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!