| Interview with Media
Compete general manager Raju Bhakta |
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" Are all media specialists
dropping their pants just to gain
business?"
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| Posted
on 21 May 2003 |
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"I was disillusioned by the turn of events where everybody's
sole intention was to screw everybody else," this statement
from MediaCompete Singapore general manager Raju Bhakta is testimony
of the fact that the life for any media professional can be quite
tough in the Indian market.
Bhakta, who took a plane out of the country in 1996 as he didn't
like the agency culture here, has worked, apart from India, in Indonesia
and Singapore in his career spanning 12 years. He started his career
with Lintas in 1989 and continued there till 1995 (in between Lintas
Media became Initiative Media). He accepted the organisation's offer
to transfer him to Indonesia in 1996.
Thereafter, he moved to Singapore to join MindShare in 1997
and worked there till 1999. He has also worked as principal strategic
consultant in an Internet Consultancy firm, developing business
models for media companies looking to set up an online business.
Bhakta has had hands on experience on the Unilever AOR in India,
Indonesia and Singapore. He has also been in charge of various regional
businesses in Singapore ranging from IBM, Kodak, TNT, Guinness etc.
Bhakta spoke to Indiantelevision.com's Ritesh Gupta in an
exclusive interview. Excerpts:
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What
are your responsibilities in the current assignment?
I
joined MediaCompete in mid-2001, which in a way, was a start-up.
The earlier set up was a joint venture and when I joined it, Grey
Global was in the process of taking complete ownership of the agency.
We started totally afresh with new people. We also took over our
global clients from the agency.
I head
the office as well as hold regional responsibilities for some of
the regional clients we handle. We have done very well - the office
had only one client when I joined. Today, we have more than six
clients and staff strength as a result has grown in the same measure.
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How
has your career progressed? How has it been working in different
countries?
I have no complaints about the way my career has progressed. The
reason I moved out was to get to know other cultures better and
the experience has been great and stimulating. It was very difficult
- especially in Indonesia at the start - but over time, I have managed
to adjust and assimilate, the latter being very critical.
Indonesia
was very tricky as the society has some rigid social norms and etiquettes.
For instance, the key is to be very polite and all discussions tend
to be consensus-oriented. This is very different from the way we
work in India - we tend to be much more aggressive and individualistic
when it comes to work.
I had
to curb my aggression and ensure that I do not use the four letter
words - so commonly used in offices back home. And last but not
the least, it was very important to listen to one's colleagues.
However,
Singapore is more like India - very open but aggression, as we know
it in India, is still frowned upon. Overall, I am a much more broad-minded
person today. Also being outside has also made me more Indian, as
I treasure things which I did not back then.
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What
is your experience on media being considered as an investment rather
than a cost?
Some
things do not change wherever you are. And one of these is clients
who still consider media to be a cost rather than an investment.
Very few companies, worldwide, have the maturity to look at media
as something more than a necessary evil.
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What
is your view on global alignments for media accounts?
I feel that the issue of global alignment is more appropriate for
media than for creative. Media is so research and technology dependent
that companies get more from their media companies only with scale.
Creative
is pure brain power, there is no reason why clients should restrict
themselves to one agency.They should go wherever they can get a
good ideation or a strong strategy. Again, critics might argue that
a single global agency can bring to the table the following: creative
thinking as well as strategic management of the brand. But, strategic
management can be easily undertaken by clients directly.
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How
do you go about your decision making? Is it a combination of in-house
tools, research and instincts?
Yes, it is a combination of in-house tools, research and instinct.
Instinct is critical; if it is not needed then media planning can
be easily be conducted by well programmed computers.
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| "Media
is so regulated in Singapore that innovation is very difficult,
I think in bigger markets, media tends to be more flexible and
thus more innovative" |
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How
do you view developments in media in Singapore? Is it true that
there is ample room for innovation with campaigns such as `Adam
King' Guinness and 'Where can I hub' doing well last year? Do you
think there is more innovation now than in the past?
Singapore
having outstanding media innovation is a laughable thought. I would
say that the examples which you have referred to, are hardly outstanding.
Media is so regulated here that innovation is very difficult. I
feel that media tends to be more flexible and thus more innovative
in developed and bigger markets.
Having said that, the smallness of Singapore allows you to do things
that are not feasible in bigger markets. For example Nike painting
all community play areas with Nike swoosh, Starhub using a Zeppelin
to provide on-air advertising etc.
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How
was it like working with an Internet consultancy firm?
The
company was Web Connection (now called Ion Global) and it was in
Singapore. It was a great experience to be part of and get an inside
(or should I say ringside) view of the rise and burst of the Internet
bubble. I was the 38th employee and two months later we had 110,
and the worldwide employee list will hit 2000 soon.
In
fact, we had a party to celebrate the dramatic increase in numbers
despite there being very little business to justify the growth.
However, I had really great time as I was doing things that I never
ever did before. Luckily, I managed to do some great work, the main
one being the project leader in developing the overall specs for
the website espnstar.com.
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Do
you think its tougher for creative people to adjust to a new environment
than it is for media professionals?
Not really, it is the same. In both areas, there will be certain
things that you cannot do and have to leave it to locals. For instance,
creative guys cannot develop culturally hinged creatives unless
they have stayed in the market for a very long time. In media you
cannot pick language programmes on a qualitative basis, unless you
know the language.
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How
has the industry shaped up in terms of payment? Is it progressing
towards a fee-based system?
Yes,
I think a fee is fairer to both the parties as compared to a fixed
commission. However, despite talking fees both the agency and clients
still compare it to a normal commission in the back of their minds.
This has resulted in a fee-based remuneration still not being as
widely accepted as it should be.
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Do
you still follow the Indian advertising industry? If yes, what are
you views on media industry, which has now 15 media specialists?
Not
very closely! One of the reasons I left India in 1996 was the fact
that the market was driven solely by buying; not scientific buying,
but the very base level negotiations that resembled the dynamics
of a vegetable market.
I was
disillusioned by the turn of events where everybody's sole intention
was to screw everybody else. The media vendor wanted to screw the
agency; agency wanted to screw the vendor and the client wanted
to screw both.
I remember
having meetings with clients where all the clients said was that
they were getting better rates than what we are giving them. During
the entire conversation, the client was being disturbed by calls
from media vendors who wanted to sell directly to him. I am not
sure if things are better now, but from what I know it has not gone
worse.
The
appearance of the media specialist is a good thing, as media deserves
better status than what it had before in India. Having said that,
one has to question if media specialists are charging and getting
the right remuneration or all are dropping their pants just to gain
business?
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Are
you looking forward to working in India again?
Yes
I am, but not sure when.
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Which
has been your most memorable work?
Most
memorable hmmm... It was a very small thing, wherein during the
early days of Internet, we got IBM as a client. In one of the very
prominent news sites in Singapore, we got the IBM e-business logo
to appear as a water mark across all the pages of its tech section.
It
was great fun to read the site with companies like HP, Compaq etc
talking abut their online ambitions with the IBM e-logo winking
in the background all the time. That was a good guerrilla tactic,
the idea was nominated for a Cannes award for media innovation by
the Ogilvy Media team in NY.
The
work done on IBM by my team resulted in MindShare getting the certificate
of excellence in 1998-99 from Media magazine.
Yep,
these two I presume, though I must say there were plenty others
too.
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