M&C Saatchi's domestic billings in India

The president and CEO (Asia) of M&C Saatchi realises that the agency is small and its domestic billings are low. However, he is not too worried about that: ?We do not want to be the biggest, but the most sought-after in this industry.?

The main aim of the new collaboration is providing simple, uncomplicated advertising. Kim Walker says that ?It is very easy to complicate things, but our vision is to simplify ideas, which is the most difficult part in advertising.?

The fact that the Indian agency is M&C Saatchi?s first collaboration in India is easily explained: the British agency wanted to begin with a more substantive base than the Indian complex and mature market. Walker comments: ?We were looking for a set-up with a fair amount of experience and expertise. Dhar & Hoon gives us a good platform to enter the Indian market.?

The situation is winning for both sides. Saatchi gets an access to the Indian advertising industry (domestic billings of which are estimated around Rs 11,800 crore, which is one hundred and eoghteen billion) and an extreme growth. At the same time, Dhar & Hoon becomes a full-service agency instead of ?creative only? and will probably add M&C Saatchi's international clients to its roster, including Qantas, AIA, Zuji, O2, Coca-Cola, Tourism Australia and Mandarin Oriental.

2005 was a good year for the British agency. It created a campaign to promote London's bid for the Olympic Games, added clients like the British Airways, ITV and the Royal Bank of Scotland, its domestic billings grew. Within the Asia Pacific region, revenues have increased eleven point two percent to twenty three point one million. When Walker was asked whether clients liked the British Airways and Qantas would be serviced from India: ?We will focus on those clients, who do not want to clutter their ideas.?

The agency has already started working on such global accounts as the Australian Tourism Board and the Indian operations of an insurance company. Kamal Oberoi says: ?All the existing international clients, who have a presence in India, will be serviced from India if they want us to do so.? ?We will also provide non-advertising services to clients, if necessary, though the focus in the beginning will be on the core advertising services,? he adds.

The agency is also going to work with Dhar & Hoon's existing clients. Its client base includes Dabur Real, Honda cars, Sony Wega Theatre, Punj Lloyd, Revlon and Milkfood. "A few of these clients have international aspirations and we would be glad to help them expand outside India," says Walker.

M&C Saatchi is the second agency, founded by the world most famous admen in 1995. The brothers Maurine and Charles Saatchi left their self-titled agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, after a dispute with other shareholders. Very soon after its establishment, M&C Saatchi became one of the UK's foremost agencies, overtaking the original Saatchi agency in domestic billings.

Gradually establishing a global network, the agency has operates now in ten countries. The group has an especially strong presence in the Asia Pacific region. It has already set up offices in Sydney, London and New York City to secure work for clients, comprising Qantas, the British Airways and Mars, as well as across South-East-Asia, New Zealand and Europe.