He is CK Prahlad?s batch mate, a gold medalist from IIM and one of the living legends of the Indian advertising industry. Diwan Arun Nanda, founder, chairman and managing director of Rediffusion Y&R and Everest Brand Solutions started his career selling soaps to shopkeepers in Rajasthan?s villages before setting up his own ad agency. In an interview with FE?s Pritha Mitra Dasgupta, Nanda talks about Rediffusion?s metamorphosis into one of India?s best communications hotshops, the future of the Indian advertising industry and his favourite subject ? political advertising. Edited excerpts:
What are some of the significant changes you have witnessed over the last 35 years?
I think, change number one that I have seen happening to the industry is the falling of standards. I have seen the falling of values and I can see the falling of passion. All these dimensions have fallen from what they were 25 years ago in this industry.
Second, I think there is a major change I find in ownership. There was a time when communication people and advertising agency believed strongly that they own the brand. I find that has declined substantially. And it?s become a short term revenue growth model, which is a pity. I don?t think the two should be divorced.
Third, the advertising individual 15-20 years ago when he entered the business had a great passion for building a brand. I hear today more and more ?will the client buy the work?, ?is it safe?. If this is the way you start thinking then you will not make great stuff. Then you will only take a brief and make it into a headline.
Another change I see in the industry is, in those days advertising people were treated with great respect by the client community. Their marketing chiefs, company CEOs, felt that the advertising agency would add value to their business. They would bring in ideas that would help the brand. I am not sure if that respect is as strong as it used to be. I find more today of a supplier-manufacturer type interaction between the client and the agency. And more and more clients see ad agencies as TV ad film makers.
Tell us about some of the weaknesses of the group?
About weaknesses, I think to some extent the company has lost the risk taking ability. Any campaign is always a risk. There is no guarantee of success. It is always backing your judgment and instinct.
Tell us about three changes that you would like in Rediffusion.
One, I would like to see far more international people working rather than just Indians working in Indian agencies.
Second, I would like to see much more cross working between the agency and the client. I don?t mean interaction. I mean an agency guy to the client organisation for a year and vice versa, and then going back. Just to know what everything on the ground is all about and not just theoretical stuff.
And the third thing I really would like to do here would be to force people, specially the servicing and the creative people, to spend some time every year out of the office in small town India. Get out of the air-conditioned work space. Spend a week, two weeks, in small places. Not just to see outlets and how things are bought and sold but to live in some small town homes and understand their psyche. I started my career that way. I joined Hindustan Levers (now Hindustan Unilevers) on 1 June, and on 5 June I was in Rajasthan in the heat. I was given soaps and was asked to go to the villages and sell it to the shopkeepers. I did it for over a year and a half. What you learn there will never be forgotten.
What are your plans for Everest Brand Solutions and Sudler & Hennessey? Do you think healthcare advertising has seen the kind of growth that was anticipated?
Everest needs to be a cutting-edge creative mecca of advertising. It does not need to scale up. I would be happiest if Everest becomes the one agency from where every creative that comes out, people say ?wow?. They are working towards that. What happens these days in case of a television ad is that nobody knows where it is from because there is no key. But they are doing some really interesting work especially for Parle biscuits.
As far as Suddler & Hennessey is concerned, to some extent, yes, healthcare advertising in India has not happened at all. Will it happen? In most parts of the world for Suddler & Hennessey which is a specialist healthcare agency it is happening. And they are working with some very interesting projects like Dr Reddy?s, etc. I think clients are beginning to get it. But it?s taking longer than I thought it would.
You are one of the forerunners in political advertising. What changes do you see in political advertising now?
Times are not different for political advertising. People are different. Leaders are different. Seeing it from the outside, today?s political advertising campaigns are like instant popcorn. There is a general election coming. You believe, as a party, that you need to get some mileage. So you get hold of a set of agencies and in 2-3 months or even less, you get a ?swayamvar?, a parade, some people give you some ideas, you select and you go ? instant popcorn.
When we were planning for the 1985 campaign which came forward to 1984 December, we started work two years before. We read every single political statement, we analysed every single general and state election done from 1952, we read every research report of minority voting, religious voting mannerisms ? everything. It was continuous work. We were doing research every quarter, quarter on quarter.
Second, the communications that come out look the same whether it?s BJP or Congress. You have the party leader?s picture big and bold with beautiful colours and they say the same things. It looks like a manifesto. Where are the issues? In the 1984 or the 1989 campaign there was only one ad with Rajiv Gandhi?s picture in it. All the pieces of communication did not even have his photograph. It was not accidental, it was by design.