heard and seen doing it. We make sure we engage with our prospective talent on Social media. The fact that we do good work and more importantly the fun that we have doing it, is all out there. I make sure to personally visit my Alma mater, MICA and colleges like SIMC for guest lectures and recruitment process to keep the interactions on.

But the challenge is not only attracting the best talent, but to retain them once you get them on board. I believe in our kind of business. You don’t need a lot of people if you have a lot of talent. So instead of hiring too many, we hire less with outstanding talent and then take every possible step to retain them.
We have a wall at WOW Design, which defines our purpose of being here. It’s important for every employee to understand what is expected out of him, what are the goals and once he achieves it, getting acknowledged and appreciated for the same.
The group and team heads work almost as entrepreneurs, and have been given a free hand at many critical decision making stages. I think the mantra is simple- Create a culture where individuals and teams are recognized, engaged and they take pride in whatever they are doing. When this is achieved, we have the best talent working happily and passionately. This automatically takes care of the client’s happiness and eventually the Moolah!

MediAvataar: What’s one of the most a) gratifying and b) bizarre experiences so far?
Saswata: a. I think the most gratifying situation is when we have won the trust of the client so much so that they are ready to relook at their decisions based on our recommendations. Also we see the same when the client feels “These people know their field thoroughly and also understand my business, sometimes more than my internal stakeholders. My brand is in safe hands.” Without naming the client, I would like to sight an instance when the client had decided to launch a new product. With the current Brand Architecture, it would have just confused the consumers, leading to the risk of losing on to the loyalists. Our Strategic approach, involved redefining the Architecture, consolidating the number of brands. It not only helped them avoid losses but it led to a new product launch with confidence, which eventually became a grand success.

b. When we were told that we have lost the pitch and within a few months we see the client launching a brand with our design solution with the minutest of changes. We have learnt it probably the hard way to take IP rights of our own creation more seriously.

MediAvataar: How has the role of branding changed or evolved in India? How has this change affected the work?
Saswata: Over the last one decade, I am seeing a gradual shift in how Indian companies are looking at branding. Earlier in India, branding was equivalent to creating a logo. In most cases, the only way of brand building was thought to be advertising. Now with increased competition in every sector and with every brand fighting for attention, Indian companies have started understanding the importance of brand building beyond advertising.

Advertising may create campaigns that can run for at max 6 months, but core Branding services like ours, create assets that will be the face of the brand for at least 3-5 years if not more. So brand owners have started to realize the importance of specialized branding firms like WOW Design. Most of our clients like ITC, Heinz, Kellogg’s, etc. have an advertising agency on board. But when it comes to a new brand creation or a brand revamp, they look up to us for specialized solutions.

MediAvataar: Where do you see the future of creative marketing, and branding in India heading?
Saswata: Branding in India is still in its nascent stages, which means the opportunities are great and with the startup culture just about catching the heat, I believe sky is the limit.
With Indian brands becoming more and more ambitious, in partnership with firms like ours, they are now looking at branding as a long term strategic resource. They want to look at global trends and learn from them as fast as possible. However, India being utterly diverse is complex and poses different challenges which need to be solved with a thorough understanding of the Indian consumer behavior and culture.

MediAvataar: What global market trends over the last year, do you think will progress branding and advertising in India?
Saswata: The fact that Marketing is an intuitive science about what the consumer needs and wants, it has to constantly evolve to suit the changing sensibilities, attitudes and behavior of the consumer and his environment. By June 2016, we are going to have 462m consumers in India connected to the internet and we already have over a billion phones here, which clearly suggest that the digital consumer is no longer a rare species. Researching a product over the Internet has transformed from being a trend to being the norm. Digital launches are preceding mass media launches and hence the content will need to be molded accordingly. The youth has been consuming YouTube more than TV and the advent of Netflix in India which is an indicator of the shift. Technology is evolving faster than ever and Marketing will have to keep pace with it. Traditional marketing will have to give way to newer models. eg Traditional Market research will be replaced with more emotional response structures rather than rational ones.

Pune plays host to 1st Ameo roadshow

- Exclusive preview of Ameo at Volkswagen dealership

- Opportunity to Pre-book the Ameo

- Ameo roadshow to horde a 360-degree campaign through Print, Digital and Radio media

Volkswagen, Europe’s leading car manufacturer, commences the next phase of its pre-launch campaign for the made in India and made for India carline Volkswagen Ameo. The Ameo symbolizes the start of a new and mature phase of life, calling for a new way of thinking and is designed to meet the requirements of young & urban Indian customers.

Through this campaign Volkswagen invites prospective customers to touch and feel the first sub-4 meter sedan from Volkswagen and avail the opportunity to pre-book the car at their nearest Volkswagen dealership. Ameo roadshow will horde a 360-degree campaign through Print, Digital & Radio media and on-ground engagement.

As part customer engagement during roadshows, a series of 3 films will be played at all dealerships encapsulating the essence of Ameo’s first in class features - driver assistance system like cruise control, rain sensing wipers and reverse parking camera. The films appropriately underline Volkswagen’s understanding of the requirements of Indian consumers and are presented in a humorous yet compelling manner.