Clients are always seeking fresh ideas

Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

In as much, 21st century clients recognise that their brands need more diversity, flexibility, local flavour and therefore individual attention that is not possible in a big set-up with a mammoth array of clients needing constant attention. Result is that are increasingly abandoning their inhibitions in approaching individual agencies. “Clients are always seeking fresh ideas and perspective that would work for their brand and they don’t care if they come from an agency that is 20 years old or 2 years old. I think with the way things are going you would see more breakthrough work coming from newer agencies,” avers Ramki. Times of India (ToI), which recently shifted its entire creative account from JWT to start-up Taproot (promoted by Agnello Dias & Santosh Padhi) is one that firmly believes in that logic. Says Rahul Kansal, Brand Director, ToI, “There was no risk in shifting our account to an independent agency. Since we were using only the creative services of Agnello at JWT, it was a natural shift for us.”

Industry insiders believe that getting clients for start-ups run by renowned admen is hardly ever a problem. “Clients connect more with the names than agencies anyway,” they say. As ToI moved with Agnello, the Appy Fizz account moved from Grey to Creativeland Asia with Sajan Raj Kurup. Unlike media agencies, where negotiations and bulk business deals matter more, the creative part of the business is usually personality driven. Consciously or not, most guys who go independent are aware that their intellectual capital is their biggest investment into a new venture and clients will follow, whether or not they flaunt a plush office in a swank business area. In a marked departure from existing trends, Acharya (Cut The Crap) in fact totally did away with the regular office routine for his agency. “We don’t have a brick & mortar office. So the only investment that I have put up is the money for our weekly meetings at the best of places and partying wherever we felt like,” he grins, explaining that the only bit of serious money he invested was on technology (so his team could work from home easily) and membership to relevant archives on the web.


Interestingly, ask these independent creative shops and they are quick to say that the biggest challenge they faced was in swaying big ticket account from established agency (that was up for grabs, they aver), neither was raising funds a problem. The tough nut for them (hilariously) was the routine stuff like finding office space, hiring right talent, et al. As Agnello puts it, “Dealing with things that are not our forte, produced some hiccups. We were bemused with things like legalities, registrations, putting admin in place and all that.”

It is their agility, flexibility, quick reaction time and out-of-box creative thinking that is prompting multinats and large domestic clients to fall hook, line and sinker for independent agencies. But the end results were never pre-mediated. So what prompted these guys to give up their fat salary cheques and take the risk in the first place? Jacob answers that with his usual devil-may-care view: “There’s a risk in everything we do, isn’t there? Even standing under a tree has its own share of risks. The desire to create, build and more importantly, the excitement and challenges that go into building an agency overrides any perceived risk,” he points out.

Agnello is more accommodating. “Our only apprehension was whether we were too spoilt by success and looking a gift horse in the eye by chasing this idealistic notion (of going it alone) that perhaps did not exist in real world. But as we came closer to due date, we felt it was perhaps working in more or less the way we thought it would,” says Agnello. Given that ToI, Mid-Day and more followed suit, bet Agnello still feels spoilt for choice. Not just him, so far, most newly-formed independent agencies are having a dream run at the ad box office. The slowdown induced pressure on marketers to cut costs is also playing a role. While none of the independent guys admit it, fact is that start-up fees are at least 15% lesser than those with an established agency. And with that does not have marketer’s salivating in these troubled times, wonder what will...

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Here’s the perfect Mr. Creative Suit!

He would have been a CA but for a friend who saved him by convincing his mom that he would slash his wrist. Kind fellow!

His twinkling eyes and ready laugh belie the hard-nosed number crunching that the man keeps doing day and night. As Head,Creative and Content for MTV India, Ashish Patil not only ensures that his creative juices keep pouring forth, but he happily shoulders the additional burden of the music channel’s Profit & Loss division too. Just the apt example of what we refer to ‘creative suits’ these days! So even if the creative part of his brain (or his team’s for the matter) churns out the whackiest of ideas, rest assured that the shrewd business side of the brain will do its own sifting, toss the idea over the TRPs grill, before allowing it to hit your TV screens! “I think the future belongs to the creative suits. They are a rare breed,” he says, in an almost self-congratulatory tone.

And he does have reason to congratulate himself! Being both creative and business driven can be a blessing in disguise, both for you and your co-workers. “A really crazy joke that we share at lunch, many times just ends up on air at MTV,” says Patil, giving the example of MTV’s Rakhi Sawant and Rakshabandan special. One day at lunch the topic of Rakhi Sawant came up. Rakshabandan was round the corner and someone joked about Rakhi and ‘bhaiyas’. The result was a popular Rakhi Sawant block on Rakshabandhan and the viewers applauded!

Rendezvous with Semi Girebal, a MTV spoof show of ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’ had similar beginnings. “One day I read an article on Simi Garewal getting a new hair-cut and a big debate on her clothes at some party. It was irritating. I mean, who cares? So we came up with the spoof,” explains Patil. Since Star aired its original show on Sunday at 9.30p.m., the MTV dudes aired the spoof on the same day, same time. Semi Girebaal rated four times the TRPs of the original show. Thinking aloud, a rueful Patil says, “I think we destroyed her career. Her contract never got renewed.” Beginning his career as a copywriter in 1992, Ashish was almost destined to be among the creative types in ad world (or so he thought back then) “but the middle class Maharashtrian phenomena overpowered my family. They told me that I can’t earn a living as a writer as I had to get married.” So Ashish went ahead and got a degree from a B-school. He joined an ad agency again, only this time in a different role as a member of the planning team at SSC&B Lintas. But when Patil got a call from a head hunter to join MTV’s marketing team in 1998, he jumped. “MTV is such a cool brand to work with,” he says.

Life at MTV allowed him to dabble in just about anything he wanted. He handled marketing for a while, before making a lateral switch to content in 2003 to head talent and artist relationship. His typical day then would start at 9p.m. with Pan Parag chewing producers, brandishing gold watches and chain, with flashy cell phones stuck to their ears. “And of course, a gun,” adds Ashish. “Usually the conversations were like ‘Ashishji gaane ka rotation thoda badhana chahiye’ and the moment I would answer in the negative, the gun would be out,” he says with a loud guffaw. Signing off, the fourth member of our occult cracks another joke about his stint with MTV. “I am a part of the furniture here. Every Diwali they move me out, dust me and put me back again...” he grins.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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GHOST RAT

Ghost RAT, is a Trojan horse that acts as a cyber spying computer program. According to a report published by Infowar Monitor (IWM), the malware has been developed and deployed by Chinese operatives of the hacking community GhostNet, and are using it to hack into some of the most sensitive computer networks on Earth. The report titled, ‘Tracking ‘GhostNet’: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network’ has stated that the Trojan till recently had continued to invade and monitor more than a dozen new computers per week. The GhostNet system deploys malware to selected recipients through a computer program attached to stolen emails and addresses, thereby expanding the network by allowing more computers to be infected. It can even turn on the camera and audio-recording functions, enabling monitors to see and hear what goes on in a room. The Trojan horse has allegedly attacked 1,295 machines at NATO and various foreign ministries, embassies, banks and news organisations across the world, as well as computers used by the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exiles.pest

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Ain’t a Virgin, no more?

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Brand: Virgin Mobile
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Outrageous, flamboyant, unconventional... that’s Virgin’s Hatke route to rope in India’s youngistaan. The campaign’s cheeky humour and in-your-face youth focus has allowed Virgin Mobile to make its mark in an already cluttered telecom market. Devoid of any details about tariff plans etc, the campaign is based on the insight that the Indian youth is not a rebel and knows how to maneuver its way out of troubles. Supported by outdoor and internet, the communication blitz has ensured that the brand boasts one of the highest ARPUs in the industry and a growing customer base.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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