Aiming for revenue growth of over 20%, the Indian subsidiary of the world’s largest brand and design specialist group Landor & Fitch is building up its armoury in the country to be able to rethink brand experiences for the digitally savvy customer. Lulu Raghavan, managing director, Landor & Fitch India, which counts the Tata Group, Mahindra Group and Aditya Birla Group among its clients, tells Akanksha Nagar why the fear of failure is the biggest enemy of a brand and how speed is fast becoming a core strength for agency brands. Edited excerpts:
You said during Goafest 2023 that vulnerability can be a big strength for brands…
Vulnerability is open to being attacked, in the simplest sense. It is an act of openness with the possibility of criticism, failure, and some harm. And creativity is the ultimate act of vulnerability — ideas are fresh, and through ideas, a brand is putting a bit of itself out there, without knowing how it will be received. Yet, I don’t think brands are doing that enough. The construction of brands was very much about perfection, it was a cathedral that one was building, and the job of brand managers was to polish that cathedral.
But that construct has been shattered. Now brands have to be fluid and agile. They have been so scared of doing anything wrong from the fear of being heavily trolled for it that they have practically bubble-wrapped themselves.
Having said that, the need of the hour is to be much more open, and willing to take risks when it comes to creating new things; keep trying, and even if things go wrong, say sorry and move on. Originality is truly the name of the game, and that can be difficult. Brands have to join the conversation and understand the zeitgeist, and the zeitgeist now is one of vulnerability.
Also, creativity and business are not at odds with each other. At the end of the day, business is essential, and one is in business to make money. If a brand can be original in a way that adds value to the consumer, and makes the experience more joyful — there’s a lot more relatability in that.
How has the global economic slowdown affected the business of design?
In terms of clientele overall, we aim to grow in double digits (this year), over the last year. The global economic tailwinds are pushing us forward; while many countries are struggling, India has buoyancy. That apart, our industry is underpenetrated, and not a mature market for design, so the potential is limitless. We also like to think that it is recession-proof. No matter what is happening in the economy, we are very fundamental to how a business goes to market, and so it should be in the category of essential spends and not a nice-to-have or indulgence. In difficult economic conditions, brands have to stand out even more, and if they don’t have money to spend on advertising, their experience has to be unique to create that positive word of mouth.
Therefore, one needs to consider how design can be a tool. So, if the agency doesn’t grow by 20%-30% this year (in terms of revenue growth) over the last, we’re not doing a good job.
What would be the enablers to achieve that growth?
Design of experience, across omnichannel touchpoints, is definitely one of them. For example, we recently worked with Tata Clique Palette to launch their brand end-to-end, starting from brand strategy, the name, the visual identity, the design of the app, and then the design of the soon-to-be- launched store.
The second avenue is using the brand as a catalyst for cultural transformation. And a huge part of transformation, change, and rebranding is bringing new people along. So our whole practice around people and culture and helping clients align the brand with culture is a big growth piece. Third is brand performance. Increasingly, clients want certainty in decision-making, so they want to push the boundaries of originality and creativity, but they want to understand the impact.
We have sophisticated research methodologies to allow clients to understand what would be the impact of originality in brand positioning and purpose, experience design, packaging design, and space design. Also, we believe the potential of sound is massive. We recently acquired a company called amp, which is one of LA’s most experienced sound agencies. We, as an agency, are thinking very holistically about a brand. The brand was about the logo many moons ago, but now it’s much more about how you make the consumer feel and sound can create emotion in a wonderful way because while the visual landscape is cluttered, the sound landscape of brands is not.
Do Indian clients appreciate the role design has to play in building up a brand?
I believe, in the evolution of aesthetics in our country, we still have a long way to go. Simplicity or genuinely solving a problem, not just design for design’s sake. We’re still looking for cutting-edge design that’s a business enhancer. Also, sometimes design gets lost in the big world of advertising and media. The role of design is just a part of it, and it needs to be given the attention that it deserves. We need to understand design as much broader than graphic design, and we have a long way to go to see world-class works.