DIGITAL, DIVERSE & DRIVEN

On her first visit to India as Worldwide CEO of J. Walter Thompson Company, Tamara Ingram talks about the company’s recovery from the recent scandal, transition from a traditional creative shop to a digitally led one, high growth goals as well as expectations from India

BY NEETA NAIR

This is Tamara Ingram’s first visit to India after assuming the role of Worldwide CEO of J. Walter Thompson Company around eight months ago. She took over the reins of the agency when it was fighting off a major scandal caused by the ‘sexist and racist slurs’ of then CEO Gustavo Martinez who eventually had to step down. While it is too early to ascertain whether the agency has completely left the ghost of the scandal behind and the morale of the employees has got a lift,  Ingram’s credentials as a great team builder and client handler have certainly come in handy. Prior to this Ingram was the Chief Client Team Officer at WPP, led Team P&G for the longest time and previously was associated with the Grey Global Group which she had joined as the UK. Group CEO.

Immediately after taking over, Ingram said she will be putting diversity and inclusion at the forefront of her leadership of the agency. Talking about the changes that she has managed to bring about in her 12,000 strong team, Ingram says, “First of all this isn’t a solution that happens overnight, when it comes to people and talent it takes time. Having said that I have seen some extraordinary things happen, like 50% of our leadership in South Asia today comprises women. We have a diversity inclusion council, the purpose of which is to make sure we are facilitating and enabling a much more diverse and divergent work force. We have made sure that we do blind CVs in our key markets. That way we don’t look at what universities people came from instead focus on their potential. We are also introducing our ‘Unconscious Bias’ training, because all of us have some kind of bias about how we look at people. Recognizing that will help us recruit different types of people. So, if we could diversify our capability by getting different types of people, we will certainly grow.”

Giving a perspective on the work environment closer home, Tarun Rai, CEO, J. Walter Thompson, South Asia says there is a buzz in the agency today and that they are not just attracting better talent but also old timers who had left the organisation. Rai who himself had returned to the company in March 2015 after a seven year stint at Worldwide Media, adds, “Out of our new recruits over the past year or so since I have been here, 24% comprise home comings. People who had left our agency are coming back now which I take as a great compliment. In a way our own employees are becoming brand ambassadors and advocates of the J. Walter Thompson work culture.”

SIGNIFICANT NEW BUSINESS WINS

Rai believes that this along with a few other factors has played a big role in the growth of J. Walter Thompson, especially in India. Out of the total 140 new account wins this year, around 60% is

won by JWT and the balance 40% by the JWT group companies. Rai elaborates, “In 2016, 23% of our total revenue contributions are from new business, and if you annualize it, considering that you get new business through the year, it comes to around 25%. So this year there has been a significant new business activity and victory.”

J. Walter Thompson South Asia which has over the past few years effectively made a transition from traditional to digital to experiential marketing has 30 percent of its revenue coming from nontraditional advertising. However Ingram is confident that the contribution of non traditional advertising to the network’s revenue will move up to 50% by the year 2020. Some of the new accounts won by the JWT Group companies in South Asia this year are Google, Bank of Baroda, Air Asia, Everyuth, Parag Milk Foods while some global accounts it has won are Air China, Lux etc. Overall the network has managed to win around 1000 new accounts this year across the globe.

OF AWARDS AND EXPECTATIONS

With respect to awards, 2016 has been a great year for J. Walter Thompson India which topped the Creative Abbys of Goafest 2016 with 47 metals including five Golds. On the global front at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, J. Walter Thompson Company took home 80 Lions more than the agency had ever won in their 152-year history. As a result J. Walter Thompson moved from 14th to 7th most awarded network at Cannes, making the agency one of the ‘biggest movers’ at Cannes 2016. But out of the 27 Lions that India won this year at Cannes, only three were won by JWT.

Talking about JWT India’s performance Ingram says, “We are happy with the performance, but of course we are restless and want to deliver the most really. We always want to do better.” Evaluating his team’s performance at Cannes, Rai adds, “10 years ago, during my earlier stint, if we had won three Lions at Cannes, we would have been very happy. Now we are not because we have set a higher benchmark. Our Chief Creative Officer Senthil Kumar himself has won seven Lions at Cannes. If you ask Senthil he will tell you that he feels terrible about our performance at Cannes especially because J. Walter Thompson has done brilliantly globally while we have contributed to only three Lions. We don’t worry about the other Indian agencies, we first worry about how much we are contributing to J. Walter Thompson globally. Our competition is global rather than just local.”

 

‘Hurricane Tam’ was the word stuck in my head hours before I set out to interview Tamara Ingram, the Worldwide CEO of J. Walter Thompson Company, so much so that I was worried I would address her so absentmindedly. After we exchanged pleasantries, Ingram explained the story behind the interesting nickname. “In 2012, New York was struck by Hurricane Sandy which led to everything closing down. Obviously no one had any place to work in but somehow I managed to find a hotel with about three-four conference rooms and fitted my entire agency into it. Basically I solved the problem and in turn got the name ‘Hurricane Tam’, but it also does fit with my slightly energized being,” she laughs. Seconding that Tarun Rai, CEO, J. Walter Thompson, South Asia says, “One thing that you immediately notice about Tamara is the amount of energy and passion she brings to everything. Whatever she has picked up in the past few months, be it diversity or digital, she has followed it through. And I think there is learning in that, because words are cheap, action and implementation is difficult. She has loads of energy and focus.” What followed was an in-depth conversation with Tamara Ingram and Tarun Rai on the growth strategy for J. Walter Thompson.

 

 

Q] Every boss brings with him/her a set of rules and regulations. What kind of culture did you bring with you to J. Walter Thompson?

Ingram: To lead a company you have to live a culture, live those beliefs otherwise people don’t want to follow you. So, I have been thinking a lot about that. I bring with me hunger and humility. In our business we need to be hungry, accountable, fast and at the same time humble. We need to be listening to each other, collaborating and listening to consumers to anticipate their needs, thus humility is vital.

 

Q] You have worked across agencies like Grey, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, what sets JWT apart from the other agency networks?

Ingram: We are a 152 year old, pioneering brand, which is fundamental to our culture too -- we have had a pioneering spirit. From appointing the first woman creative director, to having the first planning agency, to working on the first TV colour commercial. We even had the first innovation studio for one of our clients which actually was a kitchen; and that was done in the 1950s. We have been fighting for brands for a very long time and have believed in them. That is what sets us apart, pioneering nature for brands, and the depth of intelligence.

 

Q] You recently won the global digital mandate for Lux strengthening a 91 year old bond with the company.... which are the other big account wins you are really proud of?

Ingram: Earlier this year our Beijing team won the Air China account, a brand which has a great reputation. Actually there are so many. Rather than mentioning any particular brand name, I’d like to say that it’s really encouraging that every country is winning wonderful local brands. I was very proud of the Lux win because it shows that we are completely digital in the way we work, it’s very important. So, I am looking not only for great brand names but also the capabilitiesthat we can deliver for our clients.

 

Q] On the flipside, in India, you have lost the Godrej Masterbrand and Nike, brands which the agency has been winning awards for...

Ingram: I believe we have a lifetime relationships with clients. And it’s always terribly upsetting if clients leave you but if you keep a good relationship, it’s amazing how many do return. We serve our clients in many ways and should continue to serve them, when they are with us and when they are without us, so they can come back.

 

Q] What would be the split between the revenue growth on account of existing clients and the new ones?

Ingram: I can’t quite split out the numbers for you here, but what’s important to understand is that in order for us to grow as a company overall, we are going to have to grow in places where we put our money. Revenue from classic advertising is going to go down, year on year, in different countries at different paces, so what’s vital is that we have a diverse capability. That way the revenue won’t go down, in fact may even grow. So through digital, non-traditional services, shopper services, data analytics, I hope we will be able to grow our clients’ businesses as well as our revenue.

 

Q] Mr Rai, earlier this year you said that it won’t be difficult to double revenue in the next four - five years...is that on track?

Rai: We have certainly doubled our growth in 2016. So if we have had 10% growth in 2015, we are gunning for 20% growth this year. And to double revenue in five years it works out to 17% growth annually. We are pretty much on course on that. But to me the figure -- 20% growth or a strong growth number is only a by-product of doing the right things.Personally I feel in the past year or so we have begun to do the right things, and one of them is focusing on the right areas like top line growth. Once you start growing and get the momentum, a lot of beneficial things start happening.

 

Q] Earlier this year you said you are planning to bring Colloquial to India, is there an update on that?

Rai: We have been busy growing at 20%. But yes, Colloquial is very close to my heart, as you know I have spent seven years in content and media before I came here. Just that we were busy doing other things and Colloquial therefore had to be postponed to the first half of the next year but it will happen. What form it will take we will know as we get closer to it.

 

Q] Apart from Contract Advertising, the group has two other ad agencies operating in India --JWT Mindset and ADK Fortune, are you planning to expand its footprints?

Rai: JWT Mindset which is based in Hyderabad has already opened an office in New Delhi. ADK Fortune is in Bangalore and has a couple of clients now in Chennai, so they are also expanding their footprints. That’s why I feel doubling the revenue number is not that difficult, because we have got many companies with great potential. In my first stint at JWT, around 1990 we had launched Thompson Social and I feel terrible that it has not spread its wings to outside of New Delhi, why shouldn’t it go national? With all the CSR activities that are happening, that’s an entirely huge area and we have got fantastic expertise there. We have got design capability which is again sitting in New Delhi in a pocket, in Bombay in a pocket but still doesn’t have a national play. So, to me there are many levers to push to grow revenue and despite all the challenges that might come in the next year, I think we will still go through with it.

 

Q] You replaced then CEO Gustavo Martinez who had to resign post a very huge scandal. How many weeks went into persuading clients that J.Walter Thompson will rise above the controversy?

Ingram: Our clients, some who have been with us for the past many years, others perhaps lesser have worked with us on a day-to-day basis and they know how good and marvellous the J. Walter Thompson culture is. So I don’t think we had to persuade clients. In my view it’s about building confidence in them, in making them realize that this is not going to affect them. What’s important is to deliver great work for our clients, we focus on that and not on distractions.

 

Q] So you are saying the controversy didn’t affect the agency adversely? 

Ingram: Media does have an impact as we all know. But in reality asyou can see by the huge success here in India, the impact is

quite the contrary. We have seen 20% growth and J. Walter Thompson is one of the fastest growing agencies in India, extraordinary achievement in creativity and improvement from what we saw a year ago. We are very proud of what has happened here over the past year.

 

Q] According to the 2016 list, women account for just four percent of Fortune 500 CEOs, while just three percent of Executive creative directors at ad agencies are female, what are you doing to change that?

Ingram: What’s wonderful about being in India and South Asia is that 50% of our leadership comprises women. So we absolutely represent the community that we come from. I think there isn’t a glass ceiling but without doubt until we have 50% of our leadership as 50% of our community, we are not in the right place. And we are absolutely committed to get that sorted. And the way we have to do it is find the talent, train the talent and enable people to be successful while they are at work. It is also important to put in better policies so that women can have babies and we make it easy for them to work when they return.

 

Q] Kevin Roberts Chairman, Saatchi & Saatchi says that two out of three women in his team are not willing to take up a top job because they lack vertical ambition instead have an intrinsic, circular ambition to be happy. He says most women prefer just doing the work and not managing people. Do you agree?

Ingram: Entirely disagree because the statement is completely based on sex. I think at any workplace there are different types of people depending on what background they come from, with varying degrees of ambition. Very rarely have I met a woman or a man with no ambition in our business. Advertising is made of very hungry independent people. And our task as leaders is to enable them to flourish and have faith in them. And I don’t think there has been a glass ceiling but I think historically men have often employed their own image which incidentally happens to be a man. We just need to give people a chance.

 

Q] With the rise of social media, marketing a product comes with very little cost attached, add to that competition from across mediums like blogs, facebook timelines, whatsapp... even news. What are the three things that an agency needs to do to be relevant?

Ingram: You need to have extraordinary insights because otherwise you don’t understand what you need to do. You ought to have fabulous creativity, because otherwise you can’t express it. This is in addition to having real knowledge and insight into the platforms and knowing how you are going to explore it. The most important thing you need to be successful is to have a collaborative spirit whether it’s with your own organization or with outsiders, no one company can do it all by themselves. The people who understand that collaboration is the key to winning, will be the first to get there.

Rai: Earlier when new platforms were coming in, the agency jargon used to be --we are platform agnostic. I think gone are those days because the platforms have become so well developed now that you actually have to have the capability of working on those individual platforms. For example Senthil was just showing something to Tamara, an idea which is born on the mobile, which doesn’t work if it’s not on the mobile. So, Senthil is part of the new generation of CCOs who have not grown up necessarily in the era of print and television, writing beautiful songs. He is young, 40 years old and most importantly digital. Even his most famous work that has won many awards, Cyber Lions and Grand Prix is something that Indian creativity is not known to win. We normally win in Print and Print craft. So, I think today we have to deliver creativity across multiple platforms individually rather than saying we have got this big idea which will work across platforms. If not we are missing an opportunity there.

 

Q] The Grand Prix winner at Cannes The Next Rembrandt was a beacon for the data industry. Would you be looking at acquiring a data or technology company to tap the power of data in future?

Ingram: Incidentally we were just talking about it earlier. I think more and more of our work has an element of data, technology and obviously creativity in it, which makes it stand out. The Next Rembrandt was not a one-off case. You remember the work we had done on the blood bank, I think that’s where the world is going. Mirum, our global digital agency is growing very fast and we are also open to looking at different types of technology and data companies.

 

Q] Closer home, any acquisitions planned?

Rai: We are looking at acquisitions all the time but as I have always maintained that first we have to get the companies we have already acquired well-integrated into J. Walter Thompson, because otherwise we would still be in a silo -- we acquire them, they contribute to revenues and that’s the end of it. If we are truly to be able to provide business solutions to our clients, it’s a shame if we cannot collaborate even within the group companies. The companies which we have acquired in the past are really firing now. Social Wavelength which is now Mirum, is doing exceptionally well. Hungama Digital Services is doing a great job. Mindset has been with us for a very long time and Geometry Global has now folded into Encompass. We are currently evaluating prospects from data to design to technology. Hopefully a couple of them will fructify in the next year.

 

Q] It is said to be a rather tough time for agencies with demanding clients, shrinking margins and technology companies which are inching into agency turf...... what is the saving grace for agencies?

Ingram: The total counter opposite of that, which is true of course on  one level, is that the world of marketing communication has never been so exciting. There have never been so many channels and never so many new opportunities, mobile, e-commerce, data etc. If you can get the right  talent and diverse capability, it’s a huge opportunity for growth.

 

Q] Less than a year of Mr Rai taking over as CEO, J. Walter Thompson topped the Gunn Report India agency ranking for 2015. As global CEO what is the goal you have set for J. Walter Thompson South Asia?

Ingram: As global CEO we have a goal for the entire company. We clearly want to be the network of the year and that comes down to extraordinary creativity. So, what is our goal? We have growth goals, we really want to create creative impact. And we want to diversify our talent and our capability.

 

 

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neeta.nair@exchange4media.com