Shiv Sethuraman’s ‘New Business’ is to help agencies acquire clients

Shiv Sethuraman, former Group President, Cheil South-West Asia, today announced the launch of his new business foray – The New Business. The New Business aims to create a new business culture within an organisation to end-to-end handling of a communication agency’s pitch. The company’s mission is to help agencies of all disciplines and sizes maximise their ROI on new business acquisition. The operations have already commenced in Delhi and Mumbai. 

Expressing his views on the new venture, Sethuraman said, “Despite new business being a priority for the management in every agency, many of them struggle with their acquisition efforts because the reason varies for different agencies, but common actions encapsulate resource bandwidth issues, insufficient pitch experience, lack of rigorous project management and poor ownership within the agency teams. Winning on a sustained basis requires more than just intent. Primarily, it needs the creation of a ‘winning culture’ and equally, on the ground, it requires clear acquisition strategies, military-style project management, world-class pitch decks and excellent presentation.” 

He further said, “Agencies that I have led over the last decade have had an outstanding new business track record. Learnings and experience from these, along with my passion for business acquisition, form a solid base for The New Business.” 

Over the last two decades, Sethuraman has led agencies and teams that have won notable global pitches, like Louis Vuitton and Abbott (Digital) and local ones for Adidas (Retail and Digital), Nissan and Jet Airways (Digital) and many more. 

“At present, winning new business is a critical mission for all agencies, but at the same time they need to manage the costs. New business is expensive and a distraction from regular operations. It is our objective to provide, over time, a suite of products that make The New Business the preferred landing place for agencies when it comes to client acquisition,” he affirmed.