STRAWBERRYFROG LOOKS FOR LILY PAD IN INDIA

Savia Jane Pinto | afaqs! | Mumbai, July 15, 2008

India seems to be on everyone’s radar these days. StrawberryFrog, the independent full service agency that is best known for its global work on Heineken, plans to start operations in Mumbai in 2009.

This isn’t StrawberryFrog’s maiden venture on Indian terrain. The agency was responsible for the launch of the Mahindra & Mahindra vehicles, including the Scorpio, in the US market. It has also done some work for the NGO, Nanhi Kali.

StrawberryFrog is now known to be in talks with marketing professionals from top Indian agencies. It is looking at various structures in order to start operations in the country, including individuals who will build the business from scratch and partnerships.

In an email interview with afaqs!, founder and chief executive officer Scott Goodson revealed the recent happenings at StrawberryFrog.

Scott Goodson

Why is StrawberryFrog looking at India now? Goodson says, “We just don’t think that the systems of traditional holding company agencies are the systems for the future. They are outdated and were developed for a very different era. That era has changed dramatically in most parts of the world and it is changing in India too, especially for GenY.”

Goodson wants to tap the talent in India for the agency’s global clients. He is looking at engaging Indian talent for StrawberryFrog in the US and other markets. He says, “We want to work together on fantastic briefs for the US, Europe and India. StrawberryFrog Mumbai will mean connecting with a totally new amazing group of driven thinkers, who think big and fresh.”

Another reason that StrawberryFrog is setting up shop in India now is because it is focusing on helping Indian companies launch their brands and build their market in the US, Europe and South America and also bringing European and Brazilian brands into the Indian and Asian markets.

Speaking about competition in the form of BBH and Naked Communications, which will also be coming to India soon, Goodson says, “We don’t really compete with them. India is a big market. There is room for all sorts of brands. It will depend on what the clients are looking for.”

He says that unlike BBH and Naked, which are owned by holding companies that are far away, StrawberryFrog is independent and StrawberryFrog Mumbai will be part owned by its Indian partners. So, the decisions for StrawberryFrog Mumbai will be taken in Mumbai, where people on the ground have a much better sense of what’s going on.

The team hasn’t been put in place as yet. “It will be an entirely Indian team, which will be educated and trained in the processes and systems of StrawberryFrog,” says Goodson. He says he is looking for someone who wants to be free from shackles to think really big.

StrawberryFrog will differentiate itself from other agencies with its Cultural Movements process. Cultural Movement is a strategy designed for clients, where, instead of developing a brand idea, then communication, then taking it outside to the consumer, you first identify or look outside for a big social change and use that to develop an idea. With a Cultural Movement set in place, “you can do anything in this age of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Orkut,” says Goodson.

Another aspect that will set StrawberryFrog apart from the other agencies, says Goodson, is the system of the legacy agencies. He says. “The talent inside the traditional corporate network dinosaurs is very good, but the systems of the legacy agencies hold them back. StrawberryFrog will give strategic and creative thinkers the freedom to do business building work.” The age old structure of the legacy agencies is devised to weed out people who think too freely. StrawberryFrog intends to tackle its competition by out-thinking them versus outspending them.

StrawberryFrog has a presence in New York. Recently, it also entered the Brazilian market with an office in Sao Paolo. “The market in Brazil is not very different from that in India,” says Goodson. Important accounts that StrawberryFrog has worked on are PepsiCo, P&G, Morgan Stanley, Wal-Mart and Microsoft.

Comments

[Warrel]

how does one go about, if say i would want to be a part of SF's team in India

[Rohith]

If I wanted to approach SF Mumbai for the purpose of being a part of it, how would I go about it?

[Sumit Roy]

Hi:

I'm an independent brand building coach. Been advocating "Word-of-Mouse" since 2000. Run a three-day workshop called "Consumer as the Medium" which the brontosaurs hate. It advocates "word-of-mouth" as the key medium. Been working with Mahindra Auto since 2003.

Would love to help you set up in India.

Because it's time the dinosuars were helped along their path of extinction.

Sumit Roy
Founder Director
Univbrands

[Prakkash Nichanii]

Hi,

We are real estate consultants dealing in properties residential / commercial.

Our clients are MNC's /corporates /Banks /HNI's

If you have any requirement of office premises in Mumbai please write us on [email protected]

Regards,

PRAKKASH NICHANII

[Val]

One man's cultural revolution is apt to be another's anarchism, esp. in a country like India, mired as it is in contradiction.

In the end the most creative message will be woefully lost if the chosen medium does not resonate with, or worse - fails to reach, the target audience.

If nothing else remember this. Some of the biggest companies in India still advertise their products through wall paintings. It costs as little as Rs.100 a dab and it works.
Go figure.

[real estate]

where, instead of developing an idea of ​​the brand, communication, and then take it out of consumers, you must first identify or find out about great social change and use it to develop an idea.

[jobs in houston]

Human history is never complete with a revolutionary side. I am a big fan of these stories in any part of the world.