You have been associated with Leo Burnett for a long time now. Tell us about your time and experience at the agency through all these years?
‘Chaitra’, as the agency was known then, was started by 14 people and by the time I joined it most of the founders were about the age of 50. So the injection of fresh blood was much needed. Over a period of time, I became the managing director of the company. I decided to bring Leo Burnett on board to prepare the agency for the post liberalization phase, push the limits of creative excellence, acquire the right talent, develop the portfolio and work towards establishing the agency on the world map. The goals were ambitious and I must say that the result has been very satisfying. As an agency leader, I have received tremendous support from my extremely talented colleagues. All this would have never happened without collective effort. The advertising industry and the agency have been a substantial part of my life but I have found time to do the things that I love doing most. I find time to teach at some of the most reputed institutions in the world including Harvard, Columbia, Wharton, etc. Whatever I have learnt during my career, I try to use that to make a difference to the lives of the students whom I teach.
How would you describe the transition that the industry has gone through over the years?
I need to discuss two very important transitions. The first was when photography and color print came into the picture. Creation of an ad depended on the creative use of photography and colors. This was followed by television and stories came to be told with the help of moving pictures. Now everything is changing rapidly. It is due to various reasons, including heavy competition, fast changing technology, advent of social media, etc. In this era, just beaming the message at consumers is not enough. You need to get them involved in the process. Only then you will win business. Only those brands that have been built around people, have significant meaning in their lives, and allow them to participate, will survive.
So what changes have you made to the ways of your agency’s working to be in step with the transition happening in the industry?
These changes are a continuous effort and require acquiring new skills. Over the last couple of years, we have built a very significant activation and events business, we are working towards developing a very significant retail business, our digital business has also shown tremendous promise. But it is also about acquiring new skills set, cultivating a new culture and mastering the trade.
Doesn’t extending your portfolio of services and businesses entails the risk of losing your specialization?
These verticals are fundamentally not new. Although the level of complexity has gone up these skills existed in some or the other form even in those days when the television was newly introduced. Even before we had been bringing people from various specialties and making them work together. But when you bring people from 15 different domains together, the complexity goes up. We need to master this.
Marketers are cutting down ad spends. How are you taking on this challenge and how does the future look like?
Around December 2011, we suddenly went into a period where from everything looking extremely positive things turned gloomy and marketers got nervous. However, I believe that marketers will increase their ad spends in the coming quarters. In fact when the telecom sector was going through a crunch last year, many of our clients upped their spends because the campaigns were delivering results for them.
