The Hindu Business Line : Beyond the sun, sand and surf

Looking ahead: From left: J Bakshi (Contract), P Joshi (McCann Erickson), V Sakhuja, (GroupM), A Sharma (Leo Burnett), K.V.Sridhar (Leo Burnett) (6th from right), Sam Balsara (Madison) (8th from right); M Kamath (Mudra) & Shantakumar (Saatchi & Saatchi)

Vinay Kamath
Divya Trivedi

It’s a day before the advertising conclave that precedes the ad industry’s Goafest is to begin. The site of the fest, on a beach at Cavelossim, Salcette in Goa, looks like a huge construction spot with workers swarming over yards of plywo od, cloth and tent material. Jagdip Bakshi, CEO of Contract Advertising and Chairman of Goafest 2008, and Madhukar Kamath, Chairman of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), which is the prime mover behind the fest, are on tenterhooks as they work their way around the site running over the hundreds of little things that have to be in place in double quick time. But up the ad village will be for a smashing start to the third edition of the ad festival with a panel of top international speakers addressing an estimated 3,000 delegates, a good chunk of whom were found parasailing, on a water scooter, or churning up the sand in a game of beach volleyball. Some were indulging in an Ayurvedic massage or a rain dance while others were just plain “chilling out” with a beer in hand and contemplating the ceaseless waves. That’s the idea, adds Bakshi with a smile. After the serious stuff, where one debated where the industry was headed, one needed to have some serious fun.

But before the fun began, there was all the serious business lined up with seeking value as the theme of the ad conclave. D. Shivakumar, Managing Director of Nokia India, the largest multinational company in India, kicked off the session. ‘What is the value advertisers expect from their creative/media agencies’ – this was debated threadbare over the next few hours. Shivakumar, who had earlier worked with HUL, the country’s largest advertiser, outlined the contours of an impending media revolution via the mobile phone. By 2010, he said, India would have 500 million subscribers of mobile phones. Breaking up this statistic, he said of this 60 million would have video capabilities, 10 million music, 200 million radio, 250 million camera capabilities while 250 million will have Net connections. Having said that, Shivakumar posed the dramatic question to an audience comprising several agency heads: “Are media planners even thinking about this?” Touching upon the theme of expectations, he had some advice for agency heads – be true to the brand, not to the client, be an active partner in addressing brand issues and be accountable for the brand. Clients, in turn, said Shivakumar, have to be clear with their brief, listen to the agencies and also appreciate their efforts.

After several debates between clients and agencies, the ad industry gathering looked forward to a session with Kiran Karnik and Saurabh Shrivastav of Nasscom. They were all ears when Karnik spoke passionately about what the role of an industry body should be in creating value for the ad industry – as Nasscom had done for software. Karnik likened the ad industry to software as both were service providers but the comparisons ended there. He said the growth benchmarks should not be the number of people employed or the size of the company, but the level of inclusiveness in the sector. “You should ask yourself whether the small to the big to the MNCs have a presence and are doing well for themselves or not. Set up a 10-year plan with a road-map and not just targets,” he exhorted the industry.

This session was preceded by some animated debate on the true value of creative between V. Shantakumar, Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi and Harit Nagpal, Vodafone Essar’s Chief Marketing Officer, with R. Balakrishnan, (Balki) Chairman, Lowe India, pitching in as well. Shantakumar was vehement when he said that if advertising agencies start behaving like commodities, then they will always lack the respect and position they deserve, referring to the bargaining that goes on in the industry. However, Balki interjected to say that the industry is paid for an idea and as the industry itself does not value its own ideas, the problem arises.

The Goafest’s main auditorium was a large hangar-like air-conditioned structure– bang on the beach; a little forward and the delegates would have had waves lapping their feet! With a bar open next door, and delegates just outside having a go at parasailing and water scooters, it however, did not detract from an array of international speakers giving their views on what’s cutting edge from the international advertising sphere. Kevin Swanepoel, President, The One Club, was emphatic that the Internet has become the core medium for communication and a focal point of advertising campaigns around the world. “In fact, it is the only medium with a high accountability factor,” he added.

A point endorsed by Scott Goodson, CEO of Strawberryfrog, an innovative creative agency, too. “The traditional industry in the US is hanging together by bandage and scotch tape. Money is pouring into the Internet away from traditional media like television.” Even Jon Wilkins, founding partner of Naked, an agency, emphasised that the tipping point in India too will come as people are ready to embrace digital technology and communicate through it.

There were other industry heavies too who spoke. Stephen Gatfield, CEO, Lowe Worldwide, wanted the industry to put standards in place. “You want a standard in place for the Indian industry. Research systems, technologies should be co-developed. The Indian mobile phone scene in the ad space has really taken off, and you cannot say now that the country lacks in technology. It is fast catching up,” he said.

Ogilvy & Mather and McCann Erickson were the only two Indian agencies to have found a slot in the top 50 agencies ranked in the Gunn Report. Donald Gunn, in his presentation, said India was seen as an emerging space for media and communications and it had great ideas to carry it through. Craig Davis, Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide, JWT, felt the quality of thinking and execution had improved in the Indian ad space. “There are great ideas here and I believe India should not emulate anyone but bank on its Indianness to carry it through.” He does not, he explained, believe in surrounding people with the 360-degree approach and JWT would never do that. “We believe in targeting the right people at the right time and place. Sometimes, you will see that it will only be a 17 degree approach,” he said.

Last year, JWT regained some of its lost ground in agency rankings and it was gained by focusing on certain key points. The agency followed a three-fold strategy of work, reputation and growth, with work as its core focus in all discussions. “We do some right things, some wrong things. What has happened is that we have consciously started doing more of the right things now. It takes a few years to build a solid base and the results show eventually.”

Post the fun and games, beer and beach binges and whispers of controversies of scam ads at the fest, the Goafest’s Chairman, Jagdip Bakshi, is one relieved man. For him one of the main takeaways is to try and create a strong industry body, like Nasscom is today. “If you have to get serious about the business, you need an impartial CEO who has as much authority as an agency head; we have to put a structure now to intend,” he explained to BrandLine. The other learning for ad agencies, said Bakshi, is that the industry has to “unlock value” whether it is through the digital space or through categories that don’t advertise at all now. There are other learnings as well, such as the need to frame rules more stringently for the awards.

JWT’s CEO, Colvyn Harris, upbeat about the agency’s creative haul, says, “If you compare it to Cannes, the Goafest is more relevant to our industry as you’re truly amongst peers.” Seeing the overall work on display at the Goafest, Harris said one can see that Indian art direction and creativity has made huge strides. “Earlier, if you saw, our work was more Indian. But, now it is becoming more international in techniques, looks, feel and texture. I see the young film-makers especially pushing the envelope. The reference for them is no longer India but the world. Even our chief creative officer, Craig Davis, says that some of our creative talent is good enough to take back to London!”

So, as the surf, sand and dust settle down on this year’s Goafest, it would be fit to recount what the top creative director of a national ad agency had to tell BrandLine at one of the networking parties: “Why all this breastbeating about value. If a client sees value in your work, he sees it, without us having to talk about it or beat our chests!” Period.