From whispers in agency corridors and pitch-room chatter to what’s buzzing on clients’ side, we’ve got the overheard and untold stories of the advertising industry and its people.
In a league of their own
An ad club hosted a football league recently to get a bit of World Cup fever into adland perhaps. Top network agencies and independent shops came together with a lot of mixed agenda. We hear that an indie shop executive pulled up a fight because he thought the referee was partial towards his opponent team, who represented a global agency. Moles tell us things got heated on the pitch and this indie shop executive was given a penalty. While the drama was infolding on the pitch, a bunch of senior executives in the audience were networking. A few were checking out new job openings. A few others were trying to poach talent. In another match, the referee was giving pro tips to a player. However, the said player’s girlfriend believed the referee was distracting him. An argument broke between them. But all’s well that ends well. While things reached a fever pitch, the tournament ended on a good note. Still, we wonder if they were playing the beautiful game or something else?
Problem of plenty
Two leading consumer companies have been working with multiple agencies for their different brands. In some cases, they are also collaborating with multiple partners for the same brand. While this is giving opportunities to several indie shops, we hear that all these stakeholders are not working together for big projects. The client team is putting together the communication pieces that they are getting from creative partners. Result? Campaigns from these companies are suddenly looking disjointed. Consumers on social media are also taking notice of this. In the case of one particular campaign, we hear the creative came from two different agencies and both had different information. Too many cooks? Or a client who likes to keep relationships open?
Mind your language
There was a time when advertising was split between English and Hindi, till the latter took precedence. But the era of one or two languages dominating advertising is long gone. At least on the client side. We hear a few FMCG companies and tech brands are calling for pitches specifically with a regional brief. Ad agencies are now on the hunt for more multilingual talent who can crack these region-focused briefs. One big agency even launched a separate unit to handle regional briefs and work. Firms are roping in cultural specialists, writers, directors, who understand the nuances of local cultures and consumers. Mere translations just won’t do for these clients.
Counting on followers
A home-grown startup recently went on a firing spree. The founder took to social media to make the announcement. The employees didn’t see it coming. In fact, many saw the social media post before they were given their pink slips. Insiders tell us, employees who were asked to leave started unfollowing the founder on social media. The founder took notice and DMed asking if everything was okay with them. That’s a unique way of asking, “why did you unfollow me?” after a sudden breakup.