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Rina Chandran

MUMBAI, April 24

TIME was when only the servicing person of the ad agency interacted with the client; the creative team rarely saw the client except during major presentations or pitches.

Today, with `star' creative heads such as Ogilvy & Mather's Piyush Pandey and McCann Erickson's Prasoon Joshi, frequently in the news, clients are demanding greater interaction with creative - and, in some cases, taking their business to agencies because of their creative talent.

"Function is nothing today - it's all about individuals," said Mr Prasoon Joshi, Executive Vice-President & National Creative Director, McCann-Erickson India. "Clients want to work with certain people, and they know what sort of creative product they want."

While creative was sheltered from the `harsh realities' of client interaction earlier, today except for someone who is new to the industry, Mr Joshi believes greater client interaction is good for creative.

"It is better than playing Chinese Whispers with the client - yes, that has increased the load on creative, but we know that the client is under pressure and that times are tough," Mr Joshi said. At McCann, a typical client meeting involves a servicing person, a creative person and a planning person; in case of a crucial meeting, Mr Joshi would also go as national creative head, and Mr Santosh Desai, President, would go as national planning head, he added.

"Servicing has been marginalised a little, but they certainly understand the business better than creative does," Mr Joshi said.

That thought is echoed at O&M, which has always been a creative-led agency, unlike other large agencies. The increased focus on creative from the client's end may simply be a result of award-winning creative that has got a lot of attention, said Mr Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Senior Creative Director, O&M.

"Earlier, there was an Alyque Padamsee (Lintas), and now Piyush (Pandey) has become very famous, and some of it is because some of the language advertising we have done is extremely popular," he said. "So he's a big draw, and people want him to work on their accounts." As for direct interactions with the client, there is "less of a generation loss" that way, and more of an opportunity to get big ideas, he said. At the end of the day, an ad agency's final product is its creative product, and that is what it is known for, he added.

However, an ad agency is positioned more as a complete communications solutions provider today, said Mr Nitin Bhagwat, Executive Director, Interface Communications, where client meetings have always involved creative, servicing, planning and media.

But there are changes in the make up of creative and at the client's end: "There is now a new generation of creative people who are extremely articulate and can sell their ideas convincingly to the client - some even have MBAs and understand strategy," Mr Bhagwat said.

"Also, at the client's side, there are people with a background in FMCGs in non-FMCG businesses, who understand advertising better, so the briefing process is more robust." More importantly, cycles are now shorter, and the turnaround time is less, so there is a strong case for involving creative directly.

However, Mr Bhagwat is against the individual culture: "The agency has to play as a team, otherwise it is detrimental to the agency and to the client," he said.

Still, the stars are not going to fade any time soon: "There are clients who come to the agency because of me, and that's not bad," Mr Joshi said. "Because if you create a system around you that's good - with planning, media and servicing - then the client knows he gets that, too." The stars may shine brighter, but there is a galaxy out there.

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