The Agency is a business

I read this provocative post about the reasons for the decline and fall of the newspaper business in the US. The comments below made by two prominent personalities will strike a chord with anyone who is from the agency business.

Sean Paul Kelley says, “The primary culprit is the same as it is all over the country, in every industry and in government: equity extraction.

Let me explain, in short: when executives expect unrealistic profits of 20% and higher per annum on businesses, something has got to give. It's an unnatural and unsustainable growth rate. For the first ten or so years of a small to medium size company's life? Sure. But when you are 3M, or GE? Unrealistic and ultimately impossible.

That is what has happened to the news industry in America. The excessive obsession with unnaturally high profits has led to a vicious circle of cutting budgets, providing less services, which is then followed by even more drastic cuts.”

Michael Moore puts it across bluntly, “It’s their own greed, their own stupidity,”

Isn’t this true of the agency business, especially in the developed markets?

The unfortunate outcome of all this was that agency operations in booming markets like India were not spared. They were choked to ‘make up’ for the numbers lost in the developed markets. Pay cuts, hiring freeze and mad scramble for all kinds of business were symptoms of this malaise. Managers in the Indian operations of international agency networks were stressed (and stretched) beyond limits, with some of the offices were almost on the verge of a flameout. Now, this is a myopic way to operate.

India, China and other developing countries will continue to be a traditional media market for a long time to come. Read this case of Baidu vs Google if you want to know what I mean. To large corporations that run agency networks, these markets must be to them what California must have been to prospectors during the Gold Rush. However, instead of stripping it bare, they can reap far greater rewards (and bonuses) by nurturing it. Hire more people, train them well and pay good salaries. This is not wishful thinking but an inevitability that agencies will have to follow if they want to survive.

Newspapers in the US might die. Agencies will not, more so in countries like India. The Agency is a business, a thriving one at that. This is because the growth story in markets like India has just begun.  Hey, you never know. In the process of making tons of money, they might even produce some decent work!

(Image courtesy)

Quick Gun Murugan, Idli Westerns and Indian Advertising

The weekend saw the release of Quick Gun Murugan, the movie. It must be one of the rare instance of a TV Commercial character (and idea) being turned into a full-length feature film. The clip above and below are part of the Quick Gun Murugan series aired in the mid 90’s.

Quick Gun Murugan series continues to be my favourite Indian TV Commercial. Some might argue that it is not a TV Commercial in the strictest sense but a promo for a music channel. That might be so, but the impact it had on Indian Advertising is far reaching.

Quick Gun Murugan is an incredible spoof of Idli Westerns. Idli Westerns or Tamil language cowboy films were inspired by Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns that made Clint Eastwood famous. Jaishankar, the ‘James Bond’ of Tamil films in 60’s and 70’s, was the hero of the first Idli Western film called Ganga. It is also probably the first ‘cowboy’ film in India. I have seen the film on National Television when I was a kid and I enjoyed every minute of it.

To many, the sight of a Tamil speaking cowboy strutting about wearing a Stetson and bashing up goons might seem ridiculous. Hey, this is India. Anything is possible and accepted. It was this acceptance of the incongruous that Channel V exploited. Quick Gun Murugan became a cult and helped Channel V catch up with MTV.

Before the advent of Quick Gun Murugan, majority of Indian advertising could be classified as Soppy, Syrupy and Crappy.

Soppy: Emotional, tear-inducing and lot of times tries appealing to the patriotic spirit using a theme. For example, ‘Breasts of India’ for a lingerie brand (I made that up but I won’t be surprised if it was discussed)

Syrupy: Ultra smart kids or an animal or an ever-smiling mom or a combination of all this, forms part of the picture. They are heavily infused with saccharine leading to sure OD. Little wonder that India is the diabetic capital of the world!

Crappy: Do I have it spell it?

Quick Gun Murugan with its zany, absurd and don’t-take-me-too-seriously approach was refreshing. The fact that the population was lapping up such stuff prompted advertisers to demand the same from their agencies. Quick Gun Murugan helped marketers and agencies to loosen up.

Except for the Maggi Tomato Sauce series, I do not think we had such entertaining as well as interesting advertising before Quick Gun Murugan. Indian advertising slowly started to move away from clichés and tried coming up with interesting ideas. The operative word is ‘interesting’.

However, it is a slow evolution. Notwithstanding the clutch of international awards won in recent times, majority of Indian advertising continues to be stuck in the soppy, syrupy and crappy mode. The reasons for this remain the same even today. They range from ‘the average consumer will not get it’ to ‘Indian’s don’t have a sense of humour’. That is a load of bull-crap. There is no such thing as ‘average consumer’ and as regards ‘sense of humour’ one needs to have loads of it to live in India. The ones giving such reasons are probably referring to themselves.

I am not saying that all ads should be funny or entertaining. I do understand that Quick Gun Murugan formula of advertising will not apply to most brands and situations. However, one can surely try to make ads interesting. I know I am a minority here. But it is a growing minority, both amongst clients and agencies. That is a good sign.

However, my reaction to a soppy, syrupy or crappy ad continues to remain the same, which is: