Three in one. These words best sum up what’s Bates David Enterprise, strung together by WPP through mergers over the past three years. DNA Money’s Arcopol Chaudhuri and Nirmal John caught up with the top team of Sonal Dabral, chairman, Bates David Enterprise, India & regional executive creative director, Bates Asia, Subhash Kamath, CEO, Bates David Enterprise, India, and Jeffrey Yu, president, BatesAsia141.
How did the AAAI and the Ad Club truce come about?
Subhash: Well, I am a committee member of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and some of us recently got together and felt that whatever had happened over the past two years was ridiculous. We’re one industry and the split in the middle for whatever reasons was stupid. This year it’s a whole new team and some of us decided to bring the unity back.
They say that the biggest problems happen because conversations do not take place. Even when two events happened, the judges were the same. We spoke to some of the top creative directors and we heard from everyone that let’s just have one award. And let’s respect it and cherish it and encourage people to win it. Moreover, it is good for the youngsters.
The infighting sets a very bad example for youngsters. We are here to inspire. What is the point of subsidising them, taking them all the way to Goa and not inspiring them?
So that’s one award less for your kitty …
Dabral: Well, but we’ll try and win more of it (laughs). But honestly, even sitting outside India, I was disappointed because someone or the other would be boycotting this award and participating in the other.
Bates is seeing a lot of changes. Take us through the plan.
Kamath: Change is inevitable. It began two years ago when we acquired and merged with Enterprise, then also with David, part of the Ogilvy fold, and now we’ve just completed the acquisition of Sercon. It was part of a strategy because we wanted to achieve a certain critical mass and size to be in the big league. And now with Mohd Khan’s imminent retirement, the succession plan was also thought of.
A new era for the agency has begun and I’m sure with Sonal coming in, our creative abilities will get a boost. We’ve grown almost three times in the past two years through mergers and acquisitions. We have 450 people across the country as well as 5 regional offices and 15 satellite offices. We now have advertising, CRM, activation, events, digital, retail, out-of-home (OOH) — all under one roof.
So the acquisition mode is over?
Kamath: I can’t say it’s over. But if we are looking at any acquisitions now, it will be in strategic areas. For example there can be specialists like digital strategists or even design as a separate focus. It is going to be acquisitions for specialised skills. So there may be acquisitions, tie-ups but not necessarily to grow in size. The expansion in terms of size is now over.
Internationally, how is India emerging as a market for Bates?
Yu: There are two important markets in Asia - China and India - and India is one of the most exciting markets for us both in terms of talent and work. India has a good history of advertising and there is a lot of good, mature work that is coming out of this country. In China, this history is not older than 10 years. The good thing is there are Indians who work abroad and they come back to India again. So India is like a model country for the rest of Asia.
You lost Nokia, one of your biggest clients. How do such movements affect you and the brand?
Kamath: Well, yes, Nokia is gone from January. But then accounts come and go, especially when it is a globally aligned business. An organisation has got to be strong not to be dependant on one account. As far as India is concerned, Nokia contributed to less than 8 per cent of our total revenue. I certainly regret Nokia leaving, we have had a very close relationship over the past 10 years and we’ve done some fantastic work. I guess change is inevitable and Nokia had to take a call on a worldwide level. It has been one of our most visible clients. A change like this will certainly affect the brand.
How important are awards for an agency?
Dabral: Fortunately or unfortunately the thing about award shows is that they are the only concrete barometers for an agency’s creative health. They very quickly tell the world about our work and now even clients are taking notice of it. In fact the performance of advertising networks in Cannes, actually affects their share price.
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