We believe that big work will always trump big brands: Kawal Shoor, The Womb
Founder of The Womb on their work for Carvaan that has become all the rage, making it big in the industry space without pitching and more
To say that there has been no dearth of independent agencies that have cropped up in India in the last couple of years won’t be far-fetched. However, the point of departure from the norm is when a Planner and an Account Management person come together to start an agency, more importantly without a head of creative and with an talent pool which includes anthropologists and clinical psychologists. Safe to say that premium advertising and innovations agency, The Womb started by (ex-Ogilvy &Mather) Navin Talreja and Kawal Shoor is not your mainstream creative agency. One of the Founders, Shoor chatted with exchange4media on their work for Carvaan that has become all the rage, making it big in the advertising industry space without pitching and more.
Ditch the pitch
Unlike many other agencies, The Womb doesn’t choose to go through the pitching route. Shoor emphatically states that a four week pitch exercise is unlikely to solve a problem a client has been grappling with for months or years. “We abhor the psychology of a pitch. It immediately puts one party above the other. ‘We will decide, and come back to you…’ is not something we wanted to build relationships on. Often, even the pitch brief is not real. So as a senior heavy team, we feel it a serious waste of time that is better spent on clients who pay us,” he asserts. He is quick to add that he would have absolutely loved to work with Spotify & Netflix. “Two of the hottest new-age brands, but we chose to very regretfully decline those pitches. Someday…” says Shoor.
The turning point
Shoor attributes the actual turning point for the agency as working on the memorable ‘Fogg chal raha hai’ ad which was just within a few months of starting out. “Perhaps that was a turning point in the eyes of potential clients – who saw that we could do famous work, without a regular agency creative structure (NCD, etc.) And that brought us lots of pitch offers (which we politely declined), but also a few clients who understood our way and aligned with us. And then of course, Carvaan happened,” he says.
Work, wins and walking tall
Shoor calls the agency’s current mix of clients as a motley crew of believers. “From MNCs, to home-grown, from heritage to new age, we have them all. But there’s one thing they have in common – they fully resonate with our thinking that big work will always trump big brands. Some say that there should be big work on big brands, but what’s ideal is big work that makes brands big. Across all our clients, our points of contact are the decision-makers, and we like it to be that way,” he says. The Founder believes that no one should have the right to share a job brief if he or she doesn’t have the power to approve or reject the work coming off it. “It just cuts short unnecessary and painful hours of intellectual and creative slogging,” he lets out.
The agency’s work for Carvaan won them reams of awards and shortlists. When asked what went behind the making of it all, he recounts, “To begin with, the brief from the client was that they have over 1.20,000 songs from the Golden Era of Indian music and wanted us to develop a plan to monetise this asset base by getting the young Indian (16 - 35 year olds) to start listening to this music.”
While typically agencies would have responded with an ad campaign on a brief such as this or thought of small activation ideas that would get people interested in the music, what The Womb chose to do instead was to re-frame the problem. “Why would the young listen to this music? Are we barking up the wrong tree? Doesn't it make logical sense to sell these songs to the audience that grew up with this music? With the death of CD's and Cassettes and their own discomfort with the digital medium, this audience had no access to this music. So instead of designing a campaign or a small unscalable activation, we chose to offer them that music in a form that they were accustomed to- The Radio,” explains Shoor.
“And it all made sense when they see the top-line growth and the growth in the share price of the company post the launch of this product,” he continues. When quizzed about if the awards mattered, Shoor admits that only the effectiveness awards mattered. “Because they mattered to clients. They provided validation that good (bold) work works. And they set off a virtuous cycle,” he opens up.
A candid Shoor says, “But even in those, there is now a new villain emerging. The scam case in an effectiveness show! Such cases for instance are typically built on some activation or engagement idea which may have been supported by just 10% of the overall budget, and may have been exposed to only 5% of the overall target audience. And 70% of the budget would have likely gone to the good old solid but utterly non-sensational product demo ad on TV, which may have really done the job. Of course, this is craftily hidden by the case-writer. I was doing jury duties for the WARC Asian Prize for Strategy a few weeks ago, and true to expectation I encountered some of these. And agencies have won big on those very cases. You can just throw your hands up in exasperation, and wish that truth can prevail.”
Speaking about the way forward for the agency, he says that the only thing he is sure of is that they will try new things and continue innovating. “We continue to believe that good work, and happy clients will be our biggest advertisements,” says Shoor with an air of finality.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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ShareSwapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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