In conversation with | Lowe's Vikas Mehta and Anaheeta Goenka..!

With the change in the minds sets of the consumers the ad-world is has witnessed a lot of innovations in the last few years thus being ‘Out of Box’ and being creative is what makes an agency stand out different. An agency that has always given some of the outstanding campaigns may that be Kan Khajura Tesan or any other, Lowe Lintas + Partners has given a strong competition to its counterparts. 

Being one of the most storied marketing communication groups in India, Lowe Lintas + Partners yet again created one of the most talked about initiative, Kan Khajura Tesan that has been winning quite few awards since its inception. Very recently, it is one more instance of a “first” for any advertising agency from Indi, Lowe Lintas + Partners, being declared the Best Creative Agency in the world & KKT (Kan Khajura Tesan) being declared the Best Marketing Campaign in the world.

The other firsts that had come on their name and also for India is runner-up at Ad Age International Agency of the Year; Lowe Lintas + Partners is only agency from India to win a Silver & Bronze at Jay Chiat Awards; and also the only agency from India to win a special prize at Warc Prize for Asian Strategy.

To know more about the agency’s performance and the Kan Khajura Tesan, we at Adgully caught up with Vikas Mehta, CMO, Lowe Lintas + Partners & Executive Director, LinTeractive and Anaheeta Goenka, President, Lowe Lintas.

Speaking about the strategy that made the agency reach this position, Mehta said, “While it’s never just one thing that leads to all successes, our biggest strength has come from keeping a constant focus on our creative product. Our work showcase of the last two years or so, rivals lifetime reels of most agencies in India. The consistency is beginning to pay off.”

The year gone by:

2014 seems to be one of the best years on numerous fronts for the agency. It started well with Lowe Lintas being named Effie Agency of the Year and then with the Global Effie Index ranking them #1 in APAC region. “We are proud to have done a few ‘firsts’ for India on effectiveness including the World Mobile Congress, WARC Asia, the American Jay Chiat Awards and AdAge International Agency of the year. The reputation we’ve earned on effectiveness has had a significant impact on our growth where in 2014 we had our best year on new business yet. We were thrilled to be India’s #1 agency on the R3 New Business League too,” Mehta adds.

Also last year, the agency had restructured its digital arm LinTeractive, and in less than a year of going live, they had a roster of over 25 brands where LinTeractive was partnering their digital transformation. Elaborating on the way the decision helped the agency, Mehta said, “We made a decisive move with LinTeractive and have seen significant successes over the last year. We saw major successes of our ‘on and offline’ model with campaigns like #kannakeepcalm for starsports.com. In fact, LinTeractive was the only digital agency in India to have won at the 2014 Effies as a ‘lead agency’. We are upbeat about the progress LinTeractive is making and hope to make 2015 even better.”

Challenges:

Advertising/marketing industry today has been evolving at a rapid speed. With robust competition and burst of ideas and newer concepts, the industry is heading towards a new era altogether. On asking about the challenges faced, Mehta said, “We are in the ideas business and since ideas come from people, it’s usually the top priority and hence the biggest challenge for most of the agencies. We are lucky to have an immaculate record in talent-retention and development. But finding talent in specialist domains such as content, analytics, engagement planning, UI and UX remain hard because it’s a small talent pool.”

According to Mehta the other challenge is the whole question of value. “With fragmentation of disciplines within marketing services, too many agencies have emerged that focus on few specialized offerings. It leads to a lot more value migration between multiple specialist agencies, rather than value creation. It’s affecting margins for quite a few agencies and hurting their ability to invest in depth of talent,” he adds.

Kan Khajura Tesan:

Lowe Lintas + Partners that led the KKT initiative, the awards are a reiteration of the fact that no matter how small or simple an idea be, the true measure of its success is the change it brings about in the marketplace.

A strong believer in solving real problems for real people and in doing so the agency has been creating brand solutions that work for the clients and their business. Kan Khajura Tesan is one such example of true consumer centricity.

For information, KKT is a 'mobile radio', that provides free entertainment to people in the 'media dark' regions of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Jharkhand, India's Hindi- and Bhojpuri-speaking belt. The content is provided to the mobile user for FREE when (s) he gives a “missed call” to a designated number. The content is interspersed with ads for several brands of HUL.

As it is quite visible that KKT (Kan Khajura Tesan) has been one of the most acclaimed initiatives, and this is another major award win / recognition for KKT….. Expressing her feeling on winning the awards, Goenka said, “As an agency we believe in focusing on the brand and the task which is exactly what we did with our client and our partners right from the beginning of this initiative. It is of course very gratifying to be recognized by the best, the world over.”

“WARC is a much respected body – receiving this recognition further drives our belief in “effectiveness for our clients”. And also inspires us to do more of the same,” she adds.

As we know, KKT has won quite a lot awards last year too, at Ad Age, Effies, etc so when asked Goenka whether they are satisfied with the campaigns’ response and will there be an extension for the same, she said, “The journey to connect with consumers through their mobile phones has just started. The evolution and adoption of the same will define how well we all use this medium.”

Trends:

According to Mehta there are a lot of trends that can be visualized in the ad/marketing world which includes the fact that there will be a lot more focus on youngsters and youth brands; a lot more innovation on mobile screens and there will be a shift of focus from multi-channel to Omni-channel.

He also feels that there will be an increased role of data in marketing decisions and also a stronger emphasis on ideas that can transform fortunes of a business. Not only that but Mehta also felt that there is a need to create a brand narrative that navigates seamlessly on and offline. | By Aanchal Kohli | Twitter: @aanchalkohli