Social Media Agency Feature: Digitas LBI - A Digital Agency

Who are we?

Digitas LBI are a global marketing and technology agency that transforms businesses for the digital age. We exist to help brands embrace the creative and technological changes revolutionising all aspects of their business.

We are a part of the Publicis network with over 6000 employees around the world.

In India, our footprint spans across Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad employing over 300 digital experts.

The Management Team:

Himani Kapadia, Managing Director

Amaresh Godbole, Head of Agency & Strategy

Partho Sinha, National Creative Director

Siddhyesh Narkar, Head of Technology

Mitun Mehta, Director of operations

Joseph Thomas, Finance Director

Himani and Amaresh recently featured in Campaign Asia’s inaugural ‘Most Admired Agency Leaders’ list.

What's in the name?

The brand came into being with the merger of Digitas and LBi in 2013. The unicorn in the logo symbolizes our never ending quest for digital mastery.

What we do?

Our expertise across insight, brand building, creative storytelling and real-time distribution enables brands to get fit for the future, no matter where we join them on their digital journey.

To do this requires a unique culture capable of supporting diverse talent. We call our collaborative way of working blending, and it’s central to everything we do – allowing us to take ideas from strategy and concept to launch and evaluation as quickly and effectively as possible.

• Strategy & Planning
• Creative
  • User Experience
  • Design
  • Content
• Social, ORM, ePR
• Technology
  • Interface development
  • Application development
  • Quality Assurance
• Mobile
• Delivery and project management
• CRM
• Search

Why we do it?

Digital is one field where you need to run just to stand in the same place. The rapidly evolving nature of the landscape throws up new challenges and opportunities every day. To tackle these successfully we need an ever changing set of blended skills, which makes it an exciting and enjoyable space to work in. Being ahead of the curve drives us, and we are always focused on taking our clients through a journey of digital transformation by building, innovating and eventually leading in their digital efforts. We help clients define What’s Next for their brands and businesses.

How we evolve?

We have set up a multi discipline strategy team, which includes a mix of consumer planners, digital strategists, technologists, data analysts, Search, Mobile, Social and Outreach specialists, which is focused on trend watching and ensuring the agency and its clients are always one step ahead.

Further, we have created a strategic partnership and collaboration model with content creators, artists, creative technologists and social influencers which allows us to tap into multiple skill sets and disciplines as marketing evolves into a melting pot of content, devices, social, publishers, influencers and media.

Social responsibility in social media

Now that everything is so transparent and all concerned parties are exposed to all the information. How does one handle the social responsibility aspect from an agency point of view.

Our Mantras:

Respect creator copyright: Images, videos, UGC are always used with due credit and payments

Respect user privacy: We will never trick users in parting with data

Respect the brand: Never take liberties with the brand identity in the name of creating social friendly content

Respect causes: We would never recommend a plug in a good cause. Either we are selling or we are genuinely being pro bono

Need of the hour

• Measuring success in terms of brand and business scores rather than hits, likes, shares etc.
• Evolved attribution modelling is critical to increase investments in digital.

We learned the hard way

The space evolves so fast, that one has to be externally focused and create collaboration and co-creation models to keep up with the necessary skill sets. Hence we keep core skills in house, and build an ecosystem around them.

Did we just share that?

We were running a campaign for a brand in which the teaser hook was “the world’s first printable video”. It even had a mock demo video ‘explaining the technology’.  At the end of the journey, the loop was closed asking people to save paper and move to e-statements.

It was clearly a tongue in cheek video, but a lot of people actually called us congratulating us on the ‘invention’ and asking us if we had patented it!

They work with us

Tata Motors – Non Media Digital AoR

• Tata Nano
• Tata Safari
• Zest from Tata Motors
• Bolt from Tata Motors
• Revotron
• Tata Movus
• Tata Sumo Gold
• Tata Indigo eCS
• Tata Manza
• Tata Vista
• Tata Venture
• Tata Xenon

Johnson & Johnson – Non media digital AoR

• Johnson’s Baby
• Stayfree
• Neutrogena
• Clean & Clear
• Nicorette
• Listerine
• Splenda – One Touch

Reckitt Benckiser - Non media digital AoR

• Durex
• Strepsils
• Veet
• Airwick

Dabur Real Juices – Non Media AoR

Aircel – Social and ORM

ABinBev – Budweiser – Non media digital AoR

Larsen & Toubro – Digital corporate marketing

Zee Learn - Non media digital AoR

• Zee Q
• Mount Littera
• KidsZee

Piaggio – Vespa – Social AoR

Siemens India – Social AoR

A.O. Smith – Non media digital AoR

ITC – CRM

JK Tyres – CRM

Oman Air – Project engagement

DHL – Project engagement

BBC Media Action – Project engagement

Gangar Opticians – Social AoR

Big Boyz Toyz – Social AoR

SOIL India – Non media digital AoR

PLAN India – Social AoR

Industry as we foresee

• Consolidation of agencies into fewer but larger agencies with multidiscipline and full service digital offerings.
• Increased investment in paid social, as clients begin to acknowledge that the medium is critical but also requires paid support and infrastructure investment. It turn, social will need to be accountable in brand and business terms and not just its own metrics
• Social as a means to meet objectives beyond salience and affinity – CRM, content monetization, sales, market research
• 24*7 social hubs for service intense categories, often situated in the client offices.
• A more mature talent pool, with a mix of experienced brand managers and young digital natives

A day without Internet

This may be considered heresy, but we in fact encourage our employees to switch off for a day or 2 whenever they get the chance and do something outdoors/enjoy an offline social experience. It helps rejuvenate the mind and come back with a fresh perspective. That way you stay connected to the real world around you, which in turn inspires ideas.