“An upcoming ad agency’s big strength is local touch”

Advertising has a bright future in the country and sticking to some basic rules can help any agency survive and grow with the industry. Along with being innovative, focussed and competent, aspiring agencies need to use their disadvantage as their advantage, making it a reason to put in extra effort.

“An agency will grow only when its clients grow. If the client grows, its budget will grow and prospective clients see this and come to your agency,” said Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison Communications.

He pointed out that agencies should develop a strong organisation that performs efficiently without much personal involvement of the entrepreneur, creating an upward management.

In the milieu of the current economic scenario, Balsara said that aspiring agencies need to spend very conservatively, thus saving money in case of a ‘real crisis’. He added that one has to be patient to survive in the industry. Success does not come overnight and thus agencies need to be focussed and perceptive.

Indian entrepreneurs still shy away from the prospect of advertising their products or services and thus as a part of the advertising fraternity, one has to burst myths regarding advertising for their clients.

Balsara explained that businesses still look at advertising as something very expensive and only for big companies. Bursting these myths can open a lot of closed doors for aspiring agencies and their clients.

While Balsara discussed survival and growth tactics, Bharat Kapadia of ideas@bharatkapadia.com encouraged aspiring agencies to get ready for the future. According to Kapadia, the major strength of an upcoming advertising agency is the local touch that it has. A lot of clients who operate only in certain parts of the city always prefer working with small agencies for they have a better understanding of the local area and the opportunities and threats that can come up. Having better resources at their disposal, ‘not so big advertising agencies’ have the benefit of giving personalised services to local clients.

Kapadia emphasised on identifying opportunities for the client instead of identifying the clients’ needs. One has to go on field, research and analyse to look out for opportunities and give their clients specialised results. Playing the role of a knowledge bank, an agency should aim to gain the clients’ trust by delivering the best.

In bid to explain the role of new media in the growth of ‘not so big advertising agencies’ Punitha Arumugam, Director – Agency Business, Google India said, “Through digital, the size of the audience you reach is much larger.”

Arumugam stressed that new media is an aid to traditional media and not its replacement. While a number of entrepreneurs look at it as an extra element, new media has to be used as a tool to maintain fluidity.

According to her, agencies need to target change leaders and think continuously. Aspiring agencies can use technology to re-evaluate the existing offline matrix and use it for online purposes. With the ever evolving industry, agencies need to adapt fast and learn to co-exist.

The industry leaders were sharing their views at a conclave focussed on ‘not so big advertising agencies’ organised by Free Press Journal.