INTERVIEW

PREM MEHTA

Not prominent in the media, Prem Mehta, MD and CEO of Lintas India appeared briefly in the news this week for being inducted into the Ad Club of Bombay’s Hall of Fame. Earlier this year he was selected for the post of Chairman by the Board of Directors. He gives his first full-length interview to Hindustan Times as he speaks freely on how he evaluates success, the growth of the industry and how he pre-empts the future.

# On being inducted into the Ad Club of Bombay’s Hall of Fame.

It’s nice to be acknowledged and valued. It’s a good feeling for someone like me who’s not salient in the media.

#Evaluating his own performance

For the first four years after coming to the helm in `93 I was fire fighting in the midst of unpredictable growth and high attrition. We were losing two people a day as everyone entering the market picked our talent. This required me to do unprecedented things to survive and keep up growth. For one, I decided not to match the pay packets –up to four times the existing salaries- that competition was offering. I believed that this would be destructive and change relationships forever. Also, I believed that a commitment to a common cause had to keep people back. I instead explained our values to those who wanted to leave. In retrospect it was a good decision. What we got was a competent, well-trained management that sustained the growth and built the Lintas culture. A hard, painful route, but it proved right.

Also, I identified and trained talent within, gave greater responsibility. Training became integral to our culture. In the late `90s this led to effective consolidation and left us stronger.

# Stepping into Alyque Padamsee’s shoes and ‘corporatizing’ advertising.

We are very different people but we complemented each other. Corporatization of agencies started with the increase in scale. When I took over we were 110 people, today we are over 1500. We have grown from one agency to 17 businesses and revenues have grown by 15 times. From depending on 2-3 clients, we today have over 200. From accounting for 80 per cent of our business, HLL now accounts for 20. Twenty clients account for about 70 per cent of the business. We have a more balanced and therefore a less vulnerable portfolio. This was done very consciously as a part of a plan.

The client-agency relationship was also changing. They were no longer comfortable dealing with long-haired people giving them ideas. They needed sound, strategic, brand-building advice. I knew that post liberalization no standard management principles would work. Communication as a business would undergo a complete overhaul, the remuneration structure etc would change. This would have a ripple effect on how agencies would be run. The increasingly fragile nature of relationships with clients, personnel cost and the pressure on the income.

# So where did this stress show up?

Agencies started to fold up or selling off. The successful names of those days don’t ring a bell today. The agency had to upgrade the value of what it brought to the table. It had to come from integrated communication. So we started seeding new businesses. While most large agencies were hiving off media, we invested in it. Our media business today is on par with the best and contributes significantly to our revenues. More importantly, it serves the client. We have today become a one-stop shop. As traditional mass media became more expensive and less effective in its reach clients go for below the line specialists. So our attempt is to develop brand strategy that is media agnostic and then use the media it would require.


# Did you have to change your blueprint for growth anywhere along the line?

There have been course corrections but not in the macro sense.

#Where’s the industry today?

We are at a very critical crossroad. It is important for the industry to re-invent itself, seriously and urgently if it has to play a long –term role. It has to stop thinking of itself as a producer of TV commercials and stop getting its biggest kick from advertising awards.
Second, the quality of talent has been compromised. Good talent has fled from the industry.

(This interview appeared as the lead in Billboard, the weekly ad and marketing page of Hindustan Times in Nov `06)