Q. What does heading SSC&B Lintas mean to you?

A challenge and something to be happy about. A task like this in such a heavily competitive industry makes it a challenge. But at the same time I feel confident with the heavy equity that SSC&B Lintas has built over the years. With its reputation in building brands, creative excellence and the various awards it has won over the years, I know that the agency is at an inflection point and I’m happy to be here at this point.

Q. What was your initial reaction when the responsibility was first offered to you?

The first thing was ‘Alright, this means working double hard now!’ Then of course, it was the thrill of looking into it so much more. I immediately got into understanding the brands that we are currently working with. In the last few days I have spent considerable time in studying the clients and their communications better – forming my opinion on the businesses, meeting the clients to see what opinions they have of SSC&B Lintas.

Q. How are you viewing the new duties? What do they necessarily embody?

As the head of the company, literally everything; an agency head is responsible for the cleanliness of the toilets to the cleanliness of the balance sheet, so there are a million things that one has to do. From the people inside to handling the clients to other facets of the business in a set up like SSC&B. And coming in addition to IMAG, it’s a whole host of work that has to be done.

Q. How different does this become from your duties at IMAG?

In IMAG there are different segments where there are Presidents running each of the sections – some of them have been here for quite some time and some relatively new – all of whom came together to form IMAG. My job was essentially to oversee the operations of these units and ensure that they operate smoothly. So you can see, the deal now with SSC&B Lintas becomes very different.

Q. Seems to be much more strenuous. Tell me how have you divided time between the two?

That depends on where the need is larger at any given time. Luckily, at IMAG and even at SSC&B, both people are well established in their respective places. IMAG has its respective heads in place, SCC&B has the area heads in place and the teams are excellent. So there is no problem as such on that count. That said I am still in the learning process as SSC&B is concerned and it is taking more of my time currently. But as it is a great creative product, one of the best in the country and so the work does become that much easier.

Q. But SSC&B isn’t really viewed as one of the top rung agencies currently. How do you plan to affect a change in that?

You are right – we are a mid-sized agency right now. But when you speak to me three to five years down the line, you will tell me that yes, SSC&B is in the reckoning of top agencies now. That is my vision for the company and that really is my task and challenge at hand. Despite the size, however, SSC&B is a top class agency. No other agency has won over 140 international advertising awards and that puts us in good stead. Even if we don’t become the largest, we want to be the best, to be counted in the top most agencies of the nation and we have already started moving in that direction.

Q. Have you chalked out a plan of action to achieve this?

We have a course planned – there is a 100-day plan, a one-year plan and a long-term plan. We will be very systematic in how we follow these plans and hence attain our objectives. Accordingly, in the 100-day plan, we are analysing our competition with set of agencies and identifying areas where they are better than us. The idea is to build on our strengths and put in more work in areas where we are comparatively weaker.

In the end of it all, we don’t want to just go out and pitch for any and every business but whichever businesses we pitch for, should be ours. We want to be in that mode and we know that we have the capability to do that too.

Q. What are the one-year and long-term plans like?

Well, we have a great client base and a great creative product. But we have to bring in a business perspective in it. We want to be a complete communication agency. For the client, the answer may not lie in doing a 100-cc commercial or a 30-sec commercial but perhaps in direct marketing or rural marketing. The one-year and long-term plans work more in the direction of being a market communication consultant to our clients. We will now focus on the new business areas more aggressively, which you know is the lifeblood for any agency.

Q. Have you induced any organisational change since your joining?

My joining itself has been a big organisational change! Which means some basic changes in the way of working etc, but nothing more than that. The agency has very good heads in place and so there hasn’t been a need to induce any other change.

Q. You have expressed that you would want SSC&B to be the complete communication provider. Why do you see the need to be a one-stop-shop for solutions when some argue that this is the era of specialisation?

The ways of working change with time. Earlier in advertising, an account director was knowledgeable enough to provide the client with a complete, overall solution. Then the industry got in the mode of unbundling and various functions branched out like media, creative, account planning etc. But now the client is getting batty again, He doesn’t want to work with 45 different people for the same communication message. At the same time, the onus of ensuring consistency in the plans falls on him. Clients today can’t invest too much time in coordinating something like that.

Which is why, we see a huge opportunity in being a single window that provides a marketing solution with creative excellence. It is difficult to find a combination of strategy with creativity. I believe we are poised in a position due to the different services we offer, where we can create a winning brand for the client.

Q. What according to you is the biggest challenge that you face in your new role?

Got to get the client, big and small, and to see us in the consideration place. But that means someone has to be dislodged to get into that space and we have to see how we do it. It’s not going to be easy and I am looking forward to it.