With most of the work that media agencies do getting commoditised, building differentiation is the big challenge today. In the competitive and cutthroat world of advertising, Building great brands is the name of the game.
When it comes to any creative field where talent and skill is the criterion for shining, it matters not whether you are a man or a woman. A star will shine. Priti Nair, co-founder of advertising agency Curry-Nation, is one such star. Her passion for advertising is palpable and her excitement infectious. She literary breathes advertising and wants to evoke the feel of Indian culture in all the work that Curry-Nation does. In an exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Nair, who has been an advertising professional for the past 20 years, shares her views and insights of the ad world.
With competition intensifying, what is it that acts as a big differentiator for advertising agencies today?
I think that advertising agencies are now distinctly being driven by brand building through enormously engaging communication. It’s no longer just about picking up awards or no longer just about bagging business. Getting recognition for the work you do and building truly memorable brands is what makes agencies top of mind.
Still, most work done by media agencies remain commoditised. Is there a way out?
Media touch points have changed. But I feel media planning has not yet taken that parallel leap. It is still quantitatively driven. But with so much media hitting the consumers from all sides and a fight for a share of voice, agencies are turning innovative and taking a more qualitative approach to addressing the needs of clients.
So what will it take and how long will it take for the change to become rooted and established?
I think the momentum for change needs to come from the clients. As long as the whole business is about bigger and bigger bargains, it will remain a numbers game. It is a mispreception to think on the part of clients that driving a hard bargain with agencies is optimizing on a fixed budget. Stretching the buck is no longer about just how many spots the TVC is about and where and when and how they appear. There can be greater brand recall even if the spots appear lesser number of times.
Consolidation seems to be the new buzzword in the industry and Omnicom’s majority stake in Mudra is the latest example of this trend.How do you think will it affect the dynamics of the industry?
I think that consolidation will lead to media agencies getting better deals and squeezing more efficiencies out of their operations. However, there’s also the possibility of the qualitative aspect getting relegated. The fallout of consolidation has led to media agencies and creative agencies getting separated. That may not work out to the advantage of the industry because in today’s world integration is what we hugely need in order to find new and innovative ways of delivering communication. Thanks to the information available today, it is becoming easier for agencies to stitch and integrate a media plan into communication at the initial stage itself. Something magical can come out when the two entities work hand in glove.
Do you think that the challenge for faster execution for media planners is taking the attention away from ROI and leading to wasteful spending?
The challenge in not just for media agencies, it’s equally challenging for creative agencies to come up with communication that breaks the information overload barrier. It’s becoming more and more difficult to gauge your ROI with the bombardment of media on the consumer from all sides.
How different is online branding from the viewpoint of a creative person as compared to working with a conventional medium?
Online is a very different world. And it is the medium increasingly taking hold of the world. It’s open, impatient and active. You need to breathe the medium to know what makes it tick. It depends on technology to back ideas but when you know what technology is available it can truly get you some breakthrough stuff. The thing with that medium is a new technology or a new app gets launched almost everyday somewhere in the world that surprises you at what is possible. One needs to be experimental and open to taking the risk. Unlike conventional mediums, where you keep telling consumers you need me (i.e your product and its benefits), good online or digital branding comes from understanding what the consumer really needs and wants.
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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When it comes to any creative field where talent and skill is the criterion for shining, it matters not whether you are a man or a woman. A star will shine. Priti Nair, co-founder of advertising agency Curry-Nation, is one such star. Her passion for advertising is palpable and her excitement infectious. She literary breathes advertising and wants to evoke the feel of Indian culture in all the work that Curry-Nation does. In an exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Nair, who has been an advertising professional for the past 20 years, shares her views and insights of the ad world.
With competition intensifying, what is it that acts as a big differentiator for advertising agencies today?
I think that advertising agencies are now distinctly being driven by brand building through enormously engaging communication. It’s no longer just about picking up awards or no longer just about bagging business. Getting recognition for the work you do and building truly memorable brands is what makes agencies top of mind.
Still, most work done by media agencies remain commoditised. Is there a way out?
Media touch points have changed. But I feel media planning has not yet taken that parallel leap. It is still quantitatively driven. But with so much media hitting the consumers from all sides and a fight for a share of voice, agencies are turning innovative and taking a more qualitative approach to addressing the needs of clients.
So what will it take and how long will it take for the change to become rooted and established?
I think the momentum for change needs to come from the clients. As long as the whole business is about bigger and bigger bargains, it will remain a numbers game. It is a mispreception to think on the part of clients that driving a hard bargain with agencies is optimizing on a fixed budget. Stretching the buck is no longer about just how many spots the TVC is about and where and when and how they appear. There can be greater brand recall even if the spots appear lesser number of times.
Consolidation seems to be the new buzzword in the industry and Omnicom’s majority stake in Mudra is the latest example of this trend.How do you think will it affect the dynamics of the industry?
I think that consolidation will lead to media agencies getting better deals and squeezing more efficiencies out of their operations. However, there’s also the possibility of the qualitative aspect getting relegated. The fallout of consolidation has led to media agencies and creative agencies getting separated. That may not work out to the advantage of the industry because in today’s world integration is what we hugely need in order to find new and innovative ways of delivering communication. Thanks to the information available today, it is becoming easier for agencies to stitch and integrate a media plan into communication at the initial stage itself. Something magical can come out when the two entities work hand in glove.
Do you think that the challenge for faster execution for media planners is taking the attention away from ROI and leading to wasteful spending?
The challenge in not just for media agencies, it’s equally challenging for creative agencies to come up with communication that breaks the information overload barrier. It’s becoming more and more difficult to gauge your ROI with the bombardment of media on the consumer from all sides.
How different is online branding from the viewpoint of a creative person as compared to working with a conventional medium?
Online is a very different world. And it is the medium increasingly taking hold of the world. It’s open, impatient and active. You need to breathe the medium to know what makes it tick. It depends on technology to back ideas but when you know what technology is available it can truly get you some breakthrough stuff. The thing with that medium is a new technology or a new app gets launched almost everyday somewhere in the world that surprises you at what is possible. One needs to be experimental and open to taking the risk. Unlike conventional mediums, where you keep telling consumers you need me (i.e your product and its benefits), good online or digital branding comes from understanding what the consumer really needs and wants.
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies
IIPM Contact Info
IIPM History
IIPM Think Tank
IIPM Infrastructure
IIPM Info
IIPM: Selection Process
IIPM: Research and Publications
IIPM MBA Institute India
