Hotshops or Not, The Next Wave of Indian Agencies Need to Show Their Value - Global News - Advertising Age

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Sourabh Mishra

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Advertising - like most business - becomes exponentially complex when an agency moves to the

international theater. I would expect tough t imes ahead for BBH, Naked, and Strawberry Frog

unless they take steps to integrate the local culture into their management mix. The adage,

"Think global, act local" rings true t ime and time again.

The odds for success in India rest on an agencies ability to expatriate an internationally savvy top

level manager who is not afraid to relinquish control to local upper-middle management. That

goes for creative AND accounts.

Without the ability to first listen to the local market, then develop strategy any international

venture is an uphill battle.

The Indian market in particular is a dichotomy of rich and poor consumers with a rapidly

developing middle class. Good luck!

By ADMAVEN | Chicago, IL October 7, 2008 11:37:03 am:

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Hotshops or Not, the Next Wave of IndianAgencies Need to Show Their Value

Posted by Sourabh Mishra on 10.06.08 @ 05:32 PM

We are buzzing with the news of the 'global hotshops' coming to India. BBH

has announced its India team, and Naked is expected to do it soon, to be

followed by Strawberry Frog . An implicit suggestion in all th is pre-launch

publicity is that the Indian market is waiting to be delivered from its supposedscourge of creative mediocrity and strategic incompetence. Is this true?

When these hotshops set up in the West, they were (a)plugging in a gap in

those markets, marked by safe th inking and mediocre creative, and

(b)fronted by the acknowledged 'stars' of the business. But in the Indian market the best

creative work is coming out of the largest network agencies (Ogilvy, JWT, Lowe, McCann

Erickson). And the acknowledged creative superstars here (e.g., Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy, Balki of

Lowe, Prasoon Joshi of McCann Erickson) have not lent their names to these hotshops, yet.

Now, why would a client want to park business with these supposed hotshops? They are, in

effect, just another global agency network setting up office in India, fronted by, at best, some

competent professionals. And to make matters more difficult for them, many other locally 'hot'

creative people are setting up on their own , giving clients the option to work with smaller

creative shops, if they are so inclined. Caught between the large and creative agencies on the

one hand and the small local creative hotshops on the other, these 'global hotshops' need to

very clearly spell out their points of differentiation in the Indian context.

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As a marketeer, these global agencies offer no value add, specifically for one simple reason that

the people who have supposedly join/lead these new agencies are basically same people from

exisiting agency network. If you get people from what is already there, then you will get (the

same output) what you always got.

Okay, one might argue that the philosophy of these hotshops will be gloabal and thus different.

But, i would presume, that this will be purely at an esoteric level with no tangible benefits to the

marketing investments. Also India as a market is culturally and behaviourally completely

isolated, which only a few names like Piyush/Prasoon understand...

By sridharcal | Chennai, AT November 12, 2008 05:55:18 am:

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Hotshops or Not, The Next Wave of Indian Agencies Need to Show Their Value - Global News - Advertising Age