CAN AN AD AGENCY MAKE A CAMPAIGN FLY DESPITE A MARKETING BUDGET SQUEEZE?
– DEATH BY BUDGET: An Ad Adda at Brand Chorcha –
A thoroughly interesting session at the first edition of Brand Chorcha was a conversation (let’s call it by its rather creative name, ‘Ad Adda’) by a bunch of experienced advertising- marketing professionals on the sticky situation of budget cuts for ad campaigns. For anyone dealing with such a situation at any level, firstly let’s wake up and smell the coffee – marketing budget squeeze is real and persistent. Economic uncertainties, decreasing customer loyalty, shifting consumer behaviour – they are all here to stay. Yet, a company’s expectations are always on the rise – generate more leads, grow sales, expand markets, retain customers, retain brand awareness. Can these objectives be met with tighter resources? Is there at all a way to fix things? That, was what this conversation was all about.
Kanchan Datta, Founder & CEO – Inner Circle Advertising and President, Advertising Club, Kolkata chaired the session with Amarpreet Singh Modi, Brand Planner and Consultant, Chandradeep CD Mitra, Founder & CEO – Pipalmajik and educator at multiple leading management colleges and Samrat Mukherjee, Vice President – Madison World.
Brand Golpo presents the conversation that flowed through question and answers, in two parts. Here’s Part I.
Is Budget Really Dead?
“Your idea is great but we don’t have budget for it.” The times ad agency professionals hear this in their lifetime is not funny. They may be trying to get resources for a genuinely great idea that would improve their marketing. However, is budget actually dead? Kanchan Datta felt that courage to take risks is dead, the spirit of chasing creative ideas is dead, and as a consequence budget is dead.
Amarpreet Singh Modi said that ad campaigns seem to be created to win awards for the company more than sell the product. In fact, creative briefs from marketers will even specify that they are hoping to win trophies with the campaign. Average work is being celebrated. He cited “The Extraordinary Cost of Dull” whitepaper’s findings to highlight the situation.
Chandradeep CD Mitra underscored the fact that oftentimes budget is seen as an expense head as against a means to propel the company’s marketing objectives. The fundamental mindset of most marketers remains the quickly squeeze budget and divert funds to reflect a healthy P&L. The marketing department has the accountability of the budget and they may get wary of spends if immediate results are not coming. Consequently, brand building – an activity that is at the top of the funnel may get lesser attention.
Samrat Mukherjee spelt two questions that teams should ask themselves upfront. One, does the business have the ambition to put in the desired budget? Two, is the budget being clearly mentioned in the brief at the outset? He stressed that honest answers to these basic questions will set the stage for smoother operations and prevent later heartbreaks around budget constraints.
Can Clients be Won by Conviction?
While budget obviously remains a critical part of an ad campaign, is it feasible to work within a limited one? It is possible, felt Datta, if you push the envelope hard and win the client over through sheer conviction assuring them that achieving big things on a small budget is doable with enough creative license. He quoted AMUL whose well-loved legendary ads are produced with a marketing budget that a mere 1% of the company’s turnover.
Modi drew attention to the fact that clients should be made aware of the fact that performance of each ad is measurable and if companies routinely opt for advertising equity studies, they would automatically understand their score with regard to past and present advertisements and the impact on consumers. It is important to score high on relevance, distinctiveness, and ease of understanding, he said.
Mitra opined that when viewed from the client’s angle, there may be suspicion that the client asks for bigger budget because of its own hidden agenda of higher percentage of earnings. Also, a client may be a start-up or small-budget advertiser prioritizing high intent channels. Thinking-out-of-the-box becomes an absolute necessity in such cases. These are points to ponder when we think of winning clients over by conviction.
Mukherjee stated that it is necessary to understand the client’s ambition and devise to ways to extend the experience by creating a third layer. In fact, as we see the three-tied ad experience is fast catching on globally particularly across major digital economies in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
