Why the Philips account went to HTA...

Why did Philips India award its consumer electronics account to HTA and not Infinity, the DDB-aligned second agency of Mudra? And why didn’t it stay with Euro RSCG instead?

It was easily the industry's worst kept secret in recent times - the fact that HTA, Mumbai, had bucked global alignment and wrested Philips India's Rs 50-crore consumer electronics account. It may be recalled that exactly 22 days ago, agencyfaqs! ran a story on Philips (Does Philips have a creative agency in India?), where we had mentioned the possibility of one more front opening up in the near future. HTA was this ‘one more front'.

Now that it's official, let's say it for the record. Even better, let's hear it from Rupam Ganguly, general manager, consumer and trade marketing, Philips India. "With effect from August 01, 2001, we are going with HTA in India. HTA will be the creative agency in charge of Philips' Consumer Electronics Division. Carat will be our media planning and buying agency for all our divisions. Our creative agency for the Lighting and Domestic Appliances Divisions will be Ambience D'Arcy, in keeping with Philips International's global alignment with DMB&B (on Lighting and Domestic Appliances)."

Moot point: in keeping with Philips NV's global alignment with DDB (on Consumer Electronics), why isn't Philips India moving its consumer electronics account to a DDB-aligned Indian agency? Okay, okay, Mudra Communications handles rival Samsung Electronics, but what about Infinity, the made-for-Philips second agency of Mudra?

"The solution that DDB put forward was not acceptable to us, given the current market situation and the competition Philips faces in consumer electronics," Ganguly confided. "This business is all about people. Any new team takes time to settle down and function as a team. Plus there are things like infrastructure, and the ability to provide integrated solutions. All these things take time, and we don't have the luxury to wait that long."

But patience didn't seem to be at a premium back in 1995, when Philips shifted from Contract Advertising to Euro RSCG. And in 1995, Euro was as much a startup as Infinity is today. Ganguly agrees, but explains it so: "At that time, the Indian market was not so competitive. To be honest, we were in a much more comfortable position in 1995 than we are in today. Also, Euro RSCG had been appointed as the global agency as there was a lot of focus on seamless global communication around the line ‘Let's make things better'. In fact, it was only then that this whole issue of global alignment first came up… before that, Philips India had always had independent choice over agencies."

It appears that this time round, Philips International understood domestic compulsions, which is why there was no effort to browbeat Philips India into going with Infinity. "Our decision to hire HTA was in total concurrence with Philips International," Ganguly revealed. "Our Asia-Pacific and global representatives were here, and we worked as a team before deciding on HTA."

When asked whether Philips India would have opted for Mudra had the agency not been handling Samsung, Ganguly replied, "It's a hypothetical question, so let me answer hypothetically, maybe… perhaps, yes. One of our key concerns was Mudra handling Samsung." So if Mudra and Infinity were out, why didn't Philips consider staying with Euro in India? Perhaps because Euro's efforts were found wanting? "Certainly not," Ganguly is emphatic. "Euro did what needed to be done in a tough market scenario, and I think they gave a good account of themselves. It's just that we decided to part ways in January, and we were looking for an agency that looked at the brand from a fresh perspective and took it to a different level."

On why Philips finally decided to go with HTA, Ganguly said, "We did not call for any pitch. We were clearly looking at an agency that did not have conflicting businesses, and one that could provide us integrated market solutions, what with a shift from the mass media to specialized communication platforms. HTA has all the divisions we require. Plus it showed interest in us."

Apparently, HTA had been showing a whole lot of interest in Philips for quite a while. "We got the business through a combination of keeping our ears to the ground and wanting the business," Sunil Gupta, senior vice-president and general manager, HTA, told agencyfaqs!. "We had been tapping Philips even before the global realignment. And when we saw that post-realignment, Mudra already had Samsung, we realized there was opportunity. We did a lot of homework and finally met with Philips in March and had a discussion. Although the fact that HTA had shown interest was a big thing, there was no commitment from Philips. Then we were called to meet people from New York. They saw what we had to offer… and we got the business."

For HTA, winning this account is a landmark of sorts, considering the agency has so far been poorly represented in the consumer entertainment electronics category. True, it did handle Konka very recently - and Dyanora and Panasonic sometime in the past - but Philips is the Big One. "We realize we have a big responsibility on our hands," Gupta says. "There are lots of challenges for Philips and us in the market, and we're really excited about things. We're looking forward to the formal briefing which should happen by the end of this week."

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