Campaign India Agency Report Card 2010: Scarecrow

Type of agency  Advertising

Company ownership Independent

Key personnel Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat, Joy Sengupta and Vivek Suchanti (all founding directors)

Accounts won Religare Macquarie, Religare Broking, Religare Health Insurance, Religare Art, Jindal Power, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Shri Ganesh Jewellers, Shriram Transport Finance Corp, Orbit Constructions

Accounts lost None reported

For a creative team like Manish and Raghu which was much sought after by other agencies during their time at Contract, Scarecrow’s 2010 has been more than a little disappointing. Much of the work that they have in their kitty today are projects whether that’s Shriram Transport Finance, Orbit Constructions, Bharat Petroleum Corporation. You might argue that it is natural for independent agencies to start their relationship with smaller chunks of a business. But it doesn’t help our assessment when, a few hours after we posted the agency winning the BPCL retail initiative mandate, we got a call from the client profusely denying that they had awarded the business to Scarecrow. They reiterated that the agency had merely worked on a one-time retail project in Delhi. So there is a need to separate the reality from the hyperbole. Of the work that Scarecrow has created this year, Religare has been the most visible and we have to say, the work is fresh. A good take on the financial services sector.  

How Campaign India rates the agency: 5

How Scarecrow rates itself: 7

We have done well. Picked up several big accounts within 9 months of inception. We are set to announce four more signings. Our ‘archery’ and ‘wedding car’ ads for Religare Broking have proved really popular. Our campaign for Shriram Transport too made a mark. We also created the corporate campaigns for Jindal Power and Gaja. We moved into a nice office that doubles up as an art gallery, in Fort. We opened an office inside an old cinema hall in Delhi. We also did other stuff. We conducted an ‘advertising workshop’ for 4th standard students of BD Somani International School. We kicked off our film appreciation sessions, with Naren Multani. A good year and looking forward to another good one.