Campaign India Agency Report Card: TBWA

TBWA India has objected to three specific mentions in the Report Card. These references are being reviewed and details of changes to the Report Card review or scoring will be on the site within a week and in the next print edition of Campaign India.

Update: In the Agency Report Card published last week, we had scored TBWA India at 3/10.

TBWA India objected to portions of the report as being inaccurate, specifically to the losses of the Planet M and Moser Baer (consumer electronics) accounts. TBWA India made available documents to Campaign India proving the following: 1) That the relationship with Planet M moved from a retainership account to a project based account during the course of 2009. Planet M works exclusively with TBWA India as and when a communication need arises. 2) That Moser Baer (consumer electronics) continues to work with TBWA India.

In addition, we had erroneously stated that the 'entire' Tequila team barring John Mathew had resigned. This statement changes to 'there have been significant departures from the Tequila team'.

In the light of these changes, we have decided to change the score for TBWA India to 5/10.

Campaign India's assessment of TBWA India for the Report Card was as follows:

Type of agency: Advertising
Company ownership: Omnicom
Key personnel: Shiv Sethuraman, CEO, Niraj Dadoo, COO and CFO, Rahul Sengupta, national creative director
Accounts won: Style Spa, Meow FM, V-Guard, Dabur Hingoli and Badam Lal Tail, Delhi Development Authority

Accounts lost: Set Max, Bajaj Allianz,  Platinum, Sandisk
 

The SET Max loss to JWTset the tone, considering the ‘Ek desh ek Junoon’ campaign preceding the IPL Season 2, was shortlisted in the films category at Cannes .It also lost Samsonite to Contract this year. Bajaj Allianz  and Platinum were also lost.

The Visa and Nissan wins were a result of global alignments, with the agency doing well with both.TBWA looked at further building its India team. Niraj Dadoo was roped in  to take on the role of COO and CFO. Nirmalya Sen who was handling the north operations, was named MD,  TBWA, India.
But while the agency has been bullish on recruitment, retention  has been a challenge. TBWA India lost its chief strategy officer Sourabh Mishra to Saatchi & Saatchi. Madan Mohan, head of TBWA, West recently quit. Dhrubajyoti Gayan, country head, Brodeur India resigned, as did the entire PR team. There have been significant departures from Tequila.  In addition, Ambareesh Chakravorty decided to move to RK Swamy BBDO as its principal consultant.

Its haul of metals at the Abbys this year was three, with two Bronze metals and one Silver.

The agency has managed to scoop a fair number of accounts, but these names hardly include any big brands, except perhaps Nissan. Other wins include Maruti Suzuki’s spare parts business, Mail Today, Style Spa furniture, V-Guard, Meow FM and Delhi Development Authority, among others.
The biggest worry this year has been retention — of both clients and talent.

Campaign Score: 3

Update: In the Agency Report Card published last week, we had scored TBWA India at 3/10.

TBWA India objected to portions of the report as being inaccurate, specifically to the losses of the Planet M and Moser Baer (consumer electronics) accounts. TBWA India made available documents to Campaign India proving the following: 1) That the relationship with Planet M moved from a retainership account to a project based account during the course of 2009. Planet M works exclusively with TBWA India as and when a communication need arises. 2) That Moser Baer (consumer electronics) continues to work with TBWA India.

In addition, we had erroneously stated that the 'entire' Tequila team barring John Mathew had resigned. This statement changes to 'there have been significant departures from the Tequila team'.

In the light of these changes, we have decided to change the score for TBWA India to 5/10.

How TBWA rates itself: 6

A ‘twenty year old startup’ is probably the most fitting description of the group at this point in time. As the group gears up to introduce ‘Media Arts’, a new breed of people has started populating the offices across the country. Niraj Dadoo joined as group COO, Kalyan Challapalli as head of Disruption, and Rajeev Nair as ECD at Tequila. Just three among the more than 40 people the group has hired this year.
As the ‘Year of Tequila’ draws to a close, their new business performance (SAB Miller, Visa, Allen Solly) and creative recognition (wins at both PMA Asia and MAA Globes) have been encouraging. Nissan, Maruti Suzuki, V Guard, Dabur, Style Spa, Mail Today and Meow FM walked in through the TBWA\ door. The creative profile of the advertising agency moved up nicely with wins at Goafest and a film shortlist at Cannes and Spikes for the SET Max IPL campaigns. Our unfailing presence in the finals of most pitches across the country is indicative of the urge marketers feel to go beyond conventional thinking and embrace ‘Disruption’. Exciting times ahead!