Bela Vora, branch head of SSC&B Lintas, Bangalore quits; launches Black Coffee

Three very important developments took place in the life of Bela Vora, ex-branch head, SSC&B Lintas.

First, a certain sum of money appeared out of the blue. The monies actually belonged to Vora's late father, who had invested in an enterprise. "Following my father's demise, his partner in the venture returned my father's share," Vora explained.

Then, Vora's mother came into inheritance and third, her very close clients gave her the assurance that they will move with her, in the event that she quit SSC&B. Thus, Black Coffee Advertising was born.

And, just a week before its formal launch, Vora drew a close to her nine-year stint with SSC&B, Bangalore. Vora was instrumental in setting up the Bangalore branch.

Fate did facilitate Vora's venture and help dispel some of the apprehensions of an uncertain future. Nevertheless, it was sheer boredom with the agency function that planted the idea of setting up one's own agency.

"I have worked in both large and small agencies, but when there was not enough being done to motivate the senior management, I started getting bored. When I was in HTA (now JWT), we would undergo serious training programmes. Today, what you have are seminars and workshops, which are more an excuse to party. I mean, eventually, the only thing that was expected of us was to get business."

That made Vora think. "If my task was to pitch for a business, I might as well do that for my own agency and not feel bored..." reasoned Vora. When Vora was ready to move to branch on her own, things fell into place. And the name came too, without a struggle. "Like black coffee, my agency Black Coffee is stimulating. It is a place for late nights, for hard work but not boring."

And, in advertising business, people make or break agencies. Which is why Vora is very particular about those who people Black Coffee. "The work must be made interesting but it is the people who make it interesting - right? We are five in all, but all of us have diverse interests. Having interests outside the advertising profession is important. That way, people bring new perspectives from lateral fields and listen to others' points of view and see as many different worldviews as one can. And, this ultimately, enhances our understanding of the consumer..." explains Vora.

To begin with, Black Coffee has two significant accounts - Shobha Developers and City Life. Both the clients, despite being in the construction business, cater to very different consumers. The agency is, of course, pitching for more accounts.

When the question of whether there was room enough in the Bangalore market to accommodate yet another creative shop, Vora gave a laugh and said, "certainly." Here is how she explains her point: "Bangalore is predominantly a city of small accounts. And, these clients cannot handle the so-called 'systems' and 'hierarchies' of a large agency set-up."

"They need personalised attention, which smaller setups are more adept at providing. This is a fact that even the people at the head office of large agencies fail to recognise. Because they wish to have a national presence, the big agencies open up branches thinking that the IT boom will augur well for them. But that is not the case at all. They must understand that the quantum of business in Bangalore, compared to say Delhi or Mumbai is small."

Incidentally, Vora was born and bred in Mumbai. Soon after her diploma in Advertising & Marketing from the Xavier's Institute of Communications (XIC), Mumbai, Vora, joined MAPP (in-house agency for the Birla group) as an account executive. This is where she created the ‘Heritage' positioning for Gwalior Suitings, which endures till date.

Thereafter, Vora spent four years in Frank Simoes Advertising as an account supervisor and helped launch Raymond's Legwear, the first ever Indian readymade brand. Vora then moved on to Clarion (Bates), Mumbai as an account group head and worked on Godrej Foods for a year.

Vora shifted her base from Mumbai to Bangalore to join HTA (now JWT) as an account director. Her portfolio of clients included Wipro and Sara Lee. Her last assignment was as the head of SSC&B Lintas, Bangalore.

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