Agencies who thought of digital before others are in a better position: Unny Radhakrishnan

It is certainly not an easy task to steer one of the strongest digital agencies amidst several levels of lockdowns, especially when you joined the system just before the catastrophe struck, but Digitas CEO Unny Radhakrishan makes it sound like a pretty simple job. The man, who joined Publicis Groupe’s digital agency in March last year, a few days before the nationwide lockdown, recently got on a call with exchange4media.com and talked about his year-long journey with the agency and his future plans.

Edited excerpts follow

One year at Digitas

Radhakrishnan took the reins of Digitas from the hands of Amaresh Godbole in March last year, when the latter made a move to Google after a two-year-stint with the agency, with two decades of experience within the digital marketing, consulting and technology industries. He re-entered the world of digital marketing after a sabbatical of two years, during which he  did theatre training and studied public policy, along with a few consulting assignments.

Speaking about getting back to the agency world, Radhakrishnan said, “It has, indeed, been a great experience -- barring a few difficulties we faced because of the pandemic and lockdown -- because I inherited Digitas in a good position. The transition wasn’t a big challenge because, luckily, I got to meet the senior management and team members before the lockdown hit and it was easy to get working from home because I was accustomed to it for the past few years.”

He added that the teams’ support during the lockdown and the network’s agility in making resources and counselling, be it professional or mental, to all the people made the bumps and hiccups smooth out.

The highs and the lows

Speaking about the highs and lows of his one year spent at Digitas, Radhakrishnan proudly mentioned a slew of work they managed to pull off both within the creative and technical space.

“Each project was a new high for us; be it our creative work for Oreo, WeWork, boAt, and Good Knight, or the technical advancements we could make possible for clients in the automobile, consumer electronics, consumer goods, etc. sectors. I am really proud of how we could solve tangible business problems using digitisation. And then the awards and recognition that followed really strengthen our belief in the fact that we are doing something good,” he said.

Digitas helped a number of automobile brands in strengthening their online booking system during the lockdown period, developed an app-based CRM solution for a big cement brand that helped it connect with resellers, builders, plumbers, etc, and improved technical capabilities for several consumer electronics makers during the past one year, helping them make a move online when it was most necessary.

Talking about the lows, he noted, “If I talk about lows, obviously not being able to meet people personally, not being able to celebrate our wins with the teams, not being able to huddle together in front of the whiteboard or do casual water-cooler conversations really impacted everyone in the team a lot. And then obviously the barrage of sad and depressing news we heard over the years; it was a very difficult time.”

Vision Ahead

Radhakrishnan is quite positive about the future of the agency and industry at large and is looking forward to driving business solutions for brands that are embracing the digital era.

Highlighting his vision for the future, he told, “I feel, we at Digitas are in a very unique position as an agency. I say this because we are not just extending creative and media support, but are also using technology to solve business problems. We are capable of developing technology, providing CRM solutions, and basically connect dots when it comes to consumer journey both online and offline. And this makes us the perfect partner for the brands of the future who are going to work in a highly ‘platform-ised’ world. And we want to continue doing just that.”

He added, “I think the biggest affirmation that came our way was when one of the clients who we are pitching for right now, told us that they came to us because ‘we are not like other agencies.’ Which means, the industry is seeing and recognising our efforts.”

Radhakrishnan concluded by mentioning that agencies who thought of digital before others are in a relatively better position now than those who joined the wagon later on. “And we are rightly placed, I feel. Also, what helps us stand apart is that we are not interested in just completing projects. We want to deliver holistic solutions for our clients. We are the ones who ask them questions before taking up any project. We will ask them what their marketing goals are, what are their views about their own brands and the campaigns, how they are structured, how involved their sales and technology teams are with each other, etc. It gives us a better understanding of their business and helps us churn out more relatable and reliable solutions. That’s exactly how we envision our future to be like.”