All creative leaders should take the in-house agency plunge: Godrej's Swati Bhattacharya

One of advertising’s most significant people movements in 2024 was former FCB Group creative chairperson Swati Bhattacharya’s appointment as the global head of Godrej Creative Lab, the in-house creative studio of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

She was India’s first female chief creative officer after FCB Ulka appointed her as its CCO when she joined the agency in 2016 following a year-long stint at Dentsu; she, as principal partner, set up the Dentsu Mama Lab – a strategic consultancy that helps partners and clients reach mothers in their communication. Her time at Dentsu was preceded by a 22-year career at JWT (now VML); her first job in advertising. 

Bhattacharya has over 180 awards to her credit, including Cannes Lions, D&AD pencils, Clio awards, and One Show wins. Some of her most popular works address inequality, including Shindoor Khela, Project Streedhan, Nominate Me Selfie, and Politics of Hair. 

Politics Of Hair, a campaign for STIRworld Magazine by FCB India, explored the patriarchy and politicisation of women’s hair. It was launched against the backdrop of the Iran crisis that was triggered after 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital under mysterious circumstances following her arrest for not wearing the hijab per government standards. It won India’s first-ever gold in the Industry Craft category at Cannes Lions in 2023.

#NoConditionsApply, made for Times of India by FCB Ulka, wanted to invite the forbidden women i.e. singles, widows, divorcees, transgenders, and prostitutes to a 400-year-old ritual (Shindoor Khela) during Durga Puja where only married women came together and coloured each other with vermillion. In 2018, Cannes Lions awarded it a gold in the Glass: Lions For Change category which recognises creative work that addresses inequality and prejudice. 

For someone with such a storied advertising agency career, her move ignited conversations around agencies as external partners against brands getting things done in-house.

"Agencies often come at the end of the tunnel right before the communication. Now, my workday can begin at R&D and end in the design lab. It is not just creating communication," remarks Bhattacharya.

The in-housing

Simply put, an in-house agency operates as a department inside a company and looks after its creative communication. It is exactly similar to a traditional but, but there is only one client.

Companies such as Coca-Cola, BBC, Byju’s, Dunzo, Zomato, Zepto, Amazon, and Disney+ Hotstar have in-house creative units. GCPL is perhaps the only Indian FMCG player with an active in-house creative agency. 

Started in April 2023, the Godrej Creative Lab is responsible for the entire communication of all the 20 plus GCPL brands including the likes of mosquito repellent brand GoodKnight, soap giant Cinthol, and condom brand KamaSutra. Available in over 80 countries,GCPL has a significant presence in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Some of its works include ads for Stella Air Freshener Electric in Indonesia, Goodknight Agarbatti and Godrej Ezee in India, Issue Express Shampoo in Argentina, Profectiv Mega growth in Nigeria, and Magic in South Africa.  

It is this very difference – being involved from scratch then at the very end – that makes her say, "All creative leaders should take the in-house agency plunge."

She harkens to an aspect of agency life where a creative was shepherded, and if they got too close to the client or decision makers, insecurity would brew in other teams. Here, "You can knock on anyone's door." 

"I love people who are forever students of advertising."

The privilege of access

Bhattacharya is the global head of Godrej Design Lab, but she feels her job has the qualities of a chief marketing officer because of her access to information, which she, in her earlier roles at agencies, did not enjoy. "Earlier, I didn't have the information. My job was to please my clients with my ideas about stuff that I half knew," she remarks. Now, with her access, her focus has expanded from "inch-wide to so much bigger." 

For instance, she now understands how the Russia-Ukraine war affects GCPL's business or how seed oil influences palm oil. Such information, she believes, "empowers creatives otherwise our jobs become performative." 

On a humorous note, she tells us (afaqs!) how she now has the answer to why a client is being chindi. "I have a lot more respect for budgets."

What's your KRA? 

The good folks at creative agencies are expected to dole out persuasive work. Does the same benchmark apply to Bhattacharya? Not really. 

The asks from Bhattacharya are around "growth and equity"; they can range from growing the category to differentiating oneself from one's peers. "The asks from me are not just on TV or digital. The questions for me are about the quality of conversations that I engage in with R&D or Sudhir Sitapati."

The right time to go in-house

As in-house agencies grow in number, a question arises – when is the best time to join them? It's a pertinent one because a young agency professional might wonder, "Hey, let me get some experience with diverse brands before focusing on one."

Bhattacharya disagrees and says one of the main traits the young members of her team are learning is efficiency. "In agency life, staying in the office three nights is seen as a very sexy thing to do. It's a very stupid thing to do."
Adding to this, she says they understand budgets, distillation, and media earlier than they'd have in an agency.

"It's not like a performative show that the agency is putting up in the boardroom," she remarks, pointing to an agency's penchant for speaking what it assumes the clients want.

However, there is the issue of an in-house agency crew being restricted to a brand or a company's set of brands, and that kind of tunnel vision can stifle diverse experiences. Bhattacharya points to the company's diverse set of brands: "It's a big, massive place with big, massive brands not just in India, but all over the world."

When asked how she goes about hiring people, she was clear: "I love people who are forever students of advertising." There are always new things coming into the culture, and for her, people who love advertising can keep up with the changes.

Bhattacharya is big on culture because "it is the secret sauce which makes things delicious" and at Godrej, there is a culture of sharing and "what it does is give you an ecosystem to be brave."