When Sam Balsara convinced advertising genius Trevor Beattie around two months back to bring Beattie, McGuinness, Bungay (BMB)?the creative hotshop he had set up with partners Andrew McGuinness and Bill Bungay?to India via a partnership with Madison World, it was literally a scoop for this veteran of the Indian advertising industry. With one smart move, Balsara had propelled Madison World into the big league.
Madison World, the largest homegrown diversified communication group owned by Balsara, is recognized as a razor-sharp media entity but on the creative front, it has been somewhat of a non-entity. This is despite the fact that the group?s traditional advertising business is as old as the group itself, that is, 22 years. And once upon a time it worked for large clients such as Proctor & Gamble, Godrej, Philips and others. Therefore, to compete with global communication networks such as WPP, IPG, Omnicom and Publicis, Madison had to build a strong creative business. At the same time, given the level of competition in the Indian advertising industry because of creative biggies like Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, Lowe Lintas, McCann Erickson, it would have been a time consuming proposal for Madison to float a new creative agency and then try and build it. The other route could have been a quick acquisition of an advertising agency in India but that would have meant huge investments. Therefore, Madison needed a smart strategy and what it did could be tagged as one. It got into a 50:50 joint venture with BMB and floated a new agency called BMB India.
?For a long time now we have been exploring various options to beef up our creative offering. I believe, we have found the right partner in BMB and am sure that we will now be able to offer clients a formidable product in the creative and full service area of advertising. With this initiative, we have filled an important gap in Madison World offering across all communication functions,? says Balsara, chairman and managing director, Madison World.
At present, the gross billing of Madison World is Rs 2500 crore. And majority of this is contributed by the media business. Some of the largest clients of Madison include Airtel, Asian Paints, Blue Star, Britannia, Cadbury, Cafe Coffee Day, Coca-Cola, Essel Group, General Motors, Leela Hotels, Marico, McDonalds, Mother Dairy, Proctor & Gamble, Tata Tea, Tata AIG, Godrej Group and TVS. Therefore there is a huge opportunity for BMB India to grow its business.
?There are opportunities across sectors right from fast moving consumers goods (FMCG) to telecom to realty to many others. And the beauty is the opportunities come from both large as well as medium size clients since there are so many medium-sized clients who are now keen on advertising and are seeking advertising services from professional agencies,? says Prabha Prabhu, the new CEO of BMB India.
The partnership also makes things easier for BMB. The UK-based agency needed a foothold in the Indian market but this was easier said than done because the industry is already crowded with the best of global brands and a clutch of very nimble, smart, small boutique agencies are also here. The tie-up with Madison gives BMB the needed headstart and a ready list of clients that Madison has built over the years. BMB India, as a unit of Madison World, immediately gets access to the clients of mc2 ? Madison World’s traditional advertising business?and can aim to get the other clients of Madison onboard.
?Entering the Indian market has never been easy and that fact led us directly to seek the support and partnership of Sam and Madison World. It would be assumptive to the point of madness to think that we could stroll into a market as complex, subtle and fluid as India on our own and expect to make it. With the experience, local insight and star-power of Sam at our side, I believe we have a better chance than most,? admits Beattie.
BMB globally handles clients like Carling Beer, Samsung, ING Direct, Thomson, Diageo, McCain Foods, Cobra, The Independent, Yorkshire Tea, Christian Aid, Virgin Galectic, Virgin Money, Gossad, Pretty Polly, Savlon, Ikea and others. But in India, the advertising and marketing duties of many of these companies are handled by different advertising agencies. Therefore it would have been extremely challenging for Beattie to launch BMB in India on its own and make it profitable.
So what is it that clients can look forward to? Beattie says, ?We?ll be applying our straightforward system of using creativity to solve business problems, which in London has led us to creating everything from the interior design of the new Boeing Dreamliner, through writing a potato chip-themed stage musical for McCain Foods to producing a Bafta award-winning movie and a digital pint of beer. Oh, and some adverts too. Whatever it takes. Produced with as much flair as we can, and tapping directly into the human condition. Which, luckily for us, knows no nationality.?
Beattie was the man behind the eye-popping ?Hello Boys? Wonderbra ads of the nineties. One of BMB?s latest works is the ??i? is, are you?? outdoor campaign for UK daily The Independent?s bite-sized spin-off ?i? which launched last month.The agency says its core belief is to offer creativity to solve business tasks. Also, BMB?s creative work is not seen as humourous or emotional only. ?Different brands require different kinds of advertising. I have been hearing big clients say that they see two kinds of agencies, one which provides advertising that is very creative but does not have a strategic backbone. The other is very logical and analytical and strategy driven whose output is low on creativity. What most brands want is the creative leap on the foundation of a strong and solid strategy. And that is what BMB is,? says Prabhu.
But she also says that Madison BMB is not trying to achieve the scale and size of the media business. ?Our objective is to deliver a good creative product. And that is why we partnered with BMB which is known for its creative reputation. For Madison World, the media business will remain the star business.?
One of Beattie?s best-known works is the FCUK or the French Connection campaign. The British retail chain does not have any advertising agency in India and insiders disclose that the India division is mandated to use the creative done out of London. But the existing clients of mc2, which has now been merged with BMB India, is ecstatic about the formation of the new agency.
Anita Varma, associate vice-president, programming, Sri Adhikari Brothers, says, ?Sri Adhikari Brothers and Madison?s (creative) association goes back a long way. In the recent Mastiii television channel campaign, the agency gave Mastiii the impetus it needed amidst its desired target audience. It managed to visualise and create a campaign that bolstered Mastiii?s brand positioning and identity across a diverse populace. Mastiii has consistently managed to lead the ratings graphs and this superlative performance is also a result of the efforts put in by Madison into establishing the brand image.?
VVF, that owns brands like JO, Doy Care and Bacter Shield soaps and shampoos, is also one of the oldest clients of mc2. Pankaj Shukla, vice-president, sales and marketing, VVF, says, ?Madison creative has been working on our national brands JO and Doy. With their strong creative inputs Doy is a strong niche brand. Madison Creative worked with us on creative development on hygiene soap Bacter Shield and JO Shampoo. As BMB India, creativity will further add to their core strength and bring international perspective.?
But despite this gung-ho spirit and the presence of star owners Sam Balsara and Trevor Beattie, there are several challenges ahead. A senior advertising veteran who did not want to be named says, ?Sam Balsara is known as an aggressive businessman as well. So while he will put his best foot forward to build BMB India, the agency will have to deliver some great work in order to win new businesses, especially the blue-chip clients of Madison World. For smaller businesses, BMB India will also face tough competition from new agencies in India such as Naked Communications, Wieden+Kennedy or homegrown agencies such as Taproot India, Creativeland Asia or Scarecrow Communications.?
While UK-based Naked Communications entered the Indian market in 2007, Wieden+ Kennedy of Oregon, US, debuted earlier this year, and the two global boutique shops are expected to give tough competition to BMB. But Beattie is unfazed about this. He adds, ?I relish the fact that several international agencies have chosen to set up shop in India recently. I?d view them more as pathfinders and colleagues rather than rivals. We have a shared goal and we?re going for it together.?
?India has an almost unique combination of a high growth, high creativity market. So obviously India would be in the list of everyone who is in expansion mode. BMB was set up in 2005 in London. After growing the London office, opening the New York office and after becoming the agency of the year in 2008, the time was right for entering a high potential market like India,? agrees Prabhu. ?I believe for a new set-up, momentum is key. We need to win a few accounts quickly and showcase BMB?s standard of creativity and the rest will follow. We have the equity of Trevor and the solidity of Madison. We need to capitalise on that. If done intelligently it is an achievable task.?
Already, the new agency has got a new account?She sanitary napkins?and is working with the existing clients of mc2. The list of mc2 clients includes Future Group?s One Mobile, Neelkanth Realty, Surya Cement, Brother Printers, Doy Care and many others.
?We?ve already met several prospective new clients in Mumbai and Delhi and all share the same burning enthusiasm for the future which, to be honest is sometimes missing in the UK market,? says Beattie. Beattie is upbeat about the future and not worried about the challenges. ?With the experience, local insight and star-power of Sam (Sam Balsara) at our side, I believe we have a better chance than most.? And in true Trevor Beattie style, he says, ? India is the future. And I?d like BMB to be a part of that future by help making it happen. Fingers crossed, I?ll be flying to space with Sir Richard Branson next year on Virgin Galactic. I can confidently predict that within a decade, India will return mankind to the moon! Yes, you?ll beat China in the race! There?s an optimism in India which is starting to match that of JFK?s 1960s America.?