At Aegis, digital, OOH big bets

After 21 years with Lintas, an opportunity came for Ashish Bhasin in 2008 from Aegis Media, which had a struggling unit in the country — Carat. It had 50-odd people and was making losses. That’s when Bhasin took over as CEO for Southeast Asia and South Asia and chairman for India. The company has now grown to 500 people , and from one business to 11. He spoke to Ashish K Tiwari about the way ahead for the agency and the advertising industry in general. Excerpts from the interview:

How far has the Dentsu-Aegis deal reached since it was signed in the March quarter?
Dentsu is in the process of acquiring Aegis Plc, and being a global deal it will take time to conclude.  The deal requires regulatory clearance from several countries. My understanding is that approvals have been received from most of the key countries except China where it is work in progress.

How will both entities function after the deal is completed?
Our global CEO has very clearly said that it will be business as usual. Aegis will work as a brand by itself. Our understanding is that it will be an independent operation that will run under the Dentsu umbrella.

How has the past year been for Aegis in India?
With a total of 150-odd clients in the group, it has been a very good year for Aegis globally and an exceptional one for us. In 2012, we crossed the Rs 1,000 crore turnover and it has been a record breaking year, both in terms of growth in revenues/billing/profits as well as number/quality of people, etc.

Which segments have seen the maximum growth?
While all the businesses have done well, digital and out-of-home (OOH) in particular are fast growing verticals. More clients and volumes are coming in these lines of businesses. However, print and television continue to be large in India and hence are major contributors.

Your company straddles the entire gamut of advertising and marketing services. How has the approach helped?
Clients today want the benefit of specialisation but are fed up of silos (an advertising industry jargon indicating various departments/divisions). For instance, the out-of-home guy will focus only on outdoor. Clients today want a complete solution and not just print or television.  At Aegis, we have this system of ‘one country one P&L’. While all the departments / divisions have their individual targets, the profit and loss (P&L) statement outside India goes through one person. As a result, the client benefits from all the specialisation we offer and is saved from the hassles of siloisation.

With the business growing, you must have an  aggressive expansion plan...
India is not just four metros, which is why we already nine offices and should be adding Kochi soon. The target is to have a minimum 16-18 offices in two years. There is a lot of business in Tier II and rural markets and it’s more about touch and feel these days; besides what may work in Kochi may not in Chandigarh. One needs to understand the local market to ensure best results.

What are your plans for 2013 looking like?
Our plans are largely based on the clients and opportunities in India. The key opportunities we see are in the digital and mobile space. That is why we have made huge investment in this space including acquiring iProspect. Considering a lot of search is now happening on mobile handsets / devices so digital will certainly be the name of the game. The OOH media will be huge and so will be outreach. Print and TV will continue to dominate for a long time to come, but agencies will have to discover new ways of handling it..

Could you elaborate on the digital and mobile space activities?
Digital is not about putting a banner advertisement on a website anymore. It’s about engaging the consumer, developing applications for mobile related devices. While tablet devices are not big in India, with prices coming down, the dynamics of the game is changing rapidly.  Our entire focus on digital is holistic and there is no line or separation between creative and media in digital because it’s all one.

How do you deal with the related technology requirements?
We are putting together a large technology team including programmers, net developers — nothing to do with advertising — to be able to deliver the digital communication. One can conceive and create a great idea but delivering it will be impossible if you don’t have an equally great tech team. In a sense, tomorrow our competition could well be a large information technology major because that whole line is blurring now. Currently, we have 18 people and the plan is to at least double the number in the next few months.