We want digital as the core: Anita Nayyar, CEO, India and South Asia, Havas Media Group

A change in name can sometimes be a good omen. It has certainly proved true for the Havas Media Group, which took on the name early this year and has since picked up several new businesses including Shaadi.com, Voltas, Aspiring Minds, Wonder Cement (RK Marble Group) and Amway. The new entity has rolled within it Havas Media, media brand MPG, digital brand Media Contacts and Arena Media.

Anita Nayyar, CEO, India and South Asia, Havas Media Group, talks about what's new, what's different.

Edited Excerpts

Earlier, under the Havas Group, we had multiple sub brands, which had their own particular strengths. However, we believed in consolidating the sub groups, as it was important to be a universal brand. The idea was to create a Havas village, where the entities sit under one roof -- not in silos - and take advantage of each other's skill sets.

So, nothing has changed except the coming together of all businesses and being recognised as one, with the integration of the name. It creates less confusion for clients.

We want digital as the core of the Havas Media Group. Digital is the medium for today and tomorrow. And, we have been able to adapt to digital faster than other agencies. In fact, we launched our digital services in 2007.

It doesn't matter whether the client is domestic or international. I am looking at business. In the last six years, we have grown five times in size and this is largely due to new businesses. Of course, we have a lot of aligned businesses. For instance, we handle Hyundai in 70 countries, Reckitt Benckiser, Danone and so on.

However, all kinds of businesses are important and welcome. At the end of the day, to me, business is business.

The answer is a big no! Size doesn't necessarily spell quality. I am not small but not very big either, but I am smart. If I am offering quantity with qualitative value addition to what the client wants, then size doesn't matter. And, that is what we are doing.

You don't necessarily need to be 40-50 per cent of the market to win business. All you need is to be smart.

Last minute inventory exists across markets. So, it is important for agencies to put strategies in place and correctly analyse these inventories. A lot of research and study goes in before buying a property. That's where experience helps too. The analytical expertise helps you project when the property's rates will rise or till where you can stretch.

But there are no right or wrong answers or one formula to this. However, analysis and research are not the only deciding factors. I believe, gut experience comprises 50 per cent of the decision-making. It's a combination of both.

I wouldn't say it didn't work out. Every experience helps in your learning. It doesn't go waste. However, the pace of work at BCCL got me on the wrong side, as the pace in a media agency is much different. However, I have no regrets joining BCCL or coming back to Havas Media.

A few years ago, our study on meaningful brands came up with a startling finding: that if 70 per cent of brands died tomorrow, people would not care. The reason: a brand has to be meaningful to its customers, not only at an individual but also at a social level.

So, a lot of brands today are making the effort to be beneficial to customers (and I don't mean CSR). In fact, people are willing to pay a premium to brands that are meaningful to them. And, that is what Havas is propagating. We are trying to make sure that the brands we work on don't fall into the 70 per cent category.

We are completely media agnostic. We go to clients with an idea and how it can manifest in various media. That is where integration comes into the picture. And, we have seen a visible difference in clients' response to our ideas. That's where, I believe, Havas will have an edge over others.