Agencies, stand up for your rights: Bob Kuperman

It is time for the Indian advertising agencies to reflect on the problems that are currently being faced by their American counterparts, as the same problems seem imminent in India.

Speaking at the ‘Impact’ One-on-One in Delhi, Bob Kuperman, Vice Chair-man, DDB New York, spoke about the problems plaguing agencies in the US so that the Indian advertising industry could steer clear of the same. Kuperman highlighted the various challenges that currently confront agencies in the US so that Indian counterparts could brace themselves when they were faced with similar situations.

Delving into the reasons, Kuperman said that the challenges, which the industry faced, were due to the dependence on an economic order for the business that basically no longer works. The 15 per cent regime is no longer an existing practice in the US (and hardly holds true in India) — media buying and media specialisation have only compounded the complexity of revenue generation.

Elaborating on the kinds of challenges affecting the advertising industry, Kuperman said, “Low margins, low compensation from clients and also a general lack of appreciation from the clients of the value of work from their agencies contribute a lot.” He stated that they are big factors influencing the profitability of the advertising industry in America.

Kuperman felt that the biggest problem, though, was that clients were questioning the value of what the agencies provided and the inability to arrive at a suitable compensation formula. According to Kuperman, there are four key factors that have led to this questioning by the clients — all of them self-inflicted. These were: the loss of the entrepreneur; misunderstanding of the definition of partnerships; the giving away of ideas; and, finally, being everything to everybody.

While speaking on the various factors, which have contributed to this problem of being questioned by the clients on the value of what agencies delivered, Kuperman highlighted the “loss of entrepreneurship”. This “loss of entrepreneurship”, he believes, has led to the weakening of advertising agencies in general. Kuperman illustrated, “When I look around in the business and the people in it; think about the people who used to be in it; and the people who are in it now, I get concerned as I don’t see (around me) any future Bill Bernbachs and Leo Burnetts.” Elaborating on the roles played by these legends, he pointed out that they positively affected not only the agency they worked for but added value to the industry itself — and to some degree to the society as a whole.

Kuperman said, “When these people were running their agencies, the agency had a real distinctive quality with top to top relationship with their clients. They were all risk takers, willing to face challenges. Loss of this characteristic has led to a fall in the quality …..

To read the entire story, grab your copy of Impact Marketing, Advertising and Media Weekly magazine issue dated April 11-17, 2005