Sir Sorrell bullish on Indian Growth Story

Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP, currently in India to announce the launch of a number of WPP initiatives, is bullish about Indian economy and is also optimistic of WPP group’s continued good performance in the country. He expressed his views at a gathering last evening, where he also made a number of key announcements pertaining to WPP initiatives in the country.

On Mr Narendra Modi:

Sir Sorrell is upbeat about India and believes that under the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi led Government, the country is set for bigger things. He stated, “I think he (Mr Modi) has a very strong and powerful vision for the country. I am pretty sure he has made a very strong start in the direction of attaining that vision. The economy is a little shaken at this time but having said that, he is very focused on where he wants to take India. I believe that as an individual he is going to make a huge difference to the economy.” He added, “The PM is also a very good orator, probably in the class of Obama or JFK and has a very strong and powerful vision to carry forward and take economy to the next level.”

He added, “"To move a country, the world's fastest growing democracy, 1.2 billion people is difficult. At the moment, India is the last BRIC country standing. If you were to grade the BRICS, in my view, India would be the clear number one, followed by China."

(Sir Sorrell was among the media luminaries who met the Prime Minister in New York recently.) 

On advertising industry growth numbers:

Sir Sorrell sees a steady growth in Indian creative and advertising industry. He said, “I believe that it would be very arrogant to believe that a Britain or UK will provide advertising like that of India which is a nation of 1.3 billion people. Similarly there are going to be challenges, but I do believe this is one of the fastest growing economies and all challenges can be met in order to see a better country with more creative minds. I believe that the advertising and media agencies in India are better than any other country. But having said, I believe that the world is seeing a fall in the economic growth rate but the coming year is certainly going to be a better year for the advertising and media industry.”

He also addressed the issue of sluggish growth in the country. Talking on this front he said, “One of the basic problems is the inability of companies to invest in the long run, they look for investment for a short period of time. As a result of that you don’t see the necessary investment needed. The other fact remains that until the younger generation takes over management, you will be seeing no changes as such.”

On WPP’s performance & plan:

He is happy about WPP’s performance in the country and expects the upward trend to continue in the coming year as well. He informs, “2015 has seen little or no inflation as such for our company. It has been a difficult time but our business is doing well across the board, and we will grow our revenues by 10 per cent this year. We have clocked revenue of just under $600 mn and we have been able to reach our target. So it is a strong picture and so far it looks good for us. However, we are planning and analysing for the coming year and will not be happy by the same growth, we need to grow more in the coming time. Also the fact remains that we are the only group in India which looks at the whole country than on individual cities.”

He applauded WPP’s India team and the work done by it. He said, “The key differentiator for any agency is its team and the content and that is what we focus on. Also the fact remains that organic growth continues to drive our growth in the Indian market.”

Others:

In the last couple of years digital has started to play a key role in marketers’ media plan. However as per Sir Sorrell, for any media plan to work effectively, it has to be a cross media strategy. He opined, “Every medium plays a significant role in the country. One can easily see that the print publication in the country has the highest number of advertisers followed by the electronic media. One cannot only be limited to one medium as the need to integrate in the coming times is greater than before.”

The other topic he touched upon was the BARC and TAM tie-up. Elaborating on that front he says “I see a bright future for BARC and TAM once the agreement is finalised. There will be robustness of data once the partnership is cemented.”

On shopper market front, he stated, "We have seen some restrictions in India. But in recent times shopper market has started to become more developed. From my point of view, it is large middle size retailing and will see more opportunity in the long run."

He also spoke about the local brands and their relevance to the Indian economy and consumers. He advised larger brands to not only limit themselves to competing with other larger brands but also to compete with local brands of India.

As for the key announcements made by him, those were: the formation of India’s largest experiential marketing network Geometry Global |Encompass Network (GGEN), Data Alliance being expanded to Indian Market, launch of ISDI WPP School of Communication, and the launch of WPP Companies Social Responsibility Foundation.