 "Arun Chaudhuri")
On October 31, 2014, during the launch of my book Indian Advertising-Laughter & Tears, I was interviewed by a young reporter at the venue who asked me who my mentor was. When you go back to the times I began my journey in advertising over 40 years ago, I think the most significant thing that happened then was the induction training imparted to all newcomers.
In Clarion McCann Advertising Services, we were trained for four months. We covered every department. At the end of each training session, we submitted a report to the departmental manager with a copy to the branch head, Madhukar Kamath (now the man at the helm of DDB Mudra). Sujit Sanyal, the author of the best-seller Life in a Rectangle (which covers the Clarion of the '70s) was almost a contemporary. After the training, every departmental manager looked upon himself as a guru of those who went through the rigour - a guru for life.
Mind you, the training was given to only the most maligned and abused branch of advertising - account servicing. The art department, copy or media teams didn't have training sessions such as the ones account servicing people went through. Why? Possibly because copywriters, visualisers and art directors did not interact with the client directly. While media specialists presented their media plans during a campaign presentation, their day-to-day interaction with clients were limited.
The servicing executive was stressed, trying to meet deadlines. There were layouts to be submitted, art works to be proof-checked and handed over to media for release. All for different clients, and all equally urgent. For instance, the print manager and his assistants were to be harried so that the POPs under print were delivered before the scheduled launch of Lipton Top Star a day later.
Often, the account executive and the senior account executive from the agency interacted with the individual assistant ad managers on a day-to-day basis. Only the agency branch head and the account director had an all-time access to the advertising manager. Since there were obvious slip-ups on delivery schedules, the account executive constantly danced on a hot tin roof, moving from one crisis to another.
The client played a pivotal role in the growth of the account executive; from a servicing peon to account planner. Every client took it upon himself to shape his executive the way he wanted. For large accounts like ITC and Shaw Wallace or Anandabazar Patrika, the agency's top managers kept a close watch. The best talent in the agency was dedicated to the biggest clients. And the lesser people like me were assigned the less important accounts.
For me, it meant servicing thirteen different clients. IISCO (now revived as a modern steel plant) was then down at the heels. But the advertising manager, with his superior English proficiency, had to be attended to on every call. However, each person whether an owner of a company like RS Agarwal of Emami, or the advertising manager, showed a keen insight on the work being presented. They showed extraordinary patience with the servicing executives and were soft if they tripped once in a while. Tripping was rarely reported back to the agency. Clients sorted out most of the problems.
In Kolkata, the advertising manager of East India Pharmaceutical Works, Rathin Mitra, proved exemplary in imparting knowledge, and instilling confidence in his servicing executives. No wonder some of the most celebrated names in advertising grew up under his shadow while handing the account from Clarion, ASP and OBM. Dibyendu Palit, celebrated author, who worked as advertising manager of The Statesman and Anandabazar in different times, was my precursor on the EIPW account. Mitra taught his servicing executive the importance of proof-reading any print advertisement, especially pharmaceutical folders meant for doctors.
The client had a lot more patience with the agency servicing person and treated him like a human being. I recall how upset Mitra was seeing the account executive kept waiting in his office. P Guha, advertising manager, Tyres, Dunlop India, held his office door open for any agency executive who came out mauled by some senior colleague for a lapse either in timely delivery of jobs or for failure to produce good creative work.
At ITC, the late Gautam Ghosal, Khokon Mukherjee and Aditi Syam who generally interacted with agency personnel and helped individuals service their accounts to grow. Clarion, HTA and Ulka benefited most by building up a reservoir of able servicing executives. From Chidananda Dasgupta of Clarion to Asish Mittra of HTA, there were many eminent women and men who grew with the ITC account. Who can forget the lively give-and-take between Dikoo Nowrojee of ITC and Somnath Banerjee who drifted between HTA and Clarion at different times?
Are clients evolving today? Do they have the calibre to seriously contribute to the agency-client relationship any more? Perhaps not. For one, most ad managers or VPs are much too young to know enough when they reach these exalted positions. Account executives would like to be greeted as account planners far too early in their careers. This age of winning credit immediately is self-defeating. So, in many ways, the clients 40 years ago were very different from those today. The account planner now has to equip himself to handle a more challenging terrain when his very need is being questioned not only by clients but by his colleagues in the agency. Why else does an agency send the copywriter or the art director to regular client meetings?
Arun Chaudhuri
Author, Indian Advertising Laughter and Tears
