Ask the doctor with Sandeep Goyal!
Are you a young professional looking for some expert advice? exchange4media will find you first-hand solutions from Sandeep Goyal, Vice Chairman of The Mogae Group. Please write to us at interact@exchange4media.com
Dear Mr Goyal,
I read your bio-data on the net. You are from Chandigarh. I am also running a small advertisement company there handling local clients including bank branches and government organisations. I started this business 12 years ago. Today, with a staff of 12 people we have turnover of Rs 1 crore. I want my agency to partner with a national or an international agency to handle regional requirements of bigger clients in north India. But I don’t have contacts in big agencies. I have written earlier to agencies like JWT and Lintas but without success. I even came to Mumbai looking for same but didn't make any headway. Please help.
Akhil Gupta
Dear Akhil,
You are doing well by Chandigarh standards. A Rs 1 crore turnover in Chandigarh is commendable.
The experience of large agencies in Chandigarh has not been very good. Both JWT and Mudra had offices there back in the 1990s. In fact, the current JWT CEO Tarun Rai was the Branch Manager there, if I remember correctly. There are really no large local clients. In the 90s, Ludhiana with Hero, Vardhaman and Oswal and Amrit Banaspati and Bakeman’s from Rajpura/Patiala attracted the agencies there. But Delhi is so close that all these clients preferred to be serviced ex-Delhi because of better talent and resources. So trying to partner an agency of national standing for Chandigarh looks difficult as there is not enough business justification.
To grow, your best bet is local retail and government clients. Retailers like Kapsons, Talwar Jewellers and Frontier Bazar seem to spend reasonable amounts. Try to win those kinds of businesses. Verka, the local milk brand, spends good money too. Get them.
Chandigarh and the region around don’t have any large national brand headquartered there. Even Punjab-based companies like Nestle, GSK, Hero and Bharti run their advertising from Delhi.
I can’t unfortunately offer much help.
Dear Mr Goyal,
Is it better to work with a reputed company and then start out on your own after becoming an established expert? Or is it better to branch out on your own early and struggle to build a business?
Friend
Dear Friend,
The first option is the safer route. Working for a reputed company gives you not just good quality experience and exposure but also boosts your self-confidence. A large company helps you build outreach and contacts which come in handy when you turn entrepreneur. The larger platform invariably offers rotation to different domains and geographies too. All this helps when you build your own business. Last but not the least, the name of a leading first employer on your CV remains a life-long stamp of goodness. For instance, if you have the good fortune to work at HUL it provides a greater advantage later. HUL alumni are in high positions all over corporate India and they do help fellow alumni wherever possible.
Dear Mr Goyal,
I am 55 years old. Can you really help me in finding a suitable opening in a good ad agency or TV channel? I have been in advertising for more than 32 years. For the last 10 years, I have either been out of job or paid low because of intense competition. I have worked earlier in agencies of repute like Mudra, Contract and Adfactors but now I cannot find anything suitable despite making all kinds of compromises. I know age is a problem but I feel the attitude of the industry is a bigger issue. I want to get a job which I can do with respect for five years at least till I retire.
Your help will be of big advantage.
Phillip A.
Dear Phillip,
I can empathise with your situation. Finding a job in advertising or media when you are on the wrong side of fifty is not easy. There are so many young people. It is tough out there, but not impossible.
You have not mentioned in your mail whether you are from creative, client servicing or media.
If you are from the creative domain, you may want to look beyond an ad agency. Today, there are a number of opportunities with content creators outside of the advertising business. In fact, there is a serious dearth of writers for creation of sponsored content. You could approach companies like Outbrain and Taboola who are keen to hire writers for their native ads business which is growing at a rapid pace. Your experience in advertising should come in handy and useful. There is also need for good writers in video content creation. That business is booming and hungry for talent. Expand your search to these kinds of businesses.
If you are from client servicing, you should target some of the younger start-ups. Contrary to the belief that such organisations only hire youngsters, start-ups actually seek grey hair and experience. But before you approach any of these new-age businesses, please lighten up your CV. Make it crisp, competitive and relevant. Get rid of unnecessary details and listings that make you look and feel old. You don’t have to hide your years. But it is important to portray your experience in the right light. List out categories and domains you may have worked on which may be similar to the start-ups you are applying to. Include short case studies of relevant brands. And before you meet the promoters, spend time researching them and knowing more about their business, including examples of similar stuff overseas.
If you are from the media stream, I would suggest some re-skilling. There are excellent Coursera self-learning social media courses available on the net from Universities of Yale, Stanford and Harvard, among others. I would strongly recommend the digital marketing courses from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or the media marketing ones from Northwestern University. Almost all of these are free. But they require dedication and concentration. If done well, they can yield very good results. I have a friend with a profile similar to yours who has re-learnt the media business on Coursera and today works for one of the biggest digital firms. In fact, a good understanding of digital media can open up opportunities in companies like Google and Facebook on one end, and the likes of Flipkart and Amazon on the other.
Let your current circumstances not weigh you down. Acquiring new skills and looking for opportunities beyond the confines of just the advertising business will surely help you. Get on to LinkedIn and create an account. Fraternize with others on LinkedIn. Opportunities will open up.
Be healthy. Keep your chin up.
All the best.
I read your bio-data on the net. You are from Chandigarh. I am also running a small advertisement company there handling local clients including bank branches and government organisations. I started this business 12 years ago. Today, with a staff of 12 people we have turnover of Rs 1 crore. I want my agency to partner with a national or an international agency to handle regional requirements of bigger clients in north India. But I don’t have contacts in big agencies. I have written earlier to agencies like JWT and Lintas but without success. I even came to Mumbai looking for same but didn't make any headway. Please help.
Akhil Gupta
Dear Akhil,
You are doing well by Chandigarh standards. A Rs 1 crore turnover in Chandigarh is commendable.
The experience of large agencies in Chandigarh has not been very good. Both JWT and Mudra had offices there back in the 1990s. In fact, the current JWT CEO Tarun Rai was the Branch Manager there, if I remember correctly. There are really no large local clients. In the 90s, Ludhiana with Hero, Vardhaman and Oswal and Amrit Banaspati and Bakeman’s from Rajpura/Patiala attracted the agencies there. But Delhi is so close that all these clients preferred to be serviced ex-Delhi because of better talent and resources. So trying to partner an agency of national standing for Chandigarh looks difficult as there is not enough business justification.
To grow, your best bet is local retail and government clients. Retailers like Kapsons, Talwar Jewellers and Frontier Bazar seem to spend reasonable amounts. Try to win those kinds of businesses. Verka, the local milk brand, spends good money too. Get them.
Chandigarh and the region around don’t have any large national brand headquartered there. Even Punjab-based companies like Nestle, GSK, Hero and Bharti run their advertising from Delhi.
I can’t unfortunately offer much help.
Dear Mr Goyal,
Is it better to work with a reputed company and then start out on your own after becoming an established expert? Or is it better to branch out on your own early and struggle to build a business?
Friend
Dear Friend,
The first option is the safer route. Working for a reputed company gives you not just good quality experience and exposure but also boosts your self-confidence. A large company helps you build outreach and contacts which come in handy when you turn entrepreneur. The larger platform invariably offers rotation to different domains and geographies too. All this helps when you build your own business. Last but not the least, the name of a leading first employer on your CV remains a life-long stamp of goodness. For instance, if you have the good fortune to work at HUL it provides a greater advantage later. HUL alumni are in high positions all over corporate India and they do help fellow alumni wherever possible.
Dear Mr Goyal,
I am 55 years old. Can you really help me in finding a suitable opening in a good ad agency or TV channel? I have been in advertising for more than 32 years. For the last 10 years, I have either been out of job or paid low because of intense competition. I have worked earlier in agencies of repute like Mudra, Contract and Adfactors but now I cannot find anything suitable despite making all kinds of compromises. I know age is a problem but I feel the attitude of the industry is a bigger issue. I want to get a job which I can do with respect for five years at least till I retire.
Your help will be of big advantage.
Phillip A.
Dear Phillip,
I can empathise with your situation. Finding a job in advertising or media when you are on the wrong side of fifty is not easy. There are so many young people. It is tough out there, but not impossible.
You have not mentioned in your mail whether you are from creative, client servicing or media.
If you are from the creative domain, you may want to look beyond an ad agency. Today, there are a number of opportunities with content creators outside of the advertising business. In fact, there is a serious dearth of writers for creation of sponsored content. You could approach companies like Outbrain and Taboola who are keen to hire writers for their native ads business which is growing at a rapid pace. Your experience in advertising should come in handy and useful. There is also need for good writers in video content creation. That business is booming and hungry for talent. Expand your search to these kinds of businesses.
If you are from client servicing, you should target some of the younger start-ups. Contrary to the belief that such organisations only hire youngsters, start-ups actually seek grey hair and experience. But before you approach any of these new-age businesses, please lighten up your CV. Make it crisp, competitive and relevant. Get rid of unnecessary details and listings that make you look and feel old. You don’t have to hide your years. But it is important to portray your experience in the right light. List out categories and domains you may have worked on which may be similar to the start-ups you are applying to. Include short case studies of relevant brands. And before you meet the promoters, spend time researching them and knowing more about their business, including examples of similar stuff overseas.
If you are from the media stream, I would suggest some re-skilling. There are excellent Coursera self-learning social media courses available on the net from Universities of Yale, Stanford and Harvard, among others. I would strongly recommend the digital marketing courses from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or the media marketing ones from Northwestern University. Almost all of these are free. But they require dedication and concentration. If done well, they can yield very good results. I have a friend with a profile similar to yours who has re-learnt the media business on Coursera and today works for one of the biggest digital firms. In fact, a good understanding of digital media can open up opportunities in companies like Google and Facebook on one end, and the likes of Flipkart and Amazon on the other.
Let your current circumstances not weigh you down. Acquiring new skills and looking for opportunities beyond the confines of just the advertising business will surely help you. Get on to LinkedIn and create an account. Fraternize with others on LinkedIn. Opportunities will open up.
Be healthy. Keep your chin up.
All the best.
