Global creative agencies make a beeline to India

Three top global creative agencies, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Wieden+Kennedy and Fallon Worldwide, are set to enter the Indian market.

While Bartle Bogle Hegarty is renowned for its work on brands like Unilever's Axe deodorants, Fallon is widely recognised as the agency behind Time magazine's red border campaign and Wieden+Kennedy is known for its contribution to sports brand Nike, among others.

"This is a good time to be in Indian advertising," said an executive from one of India's large advertising agencies.

The entry of these agencies is expected to have a huge impact on the Indian advertising business and will threaten the advertising accounts of large agencies.

As Bartle Bogle Hegarty handles the Axe deodorants and detergents business of Unilever globally, its entry will have a direct impact on Lowe Lintas. An association between the two agencies is ruled out because each has an allegiance to different networks.

While Lowe is part of the Interpublic group, the Publicis Groupe has a 49 per cent stake in Bartle Bogle Hegarty. The other Publicis network agency, Fallon, has worked with clients like Sony, Citigroup, Microsoft and Lee.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Fallon are also expected to provide a booster shot to advertising network Publicis Groupe's presence in the Indian market. The Indian advertising market is currently dominated by Martin Sorrel's WPP.

On the other hand, Wieden+Kennedy is an independent advertising agency that specialises in brand building and understanding cultural trends. It has clients like Nike, Procter & Gamble, Google and Miller Brewing company and has offices in Portland, New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Shanghai.

Speaking to Business Standard, Simon Sherwood, COO, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, confirmed that the Indian operations of the agency would be only its seventh operation in the world, keeping with the agency's philosophy of being present in the key decision-making markets and achieving maximum coverage with minimum physical presence.

The agency has identified Mumbai as the location for its India office and Sherwood said it was looking at beginning the Indian operations by the end of 2007. "You are what you start. To start it right is the best way forward, carefully and cautiously," he added.

He admitted that Bartle Bogle Hegarty had been approached by several Indian advertising agencies for an alliance. But it has an alliance only in one of its six offices.

"Now you know where our preference lies," he said. However, Bangalore-based advertising agency Orchard is currently doing some work for it in Singapore.

"India is certainly a place that is on the radar of Wieden+Kennedy," Joani Wardwell, global PR director, Wieden+Kennedy, told Business Standard. However she declined to get into specific details.

Fallon executives also mentioned they were looking at an India entry. Rosemary Abendroth, global communications director, Fallon, mentioned in an e-mail statement that "we are exploring the feasibility of entering India. It is indeed an exciting advertising market".