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Wednesday, 21 August 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
So the idea was to create ‘things’ for brands that would last longer than the usual print or TV ad. THING will integrate brand experiences across a broad spectrum of things they can do. It actually comes from a global platform in which we want to make things which people remember brands which is where the word “thing” came from.
It’s quirky and extremely youthful in its branding. Of course PR is a part of it, because for any brand, stories with the right perspective of what the intent or purpose of that company brand is, is best met through PR. Similarly, if you look at the role of THING and its integration, it will not be conventional or traditional in its approach. It could be activations, installations, anything that could take the brand and its promise out there better than a traditional media form could.
As for Contract, it is already fairly successful and has its own purpose and agencies in a couple of countries. Brands themselves tend to age – the premise is being able to bring a brand back, make it eternally relevant and youthful so it isn’t seen as a dying brand or one’s father’s brand. This process is called ‘unboxing’. Contract is also run by a creative, has its own separate team, and will not be judged by the same parameters as JWT. So if you look at their repertoire of services and brands, Contract aims to compete with JWT as an insulated unit with its own clients.
Q: Would it pose a problem to have these three brands competing?
A: I’ll give you a live example – Contract is a very large brand in India. Each agency has its own category in which to flourish. At some point, companies need to grow, especially when saturation occurs. So while building this business, the idea is to build a second agency network. So if Contract has a client in Sri Lanka who wants to go to India, there is a network in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore or even Bangkok, they have a network to work with.
So as a brand and as a separate business entity, Contract is flourishing. It has a great creative track record and client roster, including big names like Shell, HSBC and Cadbury. The two agencies are separate companies and share nothing. This seemed like the right time to enter the Sri Lankan market as it is experiencing growth and buoyancy, as well as an upswing in the sentiment of the country.
Q: What are the objectives of the three companies?
A: We’re looking at our objectives purely from the clients’ perspective. So as a client, I may choose to work with JWT because I have a certain client business profile which is mainstream and traditional. However, the other two companies have their purpose too, especially when clients need options and need to grow within their own category. JWT for example may be saturated within that particular category.
Q: Have THING and Contract been launched across Southeast Asia? Will they be going global anytime soon?
A: Yes, we’ve launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Bangkok and now Colombo. We’re creating a network. At this point, we have many business reasons why we have identified these particular markets – there must be business reasons as to why we would expand globally.
Q: Sri Lanka, as you know, is a relatively small marketplace. How do the three agencies plan on competing uniquely?
A: My perspective is that Sri Lanka isn’t that small a market – consumers here are like consumers anywhere else in the world. They have needs, they understand brands, they understand the trust around the brands and they understand what brands deliver to the consumer. As a market, Sri Lanka consists of 22 million people – which is not small in comparison even to places like Australia and Singapore.
In terms of the quality and pricing of cars, restaurants and brands, Sri Lanka is on par with the rest of the world. Virtually every category and brand of car is available and in demand here! Is there competition? Yes, but there is space for more agencies in the advertising category as there is for cars or mobile phones.
So where do brands or clients go to work with a good agency that have a good platform and positioning, and where they know they will get sound professional advice? This is the need we are trying to tap into. Thus, I find no market small. While there are giant flagship operations in different pockets of the world, there are also agencies of this size – just about 60 people, which is still maybe three times that of a New Zealand agency.
In advertising, the excitement and passion around doing creative work to help a client or brand arrive at a solution for their marketing issue is what we do. Creativity is the way to articulate business solutions and find ways to protect and promote brands.
Q: Was there a long-term plan to expand the Sri Lankan operation?
A: Yes, there was a long-term operating thought around that. We have two very strong agency brands currently in the market. Brands like The Hyatt and Shangri-La are opening up here, although there are enough hotels in operation. It is because people see opportunities, and around those opportunities, they create ideas. Also it is expected that the business exuberance continues the way it has been.
Q: What would you say are the prevailing marketing trends across the South East Asian region?
A: One thing which is fairly unanimous is digital. It is the new best big thing, and if a company is not digitally savvy, then they lose the race. At this time, people make their purchasing decisions for certain products almost exclusively off the internet. However, they may suffer the same pitfalls that print ads do, such as clutter. But we’re saying that we need to get past this and create ideas which a consumer can engage with on a digital platform.
Digital is just a medium – but what you do within that medium is what defines whether you are successful or not. We believe that in categories like cars, airlines, holidays, telecom, banking and real estate, the fastest way to engage is via this medium. We all have KRAs (key result areas) to fully embrace digital, and build a digital offering for clients so we are a natural extension of what they might be thinking. Because today, irrespective of what you are looking for, the first place you go is online. The other trend is brand experiences and activating a brand. F1, for example, is uniquely used by different categories, such as telecom and banking because it’s just a lifestyle experience you want your brand best associated with. Spots in cricket and football operate in the same way. So these are ideas that last longer than the time it takes to flip a newspaper.
However, the quality of a good TV advertisement, its creativity and proposition can never disappear. Whether it is served via TV or Facebook or YouTube, the quality is still central. The spine of any advertisement or idea is the creative thought, and its articulation could be digital or TV or print.
The analogy that I carry in to the advertising business as to what we do with F1. I view the brand or client as the F1 driver, looking for a solution or looking to win and achieve. Thus, the myriad of skills and capabilities required at the agency to service the client can be likened to the crew in the pitstop, who need to recalibrate and change the tires in a few seconds and get the car back on its way. A client’s ambition and purpose depend on our skills and capabilities to help him achieve it.
Q: How do you feel the Sri Lankan arena of advertising has progressed since you were last here as the local JWT CEO?
A: I’ve seen it in 1998-2000. There a few elements to this. One thing has remained the same – we’ve always had some great, refreshing ideas. And this reflects the passion of the people we hire, who are young, driven and purpose-led, the people who make up our company. Our teams offer a higher level of professionalism and creativity, and can be trusted to take brands to higher grounds. Just as a person would trust a highly-skilled bypass surgeon.
Media costs and buying costs have also not changed much – it is still incredibly cheap to buy space or airtime in comparison to anywhere in the world. While everything else is becoming more expensive for Sri Lankans due to inflation, the media prices have not kept pace. Because at the end of the day, if JWT has to be the most attractive place to work, we need to stay relevant to our own people. This means we have to always pay the best, train the best and do the best for them. But to do all of this, we require a very robust revenue line, and that comes from clients. Because the business we do and the clients we serve are based on the people we hire. And if you want to get the best, you have to pay the best. So that’s an eternal debate – do agencies get paid sufficiently? Or do they not get adequately rewarded despite carrying the responsibilities of large companies on their shoulders?
If you look at the only differentiator in most categories and brands, it is just the marketing. Most products within specific categories these days are virtually homogenous. My wish for Sri Lanka is that media always stays effective, as does our work. But if media was a little more expensive, or clients’ fees were better, we’d be able to employ better people and better serve our clients who will grow and flourish as we do. So it’s a partnership. So in that way, there’s a bit of a lag that needs to catch up. Living is Sri Lanka is not cheap anymore because restaurants, lifestyle and design aesthetics in Colombo have flourished over the past few years.
Q: One of your mantras is “creativity is a marketing tool”. Could you elaborate on it?
A: Well, products become brands and reside in people’s minds. It is your creativity that will last and linger much longer in people’s thoughts. I really believe that what we bring to any dimension is how we can articulate what that is. Our work creates a foundation that continues longer than the campaign itself. The better the agency’s work is, the better we are able to market to a particular audience.
Another one of my personal mantras is that only the busiest have time to spare – I think it’s important to always be available and accessible. Working in the agency space, there’s a certain freedom, independence, empowerment and bonhomie with teammates. I believe our success is only dependant on the people we deal with, so I always have time for them.
