Comparative Analysis of Advertising Agencies

A PROJECT REPORT ON
A STUDY
“COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ADVERTISING AGENCIES”

SUBMITTED BY:
Sumeet bassi
UNIVERSITY ROLL NO.:- 80507317054

(IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE DEGREE)
OF
M.B.A
SUBMITTED TO:-
mrs.shivani singh

A&M INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

PUNJAB TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, JALANDHAR
APRIL, 2010

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BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report “COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF
ADVERTISING AGENCIES “is the Bonafide work of “ SUMEET BASSI “
who carried out the project work under my Supervision.

------------------- -------------------
SIGNATURE SIGNATURE
MR.RISHI DOGRA MRS.SHIVANI SINGH
(HEAD OF DEPATMENT) (GUIDED BY)
(LECTURAR OF MGT.)
A&M GROUP OF COLLEGE A&M GROUP OF COLLEGE
OPPOSITE TO CANADA PALACE OPPOSITE TO CANADA PALACE
JALANDHAR-DALOUSIE JALANDHAR-DALOUSIE
BYE-PASS BYE-PASS
PATHANKOT PATHANKOT

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PREFACE

It is a matter of great honour for me to present before my humble readers
this project based on the study of “COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF
ADVERTISING AGENCIES” The foregoing presentation is an honest and
painstaking effort on my part in black and white about the colourful world of
advertising agencies. The data collected by me is secondary. I have taken
assistance from knowledgeable and apt taskmasters shouldering work of
great responsibility in some of the reputed advertising agencies. However,
with due respect to the urge of these agencies for maintaining secrecy about
their operations and financial data ,I also had to resort to secondary sources
for obtaining data like newspapers, magazines and the websites of these
agencies. Although the information obtained from secondary sources may
prima facie seem to be paralysed by window dressing, to be absolutely frank
with my understanding readers, it has been discovered that this data is as
reliable as the one I have obtained from the horse’s mouth for other
agencies.
Due to paucity of time and reluctance of certain internationally
acclaimed advertising agencies in co-operating with me for this project due
to some obvious reasons on their part ,I have been able to cover in this
project a study of 6 agencies. But the foregoing pages will warrant my
painstaking efforts and the extensive study undertaken by me for each of
them.So, with due respect to my patient readers for the time they will spare
for my project and with confidence flowing through my nerves that both the
time and patience of my readers will not be tried and tested and but duly
rewarded with the intensity of my efforts , I carry you gracefully into my
world of advertising agencies……………
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to sincerely thank the University for giving me this
opportunity of taking up such a challenging project which has enhanced my
knowledge about the Advertising Industry & the advertising agencies.

I am very grateful to Mrs. Shivani Project Co-ordinator, under whose
guidance and assistance I was able to successfully complete my project. I am
also thankful to Mr. Rishi Dogra, Project Guide whose advice and thoughts
helped me gain a better understanding of this huge advertising industry and
the flambouyant, magnanimous world of advertising agencies.

Last but not the least; I also thank the below-mentioned honourable
dignitaries and task-masters who have played a major role in leading their
respective agencies to the sky of glory. This is a special thanks to them for
sparing their precious time, fitting my out-of-the-way appoin”ent into their
diary and giving almost all the information required by me in an
unbelievably amicable manner.

Without the priceless contribution and coveted guidance of all the
above-mentioned people, this project would have never got a shape of reality
and emerged before all of you in the manner and in the style as it now
appears.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. OBJECTIVE:

To study the various advertising agencies; the ones having local
operations as well as the ones have international scale of operations, their
modus operandi, styles and the manner of functioning, their profiles, their
upswing and their downfall and last but not the least their position in the
world of advertising on the basis of the contributions to the ad world and
society at large.

2. METHODOLOGY:

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective and finish the study to
perfection, I have made a judicious and a balanced use of primary sources
as well as secondary sources of data collection. Well, the primary sources
comprise of personal visits to the administrative offices of some known
advertising agencies and a direct communication with the persons who
were knowledgeable and in-charge of the operations.

To facilitate in my operations, I had first chalked out a detailed
questionnaire covering in length all questions that would serve the
purpose in the most efficient and productive way. The preparation and the
formulation of the questionnaire was on the basis of many considerations
viz., the time that the answeree would require to give me the required
answers, the importance of that time and the cost involved. A copy of the
said questionnaire is included elsewhere in this project as an Annexure.

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Although the efforts were directed basically towards obtaining
information required for the study from primary sources to the maximum
possible extent, due to factors like lack of co-operation anticipated from
stalwarts and internationally acclaimed agencies, considerations of these
agencies over secrecy of data regarding their operations, lack of time for
answering the questionnaire and unavailability of the persons-in-charge, I
also had to resort to secondary sources like websites, magazines,
newspapers etc. Bibliography of these sources forms a part of this Project
for ready reference of the reader.

A sample of six agencies was chosen on the basis of their scale of
operations, reputation and quick accessibility.

3. CONCLUSIONS:

During the course of this study I have observed many a facet of the
advertising agencies ----- their strengths, their weaknesses, their
opportunities and threats which deserve a mention:
⇒ Most of the advertising agencies are basically interested in catering to
just the needs of the consumer irrespective of the nature of the product
or service proposed to be advertised.
⇒ The primary objective of the agencies is basically profit generation
and profit maximization.
⇒The agencies conduct a SWOT of the client but not of the product at the
time of accepting an assignment.

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⇒ There is not much of dynamism in this agencies as far as expansion plans
are concerned, diversification objectives are involved or specialisation
motives are in question.
⇒ Not much is done by these agencies for the social welfare and be
advertising of social values
⇒ The agencies are highly committed to their activities but sometimes they
tend to be over-professional in their attitudes, over-reserved in the choice
of strategies, over-confidential in their operations and over-aggressive in
competition.
⇒ Not many agencies are laying too much emphasis on selection of proper
human resources or managerial personnel. They appear over-burdened
by objectives of cost control.
⇒ There is not proper training imparted to people working in the
modestly positioned advertising agencies. Due to this, there is lack of
specialisation, improvisation and dynamism.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS:
The following are recommended in view of the importance and the
strategic position occupied by these agencies:
⇒ The advertising agencies should function in a healthily competitive
environment rather than in an aggressive world of cut-throat
competition.
⇒ The agencies should definitely give importance to profit maximisation
but at the same time function in public interest as far as charges and
quality of products is concerned.
⇒ The agencies should also conduct a SWOT analysis of the products to
be advertised at the time of accepting assignments alongwith the routine
SWOT analysis of the clients.
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⇒ There should also be a provision for staff training whereby the staff is
properly motivated and educated for the roles they perform in the
organisation leading them to specialisation and perfection.
⇒ The advertising agencies should also have a perspective of tapping
new avenues, creating mew markets and pursue global expansion for the
benefit of themselves and for the country at large.

Table of Content
Sr.No Topic Page No
CH 1 Research Methodology 11
CH 2 Introduction 14
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CH 3 Profile
3.1 Introduction to Advertising Agencies 18
3.2 Functions of Advertising Agencies 18
3.3 Model Organization Structure 22

CH 4 ADVERTISING AGENCIES
1 XEBEC
1.1 The Whereabouts 23
1.2 Modus Operandi 23
1.3 The Canvas on which Xebec paints its product 24
1.4 How can I know about Xebec? 24
1.5 SWOT Analysis 25
1.6 Case Studies 27
1.7 Awards and Achievements 30
1.8 Who’s who in Xebec 31
1.9 Divisions of Xebec 31
1.10 List of Clients 33
2 CARAT
2.4 List of clients 37
3 CANCO
3.4 Canvas on which Canco paints its product 41
3.5 How can I know about Canco 41
3.6 Organization Structure 41
3.7 Facilities offered by Canco 42
3.8 Awards 42
4 MCCANN – ERICKSON
4.1 History 43
4.2 Who’s Who 43
5 MUDRA
5.1 History 60
5.2 Pioneers in Advertising Agencies 61
5.3 Divisions 62
5.4 Founder 62
5.5 List of Awards 63
5.6 Major Clients 64
5.7 Organization Structure 66
CH 5 SWOT Analysis of Advertising Agencies-Comparative 67
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Study
CH 6 Statistics
6.1 Comparison between Gross Income of Top 25 Agencies 69
6.2 Growth of Advertising Agencies 70
6.3 Top 20 Advertising Agencies 72
6.4 Top 20 Advertising Spenders 73
6.5 Agencies Ranking 74
6.6 2001- Top Ten Multinational Advertisers 75
6.7 2001- Top Ten Advertising Agencies 75
6.8 Comparison of Agencies on the basis of Worldwide Gross 76
Income
6.9 Graph of Growth of Agencies 77
CH 7 Suggestions and Recommendations 78
CH 8 Conclusion 80
CH9 Annexure 82
CH10 Bibliography and Webliography 84

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Topic : STUDY OF ADVERTISING AGENCIES

1. OBJECTIVE:

The project deals with the study of advertising agencies encompassing a
multi-dimensional discussion on the whereabouts of these agencies, their
modus operandi, their manner and coverage of operations, their
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities available to them and the threats
posing obstacles in their journey to the max. This study shows the
diversity underlining their operations and at the same time the unity in
aims, objectives and target. As during the preparation of this project,
some inevitable obstacles and natural hindrances restricted the scope of
this study just as these agencies are restricted by many environmental
and socio-economic factors, nonetheless, its a sincerest attempt to do the
best possible justice to the said topic.

2. AGENCIES COVERED :
(1) Xebec
(2) Canco
(3) McCann-Erickson
(4) Carat
(5) Percept
(6) Mudra
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3. FROM PLACES TO PAPER :
The data required for this study as per my vision was collected from the
following type of sources :

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources of data collection:
On account of the cold shoulder given to me by the media-giants and
their contemporaries, I had to resort, as also advised by some of them,
to secondary sources of information like newspapers, websites and
books for supplementing the information obtained from primary
sources and sometimes for the main information. Honestly, the
information obtained from the websites was detailed and sufficient to
an extent that would even surpass those of primary sources. In the
ocean of the information that the websites contained for each agency,
I had to fathom for the most precious gems which required crisp
editing, preciseness and good scissor-work. Also newspapers like The
Economic Times and its supplementary called Brand Equity did leave
their imprints on the papers of the project to follow and their
contribution to this presentation cannot undermined and unnoticed.
Help was also taken from books based on advertising and marketing
to give a better appeal to this study and enrich it with more detailing
and liveliness.

4. RESULT

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The cummulative result of primary sources of data collection and
secondary sources is obvious from the pages that follow. However, I
have been able to generate sufficient information and moreover, in
detail from all the sources employed in an endeavour to leave no stone
unturned in justifying the selection of this topic and advertising
agencies, at large. Though marred by some obstacles, I am convinced
that my painstaking efforts and drops of sweat that have made the
papers intangibly wet and the ink of the pen go dry will convince my
patrons carrying good doses of expectation from this project.

5. DIFFICULTIES FACED :
1. Stipulations and urge for strict adherence to the length of this project
upto a maximum of 80 pages forced me to run the merciless scissor on
many points. The pen was on but the papers were gone.
2. Lack of co-operation from the stalwarts and the internationally
acclaimed ad-giants has been the biggest obstacle in the way. Though,
they are very much justified and I give due consideration to their urge
for maintaining confidentiality about their operations and financials, I
still believe that had this information, however explanatory it is, been
obtained from them directly, it would have definitely made
neighbours' envy and owner pride.
3. Unavailability of concrete sources of secondary data was another
hindrance. Though websites form an exception, barring them there
was hardly a source that carried some potential in meeting the
requirements. Prestigious publications like A & M have faced shut
doors of printing presses and a replacement is still hiding in some
unknown corner of invisibility.
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In a nutshell, all these ingredients which have gone into the
making of this recipe wait a verdict from the readers for their taste.
INTRODUCTION

The word that bridges the gap between “no more” to “know more”-
Advertising………. and further between “know more” and “grow more”.
Knowledge is power, they say and today the biggest weapon of power in
anyone’s hands is that of advertising. Just as water is to a fish, advertising is
to business; something without which the basic question of survival is bound
to rise.

In this jungle of name and fame, where every creature confidently defies
William Shakespeare when he says,” What’s there in a name” there is
definitely everything attached to name and it’s this name which gives you
fame……And what gives an identity it’s name? Well, the only golden word
“Advertising” Definitely roses will not smell less sweet by any other name
but businesses will undoubtedly go back to the coffers if the world forgets
their names and to keep them alive in the minds of billions, you go for
publicity.

Today everyone advertises – from crèches to crematorium ,from hotels to
hospitals, from clubs to pubs,from marriage bureaus to lawyers…… well
name it and you have it. Everyone needs recognition, from a 6 month baby
in the cradle to a 60 year old preparing for a graveyard, from a beggar to a
billionaire…… everyone wants you to recognize in a train or in a plane ,
irrespective of what you are. In the yesteryears , everything was considered
fair in love & war and advertising . It does not mind if you have to pull
someone down, important is that you should rise.
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And who helps you to project yourself in the public, who brings you from
the greenlight to the limelight, who brings you from the darkness of
ignorance to the light of recognition? Obviously, the advertising gurus
seated comfortably in their mind-blowing offices

These Advertising Agencies may be raking in big “moollahs” but no one can
question their contribution in enabling the business to burn their
“choolahs” .Today there are the movie moghuls and cricketing badshahs
dancing on their fingertips, models and celebrities weaving their irresistible
web of magic around people like us. Well, necessity is the mother of
invention and our necessities have opened the doors of prosperity for these
agencies.

Be it a product or be it a service, they have the magic formulae for
everything and mind you, these formulae really work on our minds as is
clear from our very own experiences. And sometimes their roles really
makes a layman wonder as to what would have happen to those hundreds of
unsung brands appearing as faces in the crowd on some rack or shelves of a
huge supermarket or a not-so-popular stores if these agencies would have
never risen from the sands of time.

Today, the exposure of every individual to advertisements and advertising
has increased manifolds than what it was in the past. Kudos to these
agencies ; at least they have turned out to be major trend-setters and torch-
bearers for people like us showing us the way to the magnanimous world of
sophisticated products & services. However unethical and materialistic these
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agencies may be, at times in a bid to grab the lion’s share of the buyers’
market, it is doubtlessly certain that without these agencies we would have
never come out from the age of transistors to reach the modern age of home
theatres. Well, every cloud has a silver lining to it.

Who can forget the extent and the manner in which Reliance Infocomm
marketed its Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) Technology on the onset of the
launch of its mobile service. Irrespective of the post-use catastrophes, the
impact of solid marketing & publicity on the minds of an ordinary laymen
for whom having a mobile in hand was nothing less than wearing a gold ring
in the ring finger is reflected in the way such a person is today using a cell
phone. The hype was created by the agencies like Xebec Communications
who advertised the product of one of the Fortune 500 Companies of India
and the hysteria still continues.

Today, may products like chocolates and butter come to be identified by
their brand names like “CADBURYS” & “AMUL”. On the other hand,
many others are identified by their slogans, catchlines & punchlines devised
by the advertising wizards like “BLACKMAGIC MOTION PICTURES”
for their clients’ products like “Hamara Bajaj (Bajaj Auto)”, “Utterly
Butterly delicious Amul (Amul)”, “A gift for someone you
love(Cadburys’)”, “Yeh Dil Maange More (Pepsico)” , “Taste the Thunder
(Thums-Up)” etc.
Before we go ahead with the discussions about the advertising agencies &
the brains behind them, it’s pertinent to bring to limelight the benefits which
we, as a society, are deriving from these agencies and the not-so acceptable
traits.
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PRESENTING...
The pros…
(1) Creating awareness :
Due to the increasing role of the advertising agencies and so-called
dominion over our minds, today the level of consumer awareness
could be well adjudged from the fact that even a toddler identifies in
the spur of the moment an ad of Cadburys’ chocolates or Amul Butter
been run on the screen of the idiot-box ornamenting our spacious
drawing rooms.
(2) Enabling wider choice and access to products :
So many products and so many ads for each of them…leaves the poor
customer gasping for some free space. Well, with the bombardment of
so many commercials, universal hoardings, from advertisements stuck
on the walls of the building compounds to those stuck on the walls of
the railway compar”ents, the customer has multitude options and
ample of choices to really get “ better than the best”. Well, people are
after all paying handsomely for their requirements and they deserve
choices and options. But, it all owes to these agencies who have
spread out before us 10 different types of toothpastes for making out
teeth the whitest and the hardest, 100s of moisturizers for giving the
best glow to our skin an all sorts of luxuries which have become more
necessary than the necessities.
(3) Uplif”ent of standard of living :
Well, its said that “Money makes a mare go”. Today, this not be any
more emphasized as everyone knows that depending on the financial
background, people can get the best of everything. From a cycle to a
car, or from a dhaba to a restaurant, the customer knows where he is
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the most comfortable and is able-bodied to plan out his budget as he
knows the price tags stuck on every product and service. And all this,
is possible because of the constant exposure to media and publicity.
(4) Necessary for the growth of the businesses :
From the Ambanis to the paanwalla, from the Bachchans to the street-
actors, every soul is convinced of the power of these agencies in
giving them a larger than life size image. Every business house, big or
small, though cutting the cloth according to the size of its coat, needs
the services of these agencies to project its brand image before the
laymen and convert these laymen into prospective and from
prospective to loyal customers for their products and services.
Revenue generation is the prime objective behind every business and
to rotate the wheel of success, its important for them to use the
services of these think-tanks and always remain on the topmost rank.
The cons.....
(1) A cold shoulder to social responsibilities :
The advertising agencies today are not performing to the non-material
welfare of the society. Their commit”ents and obligations to the
society are mani-fold. Being the torch-bearers of the world of
publicity and media, they are on a huge platform from where they can
spread messages of public interest in every nook and corner of the
country. Alongwith their professional assignments for profit
maximisation, they can also design propagandas for conveying
important social messages like harmfulness of smoking and drinking
liquor, abolishing evil practices and dogmas deeply rooted in the
blood of the rural illiterate, importance of a nuclear and small family
etc. Accepting these assignments for a social cause will not create a
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dent in their pockets but will surely go a long way in revolutionising
thoughts, attitudes and mindset of every Indian.

(2) No SWOT of products advertised conducted :
All the advertising agencies are conducting a SWOT analysis of the
prospective clients that approach them with a product or service meant
to be advertised but no one is bothered about a scrutiny of the
products to be so advertised. It is not their business, perhaps it is anti-
business; that's the feel and the flavour.

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PROFILE
ADVERTISING AGENCY
ADVERTISING
The American Marketing Association, defined advertising as “any paid form
of non-personal presentations of idea, goods or service by an identified
sponsor.”In other words we can say that Advertising is brand building
through effective communication
INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING AGENCY

The global market has expanded manifold in the last few decades. More and
more products are being launched practically everyday. The companies are
engaged in cutthroat competition to highlight their products to the forefront.
Herein enters the glamorous field of advertising. Advertising is actually
brand building through effective communication and is essentially a service
industry. This requires the help of the media to reach more and more people
to communicate brand effectiveness and here advertising agencies comes
picture.

The role of advertising agency has been accepted because it provides
specialist services to the companies, which have inadequate services of
experts for the promotion of their goods and services. Many institutions have

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established the services of advertising agencies to make their products and
services known to the potential consumers.
FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING AGENCY:
The advertising agency performs all the managerial functions. Some of these
are planning, creation and execution, co-ordination, accounting, media,
research and internal control.
 Planning: The advertising agency plans the advertising campaign.
The management delegates the responsibility of advertising planning
and execution to the agency. The agency must have a fair knowledge
of the firm’s products, its history, the present market conditions,
distribution methods, price level and other conditions. A successful
advertising programme is built on the basis of these data.
 Creation and Execution: Specific advertisements are created. The
advertising copy is written; the layout is prepared; illustrations are
drawn; photographs are finalized; and a correct mechanical form for
running it in the selected media is produced. The advertising agency
prepares a suitable advertising copy for insertion in all the media.
 Co-Ordination: The advertising agency co-ordinates several
activities. It often works with the client’s sales force and distribution
network to ensure the long-run success of the advertising programme.
The combined efforts of sales persons, distributors and retailers ensure
maximum sales. Ideas, media, copy and decisions are co-ordinated
properly to project and implement the advertising programme.
 Accounting: The advertising agency maintains proper accounts in co-
operation with the client. The account executives see to it that the
agency keeps to the stated plan. The accountant is in charge of the
administration of the advertising programme on the agency side. A
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misunderstanding arising between the agency and the client is
eliminated by the accountant. The amount of fees received from the
client and the payment of taxes, bills and other charges are accounted
for by the accountant.
 Media: The advertising agency selects the media or a set of suitable
media for the client to reach the right type of audience which is an
important factor in media selection. The rates, circulation, population,
audience, income and other important information are collected for
the purpose. It has to see to that the media plan is carried out properly
which is devised to implement the campaign’s communication
objectives. The media experts know all about the media and their
coverage. They prepare the schedule of advertising, publication, data
on printing and the time available from television and radio.
 Research: Research is a key function in an advertising campaign.
The decisions on creativity and media selection are taken on the
findings uncovered for research. Research makes every decision
systematic and logical, based as it is on facts and figures.
 Internal Control: The advertising agency manages its employees,
finances and other resources effectively and economically. It conducts
the business behind the scenes and exercises proper control over
activities and funds. Public relations, sales promotion functions and
client contacts are maintained by the management for the effective
operations of the advertising agency.

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EXTERNAL CLIENT BRIEF

ENTERS THE AD AGENCY

INTERNAL

CREATIVE BRIEF MEDIA BRIEF

CREATION
STAGE CREATIVE PROCESS

COPYWRITING ILLUSTRATING

LAYOUTS

CLIENT APPROVAL

PRODUCTION BROADCAST
STAGE PRINT

TYPOGRAPHY ENGRAVING FILMING EDITING

PRINT AD COMMERCIAL

PRINT MEDIA BROADCAST MEDIA

AD REACHES THE TARGET AUDIENCE

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TYPICAL ADVERTISING AGENCY STRUCTURE

Chairman & Managing
Director
(Chief Executive Officer)

Finance

Management Administration
Accounts

Client service
Media Director Creative Director
Director
Studio Films
Print &
Media
Associate Creative Production
Controllers
Directors
Group Account
Manager

Media Supervisors
Creative Group Heads
Account Supervisor
Media Media
Planners Buyers
Copywriters Art Directors
Account Executives

Media Media

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ADVERTISING AGENCY # 1

X E B E C
THE WHEREABOUTS
HEAD OFFICE :
20, Santosh Heights,
1st Floor, 39/4, J.N. Marg,
Opp. Apsara Theatre,
Pune – 411 037.
BRANCH OFFICE :
Jain Chambers, 1st Floor,
Next to Saga Shopping Centre,
S.V. Road, Bandra (West),
Mumbai – 400 050.

Incorporated in the year 1991, this rapidly-growing “FULL SERVICE”
Agency located at the above-mentioned places has today achieved for itself a
decent position in the jampacked arena of the biggies and is continuing its
progressive march.
It is solely indigenous with no foreign collaboration or foreign equity
participation ; something really very praiseworthy.

MODUS OPERANDI :
Being a truly professional & competitive in approach, Xebec
Communications has a well-defined and a well-organised method of
operations. When the prospective client approaches them for getting his
purpose served, they conduct a SWOT analysis prior to acceptance of any
assignment. Although, this SWOT Analysis is not at all a cumbersome and

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patience-testing exercise for the client, it is designed in such a way that the
agency gets a total assurance of the output.
The agency first understands the requirements of its customer and gets a
complete profile about the product or the service to be advertised from the
horse’s mouth. Further, it makes a complete assessment of such a product or
service, based on the representations and the explanations given by its client
in terms of the life of the product, its marketability and its commercial value.
Continuing on these lines, the agency also makes an assessment of the
requirements of the client, their budget, cost constraints etc. Finally, last but
not the least, the agency makes an estimate of the benefits, both monetary as
well as non-monetary which it is subsequently in the long run, going to
derive out of every such assignment.
On the basis of such a study made about the product, its target audience and
the psycho-analysis of the creator as well as its creation, the agency then
selects the type of media which is the most appropriate one in terms of the
cost constraints laid down by the client and accordingly intimate the client
about the cost-benefit ratio of the entire exercise. So, it’s a thorough
professional approach wherein the client is rest assured about the benefits he
is going to reap from the seeds he is planning to sow in the field of
advertisement. Ultimately, its not a no-win no-lose situation for both of them
but is entirely a winners’ outcome.

THE CANVAS ON WHICH XEBEC PAINTS THE PRODUCT :
Xebec provides its customers with a wide-range of media to select from
viz., in fine print, or on celluloid like television, radio, theatres etc.

HOW CAN I KNOW ABOUT XEBEC :
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Well, being professional and competitive in approach, it is Xebec who
approaches its prospective clients and not wait for the the clients to fathom
for it. So, the client does not have to run in sun and shower for finding a
proper canvas for its product. Xebec provides all the facilites for its client
coupled with a very co-operative in-house, interactive response and
hospitality. As far as a payment term is concerned, Xebec also takes care of
the pocket-size of its customers. So on one hand, it gives you the option to
pay the entire fees in lumpsum, on the other hand it also extends credit to its
continuous and creditworthy customers.

STRENGTHS :
The agency first understands the requirements of its customer and gets a
complete profile about the product or the service to be advertised from
the horse’s mouth. Further, it makes a complete assessment of such a
product or service, based on the representations and the explanations
given by its client in terms of the life of the product, its marketability and
its commercial value. Continuing on these lines, the agency also makes
an assessment of the requirements of the client, their budget, cost
constraints etc. Finally, last but not the least, the agency makes an
estimate of the benefits, both monetary as well as non-monetary which it
is subsequently in the long run, going to derive out of every such
assignment.

On the basis of such a study made about the product, its target audience
and the psycho-analysis of the creator as well as its creation, the agency
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then selects the type of media which is the most appropriate one in terms
of the cost constraints laid down by the client and accordingly intimate
the client about the cost-benefit ratio of the entire exercise. So, it’s a
thorough professional approach wherein the client is rest assured about
the benefits he is going to reap from the seeds he is planning to sow in
the field of advertisement. Ultimately, its not a no-win no-lose situation
for both of them but is entirely a winners’ outcome.

WEAKNESSES :
Xebec is facing a major problem of Time Management i.e. it is over-
dependent on its staff. Hence, the quality and the efficiency of its human
resources always causes some sort of a problem in making and
implementing fast decisions. Again, multiplicity of brains, though an
asset for any organization is also sometimes a hindrance in its
development when the agency is not able to reach to a definite conclusion
about its strategies and policies in the nick of the time due to conflicting
ideas presented by its too many decision-makers. As it is aptly quoted,
“Too many cooks spoil the broth”

Secondly, as far as client servicing is concerned, Xebec does not make
adequate attempts to update its services. This is the main reason why this
organization though reputed, is not able to expand its paraphernalia. Lack
of creativity is also a major backdrop in its success story.

Next, Xebec has also failed to make any renowned celebrity from the
fields of cinema, sports, politics or business as its brand ambassador as
other reputed agencies in this world are in a practice of doing. Hence, the
28

agency fails to create a long-lasting and huge appeal for the products of
its clients amongst the masses.

As far as the profiles of the team members of Xebec are concerned, the
people in the topmost levels of organizational hierarchy who are mainly
shouldering the responsibility of devising strategies, policies, media
plans, client servicing, account planning, market recognition and strategic
decision-making are not from the fields of management or advertising.
Though, they may be well-groomed for excellence in the environment in
which they are functioning, there is always an undisputed difference
between those able-bodied people who are from the field of management
and those who are not. And finally, in this field of cut-throat competition
where agencies rise and fall like a pack of cards day in and out, you
definitely need professionals and professionalism in your approach at the
time of decision-making and implementation of ideas.

OPPORTUNITIES :
There is a tremendous scope for diversifying its paraphernalia as
currently Xebec is just specializing in one particular media.

Secondly, by recruiting and taking more benefits from services of
professionals in this field, Xebec can overcome its problems of Time
Management and slow decision-making. Instead of having too many
heads with different contents in them, it can always go for quality staff.

Xebec can also concentrate on making some of the eminent personalities
as its Brand Ambassador, which it has already started as is evident from
29

its forthcoming contract with a cricket star named Salil Ankola. If it
continues to do so on these lines it can lead to more aggressive response
for its clients’ products and services.

THREATS :
Xebec also does not make a SWOT analysis of its clients at the time of
taking an assignment. This also exposes it to a major threat of losing its
own ground in its field as not many of its clients are too reputed, well-
organised and aware of their requirements.

Another major threat to the growth and development of Xebec is its over-
dependence on Print Media. That is to say, Xebec has not taken too many
efforts of diversification and growth into other media. It is quite
understandable that in today’s world to remain sellable in the market you
have to keep on diversifying yourself into other fields which this agency
is not very much keen in today, there is a definite threat on its future
existence. Survival is first, growth afterwards and just trying to be a
master in one amidst a crowd of experts who are Jack of all trades is not
at all a good sign for any organization.

30

CASE STUDIES
1. KIMBERLY CLARK
1.1 Brief
Associate Kimberly Clark with personal hygiene by a campaign
encouraging people to adopt health habits and educate offices and hotels
about the importance of giving their employees and guests access to
hygiene products.
1.2 Execution
A Poster Campaign placed in and around washrooms (where
Kimberly Clark's products are most used)reminding people about the
importance of personal hygiene with a byline by Kimberly Clark.
1.3 Result
A direct association between Kimberly Clark and personal hygiene
and increased usage of Kimberly Clark products and supplies.

2. KINETIC
2.1 Brief
Relaunch Kinetic Honda Marvel and build on Kinetic's reputation as
an all family 2 wheeler maker. Create a new buzz around the Marvel
as an exciting bike.
2.2 Execution
A series of concurrent road-shows and test rides all over India handled
by our events division with live performances by India's most exciting
and talented performer - REMO - to stir up the excitement.
2.3 Result

31

Excitement about Marvel and renewed interest in the scooter and
Kinetic.

3. THYSSENKRUPP
3.1 Brief
To occupy mindspace as a core infrastructure sector/industry player.
3.2 Execution
A creative campaign in Indian and foreign magazines and journals
closely targeted at industrial decision makers.
3.3 Result
Increased awareness of ThyssenKrupp activities and brand recall as a
hi-tech German company. ThyssenKrupp continues to be a valued
client.

4. INDIACOM
4.1 Brief
Build the INDIACOM brand as a most easily accessible and widely
disseminated yellow pages directory.
4.2 Execution
Strategic press spots and hoardings timed with the beginning and end
of the bookings period designed to drive demand for ads and
insertions and increase awareness of the INDIACOM edge.
4.3 Result
More recall for the INDIACOM brand as the most easily accessible
and widely disseminated yellow pages directory resulting in more
placements in their directory.

32

5. LIPI DATA SYSTEMS
5.1 Brief
Position LIPI as a total data solutions company with a wide range of
high quality print solutions for small businesses and corporates
5.2 Execution
A creative campaign focusing on the flexibility of LIPI printing
solutions.
5.3 Result
Increased awareness about the LIPI brand name as a provider of
superior printing solutions.

6. INTELLIGENT INVESTOR

6.1 Brief
Raise Intelligent Investor's profile through high powered personal
finance exhibitions in the metros.
6.2 Execution
A series of full page ads in outlook and Intelligent Investor designed
to engage the readers attention by trumpeting the sheer volume of
financial services and free advice on offer.
6.3 Result
A tremendous response to the personal finance exhibitions leading to
increased awareness about Intelligent Investor and an increase in its
brand equity.
7. CENTURION BANK
7.1 Brief

33

Establish Centurion Bank as a one stop shop for all banking needs
with superior banking services for small customers.
7.2 Execution
The target audience was identified as the small customer who was
perhaps not getting the best service in big banks. The creatives were
designed to inform him about Centurion Bank's thrust towards them.
7.3 Result
More new accounts for Centurion Bank with its brand firmly
established among the smaller customers.

8. DISHNET DSL
8.1 Brief
Leverage Dishnet strengths as the only DSL high speed ISP provider
in the country. Target soho and heavy net users promoting the benefits
of high speed access.
8.2 Execution
A creative campaign bringing out the cost and speed advantages of
broadband.
8.3 Result
Increased interest and awareness about broadband Internet access,
establishing Dishnet DSL as the pioneer in broadband technology and
generating inquiries and sales.

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS :
Best Radio Jingle
[A refreshing jingle for Electronica Leasing & Finance Ltd’s Fixed Deposit
Schemes]
34

CEAD - Best Radio Jingle
[An innovative jingle for Kinetic Spark which was set in a folk tune]
Trade Fair/Exhibition Design
[First prize for Kinetic Honda stall at Auto Expo ‘98]
[First prize for “Impressive Stall & Innovative Displays” at TECHEX-6
at World Trade Centre, Mumbai, November ‘98]

WHO’S WHO IN XEBEC ?
People make all the difference, nurturing talent and allowing space for
independent thought and initiative are our hallmarks which explains
the low attrition rates.
Key people behind the success of Xebec are -
Kiran Bhat - Chief Executive Anil Bhat - Executive
Director

Vincent Sebastian - Branch Manager Radhika Akolkar -
Account Director

Samir Wagh - Manager (Media & Events) Sandeep Ghodke - Art
Director

Anil Rane - Asst. Art Director Abhay Bengeri - Branch
Director

Praveen Meloth - Sr. Account Executive Bhavana - Sr. Account
Executive

DIVISIONS OF XEBEC
M.A.R.S.

35

Our in house Research division - an independent profit centre - allows
clients to identify customer preferences, trends, deliver a more focused
message and track customer response.
M.A.R.S. delivers professional research services within the Xebec umbrella.
M.A.R.S. Services:
Qualitative and Quantitative Research... Dipstick Studies... Focus
Groups... Pre and Post Launch Surveys / Studies... Feasibility Reports...
Customer Satisfaction Surveys... Dealer Audits...
STELLAR - P.R.
In today's fast paced media driven world with shrinking attention spans, PR
is an important vehicle to increase mindspace and mindshare.
Stellar is a Xebec group company run by experienced PR professionals with
strong contacts in press and TV for national coverage.

CUSTOMER CONNECT
C2 is Xebec CRM arm with specialized Direct Marketing and Customer
Response skills.
LIST OF CLIENTS


C A R A T

THE WHEREABOUTS
HEAD OFFICE :

CARAT MEDIA SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
Barodawala Mansion,
81, Dr. Annie Besant Road,
36

Worli, Mumbai 400 018
India.
Email : pat@carat-india.com
Website : www.carat-india.com

CEO: Sulina Menon
Email : sulina@carat-india.com
Carat India - New Delhi
Address : E82A, Greater Kailash Part-1,
New Delhi, Pin-110048, India
Tel No : (91) 11 629 4112
Fax No : (91) 11 629 3680
Email : carat@ndb.vsnl.net.in
Website: www.carat-india.com
Website: www.carat-asiapacific.com
Carat is operated by AEGIS MEDIA which operates alongwith Carat 2 other reputed
worldwide organizations viz., Vizeum & Postersope Worldwide

MODUS OPERANDI :
Being a truly professional & competitive in approach, “CARAT ” has a
well-defined and a well-organised method of operations. When the
prospective client approaches them for getting his purpose served, they
conduct a SWOT analysis prior to acceptance of any assignment. Although,
this SWOT Analysis is not at all a cumbersome and patience-testing exercise
for the client, it is designed in such a way that the agency gets a total
assurance of the output.

37

SWOT ANALYSIS OF CARAT :
 STRENGTHS
1. Carat has a very educated and well-groomed set of clientele. They
know that the ability to understand and exploit the opportunities of the
evolving media market is key to their future success. Media
communication, and assessing its short, medium and long-term effect,
is becoming central to every business.
2. Carat’s aim is to deliver business advantage for its clients through
effective communication programmes that maximize return on
inves”ent. This means partnering with its clients to produce
sustainable improved sales by building brand loyalty, value and
awareness. They combine insights into brand, media and consumer
behavior to spark innovative media solutions that are unique to every
brand. The Carat approach to communication planning gets results.
3. The marketing strategy of Carat is defined as a “360°
communication”. This means exploiting the whole range of media
channels available to a brand which is fundamental to building
effective communication strategies. As messages reach consumers in
new and different ways, they can refresh and renew a relationship,
create excitement and loyalty, even advocacy for a product. The task
is to build a programme which engages consumers with the brand and
reveals the inherent values in a product or service that cause
consumers to say "That's for me". In a nutshell, this type of a strategy
helps in building a brand loyalty and the customer starts relating
himself with it.

38

4. Carat’s clients are very much impressed with its ability to work as an
international team. The breadth of their service and their strong
coherent network give Carat the scope to truly partner international
advertisers who are winning the race for global media effectiveness.
5. Every brand, market and competitive situation requires a unique
solution. Carat has a rigorous and proven framework to develop
innovative and creative media solutions throughout its network. Its
approach extends across all media - 360° communication. It works
with a suite of sophisticated analysis tools and research, helping it to
understand consumers and to design media campaigns that deliver
measurable improvements in its clients' business.
5. Incisive management of media delivers business advantage to Carat’s
clients. Carat has invested over US$30 million on research and tools
to manage and measure media effectiveness, across traditional and
online media channels.
6. Consumers' relationships with brands and product sectors need to be
linked to their relationships with media and attitudes to advertising.
Analysis using tools such as Charisma and Ad-itudes helps Carat’s
clients reach their core targets more effectively and develop strategies
to attract new customers.

 WEAKNESSES
1. The major weakness of Carat is diversification. Carat has grown,
flourished and made a tremendous progress in the field of electronic
media only. However, for a long-term and sustained growth and
development it is the need of an hour for every agency to stretch its
arms and reach out for the world through all possible avenues.

39

2. Carat does not have a broad clientele base which means that it does
not enjoy a very diversified brand loyalty.

 OPPORTUNITIES
1. Carat has tremendous growth and diversification opportunities in the
field of advertising specially because of its skilled labour force and
dynamic vision.
2. Carat has international tie-ups which means that there is ample of
scope for it to diversify its operations and tap the market worldwide.

 THREATS
1. Carat is specializing only in electronic media. This overdependence
on one media only is definitely fatal for future growth and sustained
development. Today, there are many new entrants in the market and
these agencies are making progress by heaps and bounds in all types
of media. Carat needs to tap other media also to emerge as a genuine
world leader.
2. Being a multinational agency, it is extremely difficult for small
customers to approach this agency for their requirement. Carat should
also concentrate more on Indian market which has a very large base of
clientele. Firms worldwide have also established themselves firmly in
the Indian Market which if Carat cannot do or does not do will
hamper its growth and development process.

CLIENTS

40

Adidas Diageo EMI Group Ferrero International

Fiat Henkel Kellogg Kraft Jacobs

Suchard LVMH Mannesmann- Vodafone

Merloni Beiersdorf Bertelsmann BMW

Cable & Wireless Carrefour Coca-Cola Club Med

Danone Group Nissan Pernod Ricard Pfizer

Philips Renault Sara Lee SCA

SmithKline Beecham Telefonica Walt Disney

C A N C O
THE WHEREABOUTS

HEAD OFFICE :

518, Tulsiani Chambers,
41

Nariman Point,
Mumbai – 400 021.

Incorporated in the year 1985-86, this rapidly-growing “FULL
SERVICE” Agency located at the above-mentioned place alongwith
branches at Bangalore, Chennai & Delhi, has today achieved for itself a
decent position in the jampacked arena of the biggies and is continuing its
progressive march.
It is solely indigenous with no foreign collaboration or foreign equity
participation ; something really very praiseworthy.

MODUS OPERANDI :
Being a truly professional & competitive in approach, “Canco Advertising
Pvt. Ltd.” has a well-defined and a well-organised method of operations.
When the prospective client approaches them for getting his purpose served,
they conduct a SWOT analysis prior to acceptance of any assignment.
Although, this SWOT Analysis is not at all a cumbersome and patience-
testing exercise for the client, it is designed in such a way that the agency
gets a total assurance of the output.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF CANCO :
 STRENGTHS
1. Canco is a full-service agency providing all types of services related
to the field of advertising & marketing to its clients.
2. It conducts a SWOT Analysis of its clientele to assess their strengths
and weaknesses. It also first understands the requirements of the
client, their knowledge about the field of advertising, the

42

characteristics of the products and services to be advertised by its
client, the type of target market and the cost constraints under which
its client is functioning. This overall study about the client and its
products helps Canco to devise and develop a proper marketing and
advertising plan for its client which can optimize client’s returns in
the restrictive environment in which it functions.
3. As far as offering facilities to clients are concerned, amongst others,
Canco also provides its client the facility to make payments of its fees
in installments which goes a long way in helping the client overcome
its financial hurdles, if at all posed on him. This is a major
breakthrough in client servicing and definitely is a major weapon in
anyone’s hands to have a stable and a loyal base of clientele.
4. The top level of organizational structure in Canco consists of people
who are professionals having the academic qualifications which are
must in this field. Understandably, on this account there is bound to be
professionalism in the approach, attitude and decisions made by the
agency for its growth and development.
5. Canco offers its customers a wide selection amongst the media for
canvassing their product or services. It advertises in newspapers, uses
electronic media and also provides the facility of online advertising.
As the choices are more for the customers, depending on their
requirements, the characteristics of their products and their cost
constraints, it helps them in selecting the proper medium for
advertising their product or service.

 WEAKNESSES

43

1. The biggest weakness of Canco is its organizational structure. The
organizational structure is such that people who are at the top most
level in the hierarchy and who are professionals in this field are few
whereas the line staff is quite much. This may lead to centralization of
decision-making and an obvious influence of one or two people in
policy decisions. Centralization of decision-making and authority
being given to only few can prove to be disastrous for the growth of
the organization.
2. It does not have a very broad base clientele. The list includes just a
few major names like HDFC. This means that the agency does not
enjoy the patronage of many of the big names and is dependent on the
patronage of privileged few.
3. CANCO has not hired any of the eminent celebrities for endorsing the
products and services of its clients. This is why the appeal created for
the products and services of its clients does not reach to a large group
of masses.
4. In this world of cut-throat competition where it is important for every
agency to have some sort of transparency which will make popular its
strategies, achievements, client patronage, diversification in services
offered, CANCO has not made any effort to bring itself in the
limelight. With no URL and no other self-advertisement, it still lingers
in some dark corner of isolation.

 OPPORTUNITIES
1. With professionals at the decision-making level, CANCO has an
opportunity to expand its operations and diversify itself into new

44

avenues if it makes a concentrated effort on improvising the strength
of professional staff.
2. Making use of the brand image of some celebrities for endorsing the
products of its clients can give it an upper hand and help in having
more reputed customers into its kitty.
3. It can project its achievements before the public and through the
medium of website can lend more transparency to its operations. On
these lines, this agency is working presently and a website is in the
development stage.

 THREATS
1. CANCO, though making use of print and electronic media for
advertising products of its clients is a Jack of all trades, master on
none. Specialisation is required in at least one sphere for expansion
and further diversification.
2. The strength of the staff and the quality of human resource is also a
major hindrance it is growth and development. When decision-making
is centralized and that too based on few brains, there is bound to be
lack of impulsiveness, aggression, timeliness and dynamism.
3. CANCO is suffering a big threat from other agencies operating in the
same set of environmental conditions who are constantly offering
more and more services to their customers and diversifying
themselves day in, day out.

THE CANVAS ON WHICH CANCO PAINTS THE PRODUCT :

45

CANCO provides its customers with a wide-range of media to select
from viz., in fine print, or online through the medium of internet,
external advertising like hoardings, pamphlets etc.

HOW CAN I KNOW ABOUT CANCO?
Well, being professional and competitive in approach, it is CANCO who
approaches its prospective clients and not wait for the the clients to
fathom for it. So, the client does not have to run in sun and shower for
finding a proper canvas for its product. CANCO provides all the facilities
for its client coupled with a very co-operative in-house, interactive
response and hospitality. As far as payment terms is concerned, CANCO
also takes care of the pocket-size of its customers. So on one hand, it
gives you the option to pay the entire fees in lumpsum, on the other hand
it also extends credit to its continuous and creditworthy customers.
ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF CANCO
ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

Mr. Ramesh Narayan, (Managing Director)

Creative Director Copywriters
(1) Mr. Dhananjay Neelam
(2) Mr. Arun

Total Staff Strength : 24

FACILITIES OFFERED BY CANCO TO ITS CUSTOMERS :

46

CANCO fixes the budget for its client depending on the requirements of
the client, the characteristics of the product to be advertised, the target
customers, the marketing strategy, the aggressiveness or otherwise of the
advertising campaign, the type of customers to be targeted, the cost
constraints of the environment in which the client is functioning etc.
Based on this study, the budget is given by the agency to its client.

AWARDS WON BY CANCO
a. Given by Alert India, Non-Government Organization (NGO) which
creates awareness for leprosy .
b. Given by Advertising Club, Mumbai

47

McC A N N - ERICKSON

HISTORY

McCann-Erickson WorldGroup was chartered in 1997 as a new model for
integrated marketing communications. The WorldGroup was created by
uniting best-in-class marketing communications firms in a range of
disciplines behind a common mission and vision.

In only a few years, McCann-Erickson WorldGroup has emerged as one of
the world's leading integrated brand communications organizations--in
global size, in professional quality, and in the number of clients we serve
with multiple-communications services.
Each WorldGroup agency retains the best of its distinctive heritage. Most
notably, McCann-Erickson, is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary,
representing a century of innovation and excellence in advertising and
communications The rich histories of the member agencies of World Group
provide the foundation for the WorldGroup's unparalleled expertise and their
unique shared culture. In its brief history, the WorldGroup has cultivated a
common culture across its global network, based on shared strategic tools
and a shared vision for effective marketing communications.

WHO’S WHO :

John J. Dooner CHAIRMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER McCANN-
ERICKSON WORLDGROUP

48

Arther D’Angello CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
McCANN-ERICKSON WORLDGROUP

Eric Einhorn EXE. VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER
MCCANN-ERICKSON WORLDGROUP

President, CEO
Max Gosling Representative Director
McCann-Erickson Japan

REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Peter Hamilton MCCANN-ERICKSON ASIA PACIFIC

CHAIRMAN AND CEO
Robin Kent
UNIVERSAL MCCANN

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Bill Kolb MOMENTUM WORLDWIDE

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, McCANN-ERICKSON EUROPE,
Ben Langdon
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Pamela Maphis CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Larrick MRM PARTNERS WORLDWIDE

VICE CHAIRMAN, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER
Marcio M.
WORLDWIDE DIRECTOR OF MULTINATIONAL ACCOUNTS
Moreira

REGIONAL DIRECTOR LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEAN
Jens Olesen MCCANN-ERICKSON WORLDWIDE

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Dr. Joseph
DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH & INSIGHT DEVELOPMENT
Plummer

CHAIRMAN EMERITUS
Stan Rapp
MRM PARTNERS WORLDWIDE

Joe Torre CHAIRMAN AND CEO
TORRE LAZUR MCCANN HEALTHCARE WORLDWIDE
Chris Weil CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
49

MOMENTUM WORLDWIDE

MODUS OPERANDI OF McCANN-ERICKSON

TOOLS

McCann-Erickson WorldGroup's unique and proprietary shared tools help
unite different marketing communications disciplines. They unite
professionals in different offices around the world. They provide a common
"language" for diverse teams working together for common clients.
Our tools also set us apart. They are disciplined yet flexible. They combine
our best practices with our cutting-edge thinking.
We have specialized tools in various disciplines, but the centerpiece is the
holistic Brand Optimization Map™. Building off of the foundation of the
Road Map to Effective Communications™, The Brand Optimization Map
incorporates the thinking behind the best strategy and planning processes of
various disciplines into a unique, universal strategic service.
By offering a holistic, integrated approach to strategy development, creative
execution, and campaign evaluation, the Brand Optimization Map service
can generate brand ideas that have the potential to solve clients' fundamental
business problems and position their brands for long-term growth.

CREATING THE DEMAND-CHAIN
By systemically linking supply activities from sourcing and manufacturing
to distribution and customer orders, corporations have successfully solved
what is called the supply chain. By enabling "just in time" delivery of
products or services to meet demand, this process benefits marketers through
increased efficiency, productivity and lower costs.
50

But in today's competitive marketing climate, with a renewed focus on
building customer and top-line growth, demand creation is, arguably, the
new success factor. To meet this important business need among all types of
manufacturing and service corporations, McCann-Erickson WorldGroup has
developed a service that links demand creation activities to make them more
synergistic and powerful, thus helping corporations to create enduring
marketplace growth.
This proprietary service offered by McCann-Erickson WorldGroup is known
as Creating the Demand Chain. This service, also known as the McCann
Demand Chain™, provides marketers with all the critical steps in demand
creation in a cohesive, effective, and optimized manner.
The ultimate benefit of the McCann Demand Chain™ service in whole, or in
part, is to improve demand creation for companies and brands, increasing the
sale of products and services and optimizing top-line revenue.
Creating the Demand Chain™ encompasses a linked set of services
involving six "links." Importantly, marketers can leverage the McCann
Demand Chain™ service as a whole, or in part, since many of the service
components can be adapted to the marketer's existing company activities.
These six service elements encompass Demand Vision, Brand Idea,
Resource Optimization, Brand Contact, Relationship Management and
Demand Performance activities.
While this service and its component services are delivered through an array
of marketing communications operations across multiple channels, their
unique linkage makes them more than the sum of the parts. Each element
leverages proprietary, market-tested McCann-Erickson strategic,
collaborative and measurement tools; and each is supported and optimized
by specialized expertise, resources, creativity, software and infrastructure.
51

Brand Optimization Map
The Brand Optimization Map (BOM) has been created by McCann-Erickson
WorldGroup to provide our corporate clients with a new, more inclusive
approach to strategy development, one that fully recognizes the evolving
nature of brand communications. This strategy development service
recognizes that brand marketers around the world are in a changing
relationship to their customers. The Brand Optimization Map™ thus takes a
broader and deeper strategic perspective to account for the new realities
facing marketing-focused businesses today, including their required
coordinated usage of a full range of marketing communications disciplines.
In today's highly demanding business environment, the focus has shifted
away from improving profits through operating efficiencies to generating
top-line revenue growth. Demand creation is the new priority.
Demand creation in the new marketing communications environment has
become especially challenging. The technology revolution has surrounded
customers and consumers with a plethora of information and entertainment
options, and, as a result they have become more elusive. The consumer is
firmly in control. They expect choice, information, speed of service, and
ease of acquisition. This new multi-channel environment adds a whole new
dimension to the challenge of marketing integration. And with critical mass
so hard to achieve, integration has become the new imperative.
Traditionally, the focus of integration has been the development of a
common brand platform or idea to unite the marketing message across
multiple disciplines. This integration of content is still a core priority.
But today, given the confusion of marketing channels, the increased
sophistication and scope of all our marketing communications disciplines

52

and the emergence of new internet-based business models, there is a demand
for a new kind of integration - the integration of resources.
The Brand Optimization Map™ is a unique service that brings together these
two fundamental needs in integration, content and resources, under a unified
strategic framework to optimize the marketing communications plan.
It leverages proprietary strategic principles, tools and software that identify
marketing priorities, optimize budget allocation and leverage the full
spectrum of marketing communications disciplines for what they do best, in
the right "proportions." The Brand Optimization Map™ also introduces a
proprietary method of evaluating the ROI of the fully integrated marketing
program.
From a standpoint of "the user," The Brand Optimization Map™ is intuitive
in concept, but sophisticated in its ability to embrace the complexities of the
new marketing environment. It facilitates collaboration, idea generation,
resource allocation and creative execution. It is flexible in its ability to be
used locally or regionally, for brands, sub-brands or marketing initiatives,
and for any specified marketing period.
McCann-Erickson World Group uses The Brand Optimization Map™
service to leverage the specialized talent and creative energies of all our
marketing communications "corridor" centers of expertise while working
collaboratively with our clients to create powerful brand communications
strategies.
The following are the key steps of The Brand Optimization Map™ service:

BRAND OPPORTUNITY
Brand Health Check

53

In order to create big ideas, we must step back and look at the big picture.
To this end, BOM's Brand Health Check™ service offers a due-diligence
process for assessing the overall health of a brand.
The Brand Health Check™ service factors in evolving consumer
perceptions, industry trends and competitive pressures. By forcing answers
to critical questions, it provides the clarity to recognize major brand
opportunities and solve brand problems.
Using the framework of McCann's Universal Marketing Drivers - a set of
marketing objectives that are common to all marketing communications
disciplines regardless of media and message specifics - the service captures
the essence of the competitive marketing situation and diagnoses priorities
for both content and resource integration.

McCann Pulse
McCann Pulse™ serves as a leading-edge method of generating consumer
insight that informs marketing innovation and execution. McCann Pulse™
insights feed the development of brand imagery, new products and services
and channel strategy.
The McCann Pulse™ service output is based on consumer dialogue held at
McCann-Erickson offices around the world and is reported on the company
intranet. Regional decisions can be made through the collection of key
market data, and they in turn are used to create a comprehensive global
picture of evolving trends.
The focus of McCann Pulse™ is as much on the here and now, as where
things are heading. Through proprietary probes, it uncovers what is
important in the lives of consumers, how they view the world changing and

54

what their evolving goals are. These issues direct us to new product, service,
and communications ideas.
This McCann Pulse™ service provides the consumer backdrop for the
evaluation of the Brand Opportunity as well as development of the McCann
Brand Idea™, via the Brand Footprint™ and McCann Selling Strategy™
service components.

McCANN BRAND IDEA
The Brand Optimization Map™ platform for content in marketing
communications is determined by the Brand Footprint™ - a statement of the
desired meanings, values and personality of the brand - and the McCann
Selling Strategy™ which determines a powerful strategic idea for creative
execution across all marketing communications disciplines.
The Brand Footprint™ uses McCann's Brand Archeology techniques to
uncover the full depth of meanings and values associated with the brand
through the eyes of its customers and consumers. The McCann Selling
Strategy™ draws on this "brand insight" to determine where the brand needs
to be in the future, thus creating a relevant and credible strategic platform to
"propel" the brand towards its destination.

MARKETING MIX
McCann Fusion™ 2.0 is a proprietary marketing mix software model that
provides the optimal allocation for each marketing discipline to attack the
stated marketing challenge. It looks at the marketing picture "top down,"
through software that captures relationships between our marketing
communications disciplines and the Universal Marketing Drivers in the
context of each category and country. The input to McCann Fusion™ 2.0 is

55

the Brand Health Check. The output is a benchmark budget allocation across
marketing disciplines for Brand Optimization.
As a complement to this "top down" evaluation, McCann's Marketing Task
Cycle works "bottom up" to determine the ideal role for each marketing
communications discipline. The Marketing Task Cycle identifies the barriers
that need to be overcome, and assigns the marketing that can best overcome
them. This ensures we address critical brand needs and leverage our
marketing communications disciplines for what they do best, and to the
extent that they can make a difference.

BRAND PERFORMANCE:
The McCann Brand Clout Index
The Brand Clout Index™ measures a brand's competitive ability to attract
and retain customers in the marketplace - both currently and in the future. It
can be used to help quantify the Brand Health Check and to track the
performance of an integrated program. Thus it serves as the performance
benchmark of The Brand Optimization Map™.
The McCann Brand Clout Index™, managed by NFO WorldGroup research,
is currently being rolled out of test market.

Road Maps to Effectiveness :

The Road Map to Effective Advertising
The Road Map to Effective Communications
Why the McCann Road Map Service was Created:
Consumer behavior is harder to understand and predict. Media is
proliferating. Distribution channels are changing. And competition is
increasingly fierce. In this fast-moving environment, it is no wonder many

56

established brands lack a powerful strategy, often lose direction and many
new products fail to connect with customers.
To navigate the ever-changing landscape, McCann-Erickson WorldGroup
has developed The Road Map to Effective Advertising™ and, for total
marketing communications programs, the Road Map to Effective
Communications™. This comprehensive service of proprietary tools is
designed to create effective advertising and communications strategies that
make an impact in today's cluttered marketplace. The McCann Road Map
service results in communications strategies that create loyal customers
when audiences are moving targets and strengthen core brand values.
McCann Erickson WorldGroup recognizes the need for consistent, tested
methods and tools for creating communications that build brand value
around the world and across marketing communications disciplines. The
McCann Road Map service is used globally to ensure the consistency and
high quality of communications programs around the world. It is also used
throughout the WorldGroup's range of marketing communications
companies to make certain that integrated marketing campaigns work in
synergy.
The McCann Road Map's Key Components:
The Road Map to Effective Advertising™, the prototype system on which
The Road Map to Effective Communications™ is based, is a full arsenal of
services to guide the creation of effective communications. It begins with the
development of consumer and brand insights and ends with the evaluation of
the ideas that are used to create customers and build brand values.
Components of The Road Map to Effective Advertising™ include:

57

McCann Pulse™ -- the on-going exploratory service for gaining an in-depth
understanding of consumer trends in order to develop relevant consumer
insights.
Brand Footprint™ -- for articulating the core brand essence that allows a
brand to travel successfully across marketing landscapes.
McCann Selling Strategy™ -- for converting consumer insights and brand
essence into a focused communications strategy that is unified by a single,
driving selling idea.
And finally, McCann AdWorks™ -- a qualitative consumer validation and
feedback process to assess the effectiveness of marketing communication
campaigns.
McCann Pulse
McCann Pulse™ is the regular monitoring of collective cultural
undercurrents at work on global consumer groups. Its goal is to better
understand how these undercurrents affect consumers and their
consumption; whether observed crosscurrents are connected or isolated; and
whether they represent a momentary fashion, a sustainable trend, or a real
cultural shift within a market.
McCann Pulse™ is a proprietary service that provides complete immersion
in the lives of consumers through ongoing monitoring and personal
dialogues. Following are the three components of McCann Pulse™:
The Pulse of Popular Culture
In-depth analysis of the content and symbolism of the various forms of
media that both reflect and influence consumers.
The Pulse of Observers of Change
Ongoing dialogues with leading-edge thinkers whose fields of interest relate
to our target consumer groups.
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The Pulse of the Consumer
Unconventional dialogues with selected consumer constituencies that probe
personal insights and what is new in their lives.
Pulse can offer clients:
• Insight into new values, ideas and trends
• An ability to talk more accurately in the language of consumers
• Consumer perspectives of major marketing issues or events
• Context for new creative ideas
Brand Footprint
The Brand Footprint™ service uses a tool that defines a brand's essence, so
that marketers can manage and build their brands most effectively. It
provides a clear understanding of which values need to be protected and
leveraged in brand communications. And it helps charter a brand's growth
into new territories, from expanding a brand in new geographic regions, to
establishing it across multiple product or service categories, to extending it
to an electronic marketspace.
As brands expand, their value and meaning are often put at risk. These risks
stem from the need to reconcile a brand's heritage with product innovation,
and from the need to re-express the brand in the context of new competitive
sets, new cultures, and new media.
The Brand Footprint™ service is designed to protect the equity of the brand
by conveying the brand essence clearly and succinctly, but with enough
texture to inspire a range of marketing activities, from product development
to integrated communications. The Brand Footprint™ articulates the three
most central brand meanings and its three most prominent personality
characteristics.
McCann Selling Strategy
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The McCann Selling Strategy™ is a service that is single-mindedly focused
on generating brand-building ideas. Ideas that attract customers. Ideas that
build corporate and brand franchises. And ideas that create marketplace
dominance for clients.
While traditional strategy has often been highly analytic, the McCann
Selling Strategy™ offers imaginative conceptualization. It is guided by the
McCann Selling Strategy™ platform, a process of analysis and idea
generation that helps move a brand from its current position in consumers'
minds to a desired perceptual space.
The McCann Selling Strategy™ uncovers the motivations of conceptual
target audiences and results in a strategic concept that pinpoints a Selling
Idea.
Unlike many traditional strategy briefs that are formulaic, the McCann
Selling Strategy™ is a dynamic and living process. It's a way of thinking,
working and creating as a team. It is a discipline pursued with passion - -
that ensures that we stay true to our role of creating ideas that add perceptual
value to clients' brands.
McCann AdWorks
As the last stage of the Road Map to Effective Advertising™ service,
McCann AdWorks™ tool ensures more effective marketing communications
by providing feedback from consumers to a proposed campaign expression
of the Selling Idea.
McCann AdWorks™ service is tailored to a specific product, a market
situation, a cultural environment. Unlike most leading ad testing firms that
offer a simple go/no-go decision on creative work, McCann AdWorks™ is
designed to help us understand whether we have communicated the Selling

60

Idea we set out to communicate, whether the Brand Footprint™ is
understood and if the campaign is entertaining.
With McCann AdWorks™, we can take the lead in facilitating a real-time
discussion about advertising effectiveness and help clients make the right
decisions that lead to advertising, direct marketing or other marketing
communication work that produces great marketplace results at the earliest
stages of creative development.
The McCann Road Map service of proprietary tools has proven valuable to a
range of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup clients around the world. We
believe that, as competition escalates on a global scale, our Road Map
service will become even more valuable in the future.

MOMENTUM EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING PLATFORM
Today, consumers take functional features, benefits, quality, and a positive
brand image as a given. What they want are breakthrough service offerings,
cutting-edge products, and brands that they can relate to, connect with and
incorporate into their lifestyles. Increasingly, marketers understand that
consumers are living human beings with experiential needs: consumers want
to be stimulated, entertained, educated and challenged. They are looking for
brands that provide meaningful experiences and thus become part of their
lives.
The degree to which a company is able to deliver a desirable consumer
experience - and use brands to do so - will largely determine its success in
the global marketplace in the future.
Trained to think of marketing and branding in terms of experiences,
Momentum Experiential Marketing™ Services create unique, nearly
impenetrable emotional bonds with consumers. These bonds are based on

61

consumers' real experiences with the brand on every interactive level.
Momentum Experiential Marketing™ Services are designed to deliver the
brand experience during both the pre-purchase period (brand in mind) and
the post-purchase period or consumption period (brand in hand). At
Momentum, we know that companies that spend money on acquiring
customers (brand in mind) but fail to deliver on the brand promise (brand in
hand) will ultimately fail, causing high dissatisfaction and high brand
switching.

STRATEGIC APPROACH TO DEVELOPING THE BRAND
EXPERIENCE
Our goal is to have the brand embody an experience that is valuable,
optimal, and cannot be duplicated by competitors.

MOMENTUM EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING SERVICES
The ultimate goal of Momentum Experiential Marketing™ is to create
holistic brand experiences for customers. Our strategic approach is guided
by a simple formula:
Brand = Reputation (in the marketplace) + Promise (to the marketplace) +
Experience (of customers)
BRAND = REPUTATION (in the marketplace)
The first step is to develop a Brand Footprint™. The Brand Footprint™ is
Momentum's unique tool for defining a brand's essence. The Brand
Footprint™ is a coherent statement of a brand's meaning and personality.
Specifically it embodies:
• What the brand "means". What the brand "means" is what a brand gets
credit for in the eyes of consumers - its reputation across a number of key
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dimensions. For example, Bayer means aspirin, doctor recommended, and
prevention against heart attacks.
• What the brand "is". What the brand "is" is how we would describe
the brand's dominant personality traits - generally those that correspond to
its principal meanings. For example, Bayer is experienced, safe, and
versatile.
BRAND = PROMISE (to the marketplace)
The Brand Footprint™ provides critical insight into how the brand is
perceived in the marketplace; this understanding allows us to build
meaningful relationships with consumers. The relationship is a promise that
their experience with the brand will be personally relevant, consistent,
meaningful and memorable - an experience that will be sought after time and
time again.
A Brand Promise is essentially a reason for being, a company's long-term
ambition for their brand. It encompasses how the company views its industry
today and tomorrow and the role they want their brand to play in it. It seeks
to carve out a premium, non-duplicable point of differentiation in the
marketplace.
A Brand Promise sets forth the foundation needed for organizations to focus
in on how they want the external world to view the brand, redesign
operations and strategies in order to deliver on the promise, and then develop
marketing communications to fit with the image they are trying to portray.
A Brand Promise incorporates every aspect of a brand's business model in
order to create a holistic brand experience for the consumer. At Momentum,
we know that public impressions of brands are based only in part on
communication and public images. More than anything, they are based upon

63

the daily explicit and implicit interactions that people have with a brand. In
other words, the Experience.
BRAND = EXPERIENCE (of customers)
Experiences are personal events that occur in response to some stimulation
(e.g. as provided by marketing efforts before and after purchase). An
experience involves the entire living being and can be infused into a product,
used to enhance a service, or created as an entity into itself. Experiences
provide consumers a way to engage physically, mentally, emotionally,
socially or spiritually in the consumption of the product or service making
the interaction meaningful and real.
A comprehensive set of Momentum Experiential Marketing™ Service
Drivers creates the optimal consumer brand experience for your product or
company.
Momentum Experiential Marketing™ Service Drivers ,
Communications
Advertising
Promotions
Co-Branding
Events
Sponsorships
Product Placement
Visual/Verbal Identity
Name
Logos and Signage
Product Presence
Product Design
Packaging
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Brand Icons
Web Sites and Electronic Media
Site Dynamics
In summary, to effectively develop a brand experience that is meaningful
and continually sought after, we must:
• Fully understand the meaning of the brand, its personality and what
consumers are willing to give the brand credit for in the marketplace - Brand
Footprint.
• Relate the brand to the consumer in unique, consistent, relevant and
meaningful ways, creating a non-duplicable point of differentiation - Brand
Promise.
• Realize the promise in every interaction the consumer has with the
brand - The Experience.
Developing a sound strategy will allow us to determine the best way to
actualize the promise as part of a full-scale consumer experience platform.
Momentum Experiential Marketing™ Services enable us to bring the
experience platform to life.

Brand Citizenship
Why the Brand Citizenship Service was created:
Due to the revolution in global communications and commerce, McCann-
Erickson WorldGroup recognize that there has been a sea change in the
perception of brands. Brands, these global icons, have become the new
symbols, the new coats of arms that represent vast global constituents. They
cross borders and national culture at will. They are neither products nor
companies; they are worldwide constituencies of millions around the globe
bound by common beliefs, values and point of view that transcend all
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traditional boundaries. They have become repositories and symbols of a
global community of individuals who share core values, lifestyles and
beliefs.
Brand Citizenship™ is a service that facilitates the development of
marketing and communications strategies in this ever more global
constituency led market environment. It begins with the development of new
mindset tools, and practices before moving on to how brands and
corporations should operate in a world where brands begin to supercede
states and other organizations.
Brand Citizenship™ utilizes the very latest thinking in considering the brand
in its new environment. The role of the brand steward in worldwide
constituency management is examined: in particular how he identifies his
citizenship, and the means and methods to enter a dialogue with the citizen.
Analogies are drawn from the past in order to gain fresh insight on the role
and the responsibilities of the brand steward - someone we come to consider
more akin to a leader of a nation rather than a manager of a product.
Attention is also given to the role of the employee who plays a vital part in
Brand Citizenship™ by creating and perpetuating the brand.
The Brand Citizenship™ Service incorporates the use of other McCann-
Erickson proprietary tools such as The Brand Footprint™ and The Selling
Strategy™ (as detailed in The Roadmap to Effective Communications™) in
the process of managing global Brand Citizenships. This process is broken
down into three key areas - citizenship definition tools, communications
corridors and a pervasive worldwide system.
The Brand Citizenship™ Service has proven valuable to a range of McCann-
Erickson WorldGroup clients around the world. We believe that in the

66

increasingly competitive global village in which we operate, our Brand
Citizenship™ Service will become even more valuable in the future.

SWOT ANALYSIS:-
STRENGTHS:-
1) Planning is a major strength of this agency. This is because Mc Cann
is the only agency whose president is the planner.
2) Also, as far as overall account planning ability , Mc Cann Erickson
stands 4th amongst all advertising agencies worldwide.
3) On the creative ability front, Mc Cann Erickson bags third position in
the list of top ten advertising agencies.
4) Mc Cann Erickson is a worldwide organization with its roots firmly
penetrated into the soils of advertising and marketing with many
subsidiaries and group concerns , Mc Cann Erickson has aggressively
tapped the world market and consolidated its ground in all spheres.
5) Mc Cann Erickson is a highly professionally managed organization.
Its executives are its major assets as is clear from their contributions
to Mc Cann and their portfolios.
6) In India, an overall basis i.e. on the grounds of quality of client
servicing, overall creative quality, account planning, overall
partnership, media, market recognition, overall organization/people,
billing procedures, management of financial dealings with clients
&logistics, Mc Cann stands 4th in the list of Top 20 agencies.
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7) Mc Cann Erickson’s biggest strength is the quality of human
resources it possesses. With people like Sorab Mistry who is the CEO
South-Asia Mc Cann- Erickson , Santosh Doshi, Prasoon Joshi and
Chintamani Rao, Mc Cann not only races ahead of agencies like
Contract , Mudra and Leo Burnett but also has a huge potential for the
future. Prasoon Joshi, earlier creative director of O&M’s Mumbai
Office, now a national creative director of Mc Cann Erickson is the
second amongst India’s hottest creative directors. In a short period of
time, he has managed to upstage a number of heavyweights to sit
pretty at number two on the list of most admired creative directors.

WEAKNESSES:-
1) Client Servicing is a major weakness for Mc Cann Erickson. On
grounds of client servicing, Mc Cann is the 5th position in the list of 15
advertising agencies; way behind agencies like JWT, O&M, Lowe
&Mudra.
2) Also, though McCann bags the third position on grounds of creative
ability, it is mainly due to the strength of its Coke campaign and to a
lesser extent the work on chlormint.
3) As far as media planning is concerned, universal McCann is not very
strong. It’s on the 9th position and just followed by R K Swamy .In
terms of market recognition also, Mc Cann is not very commanding.
McCann Erickson hasn’t bagged too many awards and it’s also not
very strong at managing its P.R
4) Universal McCann also lags behind most of its competitors in media
buying and planning. That is to say, it does not incur much of an

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