A conference was organised by ASSOCHAM in Delhi recently to discuss what it would take for India to become a hub for creative outsourcing. Kicking off the conference, the Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy stressed the need for creation of centres for excellence in the field of advertising. He said that the government was open to the idea of introducing "Free Creative Trade Zones" on the lines of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to help the domestic advertisement industry tap over US $5 billion in offshoring projects from foreign clients. ASSOCHAM President Mahendra K. Sanghi pointed out that the opportunities in this area could span a wide range of areas including production design and development, advertising and creating allied services, contract R&D, market data analysis and paralegal services. In his view, firms should be encouraged to manage several business processes for a single client in an integrated fashion.

The Government of India is on the verge of signing its first co-production agreement with Italy. Similar agreements are being finalised with France, Germany, Singapore and UK. Such agreements would allow foreign film makers to shoot films within India barring some sensitive locations. Besides, the I&B ministry plans to set up a `single window system’ so that domestic as well as foreign film makers can avail of permission for shooting films at Indian destinations of their choice. Mr. Reddy also announced that the I&B Ministry would take up the issue for substantial reduction of import duty on camera equipment that are not manufactured within the country provided the government finds justification in this demand.

Following the minister's announcement, the participants at the conference, which included several representatives of the Indian ad industry, discussed and debated the opportunities and challenges of creative outsourcing.

The Success Factors

For success in creative outsourcing, players would have to keep in mind certain key elements. A deep understanding of the client's market is essential for any agency that is keen on developing "big ideas". While delivering execution-based services, quality of output would be of prime importance followed by costs and meeting of deadlines.

Indian advertising also has had some major success stories in the area of creating value-for-money brands. These learnings could be effectively used to create successful ad campaigns for European and American markets as the need to make your dollar or pound or franc go further is a universal concern of consumers everywhere. However, there are certain sectors - such as automotive advertising or fashion advertising - where Indians have still not achieved the level of sophistication of Western markets. And it would be prudent to steer clear of these sectors until Indian agencies have developed some level of expertise.

Managing the agency-client relationship is a critical concern in this business and it becomes even more critical when the client is based half-a-globe away. To be able to meet the client's expectations without losing out on efficiency while managing costs will require a diverse range of skill sets.

The key areas where India can offer overseas clients quality work are:

• desktop publishing, including designing of flyers, catalogues, mailers, etc.
• website designing. Online bidding for website designing is already a common phenomenon and Indian designers are already offering high quality services at low prices.
• digital animation. This area too is growing rapidly and Hollywood film and television production houses have been outsourcing animation jobs to Indian companies for the past several years.
• digital video editing. There is a tremendous opportunity for professional production houses in India to offer these services. The work can be reviewed instantly over a high speed internet connection.

The Challenges

There are also some key challenges that Indian advertising offshoring agencies are likely to encounter. Resistance from creative teams within agencies in the developed countries is one of the most significant challenges. Moreover, the Indian creative team would have to familiarise itself with the local context so as to be able to provide creatives that culture-specific. There is still an element of "lack of trust" while dealing with India in many of the developed countries and this could be a barrier particularly when it comes to farming out prestigious projects. However, it's the quality of the creatives that can successfully overcome these barriers. Initially, it is unlikely that overseas clients would deal directly with the supplier agency. To acquire jobs/projects Indian agencies would have to go through an intermediary who would help in project-acquisition and have representatives to deal with vendors in India.

Clearly, while the opportunities exist, Indian advertising agencies would have to overcome many barriers to become the hub for creative outsourcing. While desktop publishing, animation, video editing and website designing are areas in which Indian vendors can offer their services, it will be some time before full-fledged creative campaigns are outsourced to Indian suppliers.