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Friday, December 19, 2008

Chp 216. We’re No.1 digital advertising agency!


…in India, that is

First of all, an apology for not finding the time to come online regularly.

There are times when we work over-time, sometimes 48 hrs straight in office, sometimes 72 hrs (not so straight after 72…), sometimes 8 days a week, etc etc just to meet client deadlines or brainstorm new innovation/strategies…

And the fruits of our labor?

We are now THE number ONE digital advertising agency in India!!!! Wooohoooo!


[picture source: Brand Equity]

Also mentioned at:
The Economic Times [17 Dec 2008 Front Page]
>> Super Sixer: O&M tops BE Reckoner



Champagne time indeed!!



And I’m sure there will be a wild party later too… *subtle hint to my bosses*

Our CEO Sid was emotional. He sent a long "senti" mail to all of us to show how much this meant to him, and how our company started off as the underdogs in this Industry.

Firmly gripping a disposable cup sparkling glass of bubbly champagne, he advised us "hic. The tough part now is maintaining this position. hic."

Ah… déjà vu of good ’ol IIM-B days: Professor Jishnu telling me, "Getting through CAT is tough, but staying in IIM-B is tougher." And I screwed that up. But the main difference between that and this is, this is what I LOVE doing.

Screw ups, Sir no Sir!

Of course digital (online) advertising is extremely miniscule compared to mainstream (offline) advertising here in India. It’s like Goliath versus… that small speck of dirt lying on the Lice that’s on David’s hair.

But according to Gaston Legorburu, Chief Creative Officer of Sapient, over the past 3 years companies with annual media budget of around $200 million increased their digital advertising spend from 2 per cent to 4.5 per cent.
"Now with good results pouring in, they are debating whether they should represent 11-13 per cent of their budget in 2008."
Phew! 13 percent, that’s a lot.

Roughly speaking, 13 percent of the $200 million pie, multiplied by all the other brands in that category who would also want to move in due to competition, divided by the number of competing digital agencies whose ratio is just around 1:50 compared to the gargantuan size of mainstream advertising agencies, that is a really HUGE number. You do the maths.

Actually lemme.

Suppose 20 companies with $200mil media plan budget approach both online and offline agencies at 13% and 87% costing respectively. The final figures read:

(174 mil x 20) /50 = 70 [mainstream]
( 26 mil x 20) / 1 = 520 [digital]

The number of companies can even be more because online advertising is "tried and tested" with validated proofs (reports, metrics, statistics etc) whereas mainstream advertising (tvc, print, outdoor etc) is still moving along the obscure lines of John Wanamaker: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don’t know which half."

Naturally, if we don’t consider the humongous market share of print, tvc and outdoor, it would be logical to go for digital.

Of course the bulk of mainstream ads (around 90% of media planning) comes from companies that have not targeted/penetrated the online space, hence the reason why mainstreams are way bigger than digital, but according to today’s TOI edition, there are 41 million internet users in India today, forming the eighth largest wired community in the world with an increase of 23% from Q2 to Q3 in the year 2008.

So as the customer base increase, suppose 100 companies join the bandwagon allocating the same 13% of media planning for digital, we have:

(174 mil x 100) /50 = 348 [mainstream]
( 26 mil x 100) / 1 = 2600 [digital]

Which is definitely not a bad deal for digital agencies. And if percentage allocated to digital increases, naturally that of mainstream decreases, hence creating wider rift between the two. The higher the percentage, the more the moolah. (All those Laws and theorems of "directly or inversely proportionate to each other" suddenly make sense! )

Why did I join digital?

Other than the basic facts mentioned above and the vast market area still unexplored in this particular region (ergo long term stability & growth), I just love advertising. It had always been my dream to work in a creative agency where I could utilize my grey cells.

Webchutney is the one place where I have the freedom (and permission) to do other things I loveeeeee like graphics designing and HTML/script coding. I don’t think there are that many copywriters in other organizations that do these (or allowed to do these) for their clients.

In spite of the fact that sometimes the work hours are insanely outrageous, I look forward to coming to work each and every single day.

Hence most of the time it is difficult to find time to update my blog, MB directory, misual.com, orkut and facebook. Couldn’t even find time to read all my friends’ wonderful blogs or claim all their fabulous awards (thank you so much Pixie, Jesse, Jean and Marzie! Hugz!) or participate in any of my favorite discussion forums or play my favorite online browser game Travian (thank you so much dear Lize for account-sitting me!)

Once again, it does indeed feel good to be the numero uno in this Industry! wooohoooo! webchutney rocks!




Webchutney Mumbai is now hiring more copywriters. Hurry! Submit your resume to manisha.pritmani@webchutney.net if you want to be a part of the best online Ad Agency in India!!!



Food tips: Kheema goes best with chutney, they say. How true!



34 comments:

zo said...

Congratulatulations!! :)

Eveline said...

I kinda replied to your comment on my blog, nevertheless, i shall comment here too.
Awesome Kima! That's brilliant news and that's the thing with Advertising, you either hate it or love it to death...
Keep on keeping on :)

Anonymous said...

Hehe, good going bro.
"sometimes 48 hrs straight in office, sometimes 72"
Just take care about your health. Burning out at the work place is a health risk

Best *hic*,
Jimmy

Mischievous Monk said...

Great going man... You forgot to mention the Counter Strike tournaments that we have all night long along with the Tech Head leading from the front.

Cheers to us... :)

Lize said...

Congrats!!!!! :)

Pixie said...

Congratulations!! :-)

You must be so proud of yourself!!!
(and of course, your team!)

Mizohican said...

@ zo: thanx on behalf of webchutney :D

@ Eve: Yes, lost I was! But then, you too should know how hectic it is for people like us, especially at this time of the year :) Have some queries regarding how you upload those mp3 files on your blog... will ask laterz. thanx for dropping by :)

@ BW: hic is also a health risk :D its okhay, coz we're not stressing out. work is pretty much fun, if we enjoy it. ok that didnt make much sense but Im sure you got what I was trying to say :)

@ Holy Devil: Thanx dude. Ah the CS gang. Was never part of that gang but it sure is nice to watch the Tech Head kick some ass :)

@ Lize: Thanx sweetie. You're such a darling for sitting my account for more than 3 weeks now!!! ((((hugz))))

@ Pixie: Right now I am bloody proud of my Company :) Feels so nice to be working here, seriously. woooohooooo!!!! :D

Bobby Revell said...

Hey Kima! I'm glad things are going well for you and Webchutney--it's always good to have a good place to work that's growing.

Anyway, I haven't been around much lately, just endlessly writing--hopefully to a better future. Have a great weekend!!!

Sekibuhchhuak said...

Congratulations bro! In thawhrimna Malsawm tlak leh hlawhtling tlak in nih chu.


Masi nuam deuhin hmang dawn nia.

DayDreamBeliever said...

Congratulations!

And don't forget to remember that Christmas is just around the corner! Cheers :)

Puibawiha said...

Congrats Bro!!
Kar khata ni 8 hna thawh chu a ropui e.

Ka thianpa'n kum khatah thla 13 a awm a tih phawh kha a awm ang ta viau mai. Engtin nge a awm theih kan tia, kuttang thliak meuh vin a chhiar a, "Jan., Feb.......December, Calendar." A vaiin thla 13 lol!!

Almostunreal said...

a round of applause to you and the chutney :)

72hrs straight..*sniff sniff*..is there a dog sh*t around?..:D

Mizohican said...

@ Bobby: Hey bro, thanx for the comment. Yeah me too, I'm hardly around these days on the blogosphere due to work. But I've seen the stuff you've been writing and reading them from my bloglines whenever I could. Just not finding the time to comment for now :(

@ Seki: eee Pu ber, nang pawh leh, Masi chibai. Ka rawn la tlawh kual ang che u ka hman ve leh. Buai hi chuan a har e ni, thil comment te hi. Ngaihtuah ve deuh te hi a ngai bawk sia :)

@ Cherrie: Christmas? When is that? :D yeah yeah, I am keeping X'mas in mind. We have office hols from 24th to 28th :) But dunno how many of those days I would eventually be ending up in office again.

@ Puibawiha: hehehe Pu Puibawih, nia a nih duh hmel hle mai. lolz. Kan thawk nasa a, mahse tui lam hi a ni ve hlauh thunga... Ka boss in advertising hi chu thiam (talent) ai mah hian tui (interest) hi a pawimawh zawk a ti hi chu a lo dik khawp mai.

@ Almost: lolzzzz lal Bitei. And I'm gonna getcha for that stuff you wrote about me too. Grrrrrr!!! :)

Anonymous said...

B-te, Kima hi i tlawn lutuk. Hna a hmuh atang hian i bem nasa riauin ka hria.

Mizohican said...

L-O-L-Z

ka la na viau ang kei ni i la chuuuu... :D

luliana said...

WOW...congrats!!

Khawvelah chuan footballer ho ka awt ber...an tuina leh nuam tih berin ei an zawng nghal theks..a dawtah chuan i va ni mai awm ve :P

merry christmas!!

reverie said...

Congratulations and keep it up Kima. It's good to know that you are an important part of the grand success!

Cheers!

Mos-a said...

..change the title .. it sounds like something Borat would have said.

"this my sistaaar.. she is number 3 *********** in kazakhstan" :)

wonder how you manage to actually do any work in office. all you seem to do is play that silly online game. ;)

vana said...

Congrats ma friend. Mi taima tan hi chuan hlawhtlinna hi a awm zel si a. Tunali thalai te entawn tlaka hmun danga hetiang hna in thawk hi chu in fakawm ngot mai.. Christmas nuam takin lo hmang la awm...

Unknown said...

Mi taima nge nge chu in hlawhtling in malsawmna pawh in phu ngei e.
In adv thenkhat te chu rawn tarlang ve la. Congrats!!
Chuan games khelh pah a 1-na in nih theih chuan ka resumé ka rawn submit ve dawn! :D

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the webchutney team - well done! Hope you and Didi have a good Christmas, and try not to work during this period.

U Mazami

Philo said...

Congratulations! Im sure you had much to contribute to the top ranking.

Tharax said...

thianpa... it's a WOW. that's it. can't find another word to congratulate u.. ;)

Mizohican said...

@ Mosa: haha you and Borat. And yes, about the online game that I play, like I've clearly mentioned before, it does not interfere with work as we don't need to look after it all the time. We just need to click a few commands like research or attack and then wait for 2-3 hours for result.

@ Vana: Thank you Pu Van. Nangni pawh Krismas nuam takin in hmang dawn nia. Hei keini te chu 24 tlai ah pawh ofis ah kan la thawk sup sup mai. Leave a lak theiha, mahse client thenkhat kan handle ho team ah awmchhun ka nia, boss ber ten leave ka lak ve an phallo... team tin atangin member pakhat tal awm a ngai a... :( mahse mark tih thatna a nia... lolz.

@ siama: Hahaha... nia games te chu kan khel hrat... nilengin hna thawh pah hian online browser games (tribalwars, travian, ikariam etc etc) MMPORG ho hi kan khel renga, zan dar 11-12 vel ah chuan network ah AOE, CS, NFS tih vel kan in tum leh a, chuan torrent tih vel ah pawh duh duh kan download thei. Hnathawh nasat a ngaih avang hian, heng freedom kan neih ve hian ofis a awm chu a ti hreawmlo deuh. Ni lo se chu tumah kan thawk peih nang. Achang te chuan zan 3-4 te pawh ofis ah kan tawm tawp a lawm.

Mizohican said...

@ lulian: hehehe. Yeah, thanx bro. Mahni tui zawng hnathawh hi chu ni e, khawvel a nuam ber chu a nih hmel mai. Monday zing a midang ho peihlo chung chunga ofis an kal lai in keini ho chu kan nghakhlel bawn tawp ofis thleng te hi.

@ incognito: Thanx. It sure is nice to be a part of this success. Hoping to work harder than ever before.

@ u Mazami: Yeah am taking her to Mizo church tomoro :) We're going to have so much fun together. hehe.

@ Philo: Thanx. Well, I dont know if I have made any contributions to it, but it sure is nice to be a part of it. lolzzzz.

@ Tharax: Thank you thank you :) The battle now is to maintain this number one position, which is definitely not going to be easy... but we are giving our best shot.

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Ciongrats! Congrats!! And Happy, Wonderful and Blessed new year!

Zara said...

Nangni anga pa taima kan ni bawk si lo. Mahni blog chu sawiloh, mahni room pawh kan tihfai that peih loh laia hetiangin KAWMPANY in a lo thleng hi tlai khawhnuah duhsakna ka'n hlan ve che u. I thuziak en chuan pawl 12 ka zir laia Bangalore-a Advertising school ad ka cheh thlaka zir ngei ka tum lai te min ti hrechhuak. Khang hun lai chuan Ogilvy and Mather, Mudra, Everest tih ho vel kha an lar a. Reader's Digest Pegasus Award pawh kha ka lawm thei teh e. In creation te chu rawn tarlang ve la mawle. Kan hmu ve chak ania...

Almostunreal said...

@BW: bem2 a ngai lo....a in peih sa reng a lom...ka la in peih ve si lova..lolzz

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