The top ten advertising agencies of India (2006-2007)

‘Advertising’ is a medium meant to propagate ideas to people using any means of

communication. Liberalization has empowered advertising and has completely changed the
Indian advertising scenario. The major areas touched by advertising are FMCG’s food market,
cosmetics etc.

Advertising is like the two sides of a coin. Sometimes it may seem that advertisements send out
the wrong message or impel people to buy certain products. On the other hand, advertising can
be perceived as a means to sell a product or a service which can improve by competition.

Today, advertising is booming. With the growing markets and competition, it has become an
essential tool to reach the target market as well as the target audience.

Advertisers in India have reached 75 percent of the population, using television as a media
device, and the rest of the population is reached via radio. India, however, favors newspapers,
magazines, television, radio, billboards and business publications to convey messages about
various products. It is the advertising agencies’ advertisements which portray ideas to the
audience – agencies that compete to be ranked as the best. The world’s leading advertising
agencies – Ogilvy and Mather, J. Walter Thompson, BBDO, Lintas, McCann-Ericsson and Leo
Burnett have successfully made a mark in the Indian market. The advertising agencies are ranked
in order of their creativity as well as the expertise to deliver the content and message to the
clientèle. There are many parameters on which they are graded, and these are just a few.

The top ten advertising agencies of India (2006-2007)

 Ogilvy and Mather Limited:- Headed by Mr. Piyush Pandey:

The most local of the internationals, The most international of the locals are words written to
describe the identity of Ogilvy. Basically, what this means is that the advertising agency follows
the local market, understands the customer's needs and then networks worldwide with MNC and
other relevant clients.

In all its years of business, Ogilvy has struggled to build brands and has proved its ability to
build brands. The agency does its best to enhance the customer-brand relation. For this, it
undergoes the process of scrutiny of the tools and techniques which work well to build a long
and lasting association with a brand.

 Mudra communications Pvt. Ltd:- Head: Mr. Madhukar Kamath:

The agency practises the art of communication in order to express ideas that can shape the
brands. As the name suggests, the agency is influenced by the artistic traditions of Indian dance,
drama and painting. These, in turn, inculcate feelings, ideas, thoughts and emotions for the
success of a brand. Mudra peeps into the local consumer markets, channels and media, and has
its own identity in communication of brands. It looks for the entrepreneurial zeal which causes
continuous and speedy growth for each brand. The advertising agency always believed in doing
interesting work that pleases its clients.

 Lintas India Pvt. Ltd:- Head: Mr. Pranesh Misra (President & COO - Lowe, India):

After the merge of Lintas India Ltd. with Lowe Lintas and Partners group of the UK, it is now
known as Lowe Lintas. India Pvt. Ltd. The turnover of Lintas is Rs. 750 crore. The advertising
agency inculcates advertising, media buying house, direct marketing, public relations, design
consultancy, market research, events, rural communications and interactive communications.
Enterprise Nexus, the agency partner of Lowe in India, continues to be a member and is known
as the ‘Independent Brands’ division which is the only specialist in advertising and marketing
communications. Lowe Lintas India is a successful agency which is inclined towards quality
creative advertising and works for the benefit of its clients.

 JWT (Hindustan Thompson Associates Pvt. Ltd.):- Head:Mr.Colvyn Harris (Chief

Executive Officer):

The advertising agency has a special portfolio which includes creativity, innovation, clients, case
studies, awards, well-thought out leadership and talent. Clients perceive the agency as a resource
of ideas which tell the brand’s story to the customer, dealing with market research. In this
process, the agency includes innovative ideas.

 FCB-Ulka advertising pvt. Ltd:- Head Mr. Anil Kapoor (Managing Director and CEO):

FCB, being one of the the top three advertising agencies in the USA, ranks number 10 in the
world. FCB-Ulka has made its mark in India as Ulka Advertising. It was founded in 1961. On the
creative front, Ulka is known to stand out. FCB-Ulka has made a smooth transition from a
creative shop to a large mainstream agency. Around the mid-seventies, FCB-Ulka had become
the fifth largest agency in India and has sustained this status till date. The efforts of FCB-Ulka
deserve praise. It also gave recognition to those brands that were not in the limelight earlier but
are now completely above other market players. Santoor soap did thorough research and focused
on advertising which gave growing sales figures against stiff competition from Levers and P&G
brands. Not surprisingly, FCB-Ulka is seen as a turnaround specialist - an agency that does brand
building and more.

 Rediffusion DY&R Pvt Ltd:- Mr. Mahesh Chauhan (President):

This advertising agency places its people first. It believes that the strength of a brand lies in the
efforts the people of the organization make. Rediffusion DY&R follows system-driven ‘thinking’
in its culture. The agency attracts right minds because it thinks of a perfect balance between
creativity and strategy.

 RK Swamy BBDO Pvt Ltd:- Mr. Srinivasan K Swamy (Head)

It is the agency of the worldwide-renowned BBDO network. The advertising agency suggests
comes up with solutions for its clients regarding their marketing communication problems and
provides them with intelligent solutions and supports them in attaining their goals. The symbol
or logo of the advertising agency is Hansa and is known to separate milk from the water.
Similarly, RK Swamy of BBDO is capable of deriving the essential elements from the irrelevant
ones in order to promote each brand. The agency practises high level of commitment and spirited
teamwork for a common cause.

 McCann-Ericsson India Ltd:- Sorab Mistry (Head)

This advertising agency is a leading global agency and has the power and passion to achieve its
mission .McCann-Ericsson is known as a world class advertising agency and has found
outstanding talent in its employees.

 Leo Burnett:- Mr. Arvind Sharma (Chairman and CEO):

The advertising agency is totally idea-centric. It generates big brand ideas. It regards the pencil
as its engine no matter the size - it is the means through which it can generate plenty of creative
ideas. The agency is never too satisfied with its endless efforts in building up a brand. It believes
that the brands can become and remain leaders by building better ideas. It's no wonder that the
founder of the advertising agency, Leo Burnett, regards the pencil as a metaphor for the kind of
ideas he was coming up with for his clients.

 Grey worldwide (India) Pvt Ltd:- Mr. Nirvik Singh (President south east Asia &
chairman South Asia, Grey Global):

The agency handles above the line advertising for the Grey group. It has launched Dominos in
India. It has had Ambuja cement, Thums Up, Arrow, Lee and many more brands in its portfolio.
The mission of the agency is to remain the largest global integrated agency to leading brand
ideas.

The list of the top ten advertising agencies is not always stable and remains interchanging. The
additions and deletion of a few of them formulates the list. But each of them are making their
way to becoming the best, and their efforts are making are each making a mark in the Indian
advertising scenario.