The Big Debate: The good, bad and ugly of Indian Advertising: Ajay Kakar

Agencies can play a vital role in brands

What’s good is that brands are going beyond mere product propositions and are now adopting and promoting socially relevant themes

Statutory Disclosure:

I have spent nearly 15 years at the advertising agency end and am now on the client side for the last 5 odd years. Having been at both ends, today I am penning a few first-thoughts and views - not only as a Marketer, but also a strong believer and proponent of the vital role that ad agencies can play in the birth and well-being of a Brand.

The Good (in no particular order):

• The best the world has to offer, now at our doorsteps – as a Consumer, I now have access to the biggest and best brands from around the world. And as a Marketer too, I have access to the biggest and best agency partners
• The FMCG era is now behind us. New categories have emerged as large spenders and are flourishing
• The ‘new media’ – providing us many more ways to reach out to our customer and engage with him
• Agencies having Creative at the helm
• Brands going beyond mere product propositions – now adopting and promoting socially relevant themes
• The power of the Indian consumer - global brands customizing their offer to Indian needs and tastes
• The power that platforms like social marketing and digital platforms offer us
• World-class production values and quality – originating from India

The Bad (in no particular order)

• The loss of an entire generation of ‘gray hair’ from advertising agencies (freshness at the cost of experience)
• The power of social media yet not being harnessed to its fullest, from a Brand/Consumer perspective 
• Long time no see – meaningful and effective use of the print media/power of copy
• The going overboard with celebrities – to their benefit and often the loss of the Brand
• The 30 second syndrome – TV/mass media is often seen as the first and only solution to all needs
• The execution getting far more attention than the ‘idea’
• Are we creating Brands in the true sense, or are we depending heavily/solely on pure advertising/mass media to do the task
• The number of pitches being called for. The reasons for which they are being called. The number of agencies that agree to pitch
• The mismatch between the campaigns that win creative awards and those that win for effectiveness
• The annual debate on leaking of results – and no solution in sight, yet

The Ugly (in no particular order

• The gap between our potential and our performance at Cannes, especially in categories like PR, Direct, Media and Cyber
• The extent to which Awards consume our time, effort and money
• The gap between the potential and actual role we play in the lives of Marketers/Brands
• The non alignment between the KRAs of the client and agency
• The long-standing attempt and efforts to go ‘upstream’ like the “McKinseys” and no light visible at the end of this long tunnel
• The long-standing debate on Scam advertising and the long eluding solution/consensus/industry pov
• No end to the debate on “We are being paid peanuts/We are getting monkeys”
• What stops agencies from delivering on their true potential – such that they can demand and get the remuneration they deserve
• The long-standing debate on what we deserve vs. what we get – and no ‘putting-foot-down’ decisions we hear of
• The long overdue need for the ‘advertising’ industry to convert itself to a Communications industry/a Brand industry
• We take ourselves/our industry a bit too seriously