“Very, very sexy!” When deodorant Zatak got this tag line, not many knew that Triton Communications was behind the rambunctious statement. More so perhaps because the agency itself did not want it – apparently, the agency likes to work on a low key profile and follows a typical “no show-off” strategy. Although this positioning tactic is quite unlike many others in the industry, that’s the philosophy the agency lives with, at least for now. In numbers, they seem to be rocking big time with a host of clients (with over 75 brands including names like Yes Bank, Eureka Forbes, Force Motors, Cadilla, Adani, Ever Yuth, Papa John’s, Chili’s, The Kabab Factory...) in their kitty and now clearly set to lock horns with the big daddies of the industry. In an exclusive interaction with Triton’s Director, Ali Merchant, 4Ps B&M attempts to dig out the nuances of how Triton pulled it off, and how their so called “family bonding” style helps them strengthen their mind share in the industry.
Triton Communications is one of the few agencies that have a successful track record of building and launching primarily only Indian brands. Is it a conscious strategy or a coincidence? Don’t you think you are missing out on international brands?
Yes, across offices, Triton has worked with a number of Indian brands. At the same time, we were the ones to have launched Honda mobikes and Samsung in India. We have worked with Coke as their regional agency in the past and of course, Panasonic from our Delhi office. Our strategy finally depends on the brands that are entering the country. But many of those [foreign companies] which exist here have a diktat to work with select groups/networks only. International brands certainly do have big budgets and hence a pitch results in all the agencies throwing in their hats for it. We would love to pitch in for any prestigious brand. We are as capable as any other agency in terms of delivering to their satisfaction.
Triton also has a full fledged media planning and buying division? How is that arm doing?
Extremely well as a department and a resource for the rest of the agency. A lot of our leading clients use our media services – planning and buying. Besides, we also handle independent agencies-on-record. The billing for the department is in excess of `200 crore. As an agency, we have invested as much as other specialized media companies in data, research, media buying and planning tools, which give insights into buying behavior, cross category insights and penetration of different products, besides the obvious media habits and consumption. This bundling of services helps our clients in more ways than one. It permits both the marketing and the agency team in better analysis, understanding and hence targeting the consumer. Our media team doubles up as in-house quantitative research resource.
There exists a general perception that among the mid-sized agencies present in the country, Triton generally maintains a low profile. Any particular reason for the same?
You are right. But now we are working to change the same. It stemmed more from the good old belief that let’s stay focused on our work and results will follow. But somewhere, we got caught in the trap. For example: an ad aired on TV does not carry our name. In the past, the first thing that people used to do, when they saw a new ad that they liked, was to see which was the agency. Not anymore. But things have gone through a lot of change. Now, it’s very important for an agency to get covered because it impacts the agency’s ability to grow as well to attract the right talent, the two things which are key to the survival of an agency. Before deciding on agencies, clients search through the net for information. Considering the same, we now showcase our work wherever and whenever the opportunity permits. Our web site is being redesigned and updated to show our new work. Also, we are planning to register our good works for awards in future. We have realized that some things cannot be taken for granted and visibility is really important in this age of tweets and social media.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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