"Bigger players give clients security of longevity:" Publicis' Pinder

Richard Pinder who recently took sole leadership over the Publicis network, from his earlier role as COO, recently spoke to Campaign India on the role of India in the network's portfolio and the task of working on the perception of the agency's offerings here. Pinder is headed for India where the economic situation is far better than in most parts of the world. How different is it? Pinder reacts, "I think the role for India is the same as it was but more so. The role of India in our portfolio is that of a growth engine. This was true before and it is true now. Clearly, before it was because India was growing faster than the others and now it is because it is growing, period. This means that we are very focussed on ensuring that India is growing. It is not important for India to compensate for other countries since it can’t. The scale of India’s ad industry and exchange rates mean that India is still relatively small in our portfolio."

Pinder says his major task in India will be to change the perception of the size of Publicis’ offerings in the country.

He adds, “Publicis in India is relatively new. As befits a relative newcomer, we have had to find ways to catch up quick. This means that today we have three brands in the Indian advertising market - giving us scale but not a single impact that is reflective of our scale. Partly this perception issue is simply a lag to reality and will catch up. And partly it is a result of having three brands when our competitors have one or two. Obviously, we will be looking at ways to address this.”

Pinder believes that this is a good time for Publicis. “As such only the open minded and swift and financially committed will survive and prosper. Smaller agencies can be open minded and swift, but across the world they are getting squeezed out in the downturn by consolidation deals, by the cost of bad debts and by cashflow crises and they are failing. The bigger players can provide a client with the security of longevity and the funds to reinvent themselves as necessity dictates.”

On the importance of India, Pinder says, “In the coming years, India will move from being an interesting and dynamic growth engine to that of global leader on some key categories."