Finally, where is Indian advertising headed?
A. I believe Indian advertising has gone through what I call the hockey stick-phase. First, it started off from a high-point. Then it started to fall, since it had grown without any vision. Indian advertising agencies have had among the lowest efficiency records per capita in the world. But at the same time, you had very high overheads. For example, real estate costs in Mumbai are comparable to that in Tokyo. So you had low efficiency, high overheads, minimal planning, and miserly pay-masters – the perfect recipe for disaster. That was that. Then came the upward loop caused by the dotcom-spenders. Not surprisingly, that started drying up. All this was short-term. Now you have the long-haul, and this is stable. Clients are finally realising the value of local advertising, the fact that the Indian consumer values CRM (customer relationship management). They are planning long-term, and so are agencies. In the near future, I see Indian advertising doubling itself every three years. Let’s r
