Indian advertisers are increasingly opting for the services of creative hot shops and brand consultancy firms in an effort to stand out. Recognising the sector?s potential, Indian creative boutiques and consultancies in turn are chalking out fresh strategies to woo advertisers in diverse categories.
For instance, Alok Nanda & Company (ANC) is expanding its operations and service offerings, while Scarecrow Communications is scouting for fresh talent to add muscle to its existing manpower.
Another agency ?Creativeland Asia? is planning to expand to markets such as Singapore and Thailand, after consolidating its presence in India. The agency has offices in Mumbai and Kochi.
Other major players in this niche sector, Chlorophyll, Oxygen Communications and Taproot India are beefing up their operations to woo advertisers.
The accent seems to be on ?cost-effective creativity? in the Rs 19,500-crore Indian ad industry. The Pitch Madison Media Advertising Outlook 2010 predicts the advertising pie to be worth Rs 21,145 crore, a 13% rise over 2009.
Alok Nanda, chairman, ANC, said, ?We are putting in place an aggressive growth strategy to handle the influx of new accounts. For us business has been far better than last year.?As creative boutiques and brand consultancies offer personalised attention compared with big agencies, advertisers prefer these smaller outfits, Nanda added: ?Also, they provide creative solutions to grab eyeballs in a cost-effective way.? Strapped with an unusual name Scarecrow Communications entered the creative boutique segment almost six months ago. The agency is already doing brisk business with four clients, which include Religare Macquarie, Shriram Transport Finance, Nutrivita and Jindal Power. ?Mumbai is our base but we have taken up office space in Delhi and Bengaluru as well. We are also scouting for talent in both these places,? said Raghu Palat founder &partner of Scarecrow Communications.
The agency is gearing up to showcase its strong point-ability to generate response to win new clients.
Meanwhile, Creartiveland Asia is scouting for competent professionals to strengthen its creative offerings. ?We are expanding our operations to key global markets. We are looking at European markets and Singapore. We entered this sector three years ago with few people. We now have 62 employees on tour roster. We plan to add more competent professional in the next few months,? said Sajan Raj Kurup, CEO, Creativeland Asia. Kurup added the agency has alliances in Thailand and Bangkok. ?We will be setting up shop in these markets soon. Our clientele includes, Frooti, JM Financial, Hippo and Cafe Coffee Day,? he added.