Entrepreneurship at its best

In a market that has been dominated by global giants, one local agency defies the market structure and has grown to become a recognised powerhouse in advertising. Following are excerpts of an interview with Sri Lanka’s most promising entrepreneurs, Prashanth Supramaniam and Kapila Vidanagame, who are the owners and Joint Managing Directors of the Media Factory group of companies

 

Q: Media Factory started eight years ago as a Media Only agency, but now is a group. Talk us through this journey.

A: Yes, we started nine years ago down Sellamuttu Avenue in a small room with just two laptops and one computer. I remember how dust from the ceiling would fall every time a train passed by. Sheer hard work, dedication and drive has seen us against all odds not just grow and sustain ourselves at very top of the media business, but also seen us grow into one of Sri Lanka’s largest communication groups.

The journey was not easy as with our growth we became the target of our competitors. You see Media Factory was taken very lightly when it launched. But we launched Media Factory knowing we had a product the market could not match. We started with a two million account which was Heinz Ketchup and our success on that opened us out to another account which was five million in annual billing.

Great work on that opened us to a sixty million account and slightly over a year of launching we were over a billion in media billing. A feat never achieved by anyone. It was in between this growth charge that Madison Media, India’s largest independent media agency, aligned with us as a second media buying arm. In doing so, we created as I recall the first of Sri Lanka’s media buying cartels.

What makes this so special is that we had won not only the confidence of global giants who went against their global alignments to align with us, but also some of Sri Lanka’s largest. Overnight we were bigger than most of the multinationals and it is then that they realised how big and powerful Media Factory had become. We now threatened the monopoly of global agencies and had done what no one else ever had. Thus began the fictitious attacks on us and our reputation.

Unperturbed by these distraction tactics, we remained all about the work. We continued to focus on delivering superior consultancy and increasing the gap between us and our competitors. Before too long our clients were encouraging us to diversify. It was a big decision as we were unprepared to diversify into any venture unless we recognised we had a clear USP or advantage. We had become accustomed to winning. Our first diversification was into digital as one of Sri Lanka’s first digital agencies. Success here then saw us diversify into activations, public relations and our very own creative agency. But it is not that we have just opened corridor companies. Each of these companies is performing exceptionally well and as a benchmark against our competitors, outperforming them.

For example, Mobitel’s Facebook page has grown from being the sixth most liked page in the island to the number one page under our watch. Similarly our digital agency is the only agency in the island that we know of that has pitched for regional accounts and won the right to service such accounts from Sri Lanka. Our Activation arm was responsible for organising one of the largest ground activations spanning over 120 towns for the last concluded ICC Cricket World cup. Ten-foot wickets were paraded around the country covering 120 towns mustering support for the local team.

From a tiny four-man operation down Sellamuttu Avenue to a 95+ communication group that is at the very heart of Sri Lanka’s ad industry, we owe everything to the media who supported us when we started, our clients who believed in us and a magical workforce that can only be called extended family.

Q: So what has been the secret to your success?

A: The ability to outthink competition. Be it activations, PR, media or whatever other discipline the only measure of true success as measured by our clients is our ability to outthink our competition and in doing so add to their own competitiveness.

We firmly believe that tools and research that we develop should be done so only to assist our planners in making more informed recommendations and not for the sake of that it is a cool new idea. It is not important how much you analyse, as much as having the right analysis. Ultimately however as Hamel and Prahalad put it in their book, “Competitive advantage does not lie in the analysis of various two by two matrix, but in the imagination and commitment of those involved”. And all our clients know this from the way they operate in their own competitive settings. Tools are great and we invest heavily in developing research because we recognise that it is a key source of advantage, but we do so knowing we have the intellectual pool to use it in a manner that creates an un-replicable and sustainable source of competitive advantage.  

Hamel and Prahalad also talk about commitment in their quote that I just used. That is the driving force behind our success. We have a point to prove and almost everyone in the group subscribes to that. Hence we do it with more commitment and passion. People have tried employing Media Factory staff outside the group. But as soon as you take them outside Media Factory, they do not perform at the same level as they did when they were inside. That is because inside we are bound by a common goal and it works for us.

Finally it is the right people for the job. For example Udaya Tennakoon is one of Sri Lanka’s most awarded creative directors in the island. He is seconded by Rohan Piyadasa and Nalaka Mallawarachi, both well known and experienced Executive Creative Directors. Similarly Prasanga CEO of Media Factory for his analytical skills, Monika CEO Madison for her leadership skills and similarly almost every member in the core team comes together to build a powerful resource of human intellect. Shashi De Silva, COO of Primus, a key SBU within Media Factory, is an MSc in Statistics. Together with Harshana, the two develop Media Factory’s modelling tools and analysis methodologies which give us our unique perspective and differentiation to other agencies.

Put all of this together and you get great customer satisfaction based on results and commitment to work that is taken as personal. That is what most of our clients say about us anyway. Don’t take our word for it. Just ask our clients and I highly doubt you would find one dissatisfied client of the group.  

One last ingredient to the mix. Our ability to continuously stay ahead of other agencies and drive industry change. Prashanth and I ensure we are always a few steps ahead of the market giving us and our clients an advantage over the rest.

Q: Where to from here?

A: The entire group works on the premise of respect. That is gaining the respect of the market as the best communication consultants the island has seen. We still have work to do with our brands in this respect. We recently won our first off-shore creative account and this has given us immense encouragement.

A lot of what is planned is of strategic nature and cannot be openly discussed at this point, but trust that Media Factory group is just beginning to get into second gear and there are exciting times ahead. Both Kapila and I are very focused on what needs to happen and where we are going.