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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.

The OTT creative director

An award-winning creative director is reading a lot about cryptos, sneakers, and gaming. We also hear that he is upskilling himself and making his Instagram feed picture perfect. In a recent closed-door meeting, the creative director said it out aloud that he is not only trying to stay connected with his younger colleagues but also trying to stay relevant, to keep his job safe. This over-the-top creative honcho is picking up lingo that he thinks Gen Z adlanders understand, but what he is getting in return are facepalm emojis.

All hands on deck

The chief of a digital hot shop thinks his team and he need to be aggressive with their creative showcase. The agency has been pumping out impressive work, but the founder thinks his team can do better. He has been giving his teams new projects and responsibilities. He is also hiring senior resources, not only from mainline ad agencies but has also got former marketing professionals join his force. We hear that he is investing heavily in human resources and want all hands-on deck all the time. We must say, that's a clear trait of an overachiever.

Insecure clientele

A bunch of advertisers are working with specialised digital agencies with one specific task - to create something that will go viral. However, they are keeping the identity of these agencies under wraps. To the extent of telling these agencies to not share the campaigns on the agency site or on social media. We hear that clients who have got recent success with viral ideas are getting insecure and don't want competition to know their creative secrets. Moreover, we hear that these clients are not even letting their other agency partners know about this arrangement. It is secret sauce indeed.

Fishing for ideas

Not so long ago a legacy agency had called out a brand for using their pitched idea without consent. We hear that after that episode, the agency has slowed down on pitching new businesses and is asking for a fee for every idea. According to an agency insider, several brand managers are approaching them at this time of the year for fishing ideas. "Annual budgets need to be exhausted before the new financial year starts. They want quick and cheap ideas. We are not falling for these tactics," the insider tells us. Once bitten twice shy!

Awards season jabs 

A few hot creative shops are staying away from popular Indian award shows. Some are saving up for the Oscars of advertising, the Cannes Lions, and other upcoming global shows. Others have no interest in the awards game. Period. Their benchmarks are just different. A senior creative director, who has worked on recent popular campaigns, says, "To be fair, it's not cool to be judged by professionals who have done mediocre work." Ouch! That's bound to hurt many egos.

Note to the Readers: Chances are you love a juicy story as much as we hacks do and you might have one to share. Please share the story in an email to Storyboard18@nw18.com

Storyboard18 x MC Insider – About an insecure clientele, awards season jabs, and how ideas are getting fished

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.

Party poopers

We hear that top bosses of a few global ad networks have asked their India teams to put a pause on office parties and expensive off-sites. With the headquarters feeling the heat of economic fluctuations, these top bosses are getting anxious about spending on seemingly extravagant things and seeing big party bills. Indian agencies of these networks are currently the revenue generators and that’s why HQ bosses are telling all of them that the party can wait! But in good old Indian jugaad style, we're certain that adwallahs will find creative solutions to their woes. This also reminds us of the time when a top agency boss in India supplied free-flowing alcohol for parties at a discounted rate. The only catch is one had to order from his family's booze business. Time to make some calls, we guess! 

The Zen creator 

A founder of an independent agency is exploring the creator side of his personality. We hear he is trying to find a balance between pitching new businesses, hiring new talent, making Reels and going Live on various social apps. He is also taking social detox once a month to clear his mind and timelines. Now that’s a lifestyle that keeps giving fodder for Linkedin posts. Any guesses?

In an exclusive relationship

Over the years, agencies have come up with different models to handle conflicting accounts including second agencies to handle big businesses. We are now hearing that clients want agencies to be their exclusive partners. They don’t want them to handle any other competitive brands in any way. However, they are not ready to pay a premium for these exclusive arrangements, especially to leading creative agencies. So a lot of clients are looking for small shops who can be exclusive partners at one third of the cost. A CXO of a top creative agency says, this option of plenty is killing the traditional agency models and the old guard needs to buckle up. Fair warning.

Cost of creativity

A popular startup founder reached out to an independent writers' group to create an advertising splash. We hear several other popular startup CEOs also reached out to them for creative association. Insiders tell us that the group is known for being selective about their work. They were paid what they quoted without any negotiations because the founder didn't want to compromise on creative output. Rumours are that the group has over a dozen brands chasing them for an upcoming sports league.

Chat of the town

We hear a curious legacy marketer dialed his marketing consulting agency to chat about ChatGPT. The marketer was experiencing FOMO. One of the agency's top CXOs gave the marketer a detailed presentation on ChatGPT. By the end of it, the marketer was left thinking deeply and then he joked how this could mean that he could now cut the agency's service fee. The call ended with a lot of awkwardness and nervousness.

Storyboard18 x MC Insider – Party poopers, Zen creator, and new relationship troubles in town

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.

Storyboard18 x MC Insider - Business of shaadis, 'circular economy' and open conversations

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.

In a league of their own

An ad club hosted a football league recently to get a bit of World Cup fever into adland perhaps. Top network agencies and independent shops came together with a lot of mixed agenda. We hear that an indie shop executive pulled up a fight because he thought the referee was partial towards his opponent team, who represented a global agency. Moles tell us things got heated on the pitch and this indie shop executive was given a penalty. While the drama was infolding on the pitch, a bunch of senior executives in the audience were networking. A few were checking out new job openings. A few others were trying to poach talent. In another match, the referee was giving pro tips to a player. However, the said player’s girlfriend believed the referee was distracting him. An argument broke between them. But all's well that ends well. While things reached a fever pitch, the tournament ended on a good note. Still, we wonder if they were playing the beautiful game or something else?

Problem of plenty

Two leading consumer companies have been working with multiple agencies for their different brands. In some cases, they are also collaborating with multiple partners for the same brand. While this is giving opportunities to several indie shops, we hear that all these stakeholders are not working together for big projects. The client team is putting together the communication pieces that they are getting from creative partners. Result? Campaigns from these companies are suddenly looking disjointed. Consumers on social media are also taking notice of this. In the case of one particular campaign, we hear the creative came from two different agencies and both had different information. Too many cooks? Or a client who likes to keep relationships open?

Mind your language

There was a time when advertising was split between English and Hindi, till the latter took precedence. But the era of one or two languages dominating advertising is long gone. At least on the client side. We hear a few FMCG companies and tech brands are calling for pitches specifically with a regional brief. Ad agencies are now on the hunt for more multilingual talent who can crack these region-focused briefs. One big agency even launched a separate unit to handle regional briefs and work. Firms are roping in cultural specialists, writers, directors, who understand the nuances of local cultures and consumers. Mere translations just won't do for these clients.

Counting on followers

A home-grown startup recently went on a firing spree. The founder took to social media to make the announcement. The employees didn't see it coming. In fact, many saw the social media post before they were given their pink slips. Insiders tell us, employees who were asked to leave started unfollowing the founder on social media. The founder took notice and DMed asking if everything was okay with them. That's a unique way of asking, "why did you unfollow me?" after a sudden breakup.

Storyboard18 x MC Insider - Football game hits fever pitch; regional pitches and open relationships create a stir

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.

Cinderella’s Shoes

A “B-list” celebrity created a ruckus during an ad shoot of a personal care brand recently that got everyone shaking their heads. The celeb fell in love with the shoes that she wore in the film and said she plans to keep it for herself. The brand team had to return it because the costumes were hired from a designer. The celebrity didn’t budge. Insiders tell us that the marketing team of the brand went late at night to look for a similar pair of shoes and requested a high-end store to open shutters. The brand team reached the sets on time because we heard she happily wore them and flew to another country right after that.

One Man’s Pain…

It seems some in the ad fraternity are secretly rejoicing the fact that a certain famous, can’t-do-any-wrong agency had a pretty big flop recently. The said company’s campaign for an old client it has delivered many hits for was panned by a fairly large section of audiences and marketers. Pettiness like egos in the ad business only gets bigger with time, we suppose.

Cryptic Advertising

Smaller crypto brands are looking at simpler ways to advertise. A bunch of them are releasing low-budget films to target various sub-communities like technical writers, coders, and others on social media. The films that are targeted at these groups seem cryptic. However, these are a big hit within the crypto circle. A close associate of one such brand tells us that the company, recently, paid about just Rs 6 lakh, end-to-end, for one such film.

Caterer in Demand

A Mumbai-based caterer is in high demand. We hear a few celebrities are throwing tantrums to get this caterer on board while they are on ad shoots. This is not just for them but also for their teams. Insiders tell us that this South Indian caterer has also increased his rates to suit the raising demand. Usually, production houses have tie-ups with their own set of vendors. However, we hear that this caterer likes to deal with the client directly.

Note to the Readers: Chances are you love a juicy story as much as we hacks do and you might have one to share. Please share the story in an email to Storyboard18@nw18.com

Storyboard18 x MC Insider: Culinary must-haves, celebrity tantrums, cryptic ads and more

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.

The rescue chief

A network group recently appointed a chief executive to not only to fix its creative gaps but also to retain the confidence of a few key clients. An insider tells us this chief, in his previous stints, has worked on some of the big ad campaigns of these key clients. The chatter is that while the company is adding new creative power, projects are slowly slipping away from them. Looks like they found a captain of the ship who will navigate the business to the right shore. 

Get a kick out of it 

Recently, at an ad shoot, a senior creative director of an independent advertising network was taken aback when a producer openly asked him about his 'personal fee’. This senior creative director politely refused to indulge in any such activities. However, he was curious to know why the producer made him an offer right under the nose of the client. These days, it seems, kickbacks are locked in when the ad hits the production floor. In some cases, with the involvement of the client. It gives creative folks ample time to figure out the various hidden elements in the budget that can be diverted into their personal accounts. Our ad moles also hint that some creative directors come back to production houses after the campaign is on air just to see if there is leftover money that can be transferred into their savings accounts. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

Pitching for awards

These days a celebrated creative agency of a network is only pitching for accounts that can help them up their award game. The chief of this agency is micromanaging all the work that’s going out to the clients. There are brainstorming sessions scheduled to see if they can pitch potential award-winning ideas to their existing accounts too. This year the agency was low-key in the awards circuit but looks like they want to redeem their lost points next season. 

And the award goes to…

Not too long ago, a CMO of a tech company was miffed after he found out that his brand won a trophy at an industry award, through a WhatsApp forward. He questioned his creative agency. Apparently, the agency sent in the entry without the client’s knowledge and approval. Episodes like these have happened in the past. However, the twist in the tale is that the creative shop is refusing to return the award because they burnt the midnight oil to make the campaign and case reel for the award season. Certainly, this agency deserves a bravery award at the very least. 

Note to the Readers: Chances are you love a juicy story as much as we hacks do and you might have one to share. Please share the story in an email to Storyboard18@nw18.com

STORYBOARD18 INSIDER

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Storyboard18 x MC Insider – About an insecure clientele, awards season jabs, and how ideas are getting fished

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Storyboard18 x MC Insider - Business of shaadis, 'circular economy' and open conversations

Quantum Brief

Storyboard18 x MC Insider - Football game hits fever pitch; regional pitches and open relationships create a stir

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Storyboard18 x MC Insider: Culinary must-haves, celebrity tantrums, cryptic ads and more

How it Works

Storyboard18 x MC Insider: Curious case of an ad award, kickbacks, award pitches, and more