Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble…

IIPM, GURGAON

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble…” so sang the Shakespearean Witches of Macbeth. Were they talking of advertising agencies? asks 4Ps B&M’s aditi prasad

They were once comrade-in-arms for a common cause. Today, they are simply up-in-arms – against each other. The bubbling cauldron of client-agency relations in business has overflown and come full circle, from a time when advertising agencies were partners in growth for the client, to them being relegated with a tag of mere script-shops in the 21st century marketing landscape. Worse, the client-agency imbroglio seems to be deepening at a time that Indian creativity is winning accolades globally. Indian advertising romped home with no less than 23 metals - a first! - from the prestigious Cannes Advertising Festival earlier this year. Back home, if winning awards are a matter of much back slapping among agencies, they are simply adding to discontent among clients, who believe that the focus for most agencies has shifted from ‘how do I add more value to my client’s business’; to ‘how do I make better ads and win more awards’.

Sample this: Two months ago, after a 15 year relationship, Oswal Woolens Mills’ flagship brand Monte Carlo showed the exit door to its agency JWT India (incidentally, JWT’s metal tally at the 2008 Cannes was the highest among Indian agencies) and hired rival McCann Erickson instead to handle the Rs.20 crore Monte Carlo creative business. The account review set tongues wagging in the advertising industry. After all, through the years, JWT’s creatives had helped Monte Carlo become the market leader in the woolen wear segment. Some cried foul play; others hung their head in silent resignation, certain that this was just another indicator of skyrocketing client ambitions and their sometimes unreasonable ‘ivory tower’ expectations.

Monte Carlo is not an exception. According to Spatial Access, an India-based media auditing firm, just between January-December 2007, over 485 accounts totaling a billing of approximately Rs.5,493 crore came up for review in the Indian advertising and marketing fraternity, with FMCG brands leading from the front (54 reviews), closely followed by media (53 reviews), real estate (38 reviews) and apparel (26 reviews) players. Clearly, something’s brewing. Of course, some key movements are coming from global realignments (Wigan & Kennedy won the global creative account for Nokia, so their Indian counterpart benefited), but overall the rising break-ups in the fraternity, smack of the inherent suspicion and simmering resentment that has scratched away the surface calm of client-agency relationships.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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