From whispers in agency corridors and pitch-room chatter to what’s buzzing on clients’ side, we’ve got the overheard and untold stories of the advertising industry and its people.
Open For Conversation
The former India head of a social networking platform is in news more than ever before. The joke doing the rounds in tech circles is that the said person is giving more interviews to the media as a ‘former head’ than he ever gave when he was the chief of the platform’s India outfit. The grapevine also has it that the technology entrepreneur is connecting with existing employees of the organisation who are in distress offering help and seeking information which is being passed on to the media as scoops.
Band, Bajaa, Baraat
At a select gathering this week, an ace investor and guru shared his musings on the fixations of desi millionaires and billionaires’ with big fat Indian weddings. It’s crazy, he said, shaking his head at the headline-making weddings where the cost of celebrations is comparable to a small nation’s GDP. Surprising and refreshing coming from a billionaire himself who suspects that 10 years from now there will be many more Rs 500 crore plus weddings. The business of shaadis is certainly booming.
Circular Economy
Not so long ago, senior executives from a certain global ad network split to start their own businesses. Then a couple of them turned angel investors and VCs and decided to invest in the ventures that came out of their former network. Now, we hear that these ventures are funding their investors’ new firms. A former CXO of the global network calls this a “circular economy” aka “golmaal”. If you know, you know.
Awards Season
Agency corridor chatter around awards season has begun. A list of top campaigns of the year is being put together. Content for case study AVs is getting locked. In the past, agencies have conducted creative workshops to ace the awards game. Top management teams have gone on off-sites to discuss awards strategies. Dedicated teams are assigned to focus on work that can potentially bring metals home. We hear most of these practices are back in action as business is back to normal.
The Tale Of Seven Digit Marketers
Leading startups are paying marketing leads a package of anywhere between Rs 1 and 3 crore. Moles tell us their jobs are intact despite the deep cuts and it is the mid to senior-level executives that are getting the pink slips. An insider at a homegrown startup is of the opinion that these pay packets are not justified and wonders who’ll do the job now that the teams that actually did all the work are gone or are being shown the door. A well-known startup decided to let go of executives who have spent less than a year in the company. Insiders tell us that the few marketing executives who are now with the company are heavily salaried and are left behind for their long-time association, they tell us.