Rohan Bhansali on why legacy agencies merging is detrimental for A&M

Edited Excerpts:

Can you take us back to the beginning and share the story of how it all started? Inspiration behind establishing the agency and the initial vision?

GOZOOP was established in October 2008, originating from discussions held in the breakout cafe room of J.P. Morgan. At that time, Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, Dushyant Bhatia and I were working as analysts at J.P. Morgan. During our coffee breaks, we would contemplate the idea of starting our own business. We dabbled with various ideas -  branded Nimbu Pani, office tiffin services and many others. Dushyant, who eventually became our third co-founder, started work on his startup, Bloggertize. Leveraging Ahmed’s coding skills, we collaborated to build an e-commerce solution for him - this was a project. We then secured our second project from another friend - building an online book library. Before we knew it, we found ourselves immersed in the business of developing apps and websites. In 2010, Dushyant joined us and under him we started providing digital marketing services for all our clients. This set the foundation for the GOZOOP we know today.

What are the key milestones that stand out to you the most and how do you envision the agency's future in the years to come? 

Obviously Dushyant joining us in 2010 and starting the digital marketing services was a key formative milestone. Starting our Dubai office in 2011 was another shaping moment. All our acquisitions starting from Red Digital (from Harsh and Bhavit of Dream11 fame) to 56 Blue Lights have shaped the agency. So many more big and small moments that have shaped us to who we are today.

One of our recent milestones is the formation of GZPure, an industry shaping collaboration between two independent agencies - GOZOOP and Puretech Digital. We also launched our in house Production House this year.

All moves are in line towards growing GOZOOP as India’s own independent marketing network. We are very clear that we don’t want to align with any global networks. It’s sad to see so many of our peers who have lost their identity and culture by being acquired by global advertising networks. 

Indian companies should hold their independence with pride and not let global networks define the industry as it has in all these years. It’s heartening to see R K Swamy Limited listed publicly as an independent agency. They have paved the way for many Indian bred agencies to maintain an independent presence. I think the predatory and soul killing network acquisitions are now a thing of the past or at least I hope so. 

What were some of the major challenges GOZOOP Group faced during its growth and how did the team overcome them?

In 2011, as we started our Dubai office, a lot of our time was invested in chasing growth there. This growth came at the expense of time spent with the team in ensuring culture is protected. We lost some good well meaning talent then. This was a lesson for us - the biggest asset of any agency is its people. You can grow only with them. Since then keeping culture and our value systems paramount has been a lighthouse for us. 

COVID was a great litmus test for us as it was for most agencies. Clients significantly reduced marketing spends. With the learnings of 2011, we committed ourselves not only to no COVID related job losses but also announced appraisals for our team in June 2020. This was against the backdrop of most agencies cutting headcount and salaries. We kept our people first. And we continue to reap the benefits of this today. We call it the ROI of Culture.

Building strong client relationships is crucial for any marketing agency. How many clients does the GOZOOP Group boast as of today? Can you please share a few key and recent clients that you have bagged? Can you tell us about the key factors that have contributed to maintaining these relationships over the years?

We currently have 70 - 75 active clients across GOZOOP Group and GOZOOP HAWK. Among our recent client acquisitions are renowned brands such as Harley Davidson, Hero Honda, Development Bank of Singapore, BN Group and Tata Digital. We take pride in maintaining long-standing relationships with our clients, including Dell since 2013 and Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) since 2016. Many of our clients have been with us since the inception of our company, which can be attributed to our commitment to transparency. Throughout our journey, we have made mistakes with our clients, including some significant ones. However, I have personally learned that taking responsibility for these mistakes can foster greater trust and contribute to long-term relationships. 

Additionally, we understand the importance of continuously reinventing ourselves and our clients greatly appreciate this effort. By continuously improving our services through internal advancements and mergers and acquisitions, we have been able to provide our clients with exceptional experiences as part of the GOZOOP Group.

We are seeing legacy agencies joining hands to fall under one group, what is the reason behind it and how do you think it will help the advertising industry?

Honestly, I believe this has been detrimental for our industry. Strong Indian bred advertising agencies have been taken over by global advertising networks. Look at Taproot, Glitch, 22 Feet - are well known names which are now associated with global advertising networks. It’s really unfortunate.

A big cash out for a founder is tough to say no to. I have been there and I get that. But I hope more Indian agencies have shown resilience. That’s why I look up to some of our competitors that have stayed independent like us. 

Why has GOZOOP chosen to stay independent? What’s the long term plan and vision?

I often joke to some industry folks that East India Company left India but its presence still lingers in the form of global advertising networks. About 80% of all our countries' advertising talent works for a British, French, American or Japanese global network. I want to invite the best of India’s creative talent to work towards building India’s own independent advertising networks that will compete globally. 

The R K Swamy Limited listing on the mainboard has been a great encouragement of independent agencies such as ours. I think this is going to change advertising forever. The theme of Global networks acquiring Indian agencies has dominated and shaped the industry for the last 2 decades. 

The potential of a successful IPO monetisation opens doors to a lot of smart capital. As a result, India will have many of its own networks to compete with the global networks such as WPP (British), Publicis Groupe (French), Dentsu International (Japanese) and Omnicom Media Group (American). Bharat is shining and  we are in a great place to capitalize as an independent company. 

How big is GOZOOP’s team today? Can you tell us a bit about the values that you have inculcated at GOZOOP?

Between India, Dubai and Oman, we are a team of about 300. At GOZOOP, we have a defined value system that we call the ‘WHO Framework’. The 9 distinct characteristics that makeup this framework are Hunger, Integrity, Laddership, Decisiveness, Dependability, Strong Will, Resilient, Solution Focussed and Ambitious Humility. Each hire we make, each internal review we conduct is a derivative of the ‘WHO Framework’. 

How has the agency grown year-on-year? Could you pinpoint the major reasons behind the agency’s growth and the strategies you believe played a crucial role in achieving it?

Since inception our focus has always been bottomline. We want to operate at a 30% EBIT margin and are okay to let go of low or no margin revenue for that. Despite this we have grown at a 5 year average CAGR of 42%.