4Ps B&M gets Inside The CMOs minds to find out how they Pick The Right Advertising Agency. Often, real life beats Romance hands down!
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just like divorce rates, Client-Agency break-ups are only on The Rise in The Current times, as there is growing dissatisfaction at both ends of The Relationship. Do they really have to end up this way? What Factors go into The ‘Right’ Agency Selection Decision Process? 4PS B&M Presents An Agency Primer!.

The year is 1971. It’s a lazy afternoon, and Gene DeWitt is nibbling away at his tuna sandwich in the office cafeteria. Gene works in an ad agency, and he’s worked pretty hard in the five years he’s been here. In that time, he’s risen from being a media planner to being the assistant media director – a spectacular rise by any standards. Gene’s career success has mirrored his agency’s – which has grown from being a $60 million firm in 1966 to around $500 million in 1971, gaining new clients flamboyantly and efficiently. The agency must be doing something as flamboyantly right, says the world, to be gaining so many clients so fast.

Thinking about all this, Gene is quite pleasantly surprised to see the group’s founder walk into the cafeteria, and choose Gene’s table to park himself. Gene dotes on the founder and knows that the agency has grown so fabulously well purely because of the fact that this very man had mastered the art of getting clients – that’s what the world said. And that’s the rarest of rare arts, Gene knows. Making full use of the gifted opportunity, Gene gets into conversation with the founder; and after the initial introductions, jumps at the first opportunity to ask the founder the question he’s always wanted to ask. In Gene’s own words, “I told him that I was amazed and delighted by the rapidity of the agency’s new business growth and asked him what his ‘secret’ formula was?”

The answer to that question makes the import of this primer, the totem of this pole, the crystal of this ball.The founder replied that while he tried to do much to market the agency to the clients, he just couldn’t point out to that one tactic that made clients choose his agency over others! The fact that this founder was none other than the legend called David Mackenzie Ogilvy made the statement more noteworthy than ever. If the lord of advertising did not know what were the factors that clients considered to chose his agency, then who would?
 
For any company/client, choosing an agency is the most critical part of ensuring a long-term profitable relationship. More often than not, uber haste by clients at the initial agency selection stage – perhaps because clients are too blinded by the agency’s brand name, or past work, or famous employee credentials – has resulted in a relationship that is damaging not only to the media communication of the client, but critically bloodying to the sales of the company’s products. But how then should companies be choosing their agencies?

To decode that very concept, 4Ps B&M went across the industry and the globe, to both sides of the story, to the clients, to the agencies, to experts... to give CMOs and clients the 10 sacrosanct commandments that make up the essential checklist while choosing an advertising agency. Then again, will following these tactics enable you to get the best agency? Well, we really don’t know that! But if we accept Ogilvy’s doctrine, then not following these will surely increase the probability of ending up with the worst ones. In essence, it is unpardonable for you as a CMO to ignore these ten rules while selecting an agency. If you’ve stayed with us till now, you’ll stay with us till the end; here you go:

1. Be specific about what you exactly want from the agency
‘Time is Money’. And this ineluctably is not debatable. Time has become more valuable then it ever was. Information explosion brings with it a paucity of adequate time to utilise information relevantly. In such a scenario, the idea of random pitches doesn’t sound very charming. To cut to the chase, it’s the CMO’s duty to do his/her homework before calling for a pitch to the gadzillion ad agencies around them. Says Anup Chitnis, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, South Asia, “Random pitching makes the floor too wide and open for multiple agencies and eats up a lot of energy and time on both sides. Clients should be more savvy with respect to what exactly they want from an ad agency; and based on that, they should call for a selective pitch”. Simultaneously, it is essential for the ad agency to do the requisite homework on the client before complaining about too many pitches. Adds Ajay Kakar, CMO, Aditya Birla Financial Services, “Something I learnt during my stint at Ogilvy was that you should yearn to be most valued by those who most value brands. If you think the client is flippant, don’t pitch.” In addition, on the topic of specifications, Rahul Mathew, Executive Creative Director, McCann Erickson avers, “The stuff we present during pitches stays confined within the walls of the client’s boardroom. I wonder why the idea presented during pitches never makes it to the final stage.” So, if you, as a client, didn’t like what an agency showed you during the pitch, why did you choose them in the first place? The corollary – if you chose them for potatoes and then ask them to handle tomatoes, quality is the first thing that goes up the altar.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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With Stallio and Mojo, M&M has Announced its arrival in the Motorcycle Segment. And the Company interestingly agrees that M&M won’t be amongst the top three players
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Back in August 2008 when Anand Mahindra, MD, Mahindra & Mahindra got his hands on Kinetic Motors’ assets to pave way for the Group’s entry into the two-wheeler segment, critics cautioned that the buy may prove to be a costly affair as M&M had no expertise in the two-wheeler industry. However, Mahindra stood his ground on the decision and proved everyone wrong by selling one lakh units in just 10 months from the day he launched the first model.

Cut to September 2010, M&M is again the talk of the town with the launch of Mojo (a 300cc motorcycle) and Stallio (a 110cc motorcycle), which mark its foray into the motorcycle segment. Without a miss critics are back in job too questioning whether Mahindra will be able to replicate the same success that it achieved with scooters. However, a visibly confident Anand Mahindra says, “We are geared up to redefine the biking experience in India with the Stallio and the Mojo, which are a potent blend of global technology and innovation.”

But then, with players like Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors already bubbling in the industry with their huge portfolios, one cannot deny the fact that it will not be a cake walk for Mahindra this time. Going by the experts’ views, a lot will depend on how M&M positions its bikes in front of the already established players. On that note, while the recently launched Stallio is an out and out competitor to Hero Honda’s Splendor (India’s largest selling motorcycle), Mojo is the first 300cc bike in the country, which aims at establishing brand Mahindra in the segment by carving a niche for itself. Explains Devendra Shinde, Vice President – Marketing, Mahindra 2 Wheelers, “Stallio will be a volume puller for us, while Mojo, which is a sports cruiser, will establish Mahindra as a brand in the motorcycle segment.” Adds Anoop Mathur, President, 2 Wheeler Sector and Member of the Group Executive Board, M&M, “These world class bikes are worthy additions to the Mahindra’s product portfolio and are part of our commitment to establish an end-to-end two wheeler business in every segment of the industry.”
 
The company seems to be very particular about how the bikes are to be positioned. So, even before the bikes were launched, the company released a teaser campaign, depicting itself as a technologically ahead bike-maker. And if Shinde’s words are to be believed, then consumers will get to see a lot of it in the upcoming communications.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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