IN CONVERSATION WITH VAISHALI VERMA
In our conversation with Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative India, she talks about the brand’s approach to storytelling in order to deliver the best business results. She also elaborates on the brand’s idea behind the concept of cultural velocity and her vision to make Initiative drive the standards of media planning and advertising up in a fairly new and emerging market like India.
Q. Initiative recently bagged many accolades at Goafest 2019. Congratulations on that! What do you think made the company achieve them?
A. Yes, we couldn’t be more proud of this and what’s gratifying is that we have won awards across multiple clients and various categories which makes us believe that we are thinking in the right direction.
Q. As a company, Initiative has always focused on the concept of cultural velocity. What is the idea behind this concept and how does it help Initiative as a company to set itself apart from the crowd?
A. Our approach to media is led by a simple reality – the advertising avoidance behavior will continue to accelerate as new technology emerges. This will result in the continued deterioration of paid media effectiveness over time and brands will struggle to be relevant. We believe that the speed at which a brand interprets and responds to cultural data signal to improve its relevance with the consumer is the key success. We call this Cultural Velocity. We are committed to delivering transformative business results.
Q. The advertising and media planning business in recent years has gone through some major changes. Do you think these changes have made it easier or difficult for a company like Initiative to grab the consumer’s attention?
A. We exist to help our clients grow by building strong brands that transform from forgettable and regrettable interrupters to cultural contributors and creators. Hence, no matter what the changes are, Initiative product and structure help brands take the Initiative in Culture.
Q. Your global CEO Matt Baxter has time and again focused on simplicity and intelligent storytelling as two of the most important tools for driving a good advertising and media campaign for the brands. In relation to that, what has been your path while engaging with the Indian audience since you took over as the CEO?
A. Simplicity means a big idea done well. Storytelling is not only about the message but also the medium and the context in which it is delivered. Hence, our approach is all about making the media strategy relevant to the consumer which delivers business results.
Q. In recent times we’ve seen a rise in consultancies of Accenture and PwC entering the advertising and media planning business. How is a firm like Initiative gearing up for such competition?
A. Competition is always welcome. It grows the industry and sets new benchmarks. We, at Initiative, are customer focussed and not advertising focussed. We are led by customers and not by competition.
Q. We see today that India is still a very new and emerging market in terms of media planning and advertising. What role do you see Initiative playing in such a scenario to drive the standards of media planning and advertising up and how do you plan to go about it?
A. While India is an emerging market, the media landscape is extremely cluttered with multiple choices on TV, OTT, Digital, Mobile, etc. Given our approach of customer backward planning, it helps us to develop media-neutral solutions that are not only effective but far more relevant.
Q. In the past, Initiative has been associated with big names like Amazon, Reckitt Benckiser, Gionee and Sony India. With such amazing work in the past, what is your future vision for the company? Could you elaborate on it with any reference to brands that you are excited to work within the coming days?
A. We are extremely excited to work with brands which are disrupting the world ranging from Reckitt Benckiser (Dettol, Harpic, Lizol, Durex etc), Amazon, Amazon Prime Video, MG Motors (Initiative launched Hector in India on the back of the Indian Premier League and the ICC World Cup), Xiaomi, Bajaj, MRF, Infoedge, Too Yumm and several others. This year, we won a Guinness World Record for our campaign at Ardh Kumbh Mela for Too Yumm. And it is India’s first Guinness World Record certified ad campaign at Kumbh. We launched one of India’s longest-running media properties – the iconic Swachh Bharat. We created the first-ever chatbot for Durex – the Rexbot. And we love working with starts up and help them make an impact. So, we have made Initiative the most future-forward agency in the country and hope to continue the momentum.