Close - Up: "Most clients like the safety net of the large agency"

I was studying law and training to be a company secretary. For pocket money, I was selling electronic typewriters. Meanwhile, my younger brother Dalbir had just joined HTA as an art director and seemed to have a fairly cool life. He’d bring work home and I (like about 100% of people anywhere) would look at the copy and think, "Hey, I can do better." Encouraged, I managed to write a couple of copy tests and was offered my first job by Swapan Seth and Nirvik Singh at the mighty Trikaya Grey.

Could you tell us about the other agencies you've worked at in your career and what you enjoyed (and hated) about them?

I’ve always maintained that advertising is not a job. It’s a way of life. Once that is clear, you do not hate anything about it (you do crib from time to time though). Where else can you work your posterior off on a Sunday and go for a beer on a Monday afternoon? And not come back to office?

Trikaya will always be special as I began there. We’d write 750 words for everything (barring visiting cards). The headline set in 12 points used to leave a lot of space for body copy, you see.

Contract was one of the best places you could work at. Equus was a wonderful start-up experience. Nothing can replace the experience of working with Suhel Seth. Swapan was a great teacher.

Ulka (now FCB) is perhaps the most underrated large agency we have in India. It has built some of the strongest brands in this country. I met some outstanding young talent at Leo Burnett, many of whom worked with me later at Ogilvy too. Ogilvy was my longest stint before Euro. Many, outside of Ogilvy, think of it as just a creative place. But some of the best account management people I worked with were to be found there. And planners.

What was the shift to Euro like from O&M, culturally and work-wise?

I was judging Integrated at Abbys this year. The only agency that truly does it on major brands with finesse is Ogilvy. Big work on big clients. Consistently.

So when you quit Ogilvy and go anywhere I guess that’s the first major difference you find. Also, when you work at the largest, most creative agency, you take a lot for granted.

Euro RSCG, to that end, gave me the thrills of a startup. Cliches like clean slate and blank canvas immediately come to mind. Suman Srivastava was a great boss. We approached it like an indie. I built a team from scratch. Have we established our 'culture?' I guess that's a bit like love. It happens on its own. We have built a happy, competitive work environment.

How has the experience at Euro been in close to 6 years? What is stopping Euro from becoming a creative powerhouse?

Six years? It’s been that long already? Come to think of it, I now qualify for gratuity for the first time in my career (I was a consultant with Ogilvy).

Seriously, it tells you that the last six years have been very engaging, engrossing and rewarding. We’ve more than doubled the size of the agency. And we’ve done that on the back of some solid work that worked for our clients. It has helped us pile on some very good organic growth numbers apart from new business wins.

I think our reality is better than our perception. And that’s because we have so far believed in keeping a low profile. We have generally shied away from speaking about our work. Both Sushant and Shavon believe in strong creative at the core of an agency's offering. Our immediate task now is to build Mumbai into a flagship office.

As someone who's pretty active on Twitter, would you consider yourself to have a handle on new media? How do you feel about the importance of digital in India right now?

Twitter is a bit like driving in our cities. It teaches you to swear. There are people out there (that includes yours truly) who are swearing at everything: cricket, football, Congress, BJP, The Royal Wedding, men, women, Sonia, Modi, advertising, Monday, Obama, Osama, Twitter too. Everyone is an expert.

Years ago, they said print is dying. Then, it was TV whose end was nigh. Evangelists of every new medium begin by condemning existing ones.

In politics, it’s called the anti-incumbency.

Digital is a very important part of the mix. It gives you what no other medium can: instant interactivity. Most digital efforts today use it merely as a broadcast medium. You shoot a commercial and run it on the web for free. That has to change.

Use digital to engage and interact and have a dialogue. If you don’t handle it carefully, it can kill your message within hours. Bad news travels faster on the net.

The digital opportunities in India will explode the moment 3G becomes stable. Tablets and cheap smartphones will be the catalyst.

How important are awards to you, and how would you want to improve Euro's performance at award shows?

Advertising awards are as important to us as are Oscars to filmmakers and Grammys to musicians. Admittedly, we’ve been on the fringes, flirting with a few nominations here and a few finalists there, with some metal thrown in here and there. So far, my efforts have been to ensure that our average work is way above average.

We have also been able to resist the temptation to carpet-bomb shows with purely proactive work. It’s not difficult as agency after agency shows.

We do a fraction of that too, hehe.

We’ve seen some agencies leaving with a lot of metal from Goa only to create rank passable stuff for clients throughout the year.

At the same time, we do not believe in boycotting events. So we’ve been sending as many people as we can to Goafest, for instance. Even at the cost of entry fees, if I might add quickly.

You mentioned in an interview that the most exciting thing on the Indian horizon is the independent creative agency. As a network agency, is Euro threatened by them at a pitch? And would you ever consider opening one yourself?

Indeed, over the last few weeks, we’ve been in direct pitches against indies a couple of times. We won comfortably.

The traditional ad agency has been slipping down the ladder on the hierarchy of clients’ software suppliers.

Agencies no longer plan or buy media. Many clients are going elsewhere for strategy too. I feel that independent creative agencies couldn’t have come at a better time. These agencies bring the focus back to creativity. That’s all they offer. Ideas.

That’s all the clients need. Ideas.

It is still difficult for them though. Most clients would like the safety net that large agencies provide (and, why not). So there will be a shakeout. Many of these pioneering creative people will return to bigger agencies. Some will sell out. But there will be some who’ll establish the W+Ks, the CPBs, the Arnolds, the Mothers of India. It has just begun.

Just last month, over the second large vodka-tonic, I asked Piyush why he never thought of one. That would have been the mother of all independent creative agencies.

I’m hoping one day Balki and Prasun will start something.

Me? Abhi toh main jawaan hoon. I have unfinished work. At Euro, we offer the agility of an indie and the safety net of a large agency. And that’s the main attraction for me.

THE WORK

Voltas A critically acclaimed film. Sales shot up and the brand moved up several notches.

 

BuddhismHint We did an incredible amount of Incredible!ndia work. Here's one.

 

 

Cobra Two films for Cobra Sparkling Water (wink wink). The positioning was a beer that was very smooth. So smooth that we decided it would help you swallow almost anything.

 

Chivas Quite like this one that I did at Ogilvy. Another ‘free’ and ‘extra’ ad.

 

Dainik Bhaskar Perhaps the first one to call for a youth revolution long before it became fashionable and certainly much before the Tahrir Square. From Mumbai office. Someone called it the best use of Dhoni.

 

Bank of Baroda One of the best uses of a billboard that you'll see. For Bank of Baroda's home extension loans. From our Mumbai office.

Max New York Life This one from Euro Delhi was all over the first IPL. Everyone's seen it.

 

Cancer Patients Aid Association Every agency creates campaigns for Cancer Patients Aid Association. So did we. This campaign from Mumbai office makes a very strong point.

 

HDFC Bank Another from the HDFC Bank campaign.

 

HDFC Bank If you're not aware of the power of compounding, this one from Euro Mumbai for HDFC Bank should help.

 

Harpic This one for Harpic drain opener found a bit of favour with judges at shows. Created out of our Delhi office.

Max New York Life This one's from the Delhi office. It ranked amongst everyone's top list for the year.