BACK TO THE FUTURE?

It’s not the king of India’s advertising jungle yet, but this Leo is loving the slowdown. Why? Well, no one’s trying to poach their key people, that’s why!

“It’s a mistake to change your existing strategy because of a downturn. A better thing is to sharpen your existing strategy,” exclaims Arvind Sharma, MD, Leo Burnett (India). And it is this strategy, Sharma says, which has helped Leo Burnett grow by 10% even in a tough environment. At a time when most marketers are trimming their ad budgets or expecting their agencies to deliver more for less, Sharma is glad that his agency’s clients (except financial and tourism clients) are doing relatively well. Of course, he is quick to take some credit for it. “Our brands like Mazaa have been growing at 50% and Thums Up is an undisputed number one in its segment.”

So, while news about loss of accounts and retrenchments are hogging most agencies, market watchers believe that Leo Burnett has been bearing the slowdown storm quite well. Not only have they not lost a single account, they have also bagged new accounts, including Tata Capitals, HPCL and Samsung Touch phones.

So, was it possible to achieve this with no real change? Says Arvind, “The change was brought by the environment. For three years’ preceding the slowdown, our best people were getting an offer a month. That has now stopped. So our best people have been able to focus on our clients’ businesses. It is a joy to see what a difference a little focus can make.” But since that would have been true for most agencies, what makes Leo Burnett’s dream run special? We asked Rajeev Sharma, National Brand Planning Director, Leo Burnett (India) and here’s his take: “First, our senior-most people have always been closely involved in our client’s businesses. Secondly, we’ve always had a culture of proactive consumer contact and interface by our planners. It’s not uncommon even for our senior management to actually meet consumers. And now even clients are realising the importance of these things.”

Another learning that clients have had amidst the current turmoil is that there is no magic wand that works for all. While TV may work for some, innovating and experimenting with new age media could be just the push that another brand may need. On this front, Leo Burnett has done some interesting work for HPCL at their petrol pumps. Similarly, the Jaago Re campaign for Tata Tea has done well on television, as also directed considerable traffic to their website. As a matter of fact, Leo Burnett’s marketing services division, Arc, has been doing some path breaking work in the digital space. It brought home India’s first Cyberlion last year. This year, Arc’s work on Jaago Re even won a webby. Consequently, the agency’s digital revenues are up sharply. No wonder, Sharma is keen to continue investing in the high-potential marketing services division, Arc as always. About 30% growth – that’s Sharma’s personal target for Leo Burnett in this fiscal. This Leo is certainly roaring in India’s advertising jungle...

Surbhi Chawla

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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