Taproot: "We are open to alliances"

The Times of India, Nirma, Pepsi and now a buzzy corporate campaign for Airtel. With big brands and standout work, Taproot doesn't fit the stereotypical story of the struggling agency start-up.

They silenced every sceptic but it wasn't easy. Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi, popularly known as Aggi and Paddy, are the industry's dynamic 'blue-eyed boys', who decided to throw in the towel at the large networks JWT and Leo Burnett, respectively, and start off on their own, which they did in January 2009. TapRoot India was the result.

Among their first big wins was a project for Nirma, followed by Pepsi's World Cup Signature campaign, earlier this year. And recently, the duo created the popular 'Har ek friend...' campaign for India's largest teleco Airtel.

Initially, one wondered if their combined legacy and volume of work would be enough to sustain the new agency in times of tough competition, but they seem to be chugging along rather splendidly, having secured themselves a seat on the rosters of big ticket advertisers.

afaqs! Reporter catches up with the duo on what has kept them winning until now, and the way ahead.

afaqs!: TapRoot is seen as a 'creative hotshop', which is doing some good work for large brands as projects. Are you comfortable with this tag, or do you aspire to be a full-fledged agency some day?

Paddy: Let me put a question to you. Is BBH a hotshop or a full-fledged agency? What I am trying to say is that agencies like BBH or W+K have done a good job of maintaining their philosophy throughout, and are also delivering their promise across various parts of the world.

Aggi: Firstly, the term 'creative hotshop' is passé. Today, every agency is a creative hotshop. There was a time when an ad agency provided all kinds of services-creative, media, and activations-all under one roof, with one CEO. It has been a while since those services have been unbundled. So, the conventional ad agency today is only creative.

Another popular notion is that 'hotshops' are not methodical or strategic in their processes, and have just 'radical' creative ideas. But, I must tell you that in larger set-ups the method is only on paper in most cases.

In reality, both in larger set-ups, as well as in smaller boutiques, there is usually one guy who champions a business, who gets the strategy and creative in place. Balki (R Balakrishnan) or Piyush Pandey do it in their agency, and we do it here.

afaqs!: What are the limitations of being tagged a creative boutique?

Aggi:
Various agencies get written off for different reasons. We may get written off for not having scale; a larger agency may get written off for not having creative firepower. Someone else may get written off for not having experience in a category. There is no 'perfect' agency.

As we were both used to working in a larger set-up, some clients questioned our ability to deliver in an environment without the infrastructure of a larger agency. Fortunately, not anymore!

There have been instances where clients wanted to visit our office or enquire about our staff strength. Whether we really exist, so to speak! (Laughs). But, at the end of the day, most clients work with us because of the work we produce.

Paddy: Clients won't really tell you the negatives to your face. I believe, they work with us for the strengths that we have, and not because we have an office in Worli or in Peddar Road, or because we have a receptionist.

What differentiates us from the larger agencies is our ability to say 'No'. Most network agencies are doing good work, but there's a limit to it. The moment they get hungry for more business, they can't do justice to any of their clients.

The problem with the larger agencies is that they have not learnt to say 'No'. They try to do everything, and in the process, lose out on some long-standing relationships with clients. That is why we have consciously decided that the day we feel over-burdened, we will tell ourselves to stop.

afaqs!: How smooth was the ride at the beginning? Things went bad immediately after you named the agency Roots India, which had to be changed to TapRoot India, isn't it?

Paddy: We were 'Roots India' barely for three days! The day after afaqs! announced the launch of our agency, we got a mail from a Delhi-based outfit with the same name. The next day we consulted our legal guys, and on the third day we were 'TapRoot India'. Our parent company was already registered as The Aggi Paddy (TAP) Company. So, all we had to do was add TAP to Roots India.

Aggi: It was a challenge in the beginning. It wasn't like 'We like you, and here's the business'. Only one client-The Times of India-gave us business without even seeing what we can do as TapRoot. All other clients asked us to present our thoughts and then awarded the business.

afaqs!: Many of the brands that you have worked on, such as Pepsi and Airtel, happen to be from JWT. Is this simmering competition with JWT deliberate?

Aggi:
I think it is just a coincidence. If you put a series of dots on a page and connect them, they may form a shape. In fact, the first business that we got from JWT was DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund. It's just that the other two brands were highlighted by media more.

I can tell you that many advertisers, who are currently parked with other larger agencies, have also approached us.

Paddy: In the case of Pepsi, there were a few other agencies that pitched apart from us and JWT. So, we were lucky to have won the pitch.

afaqs!: Is it true that these projects are a stepping stone to becoming creative AoRs?

Aggi: In most cases, the clients called us. We wouldn't even know a pitch was going on for these brands, had they not called us up.

There is a considerable amount of logistics and scale involved with these brands, which may not be the value model we offer, in the short term.

We provide brand solutions that can be implemented on a great scale, but we can't implement that scale which large agencies can. So, we can't replace them entirely unless we decide to scale up or collaborate with a larger network globally.

afaqs!: Have any of the international networks approached TapRoot for a buyout?

Aggi: Yes, we get almost one offer a month, and eight out of ten times, it is from existing networks. It's an ongoing process and we can never say 'never' to anyone.

We meet them and we hear them out. If the terms are equal and suit everybody's needs, we are open to an association with a larger international network. There is no rule that an independent should stay an independent forever; if it can do better as a network, why not? We are open-minded about it; nothing is carved in stone.

afaqs!: What makes clients choose TapRoot over network agencies?

Paddy: The same reason why globally clients prefer to work with outfits like Mother, Fallon or BBH-a client perhaps feels that he is getting the owners, the co-founders, the chief operating officers, the best guys working directly on the brand, so clearly the output will be better than in a large network agency which has 700 levels to go through, so to speak.

Aggi: Also, now the rewards for good work are many, but the punishment for bad work is far greater. Earlier, if you did bad campaigns, you could still trudge with the account for years to come, but now with competition you do one bad campaign and the results show on your client's balance sheet. It's far more meritocratic these days.

afaqs!: Are there any international hotshops you look up to?

Aggi: The times are changing very fast. If we try to emulate W+K today, by the time we become W+K, it may not be relevant to be a W+K.

Who knows, three years from now, we could think we should have emulated Crispin. All this is in a manner of speaking.

Paddy: There are some fantastic agencies that have done fantastic work globally but since their launch in India in the last two or three years, they may not be doing so well. One can never really tell.

afaqs!: What is the one brand on your wishlist that you hope to work with someday?

Aggi: I'd like to do a political campaign someday. There's no real political campaign happening here, real enough to change people's perceptions.

Paddy: I think there is a huge challenge in doing a campaign for a great product. I mean, take Apple's iPod or iMac. They don't need to advertise. So can you imagine the challenge for advertising them?

afaqs!: Do you think the market is more conducive now for the many Indian independents? Has the eco-system changed?

Aggi: We're not delusional about the romantic image of being an independent; it has its advantages, but we're also very clear that the future won't be a constant. If a joint effort with an international network makes us do better in the future, why not? 'Sons of the soil' only makes for a great story and does little else. You can't have the national flag for breakfast. You need food on the table. Why should the mantle of patriotism be thrust upon an agency of Indian origin?

afaqs!: Jointly, Aggi-Paddy is a brand in the industry. What does each one contribute to this relationship?

Paddy: I think, to start as a team, we need to understand the other person's strengths and weaknesses. Aggi is one of the finest writers in the country today, and I have made a name for myself among art directors. So we figured, why not bring this combination together?

Aggi: Paddy is the more passionate one. He completely believes and gets involved in what he does. I am relatively more neutral. That could be a weakness, but then Paddy makes up for it by being a total believer.

afaqs!: What is it about a larger agency set-up that you tend to miss in a smaller one? Is it a struggle each day for tiny things?

Aggi: Some minor things like general administration and lifestyle around you is already set in larger agencies. So, you don't have to reinvent your thinking, or organise your work life from scratch. But it is all right, we're doing just fine (Smiles).

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