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“It’s been another year of advancing the agenda of being an integrated agency that speaks to end-to-end comms and the entire consumer journey. This helped us win several accounts like Skoda, Sira, Mahindra One, Sun Pharma, CoinDCX, Manywar. Won three to four major accounts before the end of the year,” said Shamsuddin Jasani (Shams), CEO, Wunderman Thompson South Asia.
The former MD of Isobar Group was speaking to Media News4U.com about his one year as CEO at WPP apparel.
He is from the United States. “It is an honor for me to take over an organization that has touched almost every segment of advertising in India for the past nine decades. This journey has been about building on that amazing legacy, those foundations and building on it over the past year to make it even more strategic and relevant to many of our clients in today’s era. And we have been quite successful in converting. We continue to make those transitions as we move into 2023.”
According to Jasani, South and East are ‘unlike many other firms’ for Wunderman Thompson (WT). While Mumbai and Delhi are traditionally big, a lot of growth has also come from Kolkata and southern markets – he credits the way Wunderman Thompson has structured it. It is one of the very few organizations with equal strength in Mumbai, Delhi, South and East, he noted.
KitKat – Dish (2022)
While it was a time of consolidation and several account wins, the agency also lost the Pepsi account due to global restructuring.
On the move from a digital agency to a creative agency, the CEO commented, “I think at the end of the day it’s about working with great people. Work is a byproduct of the amazing talent at your company. The scale of operations within WT is much larger (than Isobar) so the idea was how can I leverage existing talent within the agency. The big change that has happened is the understanding of sheer talent in the brand experience that a creative agency brings and the more strategic nature of the work that we do versus most digital agencies that are mostly great at understanding technology and execution.”
Jasani notes that combining brand experience, traditional media advertising and digital-first work has been a steep learning curve for him professionally. “I’m really enjoying this integrated work happening within the company,” he added.
While CEOs have changed and there have been exits and entrances, the creative leadership under CCO Senthil Kumar remains unchanged. Zasani noted that Wunderman Thompson is adding a much more technology focus, with the realization that areas like Web 3.0 require a new breed of people.
Getting ready for 2023
Jasani noted that when he joined, the goal was to double growth in three years. If 2022 was about consolidating everything and aligning all products, 2023 will be about the growth agenda. The agency is also looking to work with clients across the entire consumer value chain – how it can use creative, technology and commerce to drive a solutions-oriented agenda. This is already happening, the CEO notes.
“The vision is very clear. We are an organization here to provide end-to-end solutions to our clients. They want us to partner with them throughout the consumer journey. Clients are also looking to us to provide them with more strategic solutions. he added.
Focus areas include the post-purchase journey, marketing automation services and commerce. WT Commerce’s Gurgaon operation has 600 people, reveals Jasani.
Although this is happening, Wonderman Thompson will not lose his ‘creative boldness’, Jasani underlines.
The agency, which in the past has gained high profile for campaigns for Nike, Times of India and Lux among others, believes there is some good work that could win international awards in 2023.
Nike – Make Every Yard Count (2014)
“We at the agency are enjoying what we are doing now. The work that is coming out now is of a certain level, which is why I am so gung ho about our chances at all the award shows. It’s the result of all the hard work, people working together and pushing the agenda of great creativity. A new wave of excitement is building for WT and 2023 that I watch with bated breath, especially for our team and showcasing the talent we have in the industry,” He guessed
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