MxMIndia

Tag: Social Street

  • The Social Street rolled out the mammoth OOH campaign in Uttar Pradesh

    Hotstar unveils India’s longest billboard

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hotstar unveiled am out-of-home initiative through a massive billboard spanning 10,000 sq ft near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, to highlight the variety and scale of content available on its platform.  The Social Street collaborated with Hotstar on this campaign from idea to execution, to source out and construct the longest billboard the country has ever seen from ground up.

     

    Said Mandeep Malhotra, Founding Partner & CEO, The Social Street: “Working Hotstar is always brilliant and fun. The brand inspires us to unlock new ideas and create campaigns that push boundaries. With the longest billboard campaign too, we wanted to create something that would send out the brand’s message in a way that wows people. We were able to leverage media in a way that managed to create brand-new boundaries. Some of our past campaign work with Hotstar, like IPL Largest Player Hunt and Game of Thrones, too are a testament of the innovation, creativity and impact that is at the heart of brand.”

     

     

  • The program hosted some of the leading names of the communication and media industry

    Social Street, Mindshare and Maxus emerge winners at Big Bang Awards 2017

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Club Bangalore successfully concluded the 22nd edition of its annual awards  Big Bang Awards for excellence in communication and media on September 15at the Ritz Carlton, Bengaluru.

     

    Social Street was named Creative Agency of the Year. Mindshare and Maxus were the big winners of the night bagging awards for Media & Digital Agencies of the year, respectively. Artilligence Mumbai won the Healthcare Agency of the Year.

     

    Bengaluru advertiser Gokaldas Images Won the Client of the Year Award winning across several categories.

     

    Commenting on the awards programme, Sanchayeeta Verma, President Ad Club Bangalore and Managing Partner, Maxus, South India & South Asia, said: We had unprecedented interest and participation in Big Bang Awards this year and the effort was to have a meaningful and enriching event for our media, creative and marketing fraternity. Am happy that we were able to do so. Our heartiest congratulations to all the winners.”

     

    This year, the Big Bang awards were presented under four major categories:  Creative, Media (Including Data & Tech), Digital, and Health. The awards assessment involved an online jury selection process. On the panel, 49 senior advertising, marketing, media, PR and digital industry experts and thought leaders were deployed by Ad Club.

     

     

  • A quick chat with Pratap Bose, Chairman, The Social Street which won the second-largest number of metals in the Creative Abby and a few in the Media Abby too!

    Winning across 3 days gave us a lot of pleasure: Pratap Bose


    We’re going to do well at Goafest this year, Pratap Bose, Chairman and Co-Founder of The Social Street had told us before we left for Goa last week. The shortlists were good indicators that Social Street would do well, but being #2 in the metals tally? Well, he proved the naysayers wrong and also confirmed the point that you don’t have to be 10-20-40-70-year-old agency to be winning big at the Abby. In conversation with Pradyuman Maheshwari, Pratap Bose talks about the wins, scam work, the focus on print and the way forward for his agency. Read on…

     

    Just your second year in business and already right up there!

    We’re actually only 20 months old. It’s an amazing feeling. We’ve worked very hard to get where we are, at Goafest particularly. It’s been like a David versus Goliath story. The underdogs if you can call it that. All kudos to the team who’ve made it possible.

     

    You’re not actually an underdog. You’ve been there, done that. You know the…

    People wouldn’t have expected us to do that well at Goafest. But you’re right, we’re not an underdog. We are industry veterans. But yes, for a small agency to do so well at Goafest is a great sense of pride and achievement.

     

    You’ve done it in the past at Mudra when you were helming it. You obviously know how it works. So when did you decide to play the Goafest game?

    Honestly, it’s not just about playing the game well. It’s also about doing great work. If you look at our wins, we’ve won in pretty much all of the major 14-17 categories. So, it’s always good work at that pace. To win you have to start very early in the year. You can’t just leave it to December and then scramble at the end. Producing good stuff all throughout the year. That gives you the humongous tally of metals at the end of the day. That’s something I keep advocating to the people who want to do well at the awards. You have to be at it. You have to have a dogged goal to do great work. I don’t think we do great work to win awards. You have to do consistent work month-on-month and produce two-three great pieces of work every month and if you measure yourself with that benchmark, you’ll certainly do well.

     

    In terms of the work you’ve done… you’ve said in the past you’re not just an outdoor agency, you’ve done a fair bit of work for print and print-craft.

    Yes, we’ve done a lot for print and print-craft outdoor, even won a lot of metals for digital, branded content, PR, our strong units are out of home, promo and activation is where we score very high… so, yes, the results in terms of where we’ve won the metals is indicative of how wide our network is in terms of our integrated offerings across all verticals. That has paid dividends for sure.

     

    But is print one of your core strengths?

    It’s not, but we had a lot of fun doing print advertisements for clients and we won on big clients. We’ve won big for brands like Aegon Religare, IDBI.

     

    I must tell you that there’s a charge that a lot of work you’ve done is scam work.

    Scam is a dirty work. Sometime proactive. If any agency tells you they haven’t done proactive work, they’re lying through their teeth. There’s always a bit of it. If your main body of work… and this is not just the awards, because every day when you go to office for clients you don’t always do award work. But, yes, sometimes the work is proactive and you’ve made a lot of efforts with the client to say, let’s enter this field in this direction. It ticks all the boxes in terms of the parameters in which you have to enter. It has to be published, approved, released. I don’t like this scam word though I said it. Sometimes you do work that motivates the team and sometimes you have clients that allow you to do that.

     

    You’ve won some 40 metals in creative. And you’ve some metals at the Media Abby as well. How many of these are for genuine work?

    Most of them are. What gives me a lot of pleasure is winning across three days. While a lot of hoo-haa is done about a lot of creative agencies and media separately. We don’t have a very large media offering. We have a small media offering but it’s a great offering. But, to be honest, no agency has won across Goafest for three days. Maybe, one or two. So, that gives us a lot of pride. So, to answer your question, most of it is on large brands.

     

    Your strategy until now has been to fashion yourself more than just an outdoor and activation agency. But if you have to look at your play in the last three months, how have you fared by your own assessment?

    So we are just under two years now and if you read the book by Tom Peters, ‘Thriving on Chaos’, I think that’s what we went through. Because we’ve grown very rapidly. We have 180 people now. That’s a lot of people in these two years. But ultimately the true value that Social Street will derive in terms of where it’s going to be positioned and seen in the area of a highly creative company, backed by data, analytics, content, we’re looking at production services and we’re also looking at partnering and opening a few JVs outside of the country. I think that’s really how I see it.

     

    And how are the financials looking?

    I think we’re doing very well. As I said, we’re just under two years and this is a very important year, financially. By all indications it looks good. So, hoping for a great year ahead.

     

    When you were at Mudra, the great wins helped it get acquired by Omnicom. While you’re ou’re already funded. Are you going to use it to any advantage in terms of more investments

    Not really. Metals at Goafest don’t get you any VC funding. I can tell you that. It rewards you for the work you’ve done. It’s a recognition that we are now a force to reckon with in the awards scenario. Not just the creative awards, we’re also doing well at the Effies, Emvies and internationally at Cannes as well. But there’s no extra funding for winning metals at award functions.

     

    You mentioned about the David v/s Goliath analogy. How have the Goliaths been with you so far?

    We’ve received a lot of love and affection, to be honest. When you get on your own, people wish the independent agencies well, by and large. When you’re a part of a large network, you have a lot of competition and crab crawling. But we don’t have that at all. The industry is also happy for us and wishes us well.

     

  • Heena, brings with her over 15 years of experience and moves from SOI Live Marketing & Events

    The Social Street ropes in Heena Mistry as Head of Events and Experiential Business

    By A Correspondent

     

    Heena Mistry

    The Social Street has roped in Heena Mistry to head the Events and Experiential business; she will operate out of their Mumbai office.

     

    Heena, brings with her over 15 years of experience and moves from SOI Live Marketing & Events, where she was a Director and lent her expertise with hundred plus marketers, leading brands, pan India across various industries.

     

    Mandeep Malhotra

    Mandeep Malhotra, Founding Partner and CEO of The Social Street commented on the development, “Heena is very well known in the industry for her impeccable delivery on various brand requirements. She is renowned for her ability to exceed client expectations. She brings to our team a sense of great commitment and prudence, which is hard to find these days.”

     

    Commenting on her new role, Heena says “It’s a matter of pride for me to be associated with TSS. I join this team with great expectations and delight. I am very confident on building on the immense learning I had at SOI Live Marketing. Mandeep&Pratap have a clear vision for The Social Street and knowing that they wanted me on the team gives me loads of confidence to do well. I am certain that my partnership with The Social Street will add a new dimension to my career.”

     

  • Only Indian from the Advertising & Marketing industry to feature in the list

    Samyak Chakrabarty makes it to Forbes Asia’s Top 30 Under 30

    By A Correspondent

     

    Samyak Chakrabarty

    The Social Street’s Samyak Chakrabarty has made it to the list of Forbes Asia ‘Top 30-under-30’, which was announced few days ago. Samyak Chakrabarty- Managing Partner, The Social Street is the only Indian from the advertising and marketing industry.

     

     

    Pratap Bose

    Commenting on this achievement, Pratap Bose, Chairman The Social Street says, “I am very thrilled by the news that my colleague Samyak has been featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list! Samyak is a thinker, a go getter and is a rare breed; on a mission to innovate and create a difference in the society. I am indeed very proud of him. Here’s to many more accolades awaiting this young achiever!”

     

    Samyak Chakrabarty, Managing Partner, The Social Street had this to say, “It’s thrilling to be part of a list which recognizes disruptions and ideas of the future. For me this is just the beginning of a long journey.”

     

    Forbes Asia announced it’s inaugural Asia Top 30 Under 30 list that identifies the region’s future leaders across Business, Media, Finance, Social Impact & Entrepreneurship. The Asian list is a continuation of the global expansion of the Forbes 30 Under 30 franchise. It’s a franchise that has had amazing alumni such as Palmer Luckey from Occulus, Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy from Snapchat, LeBron James and Star Wars’s John Boyega to name just a few.

     

    Samyak founded India’s first Youth Marketing and research firm at the age of 18, which was recently acquired by the DDB Mudra Group. He is now at the helm of The Social Street, a new age communications company which develops technology driven solutions for brands to engage with India’s diverse & complex population set. He is currently also developing a research model to understand youth mindsets more effectively and has published 2 books in this domain.

     

  • Britannia Filmfare Awards 2016 brings smiles across miles through a unique on-ground activation

    Social Street leverages awards platform for unique activation initiative

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Social Street conceptualized and executed a unique activation for Britannia Good Day by leveraging their tie up with the 61stFilmfare Awards 2016.The task at hand was to bring alive the brand’s tagline “It’s a Smile that makes a Good Day” through an impactful on-ground activation.

     

    Good Day did a massive re-launch campaign to communicate the change in its visual identity and brand idea. The Social Street came on board to make the brand experience come alive for consumers by reinforcing its association with smiles. The idea was to create an activation experience that brought smiles for everyone who participated in the on-ground activity. It was further extended by creating content for the digital medium and promoting it to a far larger audience. The digital amplification helped the brand reach far and wide and also spread many more smiles across a broader audience.

     

    With the help of technology, the brand helped the Bollywood actors present at the red carpet connect with kids studying in NGO run schools. The stars were asked to spare a few minutes and smile at a kiosk screen which measured the wideness of their smiles in points. These points were then converted into cookies for onward distribution to the kids. The kiosk additionally dispensed pictures of these school kids which were autographed by their favorite stars. The stars even gave out messages. All this was shown to the kids real time through live streaming. Post the activity, cookies alongwith some goodies were distributed to these kids.

     

    Commenting on the activation, Deepak Singh, Chief Creative Officer, The Social Street said, “In all my years of working in the industry I haven’t come across a client who has shown so much trust and confidence in an idea that we get a go ahead simply on the strength of the same. That also means additional pressure on the agency, but the true reward at the end of it all is seeing everyone smile!”

     

    Sunay Bhasin, Category Manager – Premium Indulgence, Britannia industries Ltd, “We had a great platform in form of Filmfare Awards that we wanted to leverage to create something magical that delivers the brand Good Day’s idea of Smiles in an endearing fashion. While the video has crossed 2 Mn views but it’s the huge thumbs up we got from consumers which has delighted us in the form of likes, shares and comments. In partnership with The Social Street, the work we’ve done thus far for the brand in the form of on-ground activations and taking them to digital audiences is really creating a lot of buzz and positive mentions towards building brand affinity amongst consumers. All our activations, be it the slide at a metro station and now with the kids, has helped us create much liked content!”

     

  • The integrated offering will include Digital, Media, Experiential, Out of Home, Retail, Entertainment, Cause Marketing and also extends to Semi-Urban and Rural Activations and Outreach

    Rediffusion-Y&R group & Social Street shake hands

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rediffusion – Y & R Group and The Social Street have entered into a strategic alliance to provide value added marketing services to clients of Rediffusion – Y & R, Everest Brand Solutions and Rediffusion Wunderman. This alliance will come into effect from March 1, 2016.

     

    According to a communiqué, Rediff-Y&R and Social Street will leverage their individual strengths to partner and provide greater value to clients and collaborate to tap opportunities for growth in the market. The alliance will enable Rediffusion-Y&R Group’s clients to benefit from The Social Street’s extensive network, capabilities, and expertise in bringing together a more effective and optimized solutions to clients. 
This integrated offering will include Digital, Media, Experiential, Out of Home, Retail, Entertainment, Cause Marketing and also extends to Semi-Urban and Rural Activations and Outreach.

     

    Dhunji S. Wadia

    Says Dhunji S Wadia, President, Rediffusion-Y&R Group “This is one of the deepest integrations to date, marking yet another milestone in the Group’s plan for a consolidated media investment management operation.  Our services are designed to offer an integrated yet seamless solution across the communications continuum. The focus is to bring competitive advantage to our clients and our companies.”

     

    Pratap Bose

    Added Pratap Bose, Founding Partner & Chairman, The Social Street: “This is going to be a very exciting journey for both Rediffusion and us.  It will be a great growth story to tell the world.  Our shared vision and collective capabilities should help us serve nothing but the best to all the clients as part of this alliance.  We are all focused on one single client centric objective through this alliance and that is unlocking value for clients.  With the wealth of expertise in both Rediffusion and TSS, I have no doubt in saying that we will make it the strongest and successful alliance ever.”

     

    Mandeep Malhotra

    Sad Mandeep Malhotra, Founding Partner & CEO, the Social Street,  “I am personally very excited about this alliance and looking forward to creating many stories together in this journey with Rediffusion. My career in the agency world started with Rediffusion and it feels now that the circle is getting closer. There is nothing more exciting for me then working with energetic, talented, committed and a fun team. Organizations that partner or compliment each other in this manner are going to be more nimble footed in the future, in creating customer-oriented value.”

     

  • Featured speakers from different spectrum engaging with young thinkers of today's generation

    The Social Street curates the 6th Annual UN Young Changemakers Conclave

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Social Street curated the 6th Annual United Nations Young Changemakers Conclave (UNYCC) on 9th January at The Naval Lawns, Mumbai. This year, the theme of the conference was “Make in India: Sustainable Development,” urging the youth to take initiative and inspire them to make a real change in the society, by exploring the latest innovations and discussing current affairs.

     

    The Conclave was attended by over 750 young individuals in the 18 to 35 age group who were selected from diverse backgrounds to attend this near-day-long event to discuss, deliberate and debate around the core theme of the event, while engaging with the current leaders. The event started off with an opening address by Kiran Mehra Kerpelman, Director, United Nations Information Centre for India & Bhutan.

     

    The 6th Annual United Nations Young Changemakers Conclave witnessed participation of distinguished personalities and visionaries such as Suresh Prabhu, Union Railway Minister of India; Supriya Sule, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha; Sanjay Jha, National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress; Lakshmi Pratury, Founder, INK Talks; Piyush Pandey, Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather; Shivnath Thukral, Group President, Essar Group; Karishma Mehta, Founder, Humans of Bombay; Poulomi Basu, Photographer, VII Photo; Radha Kapoor, Founder & Executive Director, ISDI; Renowned Author Amish Tripathi; Ananya Birla, Founder, Svantantra Microfinance; Trishya Screwvala, Founder, Lighthouse Project; Fashion Designer Anita Dongre,Trisha Shetty, Founder She Says and Suril Desai, Founder, Bitcoin Information Technologies. The event also had an enthralling performance by musician Abhijit Jejurikar’s Dharavi Rocks.

     

    Commenting on this unique event, Pratap Bose, Founder and Chairman of The Social Street said, “Over the last two years, India has emerged as the third largest start-up ecosystem after the US and the UK. With so many budding entrepreneurs waiting in the wings, we at The Social Street are proud to have curated the 6thAnnual United Nations Young Changemakers Conclave.”

     

    Bose further added, “The conference was primarily aimed at engaging young thinkers and well known stalwarts to share their perspective and show us the way in making a difference in our society in our own distinctive way.”

     

    In the past, the UNYCC has hosted inspiring talks by change-makers like the current RBI governor Dr Raghuram Rajan and renowned Author & Politician Dr. Shashi Tharoor, among others.

     

  • In a short span, bags A-list clients and goes bullish on hiring to service brands in India and International markets

    Pamita Seth to head Branded Content & entertainment division for Social Street

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pamita Seth

    The Social Street, has launched their Branded Content and Entertainment division with the appointment of Pamita Seth who has been roped in to head the practice. She will be overseeing a team of around 10 people who are already in place.

     

    Pamita brings with her around 13 years of experience having worked in organizations like Radio Mirchi & ABSIL (The Times of India Group).  Her earlier stint was with Mates (Madison). Pamita’s  expertise is in Branded Content, Campaign Creation, Media, Marketing, Brand Solutions, Partner Engagement, Intellectual properties. She has been instrumental in developing campaigns like Mirchi Queen Bee, Mirchi Music Awards, Femina Miss India, Spell Bee and has won awards for her Branded Content work on films like Yeh Jawanni Hai Dewani, Race2, PK & Shamitabh and many more.

     

    Pratap Bose

    Commenting on the launch of the new division, Pratap Bose, Chairman and Founding Partner The Social Street says, “We are looking to offer a plethora of services to cater to the varied needs of clients, which would include among other things In-Film Advertising, Movie Promotions, Intellectual Properties, Telecast and Talent Solutions. The extremely talented team that we have put together have the muscle to service the needs of International and Indian Clients. We are looking to be a truly global one stop shop in the space of Branded Content and Entertainment.”

     

    The Division already has signed up with  a number upcoming film projects. It will be a part of The Festival of Globe – Silicon Valley & San Francisco Global Movie Fest hosted by the Federation of Indian Association. The San Francisco Global Movie Fest is an annual film festival that spans across 10 days and showcases nearly 50 films and includes among other things, workshops, award night  and the legendary India Day Parade of The Bay Area. The Division is also collaborating with renowned film-maker Guneet Monga to showcase her film ‘Monsoon Shootout’ as the Grand Closing Ceremony film at the festival.

     

  • Pratap Bose takes on to the with multiple types of businesses, several offices and many big-ticket clients, all within a few months

    Thinking Big with The Social Street

     

    If you drive around the arteries of Mumbai, the billboards – some fifty of them – tell you the story. Pratap Bose, former Chief Operating Officer of the DDB Mudra group, has moved to the fast lane. And with a bang. Last Monday, Bose announced that he along with outdoor and experiential specialist Mandeep Malhotra, Arjun Reddy an entrepreneur who owns and runs a diversified portfolio of businesses, and Pradeep Uppalapati, who was Senior Director and India Lead for Global Corporate Development Team at Accenture have teamed up to launch ‘The Social Street’, billed as India’s maiden advertising conglomerate. Positioned as a digitally driven agency, traditional creative advertising, digital and social media will be added on to the bouquet of offerings by the end of the financial year along with more offices across the country.  In an interview with Pradyuman Maheshwari and Dyanne Coelho, Bose that he believes starting big, with multiple types of businesses, several offices and many big-ticket clients, all within a few months.

     

    What’s the journey been like from the time you left DDB Mudra. And when did you start thinking about this venture?

    To be honest, when I left at the end of April last year, the natural tendency was to reach out to headhunters, and find out what the offerings and options were.

     

    So you had nothing in hand when you left?

    No. I had no inkling that I was going to start my own agency. That’s a thing you do when you’re still working. The thought was there, but honestly when I left, the first thing was that headhunters started calling within the first 10 days [with offers].

     

    And you were getting offers until as late as December 2014?

    Yes, in fact, I was getting calls until I announced the venture. I was flying to Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York for meetings. But on one flight back from Singapore, after an interview that went very well and the company pretty much confirmed me for a regional position, I asked myself: do I really want to do the same thing for another day? You live month by month, not even quarter by quarter. It’s all about the numbers at the end of the day. I sort of snapped and decided that I don’t want to do this again. I’ve done it for 24-odd years, and if there is a better option, then I’ll look at it. I got a few client calls as well which were interesting, but at the end of the day it’s one client, a few brands, and it didn’t excite me enough.

     

    So when did you actually think of setting Social Street?

    Mandeep and I went to Cannes in June, and on one drunken afternoon we went to that love bridge and proclaimed our undying love for each other and the business. When we came back, we said it’s probably a good idea that we should start something of our own. But at that point of time, we had no inkling of how we were going to do it.

     

    You went to Cannes on your own?

    Yeah, I have been going there for some years. All the global heads and CEOs were there and I had a lot of meetings and interviews lined up. That was two months after I’d left, so the time was also right. But around then my mother was detected with cancer. That was in July. I brought her to Mumbai and was looking after her, but then she passed away a day before my birthday. That shattered me and any thoughts I had of starting anything on my own, fell by the wayside. At the end of October, given that my gardening leave and contract with Mudra ends in December and I need to move now. That’s when I sort of started putting things together. I envisaged what sort of agency I wanted and met every probable Venture Capital firm in the country, because I needed a certain amount of money to start up.

     

    I heard from VCs that you were asking for loads of money…

    Yes I was asking for a lot of money because I’m not the type of person who’s going to start with 10 people, build an agency, win your first client, then grow with it and add people. I think if you’re really serious, start big and take the risk. If you’re sure of your business model and you know your numbers, then there’s no point in starting small. Also, because of the kind of businesses we are in and the clients we chase want scale. Large clients want scale in terms of ideas and capabilities. The fact that we’re opening up three offices simultaneously, which not many people do, and then scaling up to 140-150 people within a year or less, needs a considerable amount of funding. I spent a lot of time trying to work out the business model. You can have any number of great launches, but at the end of the day, you have to have a business that works. I spent a lot of time looking at areas that are high-growth margin businesses, or those that have the potential to grow for the next 10 years in the space where we are.

     

    Let me give you an example, in the rural space. I don’t think there are more than four rural agencies in this country. It’s virgin territory, with no competition. That’s the space to be in, because that is the future. If you’ve got a great offering, I think there’s a lot of money to be made, especially with not too much competition. So it makes it easy to grow. Why will I not be excited about digital? There’s no finite definition of what is digital, and technologies are changing so fast. So I will not start and build a digital agency; it doesn’t make sense. I will go and acquire somebody.

     

    And finally you got somebody who is not a typical VC…

    Yes, so I decided two months after meeting every VC, that I was just making them more knowledgeable about my business. VCs come with a huge chip on the shoulder saying ‘since I’m giving you the money, I’m your Lord and master’, and they contribute very little to the business. I decided that VCs are not the route I want to take. Therefore, I went around looking for like-minded individuals who trusted and believed in the business that I was in, and were prepared to stay with me for the long term. I ended up with a short list of about three or four people who were happy to fund me.

     

    So how active are Pradeep and Arjun going to be in the business?

    So Pradeep has worked for 11 years with Accenture. I think he spent eight years in Australia, and three in India. Obviously he’s the CFO/analytics/strategic investor, and Arjun is the part of a larger conglomerate. He owns hotels and varied businesses, and is on the retail side of the business.

     

    Have you also put in any money?

    Yes.

     

    Is this a long-term investment or will your investor-partners and yourself sell out eventually?

    No I don’t think you start a business with the idea that you’re going to sell out. If someone is starting a business with the idea that he is going to sell out, then I don’t think he should be starting a business in the first place. Does that thought occur to you? I’d be lying if I said no. But I think right now that’s far from anyone’s thought.

     

    So this happened April-end, May first week. How many people have joined you from DDB Mudra?

    I’ve lost count. But I think the media is making too much of an issue of it.

     

    Come on, there is an issue.

    There isn’t (laughs).

     

    Okay, but what you’ve started is like a MudraMax, right?

    I think people make that comparison. But I’ve already been there and done MudraMax. I don’t want to create MudraMax 2; that’s not my intention.

     

    Things like content, digital and social is pretty big for us and will become very big, but was never part of MudraMax, nor was branded content or entertainment, sports marketing etc. We’re looking at the businesses very differently and, unfortunately, not very many people are able to actually see a USP. So we’re in this space, and I’ve been in this business long enough, and the one guy who really taught me what the real power of integration is with clients was Ranjan Kapur.

     

    Did you go to him for funding, because he is also a VC in his personal capacity?

    No. Ranjan has always been my boss and mentor. I have the most immense respect for him as an individual, so I did talk to him in his personal capacity.

     

    Given that you are an outdoor-experiential business guru, isn’t that’s going to be your mainstay?

    No, it won’t. We have all the operations right. We have all of the skillsets. So we into out-of-home, rural, events, promotions, trade marketing, retail, shopper, youth marketing, media, branded content etc.

     

    The way I see it, in the next three years, I think retail, sports, branded content are going to be the big players and not the other businesses. Because the big money and opportunity are in those areas. The retail industry is probably five times bigger than the entire communications and advertising business. Sports entertainment is massive. Exhibitions, though we’re not into it, is part and parcel of the experiential and retail business. It’s probably bigger than anyone can imagine.

     

    These are areas that you’ve not typically been specialists in…

    No, but I’m saying that’s the opportunity. At the end of the day, most agencies see themselves as B2B and never B2C; they’re never in direct contact with consumers. I think with the offering that we have, and the use of technology and the ability on great ideation, for me the biggest challenge would be in the B2C area.

     

    So Social Street isn’t going to an outdoor specialist?

    No, outdoor is a medium, as much as digital is a medium. It’s part of a media plan. It never works in isolation. Twenty-five years ago, I brought the specialisation into this country. I created the AOR concept. I started my career with it and I’m very proud of that.

     

    But outdoor is or was 12-15 per cent of DDB Mudra’s revenues?

    It always has been profitable. It was an extremely profitable part of Ogilvy when I was there. I’m not saying that that is not going to be a part of my business, it is. I think what’s important is the positioning in which we go with clients. It’s not that we’re experts in all of those areas. I think the biggest USP for us is that we’re able to string it together with a team that is a combination of excellent creative people within those tiers. Not typical agency people who are making print and TV ads. Everyone’s asking me why I have media in this whole business. I think people don’t realise that media for me is the kind of glue that binds everything together.

     

    Do [clients] take advice from people from a creative consultancy or from a marketing consultancy service like yours?

    Only if you really understand his/her business as well as he does, then are you a trusted partner. You can never do it across clients. You can do it with a select number of may be eight to 10 large clients. But it positions you as far more than just an advertising agency. And the kind of businesses I am, I’m looking at marketing budgets of clients, not advertising budgets. Sometimes marketing budgets are much bigger than advertising.

     

    How did you come up with the name?

    Actually the biggest problem was that no one had ever talked about finding the name of the agency.

     

    Getting Josy and Bobby to help was interesting…

    So I came up with about 150 names, and we were struggling for about 45 days to come up with a name, so names from Wasabi, to Deep End Purple and all floated around like those names, but once Mandeep just went to meet Josy and told him we’re struggling for a name. So Josy asked what are the businesses you’re going to be in. So he rambled off some things and Josy just came with The Social Street within like 10 seconds. If you’re in advertising you try and look at the sexiest names. So the name social in terms of what we do, and also the brand manifesto that we wrote out, it fitted, it was kind of very apt for what we did.

     

    So when was the name finalised?

    About four to five weeks ago.

     

    Moving on, are your partners ready for the vagaries of the business?

    They understand the business. I think a lot of people ask me because the businesses that are in it, are also very spread out. I’m not risking it; I’m not just a digital or advertising agency where, if something goes wrong, I’m screwed. Because I have so many verticals, even if just three or four fire, I’m home on the numbers.

     

    You obviously have a lot of senior people and more will come. When are you getting your creative head?

    I think it’ll be a while before I have a creative head, since I’m not an advertising agency. First of all, I don’t think there’s anyone qualified to be a Creative Director for all of the businesses that I have. So I’m not looking at a typical Chief Creative Officer profile.

     

    So how many clients have you had on Day1? Is the meter running?

    The meter is running, the clock is ticking, the taxi is moving. I would say we have about 15 to 20 clients on board.

     

    One or two names?

    I don’t want to talk about it.

     

    But you will eventually?

    Of course I will. I’ll be releasing saying that streetsmart Social Street wins  creative duties of xxx.

     

    Any targets to yourself? What do you want to achieve?

    I think the role I see — apart from driving business — is to build a strong people-driven agency. A sense of ownership is something that I’m currently driving. I use the word ‘our’ and ‘we’ all the time and every single person that I’ve spoken to I’ve told it’s your agency, our agency.

     

    So numbers purely in terms of business and revenue targets — any ball park figures?

    I will have about 140-150 people by the end of year, or within nine months of operation. We’ve already hired about 50-odd. We’re across three offices, not just one. If I broke even in 14 months, I’ll be a very happy person.

     

    And how much will it take to break even?

    You can ask the question in as many ways you want to ask (laughs). When I moved from Ogilvy to DDB, we made huge investments. With no business, we probably hired about 120 people overnight. We broke even in 12 months.

     

    So do you think you should achieve a Rs 100-200 crore you’re looking at Rs 100 crore in year one or nine months, in billings?

    Yes, billings will be about 250 crore. But billings is not an indication of what your revenue is. However, 250 crores we will definitely do, easily.

     

    It helps being a finance person to run a business?

    It does, at the end of the day numbers bring a lot of happiness because you can invest and go to exotic locations for conferences. You can go to Barbados, you can go to Port of Spain, you can go to Hawaii, you can only do that if you have profits, you can’t do that if you have no money.

     

    One last question: Can you, in 140 characters, tell us what ‘The Social Street’ is all about and how are you different?

    It’s difficult to say it in 140 characters. I believe in brevity, so you need to be able to say it on one slide. But because we are so many different businesses, we’re not just one digital or advertising agency. I think we want to be seen as the best-in-class digitally-driven social agency.

     

    A shorter version of this appeared in dna of brands dated June 29, 2015

     

  • The ex-DDB Mudra COO has teamed up with Mandeep Malhotra, Arjun Reddy & Pradeep Uppalapati

    Pratap Bose, 3 others launch The Social Street, a digitally driven ad conglomerate

    L to R: Mandeep Malhotra, Pratap Bose Pradeep Uppalapati and Arjun Reddy

     

    By A Correspondent

    Former DDB Mudra group Chief Operating Officer Pratap Bose, Outdoor and experiential specialist Mandeep Malhotra, Arjun Reddy an entrepreneur with a diversified portfolio of businesses, and Pradeep Uppalapati, who was a Senior Director and India Lead for Accenture’s Global Corporate Development Team have teamed up to launch ‘The Social Street’, billed as India’s maiden advertising conglomerate.

    Positioned as a digitally driven agency, traditional creative advertising, digital and social media will be added on to the bouquet of offerings by the end of the financial year along with more offices across the country.

     

     

    Brand Manifesto
    Stories start on the street. They are inspired by the lives of consumers and the interesting mindspaces where they intersect with brands.We find, tell and amplify those stories, no matter what form they take. We make sure that they are powerfully rooted in an authentic brand truth or its point of view.

     

    Why? It’s simply because these narratives play well on the streets that matter most to your brand and you.

     

    The ones that people inhabit.

     

    It may be, the literal ones that they walk beside and drive on. Or the virtual highways that they surf. The verbal paths that connect mouths to ears.Sometimes all of the above. These are the streets that make brands social. And very few can help you navigate them as well as we can.

     

    Welcome to The Social Street !

     

    According to communiqué, for now, The Social Street embraces the best in technology processes and systems, across its service offerings which include branded content & entertainment, shopper marketing, media, out-of-home, retail, sports marketing, events and promotions, rural marketing, trade marketing and youth marketing, with operations in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.  The agency will be headquartered in Goregaon in North West Mumbai, within a stone’s throw from the offices of Ogilvy and GroupM.

    Interestingly, creative gurus Josy Paul, Chairman & CCO, BBDO India and Bobby Pawar, Director & CCO, Publicis South Asia have helped with the name and the brand identity respectively.

    The name ‘The Social Street’ springs from the thought that very brand’s story starts on the street. They are inspired by the lives of consumers. They are born on the crossroads, where the lives of consumers meet the purpose of the brand.

    On the launch of The Social Street, Pratap Bose, Managing Director and Chairman said, “Everybody today wants to start something they can call their own. Something they can create from scratch. And thankfully for me, this dream has come true. It’s been a year of hard work and patience, but the fruits of it have started to pay off. This wouldn’t have been possible without Mandeep, Arjun, Pradeep and all the employees who have put their faith and trust in me. Our aim at The Social Street is to find, tell and amplify the stories that are inspired by the lives of consumers and intersect them with brands. We are here to connect the streets that make brands social. And nobody will be able to navigate these streets as well as we can. Here’s to a crazy ride with The Social Street.”

    Said Mandeep Malhotra, who quit DDB Mudra last month: “I am very excited and am looking forward to being a part of this unique agency and hope to build The Social Street into one of the hottest agencies in the years to come ’’

    Added Pradeep Uppalapati: “Social Street is an agency that is capable of addressing the entire suite of client marketing requirements.  It is all about latest technologies and processes to offer our clients nothing but the best.  Our strong and diverse team is fully geared up with fresh and innovative ideas to serve our clients.  I am really looking forward and excited to be working with Pratap and the team.  This will be one of the most exciting journeys of my professional career so far”

    And this is what Arjun Reddy said in a communique: “ I am personally very excited about this venture and looking forward to the exciting times ahead of all of us. I am very confident that we will be creating immense value to our clients in this space”