They came, they saw and they most definitely conquered. The indigenous independent (indie) advertising agencies in the country are creating quite a flutter. Indies have been in existence for some time now, but they are hogging the limelight since the last few years, for all the right reasons. The era of indies started as early as 1965 when late Kersy Katrak started MCM ( Mass Communication and Marketing) which had people like Arun Kolatkar, Kiran Nagarkar, Panna Jain, Mohammed Khan, Arun Nanda, Ajit Balakrishnan, Sudarshan Dheer, Uma Da Cunha etc, some of whom eventually went on to create their own independent agencies in the future. In late ?90s, Alok Nanda & Company Communications and Vyas Giannetti Creative were created . 2000 onwards saw D Ramakrishna?s (Ramki) Cartwheel Creative, Raj Kurup?s Creativeland Asia, V Sunil?s A (which is now merged with Wieden+Kennedy), Prashant Godbole and Zarwan Patel?s Ideas@work, Law & Kenneth and Saints & Warriors. The last few years saw another surge of indies with agencies like Taproot India , Scarecrow Communications, Curry-Nation, Metal Communications arriving on the scene. .

There are various types of indie advertising agencies in India. While some are just small boutique set-ups, some are full service advertising agencies. Some have even diversified into digital and design units like Law & Kenneth. There are some low profile agencies which have been consistently doing good work like Network Advertising, Crayons, Triton, ideas@work, Happy Creative Services etc.Then there are hordes of small indies in different cities which mainly handle local clients.

Indies are now breaking a lot of myths which have been associated with them, one of them being that they cannot get big/ multi-national/globally aligned clients. Taproot India snatched Pepsi from JWT, even though it is just the World Cup project for now. Industry insiders say that if Taproot had the size and resources, they would have easily taken over the account completely, so you never know. Creativeland Asia handles numerous Parle brands and won Audi?s business last year. Law & Kenneth bagged Bharti Axa and Renault last year and Metal Communications? first account was Platinum Guild International which it continues to handle. Saints & Warriors managed to bag Skoda last year and also handles Danone.

Not just with the big-ticket clients, Indies have become really hot in the awards circles too. Taproot India was declared the most awarded agency at Cannes last year; Law & Kenneth has been featured this year in Campaign UK?s list of top independent agencies in the world and Creativeland Asia won at Cannes last year and bagged many metals at this year?s Goafest. Last to last year, ideas@work surprised everyone with a number of nominations and awards at Creative Abbys. And these are only a few examples.

The clients seem to be taking more risks now by approaching independent agencies. Some of them are opting out of network agencies completely and some are just testing the waters by awarding a part of their business or a project to the indies. The credentials that indies are bagging in terms of accounts and awards are just helping their case more. Not just clients, advertising professionals are also getting inspired by their peers who have started indies and are doing really well. Priti Nair, who recently started her own agency Curry-Nation, confesses that she was confident of launching her agency after seeing her peers do so well in the independent agency model. More plans are being chalked out as we talk about this. Many advertising professionals are leaving their high profile network agency jobs to launch their own indie babies because of numerous reasons like office politics in network agencies, slow decision making process, pressure of working on scams etc. Even though indies are doing great for themselves, they are smaller in size than network agencies and will not always bag big ticket accounts because of lack of resources. Moreover, the indigenous indies also have to face competition from the the Indian counterparts of international independent agencies like Naked Communications, Strawberry Frog and Wieden+Kennedy. However, the Indian advertising market is evolving and indies are carving their own space, so we will have to wait and watch how this space actually shapes up.

This is a BrandWagon special dedicated to a few of the indigenous indies which have managed to make a lot of noise recently . Some because of their work, some because of their portfolio and some simply because of the people who started them. Have a look at why they were launched in the first place, their early experience, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an indie, according to them and the brands they are dying to work for.

The breakthrough gang

Agency: Metal Communications

Team: Kurien Mathews, chairman and MD; Narayan Kumar, director and creative chief; Probir Dutt, executive director; Ambarish Ray, VP.

When and why: Metal was officially launched on December 4, 2008. Says Kumar, ?Me and Ambarish started with one table. Looking back, I feel that we should have done this 5-6 years back. Me and Kurien were at TBWA for a long time and we used to talk about launching our own agency informally. However, it all happened so simply when the time actually came.? Explaining the reasons behind the launch, he says, ?Kurien and George had come to the end of their deal at TBWA and the new management was supposed to take over and that forced the entire issue. It was a new relationship and given the nature of circumstances, I decided to finally go ahead with this option.? Interestingly, Metal was launched during the economic downturn but according to Kumar that was the best time to start.

Portfolio: Metal?s current client list includes Platinum Guild, Axis Mutual Funds, Staples (launch), Kingfisher Airlines Training Academy, Zoom TV, among others.

The first account won: It was Platinum Guild?s account. ?We won the account based on the relationship we had with the client while at TBWA. It was a nice and different feeling of working on the account from our own agency. Practically, everything was still the same,? reveals Kumar.

Advantages and disadvantages of being independent: Says Kumar, ?You are your own master. If you have garnered experience through years, you owe it to yourself to make it pay for you. You are also doing it for the team which has been loyal to you. In your own agency you get to be ?the man? as you have freedom.? He feels that there is no disadvantage whatsoever.

If you had to advertise your agency, what will be your tagline? ?The Breakthrough Agency?.The agency has a proprietary planning tool called Breakthrough.

Dream brands: The agency would like to work on an automobile brand and cliams to understand the category well.

Statues of liberty

Agency: Scarecrow Communications

Team: Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat, Joy Sengupta and Vivek Suchanti (founding directors).

When and why: The agency was launched on Feb 9, 2010. According to Manish Bhatt, he and Raghu Bhat had the idea of starting something on their own since the time they were in Mccann Erickson. While in Contract Advertising, some networks approached them. ?We created a plethora of choices for ourselves, understood the intricacies of the business during the downturn and were instrumental in handling a lot of business in Contract,? says Bhatt. According to Raghu Bhat, one of the main reasons for starting the agency was that they didn?t want to work for MNCs as they are ?owned by white people.? He says, ?It was like working for the English army but we wanted to be Jhansi ki Rani! ?

Portfolio: The current portfolio includes DNA, Religare Broking, Religare Health Insurance, Future Capital, etc. Some of these accounts are only one time projects.

The first account won: Religare Mcquarie was the first account of Scarecrow.

Advantages and disadvantages of being independent: According to Bhatt, if one has an opinion about advertising, the only way to go forward is being independent. The disadvantage, he says, is that it is not an easy path as aligned accounts don?t come easily. ?Even if you have great work, there will be no global push,? he says. Bhat compares this to an orchestra. He says, ?In a network agency, even after playing the best of music, you have to take an approval. If you are independent, you can play continuously and there is more enjoyment. However, in a network, instruments are provided to you but if you are independent you have to buy these.?

If you had to advertise your agency, what will be your tagline? ? For the creative liberty?

Dream brands: Bhatt says, ?Brands do not matter. Instead of a Harley Davidson, we would be happy with a Bullet. What really matters is clients who want great stuff.?

Pow-wow people

Agency: Law & Kenneth

Team: Praveen Kenneth, co-chairman and MD, Anil Nair, CEO and managing partner, Sandhya Srinivasan, managing partner and chief strategy officer and Anil K Nair-head, Digital Law & Kenneth .

When and why: Law & Kenneth got incorporated in 2002. Anil Nair recalls how, in1992, Indian economy got liberated. ?The real fruits of that historic transformation started to get visible only a decade later. As a result, many Indian corporate houses and entrepreneurs started to dream big. Brands and businesses were given birth on a daily basis. These businesses needed a marketing services partner with the ability to marry world class processes with deep cultural understanding of the buoyant Indian consumer. They wanted someone who could walk with the brand owners than sell some expensive advertising campaign and wash their hands off,? he says. Law & Kenneth was conceived to take on this challenge. From day one the agency had a clear vision – to build iconic brands in the Indian market place and to treat every brand that walks into our fold as our own.

Portfolio: Some of the accounts include Renault, Spencer?s Private Labels, Beverly Hills Polo Club, Music World , Mark Echo, Ladybird , Au Bon Pain, Zydus Cadila, Dabur brands and ITC. The agency has worked on Skoda earlier. The company also has a digital outfit Digital Law & Kenneth and a design outfit, Design Law & Kenneth.

The first account won: NDTV 24 x 7 was the first account that the agency won, in a pitch against eight top agencies.

The first account won: Religare Mcquarie was the first account of Scarecrow. Raghu and Manish had done work for Aegon Religare while they were in Contract and had some equity with the clients.

Advantages and disadvantages of being independent: According to Anil Nair, the biggest advantage is freedom-ability to be the master of our own destiny. ?The disadvantage is that you have to fight against deep pocketed network agencies for any business. They can leverage their huge resource pool to mount a business pitch. For lean organisations like ours constant pitching is a drain of our resources,? he says.

If you had to advertise your agency, what will be your tagline? ? WOW!?

Dream brands: Brand India.

Let?s rock n roll

Agency: Curry-Nation

Team: Priti Nair is the founder of the agency and Nagessh Pannaswami is the director.

When and why: The agency was launched on January 10, 2011. Says Nair, ? I was fed up of other people?s expectations. I wanted my own way of brand building and that is when I decided to launch my own agency.?

Portfolio: The agency currently handles Emami?s three brands- Fast Relief, Hairlife and Lalima.

The first account won: It was all the three above mentioned brands of Emami which were won mainly on the basis of Nair?s relations with the group from the days when she was the NCD at Grey India.

Advantages and disadvantages of being independent: According to Nair, the advantage is that you get to work on your own terms . You don?t have to keep asking for permissions for everything. ?The disadvantage is that it is a huge challenge as the sole responsibility of the agency lies on you and getting clients is also a tough task,? she says.

If you had to advertise your agency, what will be the tagline? ?India Rocks!? Adds Nair, ?It is because I am proud of the country as India has a rich culture and heritage and this inspires us.?

Dream brands: The agency would like to work on Coke as it has huge potential and it is pretty quiet right now, feels Nair. Other brands that Curry-Nation would like to work on are Greenply and Camlin because of Nair?s relationships with those clients. Another brand on the wish-list is Axe as Nair knows the potential of the brand.

No rules please!

Agency: Creativeland Asia

Team: Sajan Raj Kurup, founder & creative chairman, Chetan Desai, CEO New Ventures, Vikram Gaikwad, partner and ECD, Sajiv Kurup, COO, Anu Joseph, ECD, Rruta Naik – head of design and R Venkatraman, creative director

When and why: The agency was launched in June 2007. Says Sajan, ?The four of us started out at a dining table with four Mac machines. We decided to spend a lot of time planning a culture for the agency. We used to give each other a hug before starting our day and then a hug when we had finished.?

Portfolio: CLA?s current portfolio includes Audi India, Frooti, Appy Fizz, LMN, Hippo, JM Financial, Medimix , Cafe Coffee Day (Cafes, Lounges, Corporate), etc.

The first account won: It was the Appy Fizz launch campaign.

Advantages and disadvantages of being independent: According to Sajan, one can take decisions quickly if one is independent. He says, ?We did not inherit anything and have made our own policies. Our agency represents today?s outlook and all our policies are nimble. We don?t have a legacy of rules. The disadvantage is that aligned businesses don?t come easily but we are trying to break that.?

If you had to advertise your agency, what will be your tagline? ? Product of good creative upbringing?

Dream brands: ?We would love to work on every single brand in the world. Whatever brands we get, we would make them dream brands,? adds Sajan.

Growing roots

Agency: TapRoot India

Team: Agnello Dias aka Aggie and Santosh Padhi aka Paddy (co-founders and chief creative officers)

When and why: TapRoot was launched on 14 January, 2009. Aggie wanted to try out something different from being an NCD of some agency. He wanted to see how is life outside global structures and if one can still attract work. According to Paddy, him and Aggie had worked together for quite sometime and both knew each other?s strengths and weaknesses. He says, ?After KV Sridhar and KS Chakravarthy left Leo Burnett, Aggie had a lot of responsibility and I was helping him. I was confused after he left and after a point, we wanted to work together and starting a new agency was one of the options. We eventually decided to go for it as we had clients.?

Portfolio: The agency?s portfolio includes Times of India (Mumbai Mirror, Brand Marketing, Crest), National Geographic, Fox History, Fox group of channels in Hong Kong, Nirma (Project), DSP Blackrock Mutual Funds, Pepsi (World Cup project), UTV -Boolmberg, Bindass, Action, Movies, Corporate (Projects), Conde Nast Corporate, GQ India and Kick Cola in Sri Lanka.Taproot was rated as the number one awarded agency from India by Cannes survey last year and was featured in the top 20 independent agencies in the world list too.

The first account won: : It was The Times of India campaign which was a follow up of the Lead India campaign and thus a ?tough act to follow?. Says Paddy, ?It was based on our relationship with The Times group.?

Advantages and disadvantages of being independent: According to Aggie, the advantages include fast decision taking and implementation as time between thinking and deciding is zero. ?You can?t control the pace at which you are working in a global group but you can when you are working in your own agency as you and the agency are working at same pace,? he says. The disadvantage according to him is that structures and systems have to be put in place which requires more work in the beginning. Paddy feels that one can set a pace/character to the agency of their own. He says, ?Existing agencies have a personality and you can?t change that. However, size is a disadvantage when it comes to clients who blindly put size as one of the criteria to choose an agency. Sometimes, we have to refuse large businesses because of limited resources.?

If you had to advertise your agency, what will be your tagline? ? Down to Earth?

Dream brands: Taproot would like to work on Football world cup, Apple (Corporate) and a Hollywood movie.