• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

R. Ravikumar

CHENNAI, Dec. 31

THE year 2002 was, by and large, an eventful year for almost all advertising agencies. It was an year marked by many top-level changes.

Mr Sunil Gupta quit JWT and joined RK Swamy/BBDO as Chief Operating Officer. Ms Deepa Kakkar, Mr Gupta's colleague at JWT, also joined RK Swamy as Executive National Creative Director. Mr Satyajit Sen quit Mediacom to head Maximize. After Mr Nikhil Nehru resigned from McCann-Erickson, Mr Santosh Desai, National Director (Strategic Planning), was elevated as President.

Agencies fought tooth and nail to land new businesses. In the game, some gained, some lost. Some managed to retain clients. FCB Ulka lost the United Colors of Benetton account to Leo Burnett and bagged ITC's apparel business; and towards the end of the year was reported to have won Honda's power products account.

The opening up of the telecom sector paved the way for a series of product launches. Capital Advertising won LG's CDMA (code division multiple access) handset business. Mudra bagged the Samsung CDMA account. LG's GSM handset business went to Rediffusion DY&R.

TBWA/Anthem landed Adidas account. Fifth Estate gained Mahindra Park. Lowe lost RPG Wings (pre-paid) to Rubecon, while it retained the ColourPlus account. RK Swamy grabbed the Raymond account from Enterprise Nexus and lost confectionery brands Mentos and Marbles of Perfetti to O&M. CavinKare's Fairever and Nyle brands moved from Fountainhead to reach JWT and Euro RSCG.

Overall, it was a tough year for many agencies and not so tough for a few. "For us the year 2002 turned out to be a decent year. We managed to post a two-digit growth during the year," says Mr Srinivasan K. Swamy, Managing Director and CEO of RK Swamy/BBDO.

From Raymond to Sara Lee and IOC to Essar Lottery, RK Swamy seems to have played a comfortable innings. "We, in fact, exceeded our profit target for the year and met our revenue targets with ease," he said. According to him, for any agency, new businesses, on an average, make up only 15-20 per cent of the year's revenue.

"We are hoping for a more comfortable 2003. The new accounts we grabbed during the year would expand our business in 2003. Unless some dramatic developments take place, we hope to post better growth next year."

O&M also is optimistic. "The year 2003 is looking bright for our agency," says Mr R. Krishna Mohan, Executive Director (General Management), O&M Advertising, Chennai.

He also sounded cautious as he went on to say, "... Since more than 50 per cent of our revenue comes in the last quarter of the year (October-December), it all depends on how the year proceeds for our clients. If they decide to move their advertising by even four weeks, it could hit us pretty badly."

"Therefore, we are planning to totally switch from the traditional commission system to a fee-based system. Actually, last year we tried the new fee-based system with one of our major clients, CavinKare Ltd, and were pretty successful," Mr Krishna Mohan said.

"As far as the year 2002 is concerned, despite being a tough one, we managed to hit our target. No major account moved out during the year," he said, adding that, "Our Kodai Eco-Village project is also doing well. We, in fact, expect the Kodai Eco-Village project to be one of our biggest sources of revenue in the year 2003." According to him O&M Chennai will work on a new account - ITC's safety matches - which will move in from its Kolkata branch early next year.

For Mudra, it was an "anxious" year. "We had an anxious time, " says Mr Ashok Vidyasagar, Branch Director, Mudra Communications, Chennai.

"The year 2002 that has gone by has strengthened many people professionally and has also geared people in the industry to face adversity. The important lesson it has taught us is to find smarter means to work and find ways of doing profitable business," he said, adding that "It is no more how hard you work but how smart you work."

"During the year, we managed to gain new accounts such as United India Insurance, Chennai Silks and Kerala Fashion Jewellers. But still, all of us were a bundle of nerves throughout," he said.

According to him the year that has gone by has had its large share of anxieties. "Virtually everyone has been reeling from odd situations quarter after quarter." Personally I saw the year 2002 like a one day match where virtually it was necessary to keep an eye on the asking rate. Financial stringency was the order of the day. It had required high order discipline through the year. We have had our current business intact and also have gained few new businesses in the last year. All in all, it has been a reasonable year. But, of course, with a lot of caution and rigour.

"With this background, we are looking forward to coping with complexity and change with a positive mindset in 2003," he said. "I am positive that rules of 2002 might have to be rewritten in 2003 to make the road motorable."

"We are hoping for a better year."

For Chennai-based Rubecon, the year was not so tough. "I wouldn't say that 2002 was a great year for us," said Mr Alexander Zachariah, Managing Director, Rubecon, adding, "We managed to keep our head above water. We more or less reached our revenue target." He said the agency, as it looks now, is around 15 per cent short of targets. "We grabbed RPG Wings, Sify corporate services, FoodWorld's in-house brands, retailer Witco and some smaller brands during the year."

According to him, the agency has started working on Taj properties' account. "We hope the small accounts that we are working on at present will definitely grow over a period of time," he said. He hopes that 2003 will look up a little. "We are confident that things cannot get any worse," Mr Zachariah said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
Comment on this article to BLFeedback@thehindu.co.in

Stories in this Section
RPG offers free airtime on STD calls

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line