PROLOGUE

Nothing seems to change. I joined the advertising profession in 1972, in Shilpi Advertising's Ahmedabad office. I was totally raw-with no suitable professional qualification or previous experience. A few days after my induction, I was asked to, handle their biggest and most prestigious client-Calico Mills, a huge name in those days. The task was to rationalize the dozens of brands they had and recommend a new, appropriate branding strategy. I managed to achieve this in just two weeks with the help of a 10 I-page slide presentation which changed completely the contours of the brand.

I was well applauded by my agency and received a personal letter from my Chief Executive which I preserved for several decades.

Without getting into the merits of the recommen-dations; which were not many obviously, as I look back today, I wonder who the hell I was and what expertise did I possess to make a recommendation about a new branding strategy for a very reputed textile brand of the day. At the time, I didn't have any exposure to the Indian textile industry or any clue about consumer insights .. .I just happened to work in Calico Group's house agency as its Servicing Head.

Surely that was no qualification for recommending a radical change in their branding philosophy? Years later, as the Advertising Manager of Reliance Textile Industries, manufacturers of Vimal fabrics, I needed to choose an advertising agency. So, as was customary, there was a pitch in which three leading agencies of the day participated. Each one announced that Vimal was a feminine name, and would not be appropriate enough for introducing a men's range of suitings and shirtings. It's quite another matter that subsequently, Vimal grew to become a top suiting brand.

A few years later, when Rasna was being serviced by Mudra-the agency I began and headed, the Client Servicing and Planning Head of Rasna at the agency made a strong pitch to me that Rasna should change its dual format (powder and liquid in one .' pack) and switch to a single liquid format because the competition was doing so. I don't know whether the gentleman, quite a senior ad professional, knew that changing a product line means junking the entire existing plant and machinery and creating a new one, at a considerable investment.

I can go on endlessly. Half-baked knowledge; radical solutions to ordinary product or marketing problems have characterized the advertising industry for decades. We just scratch the surface and make startling, subjective recommendations. This seems like the summation of the story.

Not just in the 1970s and 1980s, it seems to haunt us even now, in the 21 st century. Ad agencies still offer half-baked information and consequently present untenable strategies, most of the time.

I began my career as an advertising man in 1972; four years later I moved to the client side of the business; again, four years later in 1980, I created Mudra. This time my agency journey lasted for nearly 23 years. In 2003, I once again moved back to the client side of the business. These alternating stints offered me a vantage point view of advertising business' trends.

While the clients want solid strategy recommen¬dations on facts and figures and in depth market research, analysis and insights, for some odd reason most agencies don't seem to dig deep into their brands' market realities and issues. Peripheral knowledge and mere basic understanding of the categories seem to satisfy and propel them to make strong strategy recommendations.......

A.G.Krishnamurthy