BEI Confluence bets big on technology, preps for IPO

New Delhi-based full-service advertising agency BEI Confluence is amongst a handful of indigenous and independent outfits in the country to have achieved the quarter-century milestone. It is the brainchild of advertising veteran Tapas Gupta, who worked with McCann Erickson (now McCann Worldgroup) for over two decades and became an entrepreneur at a time when floating independent agencies was hardly a trend in India.

Gupta comes from the 90s era where most brands, Indian or international, would flock around the big network agencies where they enjoyed undivided attention. “The mindset of Indian brands is now changing; they are coming out of big-agency syndrome,” said BEI Confluence's founder, chairman and managing director.

He takes a journey down the memory lane with Campaign, recalling the challenges of single-handedly building an agency from scratch, refusing multiple acquisition offers on emotional grounds and taking the thorny path of surviving and thriving as an independent outfit. “I don’t get offers anymore. They know I won’t sell as I also made it public!” Gupta shared.

He has a straightforward reason to remain independent, one that he maintains is still BEI Confluence's key advantage; he has full freedom and control of the operations. “I don’t have to report to international bosses who may be half as informed as I am, nor do I have to pander to their egos. I am my own boss,” he opined.

Commenting on the agency’s performance, Gupta shared it has been registering steady growth in the recent past, including during COVID. “In the last two years, our turnover has grown at 15% per annum and our y-o-y growth over the next three years will be 20%,” he stated.

Unwilling to hang up his boots, he hopes to be active in the business till 2030. "I have built an organisation that will last far longer than I will survive”, Gupta asserts.

The next milestone in BEI Confluence's growth journey is going public, taking the Initial Public Offering (IPO) route. Delving further on its listing plans, Campaign attempts to understand how evolving to new technology is also a part of its larger game plan to “touch the next level.”