AgTalk | India is a priority market: Performics' Michael Kahn

In the media and advertising industry, while acquisitions and mergers are a business practice, many see it as adding capabilities to the larger group. Most agency custodians would agree to this and hence believe that in the growingly ‘specialised’ era of business, one needs to bring in those strengths to be able to deal with the heat of the competition but stand as a ‘one-stop-shop solution’ to clients. This, coupled with the focus on digital agencies in the business have devised special plans to put together more power in that domain as well. However, this phenomenon comes along with its own demands and challenges.

Adgully caught up with Michael Kahn, CEO, Performics Worldwide, ZenithOptimedia Group on his visit to India to know his thoughts on the same and much more. Edited excerpts below:

Adgully (AG): To begin with, what do you think about Resultrix and the youngsters in your team (in Mumbai)?
Michael Kahn (MK): Mumbai has an amazing culture, really motivated, excited, dynamic and energetic people with big goals and acquisitions. Everyone is really nice and smiling. Its an amazing contrast to the chaos that you see on the streets. Very fascinating! Youngsters in my team are very motivated, focused and with huge goals both for the work they’re doing for their clients and also for their peers. I found everyone bright eyed and energized about the business they’re doing and where they want to go.

AG: How would you compare the digital scenario in India as compared to other markets that you have worked or mentored?
MK: I would like to answer this question in two parts. One is, In India, mobility is a geek way in the digital system. Internationally and in India as well, phone is the way to the web. Although in India, not all phones have internet, some are still feature phones. Secondly, social media is critically important across the globe and here in India. With the growth of it, you’re seeing the market which is not only digital, but also coming out as more social. India, however, is still on the cusp of growth because the infrastructure on this front is still on the growth stage.

AG: What category of clients do you think will benefit from Performics Experience?
MK: With the growth of digital and performance media I’d say that our clients in the domain of Ecommerce, direct marketing, travel space, financial services space, etc can benefit.  We can show the value of digital investment to Brand marketers because digital is so powerful and I’ll b helping direct marketers and brand marketers.

AG: You’ve talked about creating India as a big digital hub. How would you want to elaborate on it?
MK: We want to create a high performance work environment. What I think comprises high performance is that your mindset is to outperform yourself and lead them into the future. In order to do that you have got to set up your practices and procedures, where spending every dollar to the maximum return today. And I think that so much has been spoken on this journey of paid media and the immediate return you get on that to now driving strategy to the whole new media. Meanwhile build a culture and environment where the team understands that high performance is something that isn’t delivered daily. But we have a big appetite to continue to drive expanded performance and keep that client going. Because of India’s growth and culture this is a great practice and a great country to do that.

AG: While there are management schools where one can learn management skills but there are no structured places where the youngsters can hone their digital skills. Are there any plans in that direction?
MK: Yes absolutely. Primary strength rests in India! In 2015, taking our talent, developing, training, recognizing and recruiting folks in our team is the idea. And as a part of that we want to create a mindset that creating them where people are trained and stewarded and get smarter and smarter about all aspects of the digital space. We want to teach you about contacts and analytics and at the end of the day we are creating the next generation of natives who can now drive our strategy of across search, social, mobile and display to answering the questions. I believe we would be the best agency to get them trained to that. So we plan to give a full Ph.D in ‘Performics’ which is the highest form of digital knowhow. Initially we would like start with a university. The course will be grade wise where one learns every aspect grade wise. So by the end of the Ph.D they would have a digital skill set and management skill set.

AG: How important is Mobile amongst others in your platter?
MK: You have markets like India, China, and Japan where mobile is the game plan to the internet. Even the US for that matter is overtaking all other channels. The point being that almost every big country is on the phones and its a huge opportunity to miss. It is becoming the preferred platform to access the internet and engaging with their friends and family. So we’ve talked about it from planning to interaction and to measuring where we have mobile first plans everywhere. It’s just means that it’s extreme in India and India can be a lead market to us based on what is happening to us.

AG: You've talked about the creative hub? How do you look at creating a creative digital hub in India?
MK: The starting point will be to create content for clients in India which will act as a foundation for Performics. We are looking at creating planning capabilities across all forms of media which will help in the integration of content across all platforms. We have created resources within Resultrix and their goal for Indian market is to create place where clients can experience end-to-end contempt production and optimization.

AG: There seems to be lot of focus on AOD at this point of time, share your thoughts on the same?
MK: AOD is the demand side platform for Publicis and for all its agencies which uses programmatic buying. AOD will continue to be a buying platform for display, performance display and performics social. So AOD is a separate entity within Publicis that specializes in programmatic buying. Because at the end of the day, we want to be an agency that needs to tell a brand how best to spend your dollar across all forms of media - search, social, mobile and display. AOD will continue to be our cornerstone of how we are going to market ourselves in India.

AG: What category of clients do you think can benefit from AOD?
MK: All category of clients can benefit from AOD, since they can leverage the opportunity to buy a display and social effectively and efficiently. It means a great opportunity to the market place as it can benefit all forms of advertisers and also performance based advertisers.

AG: Is multi-screen a reality and what kind of complexity does it bring for marketers?
MK: Using multiple screens is going to be a part of the landscape that advertisers and marketers will have to contend with. Statistics show that consumers are hopping from one screen to another. There are more and more users who are using their cell phones or iPads when they’re watching tv. So now, we have to think more and more to create strategies so that we can reach them when they are engaging with their screens. We need to create a communication which will be in sync with across platforms (Our communication should reach across all devices from tablets to mobiles to television).

AG: You mentioned somewhere, that ‘there can be strategy around the content and not just content strategy’. Please elaborate on that.
MK: Content is become the new social. Social and social marketing is the outcome of a brand's communications strategy. And content has become the new cat race. Content strategy should now cater to the the overall marketing and media plan that one wants to do. Content Strategy of the brand should keep the consumer in the centre. So we feel content is not a strategy but is the outcome of a strategy and analysis to understand the best way to connect with the consumer.

AG: What are your expectations from the Indian team?
MK: Continue to do what they are already doing. They had a fantastic 2014 and lot of expectations for 2015. They continue to inspire me with what they are doing and I intend to support them in the best way I can. By: Archit Ambekar | Twitter: @aambarchit