New ways to trigger a connection between Brands & Consumers

So what's with this term 'unagency'. Is it just a smart, new thing to call your enterprise, or are you really going to be different?

Yesudas: Well, the ‘unagency’ proposition of Triggerbridge is truly different, and it is not like any other agency that exists anywhere in the world. We believe the agency business will also start moving in the direction we are setting, in the foreseeable future. And Triggerbridge, the unagency, will be known for setting this trend.

Ajit: The agency business today is reduced to transactions with clients, where 30-second TVCs are produced to ‘connect’ with ‘ad-avoiding’ consumers, and teams in many large agencies are rewarded based on the upsell and cross-sell of various specialisations built within the agency. It lacks transparency and client trust.

Amit: Imagine a scenario where you want a general health check-up and the hospital is getting ready to perform a heart surgery. Contrary to popular perception, the language of the internet in India is growing at almost 10 times faster than English. Many clients who produce content-based offerings on the agency’s advice, are not even aware of this reality. While storytelling is being harped upon, there’s no content strategy for many clients. Some videos get produced, and they come and go like TVCs. Very few with great ideas, get traction. But what about all sorts of other content that’s available for the brand? Even a mail from the CEO to his team is content, much like a blog or tweet…

Ajit: No brand has been able to fully utilise the power of a very core group of ambassadors: the company’s employees. Or even the power of retail showrooms, for those who have it. The so-called BTL many times is wasteful expenditure. But crafted well, it can be experienced not only by the 100 people who are interested, but many more from the outside.

Yesudas: Triggerbridge will help build bridges of relevance between brands and consumers, in more meaningful ways than one. Our belief that consumers are the ambassadors and not the paid celebrities, will bring the brands into many consumer conversations. As digital transactional increase with better and faster connectivity and more people buying online, there will be a huge rush to sell online too. Many new players will emerge. We see it as an opportunity to navigate and help anticipate what’s ahead, by handholding and creating niches for various players today, so that the investment will be less. Some of them, with compelling propositions, may even need funding or other marketing partnerships. Who but the unagency to think of all this?

The unagency also means a differentiated remuneration mechanism. We are willing to stay invested in brands for longer-term returns. We are not governed by profitability norms and ratios. The unagency will be a service with a soul, and not just for money.  

And what is 'True Vertexing'?

Yesudas: It is our own terminology, a Triggerbridge thinking. We want some part of advertising, which is purely transactional, to move to True Vertexing, which means taking the brands to the highest points through true expressions.

Ajit: The True Vertexing journey begins with helping brands find a real purpose for their existence in this world. Once the purpose is identified, and crafted to perfection, we will look for consumer insights to assess the expression possibilities of the crafted purpose. The expressions could be based on various methods, community creation, incredible story-telling, content (own as well as user-generated) creation and usage of data to further enrich the experiences etc.

Yesudas: True Vertexing also means very different measurement solutions for efficacy. We believe the computer algorithms-based Share of Voice (SoV) and Share of Expenditure (SoE) is absolutely meaningless here. If True Vertexing is sharing the true purpose of the brand with consumers, the measurement will need to be based around the brand’s ability to do that. We call it Share of Vision. And if the shared purpose can get consumers to empathise with the brand, there are less chances of them going to Facebook or Twitter to scream at the brand, even if it made a mistake. We call this Share of Empathy. We are building such tools of the future.

So, specifically, what will Triggerbridge do? And who are the customers seeking your services?

Amit: Triggerbridge will do everything that a brand needs to do to connect with consumers but (based on our disruption theory) with only 25 per cent of the resources to be invested on avenues unexplored. Every advertiser in the country can be a Triggerbridge customer.

Yesudas: If you ask any large agency, they will tell you at least 15 to 20 per cent of their clients’ marketing resources for consumer connection, is not invested through them even on AoR (Agency on Record) scenarios. Clients are engaging with various others directly.  We believe we can co-exist with the current set of agencies for any client, as clients do not need to worry about breaking down those structures, at least in the initial times.

Ajit: I have had instances in MX where our clients have been surprised about the cost and quality of a simple thing like a brochure, compared to what they have been getting. We can produce any video content at perhaps half the cost of what most clients pay today, based on our lean structures and internal facilities.

Yesudas: We will surprise them in many ways. Let the visionary clients come and support us. We can be evaluated on any measurements. If they are unhappy, they can take their money back. This is a guarantee by the unagency.  Can any agency do this? We are also building many products for the first time, moving the business away from a pure service. One such is a digital platform that aggregates storytellers and tech producers for brands to pick and choose from a variety of options, most curated and created by real consumers.

Any clients on board already?

Ajit: Between MX and Ideate, we already have a client base. Discussions are on with a dozen other clients.

Have you set any revenue and work targets for yourself? What do you hope to achieve in your first year of operations?

Yesudas: We have a five-year blueprint and our vision is to see 40 per cent of all the ‘advertising’ rupee in the country being used for True Vertexing by then, and clients asking their agencies to practice Share of Vision, Share of Empathy and True Vertexing. We also would like to take our thinking and processes to other markets in the world.

Disruption, you said, is the name of the game. But do you think marketers/clients really want to break rules?

Yesudas: I have always believed in introducing a bit of disruption everywhere. I’m certain clients will embrace anything if they feel their pulse rates are being read correctly. The fact that billions of dollars of business keep going under review, and large clients are very vocal about how the current agency-client relationship is not working, and the increase in number of ad-avoiding consumers, are all making clients look at disruption in reality, albeit at different degrees of speed. 

Do you really think the advertising agency model as practised today, will cease to exist in the foreseeable future?

Ajit: It may not fully cease to exist, but it will have to radically change. Agencies will have to redefine themselves. Silo-driven super-specialisation will fall by the way side. The focus will move to stitching together solutions for the brand by working together.

Yesudas: Our clients will get to see us as the founders of Triggerbridge, the unagency, directly involved and interested in their business, unlike many other CEOs whose job is only to count cash. Some good changes will be visible by 2017-18. This will be directly likened to the growth of internet, speed, access points and cost. With a sizeable population accessing the net and starting to buy online, this will bring up many success stories of brands created through enduring consumer partnerships.

But, in a sense, isn't Triggerbridge also an agency although you call it an 'unagency'?

Amit: An agent is a middleman facilitating specific tasks, creative, buying, planning based on a specified client need.  But the “unagnecy” will even craft out tasks which perhaps the brand owners will least anticipate, all beginning with the identified purpose and ambitions.  We will stay nimble and passionate all across our journey. 

So, Yesudas, when did the idea of setting up Triggerbridge happen?

Yesudas: It happened on the day I resigned from Vizeum. Since I was on a long notice period, I was clear I wouldn’t do anything as long as I was continuing with the company. So the actual discussions started towards the middle of September. Our biggest ambition is helping brands to be loved by its consumers. A lot of what we do will still revolve around content and technology. At the soul of the expression of a purpose sits content.

And what brought the three of you together?

Yesudas: I’m one of those dreamer/ daring guys who jumps first and thinks of the wings later. I quit Vizeum without any specific opportunity in sight, unlike most people. But I knew my vision was worth its weight in gold. I have known Amit for few years as a business associate. I knew Ajit too, but had not interacted closely with him. Our purpose and values converged, and we had complimentary skillsets and existing establishments to provide the new venture with the much-needed wind beneath its wings.

Ajit: We had a very unusual first meeting. We met at 10 pm at the Chembur Gymkhana on October 1, and spent two hours talking over glasses of water. For me, there was an instant connection between us as human beings.

Amit: I think within a few days the desire to do something together got ignited in all our minds.

Yesudas: The rest is history. After many days and nights of discussions, finally on November 16 we shook hands, and launched on December 3.

Amit: We got everything going precisely as planned. On the night of December 2, every single thing was up and running, including all our digital assets.

Yesudas: This, what many clients don’t realise, is the beauty of working with nimble partners. I really couldn’t have asked for a better partnership than this.

In Arrangement with MxMIndia.com