MxMIndia

Tag: Raghu Bhat

  • A few recent ads seem to be embracing the luxury of time, giving audiences films that tell a compelling story. Is it a trend, and will it work?

    A long story short: Rise of the 100+ seconder

     

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Long copy became synonymous with David Ogilvy after he espoused its cause in his book Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963): “There is a universal belief in lay circles that people won’t read long copy. Nothing could be farther from the truth.”

     

    While one may not see too much long copy in print these days, television commercial writers seem to be following the great man’s adage, if recent TVCs are anything to go by.

     

    Dove’s Real Beauty Sketch campaign on the digital platform and the latest Tata Sky commercial, which made waves for being all of three minutes long, are proof enough. But in today’s fast-paced world where the 30-seconder rules, do such ads really work?

     

    MxMIndia asks adwallahs what are the characteristics of a lengthy ad or campaign, and why some work – and some don’t.

     

    Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications Ltd & Founder, Fungus Designs

    The biggest challenge any advertiser faces is how to make one watch his/her advertisement. For instance, if we take a movie, people make an effort to go and watch the film; the same isn’t the case of advertising world. How many log on or switch on their television sets to watch a particular ad? Hence, it is difficult to find a programme which has a captive audience as well as has a two- or three-minute window to showcase an ad. People are watching IPL, but spots are sold for 10-seconders.

     

    For a mass brand, to launch a lengthy campaign, it cannot depend on the digital platform alone. It has to use television as a medium to reach its TG. And has to go beyond traditional content to catch people’s attention. For example, the Dove campaign turned out to be more of a social commentary and hence, caught people’s eye.

     

    Ramanuj Shastry, Co-Founder and Director, Infectious Advertising

    I would call such long-duration campaigns as branded content rather than advertisements, because people watch them more on the digital platform. A lot of such lengthy content is launched online, especially internationally, to go viral. However, it should have an ongoing story which will make one ask ‘what happens next?’. Apart from the story, other elements like music, acting, direction too are important. For such content to be played on air means that a channel has enough air space to fill; otherwise it doesn’t make sense to run them on TV.

     

    Arun Iyer, National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas & Partners

    I don’t think such lengthy advertisements or campaigns always work. The Dove real beauty sketch campaign worked because it was intriguing. It was almost like an experiment captured, which clicked with the people. But personally speaking, I think the Tata Sky is a bit too long, which wasn’t necessarily required. To run such ads on TV isn’t feasible for anyone and everyone. Maybe Tata Sky can afford to do so because they have their own channel.

     

    Agnello DiasAgnello Dias, Chairman and Co-founder, TapRoot India

    The Tata Sky TVC is one in a million. Today the biggest barrier the advertising agencies face is duration. Therefore, it is impossible to create something creative. TVCs today are just a reminder of a brand. What used to be known as edits are now the actual advertisement shown on television.

     

     

    Kartik Smetacek, Group Creative Director, Dratfcb + Ulka

    I think each piece of communication has its own ideal length (which isn’t always a pre-defined 30 seconds). A long-format ad has the advantage of drawing you into the story and building a much richer experience before the brand message is delivered. What you lose in frequency, you more than make up for in impact. Apple’s 1984 spot being a case in point. The key to a successful long-format ad is a compelling storyline that resolves to a relevant, well integrated brand message. The narrative must demand an extended build-up, so that every extra second adds to the intrigue. Apart from that, impeccable execution – whether it’s cinematography, casting or music – greatly helps the cause.

     

    Last year, Chipotle released a two-minute film online that was totally worth the time. It was an animated film that told the story of a farmer who dismantles his high-tech, mechanized farm to re-embrace a simpler, free-range approach. Set to an epic track (Willie Nelson covering Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’), the film kept you riveted till the final second. The ad made its TV debut at the Grammies, by which time it had already travelled virally around the world, redefining Chipotle for a whole generation of customers.

     


  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad

    AdStrat: Roma switches: The leader talks

    Raghu Bhat
    Manish Bhatt

    Raghu Bhat and Manish Bhatt, Founder Directors, Scarecrow Communications

     

    Name of the campaign/ad: Roma

     

    The brief: To make a point about Roma being the best-selling in the modular switches catgory in an effective manner.

     

    Research: Roma is the largest selling modular switch by a distance and yet, very few people know this.

     

    Key issues: The campaign uses foreigners as tourist guides and makes them speak Hindi, in their own distinctive manner, without tutoring them, and all of this adds to the enjoyment. Not many people know that Roma is from the Anchor Panasonic stable. This ad also seeks to address that.

     

    Media Vehicles: TVC led

     

    Differentiating factor: The TVC uses memorable casting, comic timing and interesting locales, such as the Wat Arun Pagoda, an underwater oceanarium and the lush green forests around Pattaya. There is a huge thrill in watching hi-funda foreigners getting bested by Indians. This is the layer that makes the ads even more fun.

     

    Market / Client feedback: To establish the leadership premise of Roma without being too serious. It’s a bit too early to gauge, but the commercials manage to convey this message effectively.

     

  • Scarecrow Communications has promoted Kapil Tammal from a Creative Director to an ECD

    Kapil Tammal promoted as Scarecrow ECD

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    Kapil Tammal

    Kapil Tammal joined Scarecrow Communications, Mumbai as creative director almost two years back and has now been promoted to Executive Creative Director. He moved in from McCann Erickson, Mumbai where he was a creative director. At Scarecrow Communications, Mr Tammal reports into the agency’s co-founders (cum directors) Raghu Bhat and Manish Bhatt and will continue reporting into them.

     

    On Mr Tammal’s elevation, Manish Bhatt, founder, Scarecrow, said: “Kapil has completed almost two years at Scarecrow. We are now looking at building a strong team headed by Kapil. As a worker Kapil brings in a lot to the table in terms of hard work, quality and he has a wonderful sense of design and idea. We knew hiring him was a great decision, but with his performance he has not left any doubt anywhere. At Scarecrow, we believe in growth of deserving workers and we decided to promote Kapil and credit him for his immense hard work.”

     

    Manish Bhatt

    Kapil Tammal, now ECD, Scarecrow, said: “It’s been a fantastic year. I’m happy and hoping to build a very strong team and put forth as much as I can in terms of great work.”

     

    Mr Tammal studied at the Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art and some of the brands he has worked with in the advertising industry, include Vaseline, Pears, Liril, Maybelline, Hanes, Wonderbra, The Economic Times, Onida, Siemens, Britannia, Nerolac, NDTV, Cathay Pacific, BIG Cinemas, EsselWorld Theme Park, NEO Cricket/Sports, Indian Oil Corporation, SBI, UTI, HDFC, Tata Indicom, Eureka Forbes amongst others

     

  • Simplicity and hard work seem to have worked for Scarecrow Communications which has been on an account-winning spree

    Scarecrow’s simple way to Success

     

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    We try harder as we are not number 1! This line aptly sums up the attitude that has helped in the success of Scarecrow Communications. Launched in February 2010, the agency has seen growth which has surpassed the expectation of the four partners – Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat, Arunava (Joy) Sengupta and Vivek Suchanti.

     

    The mantra for success as Manish Bhatt himself puts is that like the name of the agency, Scarecrow: We as an organization are rooted to ground and are earthy in our approach. We believe in doing hard work and we have taken the longer route to success while slogging to reach where we are today. We don’t get swayed by things happening around and do not get into creative indulgence, but do work that brings a real difference to our clients’ brands.

     

    Mr Bhatt recounts the journey that they embarked on with Scarecrow – even before they started, the duo (Manish and Raghu) were approached by a few network agencies and some independents to work for them as freelancers. So when they actually announced Scarecrow, they had four clients on board.

     

    CLIENTSPEAK
     

    Subhrangshu Neogi, Director- Brand and Corporate Communications, Religare Enterprises

    Working with Scarecrow has been exciting so far. They don’t approach the engagement like a typical client-agency matrix but do so more from a partnership context. They sit and co-create – co-creation is not just lip service. The team, including the founding partners themselves, make that extra effort to understand the little details and nuances which eventually leads to the creation of a good breakthrough end product.

     

    Jiby Thomas, Co-founder, VP, Marketing, Quikr

    We decided to partner with Scarecrow because of their ability to  align their creative thinking to business strategy and develop breakthrough creative that connects with consumers. They are young, hungry and passionate about the work they do and brands they work for.

     

    Dinesh Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, Anchor Electricals

    From the outset, Anchor was clear that we wanted to associate with a small agency. As the company was evolving and moving away from being a family owned business to being a part of an MNC, there were a lot of processes which were not in place and it was time for a change. What we had in mind was an agency that would become an integral part of our organisation and understand our challenges and meets them effectively. We wanted the agency to grow along with the company. With Scarecrow, the partnership has unfolded exactly as we had envisioned. They understand our issues and requirements and very often they come with more solutions than what we have asked for. In fact, even during the pitch process we were impressed by their involvement with the brand. More importantly, my team is comfortable working with them and I would say that its been a positive relationship.

     

    One thing the partners were clear about, even when they started, was to not establish themselves as boutique, but as a full service agency. Raghu Bhat said: “We wanted Scarecrow to be one-stop that delivers a client’s business and marketing solutions. Also we were clear that for an organization to sustain growth, we need to deliver diverse solutions.”

     

    Interestingly, the agency’s digital presence is just one page that gives their contact details along with their logo. The explanation being that they don’t want people to come with any prejudice while approaching the agency, hence the single contact page works best for them as it gives out crucial detail and has even given them many leads.

     

    As Mr Bhatt explained: “It’s a clean slate for those who want to connect with us with no preconceived notions, and I think this approach has worked best for us.”

     

    When they started out, Joy Sengupta explained, there were 18 people and within 4-6 months they wanted more people on board. “The truth is that we have ambitions but we were never over-confident or over-ambitious, and in that sense we underestimated our potential. Now the agency has over 50 people on board and has offices in Mumbai and Delhi and is looking to expand footprint.”

     

    Another reason, according to Manish Bhatt, that has worked to Scarecrow’s advantage: “Advertising is ultimately people’s business and if you don’t recognize that, you would not grow. We have consciously tried to get fairly senior resources in the agency and have focused on empowering our second line of resources. We take pride in the fact that we have invested in people.”

     

    The focus has been to give best service to the clients, and for this the agency had to do certain trade-offs. Most importantly, the agency didn’t concentrate on any awards nor entered for awards, instead they focused on client servicing and acquiring new businesses. However, getting new business has not been an issue, as many came because of the equity the partners enjoy in the industry.

     

    Mr Bhatt said: “Scarecrow, since its launch, has managed to create buzz and remain at the top of mind of the industry. For us getting new business has not been a constraint.”

     

    So what is it that has made the independents take the industry by such a storm – is it because the value for money small sized agency would provide? On the contrary, Mr Sengupta pointed: “We are rather expensive, as we don’t have scale that big agency networks provide. So, if I have a new client, I might actually hire new people to look after that business, than in a bigger agency which might just end up reshuffling the resources.”

     

    Another practice that Scarecrow doesn’t encourage is taking up businesses on project basis, 90 per cent of their business is on retainer basis, allowing them a sense of stability.

     

    While they have Nestle, Danone, Religare, Future Capital and a host of other businesses but when asked where are the big ticket spenders who many of the independents have in their kitty, Mr Bhatt said: “We are only two-years old, and I think the big brands would come to us, but we have not designed from the beginning to have them, as we believe we must do good work and we will get good work by default. We have got the mid-sized businesses and probably the bigger spenders too will follow.”

     

    Right now the focus for the agency is to build the Delhi branch and look at getting more visible work. It has recently come out with 10 second ad for Quickr that has been garnering good reviews.

     

    Scarecrow also has a gallery that is a platform for encouraging talent. Besides they encourage industry experts to come at the gallery and share their view points with others in the industry. They also have initiated MoM or Method of Madness which is a reverse internship program, where instead of few interns coming and working with them, team Scarecrow goes on campus and participates and interacts with the students.

     

    Asked if Scarecrow was open to selling its stakes, Raghu Bhat replied: “I think we have enough going in India, so we not looking for selling any stakes. However, we are open to collaborating with partners that will help us in maximizing our potential.” The agency also doesn’t rule out the possibility of acquiring an entity outside of India which will help them in expanding their footprint.

     

    Mr Bhatt concluded: “We are a group of well grounded, down to earth people. When you see us at any pitch you can make out that we don’t come with any swagger that many in the business come with. We are genuinely interested in the brand and want to make it work for the clients in the market place. We might not have the big telecom spender or the cola giant but our clients, with variety of portfolio, truly gives us an opportunity to bring creativity that will help their businesses grow.”

     

  • Scarecrow Communications bags creative mandate for the corporate brand of Religare Enterprises

    Scarecrow bags corporate mandate for Religare

    From the MxM Infodesk

     

    Religare Enterprises Ltd. has appointed Scarecrow Communications as its creative agency for its corporate brand. The account will be handled out of Scarecrow’s Mumbai office. The incumbent on the account was Ogilvy, Delhi.

     

    This win represents a deepening of the Scarecrow Communications’ relationship with the Religare group. Scarecrow already handles Religare Broking, Religare Health Insurance and Religare Macquarie.

     

    Subhrangshu Neogi, Director, Branding and Communications, Religare, said, “As a group we have had a long standing partnership with Scarecrow. The team has consistently delivered high quality and path breaking creative work across all product lines assigned to them so far. We have now decided to enlarge the scope of their mandate to include some key corporate assignments as well . We look forward to continue working with them.”

     

    Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications,  added, “Religare was Scarecrow’s first client. It’s fair to say that Scarecrow came into existence because of Religare. It’s very satisfying to note that since KILB, we have maintained our standards of creative excellence on this brand and have been rewarded with this very significant assignment.”

     

    Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications,said, “Religare is a brand very dear to our hearts as we we have had a long and mutually rewarding association, that goes beyond professional ties. We thank Subhrangshu and his team for once again reposing trust in Scarecrow.”

     

    Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) is one of India’s leading financial services group. Religare offers a wide array of services including broking, insurance, asset management, lending solutions, investment banking and wealth management. With a network of over 2,200 business centres across 550 plus locations, and more than a million clients, REL enjoys a dominant presence in the Indian financial services space.

     

  • The agency will handle all aspects of Pentair's communication including creative, strategy, design, activation and media

    Scarecrow Communications bags Pentair water solutions account

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pentair Water solutions has appointed Scarecrow Communications, Delhi as its advertising agency. The agency will handle all aspects of Pentair’s communication including creative, strategy, design, activation and media.

     

    Pentair Inc, based inMinnesota, USA, is one of the global leader in water solutions and purification in the world. It is known for cutting edge technology and unmatched range of products that are used in industrial applications, commercial installations, municipal requirements and residential water solutions.

     

    The company has a pan-India presence and employs over 600 people. Some of its projects include providing filtration solutions at IGI Airport, New Delhi, Taj Presidency, Mumbai, Pump packages at Gautam Buddh International circuit (F1 track), GMR Aerospace project in Hyderabad, Michelin Factory, Pepsico, and pool equipment installations at ITC Maurya, Delhi and Taj Hotel, Bangalore.

     

    “We look forward to work with Scarecrow not only to build our brand in the Indian Market, but also increase overall awareness for water-related issues,” said Mukund Vasudevan, Managing Director & Country Head, Pentair.

     

    “Pentair is a global brand. Yet inIndia, as far as branding goes, it is almost starting from scratch. So there is no baggage and we can roll out the brand experience in India with maximum freedom,” said Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications.

     

    “Most of us have used Pentair products and yet, may not be aware of it. This association Pentair gives us an opportunity to do some great work in the B2B as well as B2C space,” said Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications.

     

    Scarecrow Communications is one ofIndia’s fastest growing full-fledged advertising agencies providing every solution under one roof, including creative, media, PR, digital as well as design. Scarecrow, headquartered in Mumbai, already handles many Delhi-based brands such as DLF, Nestle, MVL Mobiles, Religare and BPCL.