Madhukar Sabnavis: The catchline is the message

Advertising needs to value its own ideas more.

Did Suneet Varma design Rani Mukerji's outfit in Bunty Aur Babli or was it an original creation of fellow designer Aki Narula? If it was purchased from a store, was the store guilty of plagiarising Suneet's design to profit from it? Is it an inspiration, imitation, knock off or plagiarism""the questions fly. This is today a raging controversy in the world of Indian fashion. Even though the outfit was seen fleetingly for just 15 seconds in the film, it was used extensively in the promos of the film across media. Not surprisingly, the claimed idea owner, Suneet Varma, sees it as an infringement of his "intellectual property" and misuse by Aki Narula or the store. In today's context this does raise a big question on the importance of ideas in a creative business and the need of ways and means of their protection, so that the idea originator gets adequate protection and commercial benefits.

As we move from an agrarian society to a more service-oriented one, the human mind is going to grow in power over the human body. We are today in a world of knowledge and innovation where the most powerful currency is ideas. Technology is making product duplication easier and faster. While brands move into delivering experiences, the core driver of these experiences will be innovation. So the most potent weapon in any company's armoury will be ideas""the newer, more exciting ideas you have, the more powerful and differentiating you can be in the market place. And purveyors of ideas are the ones who will dictate and drive markets in the future.

This is where the playing field of the advertising industry is. As Oscar Wilde would have put it, it has nothing to declare but ideas. Ideas are what advertising agencies provide clients to convert products into brands. And it is ideas that make or break the reputation of advertising agencies. And yet, once an agency creates an idea, it hands over its custody immediately to the client. This raises the issue whether advertising agencies value their creations enough. And are they benefiting enough from the ideas they create?

Much of the current situation can be attributed to the historical evolution of the advertising business. Agencies have traditionally viewed themselves to be in the service business. They started out as agents for the media, collecting ads from clients, being paid commissions in return. As they evolved from those humble beginnings to offer creative products, their business model did not change. The term "client servicing" by definition gives away agencies' perspective of their role in their client's life.

Even as the agency remuneration system changed to fee, unconsciously agencies moved to a time-based system""charging for time spent on the business with no direct price for ideas provided. "Idea" pricing cannot be determined by the same parameters as "traditional product" pricing. A more elaborate process of production and more time involved to make a product often mean higher cost. However, idea generation does not follow a similar pattern. Great ideas often come from a flash of inspiration""rather than as a logical output of a formal linear process. So while the value addition of a product happens often during the production process, for most ideas the actual value happens at the extraction phase""post generation. Time cost-based fee systems do not adequately recognise this. In the time-cost system, a great idea generated in five minutes gets paid less for than one that gets created after weeks of agonising. Clearly, there is a need to have a shift in mindsets""from "value addition" to "value extraction".

A formal process, deep analysis and an extended timeline add weight to any output. This is often psychological. However, over time, agencies have learnt to short-circuit processes and to deliver against tighter deadlines""yet not got credit for this enhanced capability. In fact, it has just got clients to believe that idea generation is a simple act and made them view agency output more casually.

The whole concept of "new business" pitching further lightens the client view of agency output. In many business pitches, in an attempt to win clients over, agencies give away powerful ideas for free""often generating them in very short periods of time. Consequently, clients don't view the solutions as seriously""if something can be thought of in a few days, it may not be the best. On other occasions, agencies quietly accept ideas presented by them to be tampered by someone else and released without due credit""taking it as part of life. While agencies have viewed pitches as means to get clients to sample their talent, clients often see it as a cheap and free way to get new ideas. All these further dilute the weight and power of the product agencies provide.

As Cassius said to Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves, we are the underling", the devaluing of advertising agencies' ideas is not by clients but by the agencies and their practices. Agencies fail to realise the unique power their creative people wield and the price they can command. In other idea-based fields""whether software or pharmaceuticals""the creators take extra care to protect their intellectual products through formal intellectual property right provisions, giving the creator some moratorium to commercially benefit from their creations. As people who are constantly generating new ideas every day as part of living, advertising agencies have, however, given little thought to these issues""either legally or morally or even commercially. Interestingly, advertising business partners""be it film makers or models or voice providers""have worked harder to protect their interests through payments of royalties.

The solution lies within the agencies. They need to recognise that they are in the business of ideas and not in the business of service. Just as clients benefit from brand valuations, agencies need to find ways and means of idea valuations""so that they can rightfully commercially benefit from what they bring to the table. Above all, they should feel more possessive of their work. Suneet Varma is clearly a reflection of the same. Only if you value what you provide, others will begin to value what you do. Something worth thinking about.

The author is Board Partner""Strategy and Discovery, Ogilvy and Mather, India. The views here are personal. He can be contacted at madhukar.sabnavis@ogilvy.com