Forget perception, we're pretty big

For 15 years, Santosh Sood has been a part of Lowe. He joined the agency in 1985 right after completing his MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. In between, for three years during 1992-1995, he had headed Saatchi & Saatchi, Delhi.

Subsequently, Sood came back to Lowe in 1995. He quit the agency in September 2003 as executive vice-president. While at Lowe, Sood worked on brands such as LG, Maruti, Nestle and Dabur among others. He tells Aditya Chatterjee of agencyfaqs! about the exciting times at Rediffusion DY&R. Excerpts of the interview.

Edited Excerpts

Actually, the fundamentals remain the same. The agency has been doing quality work and we have some incredible accounts. Some sections of the industry, unfortunately, may have a different perception, but in reality, we are pretty big. We have blue-chip clients such as Eveready, Taj Hotels, Godfrey Philips, Citibank, Airtel, Colgate and a few more. Some of these clients have been with us for years. I suppose we must have been doing something right to help these big brands grow bigger.

But yes, I guess, there have been a few changes too. People are now focussed and more conscious about doing quality work. As a result, revenues are coming in steadily.

I have always maintained the need for quality people in the agency. Let's start with KS Chakravarthy, or Chax, as he's better known as in the industry. With Chax as the national creative director of Rediffusion DYR, the focus is certainly back on creativity. .

Just a few days back, we hired three very competent professionals – Ninad Satpute, Ajay Gahlaut and Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Ninad, who has worked with Maruti Suzuki and ICICI earlier and is an IIM alumnus, will be an asset for Rediffusion Delhi. Having worked on the client side for years and that too on diverse products such as automobiles and banking, we are looking forward to Ninad bringing in the 'client's perspective' to the table.

Then, we recently decided to fill up a long-standing void in our creative set-up by hiring Ajay Gahlaut and Sudip Bandyopadhyay from O&M. As executive creative directors, the duo will be responsible for the creative output of Rediffusion Delhi. Besides these appointments at senior positions, six more executives have been hired as account manager/account director levels.

With this firepower around, you will be certainly hearing more of us.

The two names that immediately come to my mind is lingerie brand Paris Beauty and Rajnigandha. We got the business of the lingerie brand very recently and our campaign will break very soon. I cannot tell you about the USP of the campaign, but let me assure you that it will be noticed.

Delhi-based Grover Sons is the company behind the brand. In fact, the company has other brands such as Sunaina and Poems in its kitty too. Grover Sons may not be very big now with a turnover of around Rs 60 crore, but in time it is sure to grow manifold. Can you believe that NRI women stock the lingerie brand during their India tours? I think it is fantastic for a made-in-India brand. The brand has an advertising budget of Rs 4-5 crore.

Rajnigandha is another brand I feel strongly about. Do you know that the brand's turnover has grown from Rs 190 crore to Rs 240 crore during the past year? What's incredible is the fact that this growth has come despite the brand's refusal to offer any promotional schemes. Rajnigandha doesn't even offer hefty discounts to its dealers, unlike the competitors.

I can well recall how public opinion at agencyfaqs! was skewed against this ad. Now that the advert has clearly worked for the brand, I wonder what our critics are going to say now.

I have seen people reacting to the ad. Sure, some people may not have liked it, but that ad certainly broke clutter. Do you recall any of the ads created for Pan Parag, the main competitor for Rajnigandha? Let me remind you what Chax himself had said about Onida. He said his team was very clear that Onida advertising must be loved by 60 per cent and hated by 40 per cent of those who see it. The moment that ceases to happen in an advert, the brand will die.

Yes, we are. The golden girl of Indian tennis, Sania Mirza, will be endorsing the Italian sports brand in India now. Earlier, she had an endorsement deal with adidas. In fact, Sierra Industrial Enterprises, which retails Lotto and Disney shoes in India, has awarded both the businesses to us.

I am looking forward to the brand's growth. Lotto, despite its presence in India for many years now, acutely suffered from serious visibility problems. We are going to change that. With the brand, we will straddle both the sports and style genres as the adverts – print and billboards – will simultaneously feature Sania in sports gear and in casuals.

Two of my creative people who went to Hyderabad for the shoot told me she was extremely accommodating and professional. We are expecting her to add some sparkle to the brand. She is certainly among the most exciting players on the tennis circuit these days. She is already a major youth icon in India.

Our Hyderabad office has done some fantastic work for Coca-Cola in recent months. The office has witnessed phenomenal growth in the last few months – both in terms of number of clients and employees. We now handle the entire Coca-Cola portfolio in Andhra Pradesh. In fact, the branch has just released a Thums-Up ad featuring actor Chiranjeevi. That advert, I believe, is quite awesome. Plus, we also have Lawrence & Mayo for Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Orissa and TN markets.

While at Lowe, I was introduced to LG way back in 1996. This was even before the company had set up its Indian operations. Then, in November 2003, LG decided to move its business from Lowe. You can either call it circumstantial, or describe it as a consequence that LG's decision came within two months of me quiting Lowe.

Later, there have been a few occasions when Rediffusion and I have been approached to handle LG's business, but we have always declined the proposal. That's because we handle Onida's television business and possibly cannot service conflicting accounts.

This may happen with other agencies. But Rediffusion is a stickler when it comes to issues of ethics. That's a principle which has been laid down by Diwan Arun Nanda himself. Once Vimal had approached Rediffusion to handle its business, and we had to decline the invitation since we were servicing Garden sarees. That's when Mudra was set up.

It's true that there was a time when Everest was treated as a mere division of Rediffusion just like Karishma was to Lowe. But in this business, there is no point in having a nominal presence. There is no one to give shelter, or to give cover.

That Everest is back in the reckoning is no fluke. That was precisely what the senior agency management had planned. In Mahesh Chauhan, Everest has found a serious minded guy. I wish them luck.