Boutique creative agencies have a small, closely-knit team with a perfect understanding of and respect for each other and the client. This allows for a free flow of fearless ideas and a different level of collaboration. For the client, this translates into greater transparency, confidence and results.

There are several boutique agencies that work on big brands. “When a client gets curious about a boutique agency they usually engage the agency on a niche project and slowly increase the volume based on the outcome,” notes Ratheesh Menon, Partner of Kochi-based Popkon Creatives.

This gives both sides a good idea of what to expect and the opportunity to grow the relationship organically, he says in an interview with BusinessLine . “With smaller clients, it’s about helping them grow and growing with them. With big brands, it’s about bringing a fresh approach that gets noticed on a bigger platform.” Excerpts:

Are cost-effectiveness and flexibility alluring enough pitches that small agencies can make?

Nobody hires you for just being cost-effective and flexible. Even if you’re both of these, clients want to see that you’re passionate about their brand and its audience, can do the research, thinking and execution with a flourish, as well as any big agency. If you can’t do that, there is no opportunity. So primarily it’s about the work. We get most of our clients through our work. For great work, clients are willing to pay more or extend deadlines. What can’t be compromised is the quality of work.

How is it that small agencies deal directly with brands and deliver speed in execution?

It’s not a corporate environment at our place where you wait for the boss to come and sign off on everything. We work more like a family internally. We think of our people as people first and “resources” later and there is a genuine affection for everyone and the organisation and the clients. So the work we do reflects that synergy. Speed in execution is also a big benefit of this culture that fosters swift and confident decision making.

Everyone who works on a brand benefits from meeting and hearing from the client directly. They get the big picture, a sense of ownership, understand the value they bring to the client and this somehow makes our work better. Clients know this and love to have the creative team over for the briefing and presentation meetings. For day to day stuff, they prefer the good old account management.

So, do small agencies deliver better creative output and generate refreshing ideas?

We wouldn’t go so far as to say as much. It’s more like today there are different relationships that work at different levels. Big companies have multiple agencies with different mandates for different brands. For the past few years, the trend has been one of small agencies getting noticed for their surprising/refreshing/globally acclaimed work. But big agencies stay in the news too for their work. The difference probably is that sometimes the small agency’s work doesn’t get as much exposure, and if the same work was done for a national or international brand, it would probably be among the best in the world. Also small agencies want to give the client a chance regardless of constraints, take on some challenges and see where it goes. That gives the freedom to do something totally new. Overall, small agencies have a younger, vibrant, ‘let’s do this’ energy and passion that comes from brand ownership. So that reflects in the ideas.

Which are the brands associated best with Popkon?

Alapatt Heritage, Dheshabhimani, Pling Foods and Beverages, Absa, to name a few. We have just started working with Fresh2Home for their all India work, from our office in Kochi. We want to work on some interesting brands from South India and continue creating our magic here before expanding further.

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