The Hindu Business Line : `Everest is an agency that is rock-steady'

After witnessing a series of top-level changes, Everest Integrated Communications, the second DY&R agency in India, recently appointed Prabhakar Mundkur as its CEO. For Mundkur, who was previously Director, Euro RSCG, this is going to be his first stint as an agency head. Having almost 25 years of advertising experience, mostly at JWT, the 50-year-old Mundkur hopes to make Everest one of the top 10 agencies in the country.

However, soon after he took over, Everest lost the Frooti account to Percept Hakuhodo. The agency had made waves some time back with the Digen Verma teaser campaign for Frooti. But the agency's biggest account continues to be the Rs 35-crore Parle G biscuits, an account the agency has held on to since inception. Coming under the DY&R umbrella obviously has its advantages since integrated functions such as direct marketing, media and healthcare will get shared between the two agencies, but the planning functions which till now were centralised will soon get segregated. Mundkur, who has been with the agency only for the past six weeks, believes that a smaller agency gives itself the speed needed to do better creative work.

Mundkur spoke to Catalyst, on what lies ahead at Everest Advertising.

What kind of challenges do you expect to face as CEO of Everest Integrated Communications?

In many ways, Everest is new and reborn. It has changed ownership and is no longer a local agency but a part of the DY&R network. It has new people, new ownership, and it has some of the best people in the industry driving it. It might be perceived to still be the old local agency it was, and perhaps one of the key challenges is to communicate this to people in general and make Everest a more desirable agency.

What are the problems facing the agency presently and what has been restricting its growth?

I don't think it faces any problems currently. It is an agency that is rock steady. All growth for any agency must either come from growth of existing clients or from new clients. The last few years have been tough for the world economy and the advertising industry on a global basis. As a result of the current economic climate, growth from existing clients has been tougher for all agencies. However, I am confident that we will drive growth through new client acquisition.

Being under the WPP umbrella now, does it have any advantages in the Indian market?

Well Y&R is a WPP Group company. Dentsu and Y&R, as you know, formed a partnership in Asia-Pacific. Everest is a DY& R company and perhaps not everyone knows that. Being a part of the network is a definite advantage. For example, we have access to proprietary Y&R tools like the Brand Asset Evaluator. Or, we can access the same knowledgebase through the Y&R Wunderman intranet. We use the same global thinking philosophies and tools.

What about these reports about Dentsu pulling out of your agency? Does it have any truth?

None at all.

What are the various divisions under Everest, and are you looking at any new areas to supplement your mainline advertising?

Everest will continue to do mainline advertising. For the other disciplines, it will work with the other group companies such as Wunderman, Rediff PR, Sudler and Hennessey (our healthcare communications specialist).

What kind of an edge or USP would you say Everest has today compared to other agencies?

Small, lithe and now international. Many clients on our roster have been with us for years. That is a major USP in a day and age where business relationships are getting compressed!

The agency shot into prominence with the Digen Verma campaign some time back. What other (potentially) memorable campaigns have you been working on in the recent past?

I think the Digen Verma campaign aroused the media. I remember even The Times of India had an advertisement on it. Perhaps that is why it became famous.

We have done some very good work lately and I am proud of our showreel. A TVC we did for Panasonic was liked so much by the Asia Pacific client that it is running in other Asian countries as well. The same is true of some commercials we did for Correlle. The commercial is running in some countries in Asia and some in Latin America. This is a matter of great pride to us. Another campaign that has been doing well is the Apollo Tyres `Unstoppable' campaign

What do you think plagues Indian advertising today apart from the downturn it is already facing. Do you observe any significant trends in Indian advertising of late?

I think the downturn has bottomed out, so our industry should settle down. One of the trends I have noticed both globally and in India is that `minimalism' is out both in the arts and in advertising. Niche campaigns for niche targets no longer win awards. The best creative work today is talking to the mass market. The winners at every international or Indian creative award forum are mass-market brands.

We still seem to be plagued by this feeling that we are different — different as people and different as a country. Different because we have so many languages and so on. The Indian mind is constantly looking for differences i.e., Tamil Nadu is different from Punjab. As a result we are insulated from the rest of the world. Somehow, when I read articles in magazines I find that we don't feature either as a part of Asia Pacific or the Middle East. So we are content to be part of what we call South Asia, which only includes Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. That is primarily because, we feel secure as the strongest country in this little region that we have defined for ourselves.

The world on the hand is moving towards `we are one' and constantly looking for similarities. On a long-term basis, only looking for similarities can drive global advertising ideas and therefore economies of scale. As a result we are still a long way from creating work that is universal and can run in any country around the world.

What is your projected billings this year and what is going to be your rate of growth? Has there been a slowdown in the business in the year gone by?

We are projecting billings of about Rs 100 crore this year. In 2002, we remained steady over 2001 billings.

With your wide advertising experience in agencies like JWT and Euro RSCG, what kind of expertise will you bring into Everest? How do you think you will be able to generate more business?

Well I have been a planner and a manager. I set up the planning department for JWT Mumbai in 1991. I was also in charge of both client service and strategic planning at JWT South Africa in 1996. My career has been interspersed with general management and strategic planning jobs and I have handled large multinational clients such as Unilever, Kellogs, and Philips on a regional basis ie, for large geographies such as North East Asia, Greater China or for Africa & Middle East. This has given me a global perspective on several categories that I can share with my clients. I think today's clients would appreciate agency chiefs who can discuss their advertising and give them a strategic perspective on their brands. I can fortunately also give them a global perspective because of my experience. I hope to generate business for Everest because of my reputation as a solid advertising person and Everest's reputation as a good solid agency.

What are the new accounts that you bagged recently?

We are very proud of winning the Apollo Tyres account. We were first awarded their corporate brand and then their range of tyres. We have also won the SKF Bearings business in Bombay. And we are also working to create a new retail diamond brand in India. There are many other pitches, which hopefully will come our way.

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