MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • A regular kind of sod sings some nonsense inside a recording studio, words that sound like a cross between Tamil and rustic English. I found it neither funny nor entertaining.

    Hard Knocks: Why this Kolaveri Di, indeed! Why?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    When I first came across links to Kolaveri Something on the social media sites, I quickly ignored them. Thinking this is another one of those time-pass videos that keep getting shared by virtual pals. But the video went viral in a matter of days, and by now millions have watched it and the world is talking about it.

     

    As a result I was compelled to click on it and must say I was left pretty unimpressed. A regular kind of sod sings some nonsense inside a recording studio, words that sound like a cross between Tamil and rustic English. I found it neither funny nor entertaining. And was left wondering what I had missed out here. Incidentally, I felt the same when the Pakistani band Beygairat Brigade went viral.

     

    Three observations I have to make in this matter. One, it’s abundantly clear that you can now use only social media to launch a brand with a huge bang. If there ever was any doubt on that, then it can be laid to rest now. Owners of mass media need to pay close attention because as time goes by, more and more advertisers will take social media a lot more seriously, and not as a ‘secondary’ medium which it is currently treated as. These are not freak incidents but a clear warning sign for the future.

     

    Two, no one can predict with any degree of accuracy what can go viral in the virtual world. I found the Kolaveri video quite stupid, but millions of people don’t think that, they love it. Maybe a study needs to be conducted on this subject, and it would be quite helpful. However it’s clear people have found a way to showcase their ‘talents’. I already see many imitators busy at work.

     

    Three, my own guess is that the best chance to strike gold on the net is to be as absurd and loony as possible. And the more rustic and unrefined you are, the better your chance of getting noticed. Now all of us have a real shot at being stars!

    ***

     

    PS: So, Cyrus Mistry is the chosen one, and by all accounts this seems to be a decision made purely on meritorious considerations. However, one wonders if things may have been different had Ratan Tata married and had his own children. Would the Dynasty Raj have played a part? Like it happens in all walks of life in India? Well, we’ll never know. My own hunch is this: Mr Tata would still have used merit as the yardstick. Indeed, it is this culture that makes the group unique in this nation.

     

     

  • Tom Doctoroff, JWT North Asia Area Director, Greater China CEO / JWT Shanghai, speaks to MxMIndia in this video interview

    Need to focus on consistency: Tom Doctoroff, JWT

    [youtube width=”300″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qvtd5T__QI[/youtube]

    By Tuhina Anand

    Video by Shruti Pushkarna

    Tom Doctoroff is a JWT man who has worked with the agency across geography. Having started his advertising career at Leo Burnett in Chicago he later moved to JWT. In 1994, he moved to Hong Kong as Regional Business Director for clients such as Pepsi, Philip Morris/Kraft and Citibank and then in ’98 to China as the Managing Director of JWT Shanghai. In 2002, he was appointed Northeast Asia Area Director (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea) and Greater China CEO. In 2008, he also assumed leadership of JWT Japan. Mr Doctoroff has played a key role in the growth of JWT in North Asia.

     

    Q: How do you see JWT based in the scheme of things in Asia today?

    I think that we have a lot to be proud of. JWT has an extremely cohesive management structure where all our goals and values are aligned, and I’m particularly proud of our creative community which is probably one of the jewels of our global network out here in Asia Pacific. I think we’ve got people who are proud of their own output in their own countries. One thing that I’ve always liked about JWT is that we are not cultural imperialists. I’ve never felt for example that because I’m in China, even 13 years ago, that I am on the other side of the world. We have a company culture that does respect individual idiosyncrasies and that’s very important to avoid this hegemonistic-macho advertising ethos. So, I am proud of JWT. We’ve certain things that we could do better, like digital where we’ve been a little bit slow, but I think we are catching up now. We are trying to bring into the agency an ethos of the need for digital to reinforce brand ideas. As for India, JWT in India is a powerhouse and it has a lot to be proud of. And I’m sure that it will overcome some of the frustrations of the past year because everybody knows it needs to be done.

     

    Q: How do you see JWT China in terms of creativity, going ahead?

    If this doesn’t get broadcast in China I’d be happy because I don’t want to appear arrogant where I live, but I think we set the standards of creativity in China. Honestly, we have a very stable management team and a very stable creative leadership team, and what that means is that we create an environment of safe self-expression within the agency as a whole. So we usually are the ones that are doing the firsts, we won the first Cannes Grand Prix, yes it was for print but it still didn’t happen by chance; it’s because we have a belief of what creativity is and how people work together in the agency and in collaboration with people outside the agency, even outside of China to develop engagement platforms. So I am very proud of our creative leadership. People call us the ‘temple of advertising’ and I think that’s because we’ve been so stable for such a long time. I’m not saying we don’t have weaknesses but creatively speaking, I think if you ask around, we tend to define a high ground to a certain extent.

     

    Q: What are the two things that you would advise to people in the industry which they could follow to get more ROIs?

    As soon as you bring in the ROIs, you bring in a different question altogether. So before we get to ROI, I think that one needs to always focus on consistency. A consistent brand idea, a consistent engagement idea that is genuinely media-neutral. I think the danger is that as we experiment with new forms of technologically-enabled engagement, we forget about the primacy of an idea. And if you start your media plan without having that idea clearly understood by all, then you have chaos. One thing that is critical in new markets is order, in consistency, in clarity of ideas or else people will tune you out. Nobody wants to figure out how the internet or how the digital app or the landing environment connects to the TV ad. So consistency is always key, and that will always require a high degree of conceptual craftsmanship. And the second thing about digital is that all digital is not the same. There is certain digital that is relevant to campaigns, there is certain digital that is relevant for customer relationship marketing, there is certain digital that is more transactional at the point of purchase; some of those belong inside the agency and then the big question is how you make sure that the entire agency is digital, but having a digital core centre of expertise as a heartbeat within the agency with some of that for outside the agency. So agencies need to know who they are first and then build their digital strategy based on that.

     

    Q: Talent is an issue; how much of an issue is it and how do you tackle it?

    It’s an issue at the most senior level. I find that the biggest issue for talent is that many senior people – and this is in China, I don’t think it’s the same in India – there is an abstract nature of advertising which makes people feel insecure. Chinese people want to have a sense of control over their destiny and they revere the concrete, and so what we often find happening is that people in their desire for control either start leading dysfunctional agencies, their own small agencies or they leave the industry altogether. So what we need to do is find ways to make a long-term career in advertising seem safe. Part of that is financial and frankly in China it’s not a problem, because once you get to be senior in China as a local person, the pay is quite respectable. But the real issue is making sure that you are providing a platform for senior management to stand up and feel confident on, and that requires a lot of persuasion and a lot of coaching as people come up to the ranks. On the junior level or the mid-level, it’s really a question of liberating their creative potential and making them feel that when they will open their mouth, they will be saying something that’ll be appreciated; and that gets into corporate culture and how you have an environment of dangerous silence, safe self-expression where proactivity is truly rewarded in a meritocratic sense. So advertising has to be very meritocratic and that’s something that’s not always compatible with traditional Chinese culture. But we make it quite meritocratic, so our attrition rate is much lower than the industry average is.

     

    Q: What do you think of Indian advertising in recent times; how do you think it has improved?

    I have been working with India tangentially for 17 years so there’s been huge progress. I think the progress first came on the production level. The change started around 10 or 12 years ago. I just noticed the ads didn’t look that cheap, the production values were pretty high. And now when I take a look at Indian advertising, I think that it is strong. It is very culturally rooted which is fine, as long as that culture is not gimmicky and it comes from cultural insight as opposed to just a celebration of anything Indian. So I personally think that strategically Indian advertising is very strong, execution has become better. I just think that the unfortunate thing is because of its proud confidence in the Indian identity, it’s not as accessible to many people around the world but it’s good, it’s made much progress.

  • With Bobby Pawar at the helm, CEO Colvyn Harris hopes to see JWT India achieve greater creative focus

    Raising the Bar: Colvyn on JWT with Bobby

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    The last few days have witnessed media and advertising circles going gaga over news of a restructuring exercise at JWT and the surprise coronation of Bobby Pawar as the Chief Creative Officer & Managing Partner, alongside the elevation of three of its key ECDS to the post of NCD – Swati Bhattacharya, Tista Sen and Senthil Kumar. But what has kept the industry guessing is the swiftness with which this transformation has been carried about and who from JWT is responsible for this smooth makeover.

     

    MxM India meets the man who has effected the change – Colvyn J Harris, CEO, JWT India. In a detailed conversation, Mr Harris reveals the new creative direction that the agency will root for with the coming in of Bobby Pawar, the unmatched experience that would be delivered to clients and how he could get back to serving the industry with the easing of the creative function at JWT. Excerpts:

     

    Q: Apart from the CCO and NCD level restructuring exercise, have there been any other senior-level elevations at JWT?

    The restructuring exercise where creative is concerned is over. We have Bobby Pawar as Chief Creative Officer; he will be supported by three NCDs comprising Swati Bhattacharya in Delhi, Tista Sen in Mumbai and Senthil Kumar in the South. There are a set of ECDs who would work in partnership with the above team. There won’t be any replacements as such where the earlier ECD posts are concerned.

     

    Q: Were there any other candidates you considered other than Bobby Pawar, including any international contenders?

    We did consider international candidates but we were very clear that we needed somebody who had roots in India, who understands the country in which we operate – the nuances and sensibilities of India. As for Bobby, he has international experience, having worked in BBDO and Ogilvy in the US. So that’s the best of both the worlds that one could ask for.

     

    Q: Was it a long chase to get Bobby Pawar take up the offer at JWT?

    It was not a chase actually; it was fairly mutual. We felt that he had the right qualities to lead and help us deliver on a vision which is to be the very best in what we do.

     

    Q: Knowing Bobby’s liking towards working for an indigenously-run agency like Mudra (before Omnicom buying out a majority stake), what was the differentiating factor that convinced him to take up an offer at the WPP-run agency?

    I think where JWT is concerned, we may be global and affiliated to WPP but we are finally rooted in India. If you trace the lineage of JWT India, it is actually Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA). We have not shed any of the institutional attributes that JWT or HTA was built on. So I think that foundation continues and we are as Indian or as global as a client would want us to be. For creativity to flourish and thrive and do well, you need a platform. JWT has some large and reputed clients. We work with the leaders in every category so the work you do is going to get visible. So it’s an opportunity that presents itself to all of us who work for JWT. And for talent, what more can you hope for other than the set of clients that we have? We work with the best known Indian clients and we work with the world’s most admired brands, whether it is Nike or Pepsi…

     

    Q: How has the industry reacted to the nomination of Bobby Pawar? Moreover, what has been Sir Martin Sorrell’s reaction to the appointment?

    Sir Martin Sorrell and Bob Jeffrey (Worldwide Chairman and CEO, JWT) are very happy with the decision. They realize that I also need a partner to carry forward this responsibility. JWT is a big ship, we have been suit-led for too long. So this gives us a nice balance.

     

    Q: Yes, don’t you think the agency has been suit-led for a while now?

    That’s not how you should look at it because we have eight ECDs, because our scale of operations is large – in Delhi we have around 380 people. So if you were to compare you’ll understand that wherever we operate we are completely full-service; all skills operate in all offices. We just didn’t have somebody to drive the creative agenda for us with a greater focus. That’s because when you run businesses or lead an agency on a management framework you take your eyes off the ball on a greater platform. So Bobby’s going to play that role.

     

    Q: Having being suit-led for some time, would you then agree that the agency did witness a creative slump post the going away of senior resources like Agnello Dias and Josy Paul?

    Not at all. Whatever talk you hear is all loose talk. When people don’t know then there is talk but finally the success of a company is derived by how our brands perform in the marketplace – which is a great success as all of them are leaders. The success of an agency is how our people perform – again, all of them have done extremely well, and finally, where success is concerned there are financial benchmarks and there are creative benchmarks and we have been very consistent in winning. Senthil is an international award winner, the Mumbai office is the most awarded agency… so you have got all the success stories that you need.

     

    Q: How would you also react to the claim that your former creative heads took along some clients with them after they quit JWT?

    They didn’t take clients as such; they took projects along with them. We still have over 200 clients; we can’t be a hundred percent of every client all the time. I am sure a client chose to exercise his judgment on an idea which will help his business. We definitely respect that and welcome it. In both cases, they got something good so I am happy.

     

    Q: Coming back to Bobby Pawar, what would be expected out of him? What’s his mandate as CCO?

    Firstly, he has a team – he has NCDs, ECDs and a team of about 300 people in creative. So he’s gonna have to set an agenda for creative. That means there will be a vision and a purpose that we want to go back to. And after that it is actually how do you achieve those objectives – how do you deliver on that vision, how do you execute that vision, how do you get the work to look better… So that’s the agenda that he would be riding on.

     

    Q: Do you expect Bobby to get his set of clients from Mudra to JWT or wish such a natural progression to occur given his stature at Mudra?

    We are not looking at that. In our gameplan, Bobby fits extremely well and our strategy is to improve the work, change the benchmark, create new standards…and that’s what we are doing.

     

    Q: So while Bobby gets to set a new creative agenda, do you see a creative shift coming about at JWT?

    As I said, our agency has been very successful. What we will do is that we will jointly set a vision, and as a team we will have to work jointly on delivering on that vision.

     

    Q: Would Bobby lend his expertise to other domains under JWT like digital, activation, public relations, direct marketing, etc…?

    Yes, of course. We talk about idea-centricity – the idea at the centre based on a brand and how you seamlessly use every touchpoint to the audiences identified. So it’s a one seamless idea which we will try and make it a big platform idea.

     

    Q: With Bobby at the helm, will the focus now be on reclaiming the ‘most awarded agency’ tag – that was his claim to fame at Mudra, making it the most awarded agency in recent years?

    If you look at our work, we are all over the place. Now with Bobby at the helm, we want to raise the bar and improve our standards. We want to be recognized firstly at an Indian platform, we want to be recognized globally and we definitely want to improve our body of work. But all said and done, it is not about winning awards; it is also important that the work we do for clients is effective and successful for them in the market. That’s priority No 1. If that work goes on to win awards then that’s fantastic. So it’s actually an and/and rather than an either/or.

     

    Q: Any new verticals being planned for take-off?

    Nothing as such. We have design, digital, Thomson Social, Encompass… so we are not looking at anything else right now. But digital is something that we are looking at going forward with and that’s why we have hired Max Hegerman.

     

    Q: Moving on to you, how would your responsibilities change, going forward? Is there anything that has been planned for you?

    I think my responsibilities will reduce, hopefully, because I have been on a treadmill and a rollercoaster at the same time last year. Hopefully this new change will give me some breathing time…

     

    Q:…It could also allow you to get back to serving the industry and catering to several issues like you did while you were the Chairperson of Goafest.

    I used to be involved on a big scale earlier but I have cut it down as it takes away a lot of your time, but it’s important for us industry leaders to be a part of the industry; to engage with people who make it what it is today so that this industry, firstly, is successful. On an overall basis, it’s industry definitely for me; it is what you give back as well. And also the network as well; we are a global company, and that is also equally important for me to look after.

     

    Q: Lastly, if you were to set a goalpost for JWT in 2012, what would that be?

    I think if by the end of 2012, we are able to do good work on our key clients and that is acknowledged by clients first, and then maybe awards as the second parameter, I think that will be a great step forward.

  • As Vinod Mehta, the editor of Outlook mag says, in our profession we must always remain spectators, and never try to become players. However tempting it is to dive into the arena.

    Anil Thakraney: Always the spectator. Never the player

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Quite saddened to hear that a fellow journo may have abetted the murder of crime reporter J Dey. Mind you, the allegations against her have still to be proved in the court of law, so we will know the facts only after the legal process is done.

     

    However, here’s a concern and let me first illustrate this with a little example. I had once gone to interview the Maharashtra Power Minister, armed with some tough questions on the frequent power outages in the state. He was already surrounded by 20 fawning reporters from the state’s vernacular press. And the mantri insisted I do the interview with all of them seated in the background. He said he had to rush to Pune for a meeting, and would not have the time to meet me separately. Yes, I had taken a prior appointment but these silly things don’t matter to netas. With not much choice in the matter, I agreed. And after each serious question, the minister would loudly guffaw and make fun, looking to his audiences for support. And yes, the reporters behaved like his cheerleaders, and would also laugh as he laughed. Of course, this didn’t matter to me at all, and I went on firing. This is because when I do an interview, it’s like making love, my entire attention is on the subject, and as Metallica sang, nothing else matters. But it doesn’t need too much intelligence to figure that the reporters had either sold out or were desperate to sell out. Or at the very least badly wanted to bond with the powerful man.

     

    The reason I share this incident is because, as Vinod Mehta, the editor of Outlook mag says, in our profession we must always remain spectators, and never try to become players. However tempting it is to dive into the arena. As Radiagate showed us, close proximity to power and pelf is seductive. It is very tempting to go heady and jump over to the other side. And delude yourself into believing you can do it too. Those who have fallen for this attraction have almost always burnt their fingers. It’s always a fatal attraction.

     

    No, we can’t bat like Sachin. We can’t act like Amitabh. We can’t be politicians. We can’t be underworld dons. We must remain who we are: Spectators. Whose only job is to observe, report, analyse, have a beer and go home.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Shekhar Gupta is a below-average interviewer on TV. His show on NDTV is a downer. But this one I watched shell shocked. Dear Ekta, plunging necklines DON’T work on all women. In your case, it literally makes for a dirty picture. Avoid.

     

    http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/walk-the-talk/walk-the-talk-with-ekta-kapoor/217039?hp

  • MediaVest Worldwide has bagged the SuperMax business

    MediaVest Worldwide bags SuperMax business

    By A Correspondent

     

    MediaVest Worldwide has won the SuperMax media account and will handle for the latter media planning and buying across all media. The business was won in a multi-agency pitch that was conducted earlier this month. MediaVest will handle this business from their Mumbai office with immediate effect.

     

    Confirming the development, MediaVest VP in Mumbai Dinesh Rathore said, “We are delighted to have won the SuperMax business and are looking forward to partnering them. This has been a good year for our agency. We are looking forward to building on this momentum in the coming year.”

     

    Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) has recently has picked up over 14 new businesses in the past few months from their Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore offices including most recently the Aircel TV and Digital business.

  • Educomp Schools, as part of its growth strategy, has appointed Aegis Media's Vizeum India as its media AOR.

    Vizeum wins media duties for Educomp Schools

    By A Correspondent

     

    Educomp Schools, as part of its growth strategy, has appointed Aegis Media’s Vizeum India as its media AOR. Media agency Vizeum India, which operates in 55 countries, will now handle Educomp Schools’ media mandate in India to identify the appropriate communication programmes and deliver the same most cost optimally.

     

    Founded in 1994, Educomp Solutions is a globally diversified education solutions provider. With an employee base of more than 10,000 professionals, Educomp serves 26,000 schools and 15 million learners and educators in India as well as the US, Canada, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The company works closely with schools to implement innovative models to create and deliver content to enhance student learning.

     

    Educomp Schools provides educational content / IP and educational infrastructure to a range of differentiated preschool and secondary school brands in its quest to be the school service and Infrastructure provider of choice for all demographic and psychographic segments of society across India. Between the three brands, Universal Academy, Takshila Schools and The Millennium School with their different learning systems, the infrastructure and fee structures, its schools provide distinctly different schooling experiences to students and parents.

     

    Partho Dasgupta, President, Educomp Schools, said, “We are happy to confirm the appointment of Vizeum as our strategic media partners. Their overall result-oriented approach is quite unique and interesting. They are mandated to help us overcome some of our business challenges. We look forward to working with Vizeum and wish them all the very best.”

     

    Commenting on the win, S Yesudas, Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum, said, “We have pleasure in welcoming Educomp into the Vizeum family. It is a challenging assignment and we are fully geared up with the right delivery solutions. We look forward to addressing the business issues of the client as their extended brand team. We are thankful to the Educomp management for considering us worthy to partner them. This business will be handled out of our Delhi office.”

  • Real estate giant DLF adds Scarecrow Delhi to its panel of creative agencies

    DLF brings Scarecrow Delhi to its roster

    By A Correspondent

     

    DLF has appointed Scarecrow Communications as its creative agency for some of its residential products across India. The agency was selected after a rigorous pitch process. The spends would be sizeable and could fall in the vicinity of Rs 15 crore Though exact figure could not be estimated, but knowing the way residential projects are advertised these days it will be significant.

     

    Commenting on the development, Mr Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications, said, “This is a very important win for our Delhi office. DLF is the largest real estate brand in the country. They are looking for fresh thinking and this is a great opportunity for Anindya and the Delhi team to do some great work.’

     

    On the win, Mr Anindya Banerjee, ECD at Scarecrow Delhi, said, “It’s a privilege to be working on a brand like DLF. It is also a challenge to be working on a category that shows immediate results.”

     

    Mr Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, says Scarecrow Delhi has “big plans”. “This win gives us a lot of encouragement. DLF is an iconic brand and this gives excellent visibility especially in the print medium.”

     

    For the record, DLF is India’s largest real estate company. Founded in 1946 by Raghuvendra Singh, it has currently over 3000 acres of planned development in place. It is best known for having developed Gurgaon into a major international sub city. DLF is a well-diversified group and their interests span residential, commercial and retail segments.

  • The contrast is endearing – that of a desire to look beautiful. And a real life that's full of stress. Good show!

    Debrief: High on Mia empathy

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Interesting TV campaign from Tanishq for their new sub-brand called Mia. Mia is a jewellery brand targetted at working women. I suppose it’s meant for lady execs who usually wear imitation jewellery at work. And yes, I do think there’s a separate market for this segment. Jewellery pitched for use during momentous occasions like marriages, etc, can’t be adorned for daily wear. Good marketing strategy.

     

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 4. Sound strategy backed by relevant creative.

    And what’s even better is that the creative work shines. There are three commercials on air. The idea is this: A female executive feels really happy when she wears her jewellery. Even if she’s stuck in a boring workshop. Or can’t find a parking place at the office building. Or gets a poor increment. The format of each commercial is that in the beginning you see the woman delighted at wearing her jewellery. And later arrives the twist of an ‘unhappy’ work situation.

     

    I like this campaign. For two reasons. One, because of the sharp understanding of the working woman by the advertiser. Which is that whatever be the work pressures, however sadela her job might be, a woman would want to look pretty at workplace. Two, the execution is steeped in reality. Yes, highly boring workshops and car park mess are realities we all totally identify with. The contrast is quite endearing. That of a desire to look beautiful. And a real life that’s full of stress. Good show!

  • Anil Thakraney buttons the Bates boss for a free-n-frank talk about agencies, people & the work they do.

    We’ve bn inconsistent in r work: Sonal Dabral

     

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Sonal Dabral’s career has been nothing short of fantastic. In the nineties he partnered Piyush Pandey and together they turned around the fortunes of O&M. He later flew to Malaysia and then Singapore, and did ditto with O&M’s offices there. A few years ago he took on another challenge: To recreate the magic at Bates, where he is Regional Creative Director, Asia Pacific & Chairman for their Indian operations. While he has been over-seeing India, Sonal physically moved here only a few months ago. And though a few cartons still remain to be unpacked, the man is very clear about the way forward for his agency.

     

    In a rare, frank and a very insightful interview, the 49-year-old reveals his ideologies, his plans for India and his opinions on the ad industry. We also take a trip down his memorable career journey.

     

    What struck me most is how clued in Sonal is about the key challenges that face brands in contemporary times. I don’t always find that in Indian ad agency leaders.

     

    Q: There’s a buzz about you joining Mudra.
    No truth in it at all. But I can understand why the rumours must have started. Balki is the face of Lowe, Prasoon is the face of McCann and Piyush, of course, is the face of O&M. So for somebody of stature to walk into a big agency like Mudra… that just leaves me.

     

    Q: But if they approached you, you would talk to them?
    I won’t be interested. Lots of things to be done out here at Bates.

     

    Q: What motivated you to shift to India after all these years?
    When I joined Bates about three years ago, the agenda as the regional creative head was to improve the creative health of the agency through the right kind of hiring, inspiration and hands-on involvement. Bates, historically, has had some big clients and pockets of excellence with sporadic good stuff coming out. But overall the network’s creative health has not been good. My additional role is that of Chairman, Bates India, and it was the duality of the role that attracted me to this job. Which is to get back in touch with India and yet have a bigger role than what I was doing at O&M Singapore. So my first job was to ensure that we had the right kind of creative leadership in every place. Once that got done in the last three years, we started looking at India as a very important market for us. And India is a place where I can make a visible difference because of my equity out here, because of all the years I have spent here. And that’s why I decided to locate here.

     

    Q: Cut to the past. Why did you leave India in the first place? You were Piyush’s blue-eyed boy at O&M. Doing phenomenally well in the agency.
    In the latter part of the nineties, Neil French had taken over as the regional creative director for Asia. On his first trip to India he saw some print work I had done for Cadbury Perk and he was pretty impressed. He cancelled a lunch meet with Ranjan Kapur and Piyush Pandey and took me out for lunch instead! (Smiles.) And he asked that I move to O&M Malaysia. The agency was going down, and they desperately needed a creative head to come and build the place.

     

    Q: Am sure Piyush must have been upset with your decision to move.
    Neil spoke to Piyush and Ranjan about this. And they called me for a morning cup of tea on a Sunday. They said Neil sees this as a good opportunity for me. They said they wouldn’t like me to go, but wouldn’t stand in the way either. I thought about it for a long time because I was heading O&M Bombay which was 50 percent of the agency’s business, we were riding high. Anyway, I did a recce trip to Malaysia, and the O&M office turned out to be a small one, though they gave me a red carpet welcome. I came back and thought I would never join such a small place. Then they started writing to me, saying they wanted me out there. You know Anil, I believe in destiny, I believe things happen for a reason. Also, the charm of the unknown has always enticed and fascinated me. The discomfort of going to a new place, that too to a place that has nothing to offer, appealed to me. The same thing happened when I left Lintas to join Ogilvy in 1991. Ogilvy was nothing at that time and the only remarkable thing they had done was the ‘Mile Sur’ film.

     

    Q: But then you eventually left Ogilvy and joined Bates.
    Again, for the same reasons. Helping a place to shape up has always excited me. Maybe it’s to do with a big creative ego, though otherwise I don’t have an ego at all.

     

    Q: The key difference between working in an international market and working in India…
    In India we work a lot on the individual, friendship level. It’s like if I know Thakraney really well, and he is the agency and I am Unilever, then Thakraney and Dabral will work together and create a campaign. Things happen on a very personal level here. In the international markets… and you can call it professionalism or stuck-up-ness… there are still a lot of procedures and processes that get followed. I prefer a combination of the two methods. We are a very chaotic, free-for-all nation and at times that free-for-all-ness helps creativity. But it also brings with it a sense of indiscipline. And this affects the execution of work, that’s where we fall flat. Obviously, in the last 12 years, I have learnt something that’s different from India. And I am trying to get some systems in place in the way we work out here at Bates.

     

    Q: When you first came to Bates India, the good and the bad things you noticed…
    (Thinks carefully.) Creatively we have not been consistent. There is potential but the realisation is not happening. We need to correct that so that our number of hits increases.

     

    Q: The significant changes you’ve made in the last few months.
    I want to make this an agency of people who are not just creative but are intelligent, aware and knowledgeable creative people. True creativity needs you to be curious. The curiosity bit I want to feed as much as possible. Last weekend I invited a film chief from the National Institute of Design to conduct a film appreciation workshop. And it had nothing to do with advertising. Sometime later we’ll have another kind of workshop. Basically, I want to tell people that advertising is the only profession where you don’t learn things from the inside, it will all come from the outside.

     

    Q: What do you look for when you hire creative people?
    Besides obviously the work, I look for a certain amount of authenticity. It might be difficult to get that in a meeting, but you do get a sense of it. It’s very important for any creative person to let his or her guard down.

     

    Q: As a client, why should I choose Bates?
    We are the ‘change’ agency. It’s about making strategies that are based on the shifts that are happening within the product category or within the target audiences. And based on the cultural shifts that are happening within the society. We call that positioning ‘Change Engage’. It means a changed thinking which leads to work that has a two-way communication with the consumers. For example, you saw what happened during the Anna Hazare movement. It was about the power of people coming together really fast and having an opinion about something. Or for example what happened with the Kolaveri video. It’s the power of tech that consumers now have. This means advertising has to change in the way we approach things. We need to make an impact on a consumer for him to start conversing or debating about our brands. The other thing is we are an Asia-only network, so we are still small when compared to a JWT or an Ogilvy. So there’s a certain amount of nimbleness and spontaneity that we have. Also, on a personal front, the wealth of experience I bring with my Indian and global experience.

     

    Q: Why hasn’t Bates really taken off in India?
    It’s to do with the fast changes that have taken place. It’s been only about four years since it has emerged as Bates. Before that all the mergers were taking place. First it was Enterprise, then came David. Also there have been personnel changes. Subhash Kamath left for BBH, I have come now, Sandeep Pathak has taken over as CEO. It’s been going through a churn. It’s only now that we have begun to feel settled.

     

    Q: What’s all this about Smashing Pumpkins and Cabbage Curry?
    Smashing Pumpkins is something I coined for our annual creative conference. We would smash pumpkins at the event. Bates’s earlier colour was pumpkin yellow. And I said we need to be doing smashing work, so that’s how it got coined. Cabbage Curry Fridays I had started in Malaysia and Singapore. Every Friday we would have a chat session or a presentation which had to do with the culture of curiosity I was talking about earlier. I want to tell people that if you don’t have a passion beyond advertising, then your mind will become like a cabbage. (Laughs.)

     

    Q: What’s happening on your movie script?
    There are a couple of ideas in my head. I have started working on it but it’s been going very slowly. I have a story in mind that’s solid and substantial. It will not be a time-pass flick.

     

    Q: I last met you in the late nineties when you were a young, happy creative director. I have a feeling you have become a tough guy since.
    I have changed over the years to an extent which is required to run a place. But otherwise I am not as tough as I should be. Laughter to me is the biggest asset an ad agency can have.

     

    Q: I think in India you’ll have to kick ass at times.
    I totally agree with you.

     

    Q: Would it be right to call Piyush Pandey your mentor?
    He is one of the people. There would be others too like Neil French.

     

    Q: Do you at times feel you should never have left India? Bates is a small player, and had you stuck on, you could have been the captain of a very large ship.
    Not at all. I am extremely happy and I feel very lucky. That I did go and work in Malaysia and Singapore. The exposure that gave me towards communications, advertising, work, etc, couldn’t have happened in India. Also when I was abroad there were offers to head a large organisation here, and those offers won’t run away anywhere. I totally believe in destiny, I wasn’t meant to be here for those 12 years.

     

    Q: One creative chief of a large Indian agency you most admire.
    (Thinks for a long time.) I like the way Aggie (Agnello Dias) and Padhi (Santosh Padhi) have gone about their work. The way they have approached business, the kind of work they are doing. Their small size has not held them back. In terms of the large agency Chairmen, is there anyone I envy or admire? Well, no, not really.

  • How to cultivate the client – and nourish your business.

    The Anchor: 5 ways to maintain a healthy client-agency relationship

    By Akshar Peerbhoy

     

    #1 No is a simple two-letter word. Learn it, memorize it and say it!

    “No” really is the hardest thing to tell a client, right up there with “goodbye” and “sorry”. However, if you don’t get yourself to say it, the consequences could be much harder to deal with! If you can confidently say, “No” and live by it, your client will actually respect you and the agency, far more than a desperate-to-please yes-man!

     

    #2 Set clear expectations.

    Like marriage, you should always know what you’re getting into when you sign a client on. If you don’t, then set your cards on the table right at the beginning. He might ask you for the moon, but be frank and tell him just how far you are ready to reach out for him.

     

    #3 Under-promise and over-deliver.

    When you sit in the client’s boardroom with the suited lot, don’t be over-eager to display your grey matter and spill all your beans at once. And, don’t promise the afternoon’s deadline. No matter how passionate and eager you may be, it’s always the best strategy to promise him the lamp post and then deliver the stars.

     

    #4 Be his best friend.

    If you can share a drink with your client and talk about anything under the sun, except your work, you are probably going to find your rightful place in his good books as much as at his corner office. Ask him about his pending promotion or tell him where to eat on his next vacation in Hong Kong. He’ll remember to forget your few mishaps and missed deadlines, in time!

     

    #5 Remember the three Vs – Value, Value and Value.

    The ultimate test of any client-agency relationship is always reserved for the end of a contract term. This is the time when the agency folk succumb to excessive nailbiting and nervous breakdowns. The strongest survive, not only because of points 1-4, but also because they have delivered value to the client, time and again. Value beyond savings, free media space and extra ideas. Value as defined by the client. Even if it means being at the meeting 20 minutes earlier each time. Or finding his vendor for him. Do it, it will save you a lot of trouble on D-day!

     

    Akshar Peerbhoy is Director at Maa Communications.

  • India is a vast, complicated, multi-layered nation. There is room for every kind of business out here. Co-existence is indeed the soul of this nation.

    Hard Knocks: The retail FDI tamasha

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Total bullshit is going on over the subject of FDI in the multi-brand retail market. India is a vast, complicated, multi-layered nation. There are all sorts of market segments out here, based on all sorts of classifications… social, economic, regional, etc… each with its own needs and behavioural patterns. There is room for every kind of business out here. Co-existence is indeed the soul of this nation.

     

    Take a drive down Bandra in Mumbai. At a traffic signal, affectionately parked next to each other, you will notice a Benz, a Nano, a Luna and a bicycle. Ditto in a Punjab village. A loaded farmer would flaunt his latest Rolex. While one of his minders is eyeing that brand new 20 inch colour TV. Similarly, there is a market for Tesco. And a market for Nilgiris super market. And a market for the guy who runs the local kirana shop. Because there are various market segments they cater to. And even within each segment, a consumer would have different needs at different times. A housewife will want to indulge in a super store. But back home in the evening she will call her kirana guy for six eggs and pickle.

     

    And if at all there is increased competition, isn’t that a good thing for the consumers? Retailers will have to improve their offerings and service. The grocer in my building complex is a smart chappie, he’s already seen the future. Not only does he promptly send me maida and bread, he also helps with paying my electricity bill and offers to get appliances repaired, for a small fee.

     

    So basically, the whole tamasha is about the opposition parties trying to show the Congress-led UPA in a poor light. By scuttling their ideas. And the only thing they’ve managed to achieve is to get the anti-corruption bill off the agenda, as the parliament fights over retail chains.

     

    Who would have thought Walmart could trump Anna Hazare. Happens only in India.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Quite liked this ad from Chrysler. Talking tough, talking steel, talking business. Detroit’s fighting back, and how! Also, aggro, spirited singer Eminem is the perfect guy to represent them. Good one.

  • Madison Media has roped in Karthik Lakshminarayan as COO of Crest to head the AOR of its ITC business.

    Karthik Lakshminarayan to leverage his TV experience @ Crest

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madison Media has roped in Karthik Lakshminarayan as COO of Crest to head the AOR of its ITC business. Mr Lakshminarayan has earlier worked with Madison and its homecoming for him. He has essentially been a media agency person, having spent close to 13 years on the agency side with Initiative Media, Starcom, besides Madison. He then crossed over to television where he spent close to four years with Colors and Food Food.

     

    Talking about the edge he will have because of his television experience, he said, “Having worked closely with the leading channels and even on the production side, I think it has given me first-hand experience of working on the other side of the business. Media planners tend to look at the past data of the channel to predict future and I think having worked in channel has given me an insight to work this premise in a better and meaningful way. It will help in bringing that amount of difference and identify benefit for our clients.

     

    “Also having worked on the production side has given me fair knowledge of how content can be integrated in a better way to bring a better value to the client,” added Mr Lakshminarayan.

     

    For Crest, he will be alternating between the Bangalore and Kolkata operations of ITC. In his career, he has worked on a large and diverse portfolio of brands including Godrej, Cadbury, Marico, Asian Paints, Bharti Axa, Infosys, Britannia, Titan, Heinz, Pillsbury and Hallmark amongst many others.

     

    On his role at Crest, Mr Lakshminarayan added, “Crest has been doing great work for ITC in the last one year and I am looking at further raising the bar of the work being done.”

     

    Punitha Arumugam, Group CEO, Madison Media, commented, “I am delighted to have Karthik back with Madison Media. The best testament for Madison Media as an organization is when ex Madisonites as talented as Karthik are willing to accept and explore career opportunities with us once again. “