Q. How has the merger of Draft and FCB internationally changed the landscape in India?

Change today is a constant. So although a lot of things have changed at FCB-Ulka, yet nothing has changed. Globalisation is affecting the industry and the good news is that the industry is growing and it's throwing up a lot of new challenges. Globally today, the company has become Draft FCB. Draft is a huge BTL, direct marketing agency, and a part of the IPG Group, while FCB is a mainline agency that is almost 135 years old. Draft itself is 35-40 years old. We have a line-up of top management, which is new and different. This is a huge shift and significant to the extent that we see Draft FCB as an attempt to define the agency of tomorrow.

Q. What was the need of this kind of merger? How would it impact the agency in India?

In time to come, the implications of Draft FCB and its announcement would be made. So I don't want to comment on it now. FCB was doing very well and IPG wanted to create more teeth into the FCB network, in terms of offering which would be different, more competitive and meet the needs of an evolving global market situation. Draft FCB integrates the functions of ATL and BTL. So to that extent it breaks all lines and one could call it a media neutral organisation. Having one bottom line helps in providing 360-degree solutions to clients. Even if you have different agencies under one umbrella where each one is responsible for their own profits, and even if there is a great deal of integration, there would be pulls and pressures from within various companies in the same group to push their interest.

Closer home, Anil Kapoor who used to be Managing Director of FCB-Ulka, is President of Asia Pacific, Draft FCB. He knows India's capabilities and though India has always been a resource centre, we do hope we will see a much larger role being played by the country.

Q. Would FCB-Ulka in India be changed to Draft FCB, and when would that happen?

It is under consideration and we have to decide if it's going to happen and when will it happen. In India, IPG has a majority holding in FCB and the rest is held by a group of NRIs out of Singapore. Yes, financially we were always responsible and linked up to all senior management, with all the tools and techniques in place. But I do believe that with global accounts coming into India and with Anil becoming a formalised part of the large global system, the quality and intensity of relationship with the global partner has increased. The senior management at FCB-Ulka has been there for 17 years and that still remains the same. I don't foresee someone from Draft coming to India because there is enough capability in the country to manage and run the business successfully. I don't think India is a market where international companies send people; they might send off and on, but it's largely run by the same group of professionals who were running it earlier. Particularly in our case, I don't see that happening in the immediate future and the reason being that one of the things FCB has brought in is a stable and strong senior management.

Q. Do you believe in agencies being one-stop shops providing everything under an umbrella?

Globally, people have experimented from being specialist shops to mainline agencies or integrating the backroom while keeping the front as separate agencies, depending on client needs. If we look at today's environment, there is a need to be integrated more so than ever before. The reason being that today with the coming of the Internet, there is a huge change in the consumer one is talking to. There is a huge amount of customisation taking place and there is no one solution for everybody. Also, the product category is undergoing segmentation in terms of product offering. So there isn't one product that is available to everybody. You have a cream /balm/lotion of the same brand and different people are going to buy different things.

Taking from this, somewhere the whole media has changed and technology is making it possible to reach different consumers who have different buying habits. There is a need to have a holistic perspective of delivering to different consumers. To that extent, you need to get into a situation of integrated approach. Strategy and idea has to be media neutral, hence the need to have an integrated approach.

Q. But can an agency be adept in giving solution in various media?

There is a difference between ideation, strategy and execution. At FCB, we believe that we are providing strategic solution to our clients; we may not execute all those solutions. In an advertising set up there are different specialists who work together, be it art, filmmaking, copywriter or media, who all come from different backgrounds. While the ideation process is common, the execution process could be broken.

Q. Is there a dichotomy between strategy and ideation?

This is a misnomer. Our positioning is very clear that we are not in the business of supplying creatives to clients. We are in the business of providing brand solutions, and creative is a means to execute that solution and reach that goal. We have always termed ourselves as solution providers and not suppliers of campaigns. In my mind, there is no conflict between strategy and creative. In fact, creative without strategy is like shooting in the dark. Advertising provides communication solutions to clients that deliver a predefined bottom line. In this scenario one cannot do without a strategy. We are clear that they are two sides of the coin and you need to have both -- otherwise it's not advertising.

Q. With the recent acquisition of 100 per cent stake of IPG in Lowe, it is speculated that IPG will be looking at increasing its stake in FCB...

I have no clue on that. Certainly it's a possibility but currently there is nothing really in the offing, so there is nothing to discuss here.

Q. Coming to your businesses -- what happened with KFC? In fact, a TVC made by FCB is currently running on TV…

In large parts of the world, O&M is the agency for KFC. Somewhere there was an idea to try and integrate the offering and use the same sign off line. Also, the earlier team with whom we had a relation moved. The new team felt that there has to be a greater alignment in communication with the international market. A combination of these two led to the parting but the fact that they have used our commercial shows that it has been professional. Yum! is an important client for us and we handle the business for KFC and Taco Bell for the US market.

Q. We do hear about FCB-Ulka being a part of lot of pitches, but not of any wins...

We haven't announced the wins, like we won the Bata business. There was a pitch on DLF that we won and are waiting to release the corporate campaign. We are doing WHO films. We picked up the Achiever business of Hero Honda where they had opened it up to other agencies besides their three empanelled ones.

Q. Recently, FCB-Ulka walked out of a major pitch, which is difficult for any agency. Do you have the privilege of refusing clients?

Yes, we withdrew from a big pitch and then there was a business that we were offered ranging in the vicinity of Rs 18-20 crore, but we withdrew as the client went into huge negotiations. We are clear that we will refuse businesses that are not worth it. Bad business is bad business and I don't think we should take it on. In this case, we told the client that we are not in the discount sale business; if I am offering good value then one needs to remunerate the agency well. It went back and forth and we said we would not haggle on the price. The unfortunate situation is that there are many agencies that are willing to work on less money.

I have had a clear philosophy that we will not chase new business indiscriminately and we will not do so at the cost of our existing business. We participate in pitches but we are selective; we have a good track record of wins and we will not handle businesses that are not fairly remunerated. More and more agencies should ask for a partnership of equals rather than as suppliers. What ails the industry is to stand up and be counted as people who are delivering valuable inputs for the success of their clients. We believe we are not just suppliers of campaigns -- we want relationships that are fair and of equals. If we believe we are not going to get that, then it's not the business we want to be in. We are sensitive to the fact that we are in the service business, which means being responsive or delivering on time. But I think agencies need to regain the respect that they used to have.

All over the world, clients are demanding advertising that delivers bottom line. And for that one needs to be strong on strategy. Today, every client is talking about return on investments on advertising. How would you do that if you haven't decided in advance about your strategy? The Draft FCB model is further going to strengthen the idea of the accountability of an agency to clients. We will talk about this as we roll this in the months to come.

Q. What kind of opportunities open up with the boom in the retail sector?

The organised retail sector is new in the country and one will find a level of engagement increasing over a period of time. Internationally, retail works on specific promotions and programmes. A lot of advertising in retail would be on schemes, promotions, availability of new products and categories, and new launches. A lot of retail advertising will be on building the retail brand and finding their positioning. That's overall branded advertising. Besides, there will be an emergence of retail brands and a need to establish them. There are exciting times ahead for all of us associated with the business. The ability for agencies to adapt to changes is the big challenge ahead.