Mathew Joseph, (26), recently moved to Bengaluru-headquartered EV company Ather Energy as copywriter. He joins the in-house team that handles writing for various kinds of advertisements and content across newspapers, television and billboards and social media. He consciously moved on from his job at Dentsu Creative after realising that his goal of doing high-impact work was not being met.
“It got tiring after a point of time. While working with different brands and people was fun, continuously working was not. Honestly, work life balance seems to have left with the gold age of Indian advertising agencies,” he notes.
Not getting to high-impact work or innovative ideas was another reason that made Joseph rethink his decision to be in advertising as well. “We had good clients but they had a very set way of doing things and never tried pushing the needle further, it killed a lot of ideas from the get go. Moreover, the ad business wasn’t able to afford the changing market rates of talent and that also helped make the switch,” he adds.
Joseph is among talents that are increasingly looking at greener pastures beyond the ambit of advertising, often landing jobs in new-age internet companies and video streaming platforms that are scooping up talent from both mainline and digital ad agencies. What’s on offer are better pay packages, work-life balance and far better growth opportunities.
“Historically agencies have about a 20 percent attrition rate,” Harshil Karia, founder, Schbang.
Key roles at startups
Industry executives that Storyboard18 spoke to shared that often the roles at the new age companies are an extension of candidate’s profile at an agency set-up. All major ad agencies have three primary functions – client servicing/business development, brand/comms strategy or account planning, creative (art, copy and design). Most roles that they get in the startup are an extension of what they have done in the agency life.
Pranesh Urs, head of marketing, Ather Energy says that the roles within the creative team for ad folks range from being the creative leads for particular product lines to designers, to copy leads.
“There have been instances where folks from the creative team have moved to brand, product, and UX teams as career progression,” he shares.
Prateek Malpani, head of brand marketing, Wakefit notes that a lot of talent also come with an ambition to move from client servicing to strategy or strategy to creative.
“So essentially, it depends on the organisation’s requirement and candidate’s agency role and ambition,” he adds.
“Agency talent also brings more resilience, patience and creativity. Agencies in their day to day workings and with the nature of their operation teaches a lot of these values that are helpful especially when you’re a startup,” Prateek Malpani, head of brand marketing, Wakefit.
Agencies feeding brand talent
Historically agencies have about a 20 percent attrition rate, says Harshil Karia, founder, Schbang, a digital marketing agency.
There’s also a pattern of agencies hiring a lot of people at the junior level along with the fact that agencies tend to promote the really good ones faster which leaves a gap for others to seek out offers at the client side.
Therefore, the advertising industry ends up becoming a great feeder for brand marketing talent.
“Historically it was FMCG and then the categories that drove industrialisation. It was followed by tech – Facebook and Google and the like. Now that has transitioned to the other places where capital is flowing like EVs,” Karia notes.
Unmesh Pawar, chief people officer for India & South Asia, Dentsu believes that agencies need to address key areas such as talent burnout and retention through traceability and openness
Advertising talent is often preferred by the new age companies too because they bring loads of experience from a multitude of brands they have worked on.
Wakefit’s Malpani says that agency talent also brings more resilience, patience and creativity.
“Agencies in their day-to-day workings and with the nature of their operation teaches a lot of these values that are helpful especially when you’re a startup. You want people who are good listeners, can think within constraints, value inputs and ideas from multiple stakeholders, have context not just of one or two industries but multiple since they work with varied brands at agency level,” he notes.
However, the ambit of work tends to change for advertising talent when they join startups or big companies. Their objective is now to focus on single company and deep-dive into the DNA of the brand (or brands they might be handling). Instead of just a campaign their duty is to now look at creating deeper consumer experiences through brand’s digital platforms, retail outlets or experience centres etc.
“…when the brand and the creative team work together as one team, they are not looking at developing one campaign after another. Rather, they are focused on delivering the best customer experience, whether it’s at the Experience Centers, Digital platforms, or any other form of communication. This focus helps the teams to put out great work and deliver on the business objectives,” says Ather Energy’s Urs.
“The roles within the creative team for ad folks range from being the creative leads for particular product lines to designers, to copy leads,” Pranesh Urs, head of marketing, Ather Energy.
What can agencies do?
The attrition to new age firms and streaming platforms seems to be the trend though agencies can strengthen their work environments and employee benefits to retain talent.
Schbang’s Karia believes that to have good talent stay is to build a strong culture and deliver excellent work opportunities. He stresses that young talent must move out of the agency set up with full knowledge about a prospective employer as well.
“While one has often heard complaints on the agency side, hastily established brand marketing departments tend to be unstructured leading to haphazard work and expectations and no clear space to refine your skills. Further projects tend to be unilateral. Hence, one must operate with caution,” he warns.
Unmesh Pawar, chief people officer for India & South Asia, Dentsu believes that agencies need to address key areas such as talent burnout and retention through traceability and openness. Cultivating a development culture that prioritizes well-being and ease of talent mobility is critical too.
According to him, considering the importance of work flexibility and offering flexible work arrangements to attract and retain advertising talent is another area which agencies must pay attention to.
“Research suggests that flexible work arrangements are more appealing to talent than just salary or brand names. Therefore, changing the work model and providing flexibility in work arrangements can help in recruiting and retaining great people,” he concludes.
They say advertising is a people’s business. For advertising agencies across the spectrum of services it is becoming increasingly critical to understand what today’s talent need in order to respond to the threat of the exodus to seemingly greener pastures.