‘We’re more like a bespoke agency with a premium offering’

Ayyappan Raj, Co-Founder of The Scriptroom talks, to us about a robust body of work achieved in three years, shifting operations to a writer’s room culture and working on new-age brands catering to millennials.

Between execution and strategy, Ayyappan has embarked on tapping into a large network of writers to create bespoke campaigns for some of the exciting brands of the ever-evolving business landscape.

How is a writer's room format of operations different from boutique agencies? Do you see this structure taking off in advertising in India?

Writers’ room as a concept is basically a model for collaboration, co-creation. Say we are working on an ad or a branded-content project, and we see the work of an independent writer or someone writing for Anurag Kashyap, and we believe that he/she can bring a lot to the table, then we get them on board along with our writers. That’s what it means operationally.

While large, network agencies might have protocol issues on engaging with a resource outside of the system, indie outfits would be able to do without much difficulty.

How did you conceive this structure of operations and how is it advantageous? Also, in terms of size, would you consider yourself a boutique firm or a mid-sized agency?

We get so many writer connects across our Insta and other social media, also a lot of people write to us sharing their work. That was our starting point - the desire to put that network to good use.

Don’t know if we’re small or mid-sized, we’re more like a bespoke agency with a premium offering.

We have seen that a number of campaigns that you have done are a collection of many films. Is this a strategy that you have presented to clients or was it the other way round? Also do you think a series of films for a brand is more effective than a single film hammered continually?

Netflix ‘So, what are you watching campaign?’ had ten 20-second films, and it was a part of our creative strategy. For OYO it was something that Mayur had in mind. The thing is, when we’re doing shorter duration films aimed at IPL it’s important to have more executions. Like Marvel Cinematic Universe, we call our MCU - Multiple Creative Units :).

What we did for PhonePe in last year’s IPL (9 films), or for My11Circle this IPL (12 films) have come out of the same approach. This is something that we had championed across our brands and it has been quite effective.

Your client basket is skewed more towards the new age brands which operate digitally or cater to millennials and GenZ, is this by default or design?

It’s partly both. As in, our offering is only films and we don’t do any static work like outdoor or print ad or digital banners. So, a typical FMCG brand would need creatives to be delivered across the board, starting from key visuals. And it’s natural for them to work with the larger ecosystem of network agencies. That’s one part. And the second part is new-age brands are the ones who are active and buzzing in the market, it’s not just for us.

How has working for digital brands been different from working on more traditional brands in your past experience?

The key thing is to approach brands and clients with no bias or assumptions. And let the task determine the actions/narrative - Britannia NutriChoice encouraging young people to choose a healthy lifestyle is not very different from CoinSwitch wanting youngsters to embrace new technology. Of course the manner in which traditional brands have communicated vis-à-vis digital brands is slightly different, and is continuously evolving.

Another thing that’s happening is that even the traditional brands when they speak through digital, most often adopt a pitch that’s suited for the audience.

What are your business expansion plans and project lineups for the near future?

We are going after two things. One is developing the writers’ room model and bringing good talent on board good projects. Two is we’re developing our first Script Room Original, a web-series that’s in the final stages of completion.

We are gearing up for a bunch of interesting projects to work on and a bunch of interesting people to work with.