Fusing business solutions with creative storytelling sets us apart: Rohan Naterwalla of Punt

New Delhi: Ad agencies often feel an unspoken pressure to churn out ‘award-worthy’ work—campaigns that shine on stage and snag trophies, rather than just those that captivate consumers' hearts. 

“In the race for glory, creative professionals sometimes lose sight of what truly matters. Sure, it’s great to win awards, but what impact does it really have on the brand?” questioned Rohan Naterwalla, Executive Creative Director and Founding Member of Punt Creative.

Dealing with the always-on pressure

Discussing the constant pressure agencies feel to be ‘always on,’ Naterwalla noted that it's largely a self-imposed burden. 

In his view, most brands are not concerned with this ‘self-inflicted’ stress. What truly matters to them is whether the agency’s work is making a measurable impact and how effective the creative ideas are in driving brand success.

Naterwalla believes this kind of pressure often shifts the focus onto the agency rather than the brand, which is counterproductive. He emphasised that if an idea isn’t benefiting the brand, it’s likely more suited to the agency’s own ambitions rather than the brand’s needs.

He added, “Good advertising that delivers results for the brand will naturally be award-worthy.”

Good versus bad advertising

Naterwalla emphasised that understanding the brand's role in the audience's life is crucial for creating standout work. 

“A great product only matters if the way it's communicated and advertised is effective and distinctive,” he stated.

He believes effective advertising is often uniquely tailored to the brand's immediate needs, ensuring that the messaging resonates. 

Naterwalla also underscored the importance of truly understanding the target audience. “If I don't understand the people I'm advertising to, then how am I supposed to connect with them?” he questioned.

He further pointed out, “A good advertiser rarely struggles with what to say; the key is knowing how to say it in a way that resonates.”

Talent gap? Or talent absence? 

Tackling the often-discussed ‘talent gap’ in the advertising industry, Naterwalla believes that the right minds are already in place, doing the right things. He pointed out that the evolution of roles within the industry is a key factor. According to him, those who seek talent based on ‘traditional designations’ from the old-school advertising landscape will inevitably perceive a shortage, as those roles have transformed or no longer exist in their previous forms in today's environment.

Finishing a year in the industry, Punt Creative is currently populated by 25–30 creatives helmed by Natterwala’s belief that if every brand is different and every brand needs a different tag, then different talents need to be hired. 

Building the agency-client relationship

Naterwalla talked about how having long-term partnerships between clients and agencies is extremely important, as it helps generate a very clear idea of brand goals and long-term growth plans, and in turn, it helps the agency be an effective partner in that story. 

He added, “At the end of the day, what matters, what we keep forgetting is that we work in a field where 99% of the people outside of advertising would rather skip your work.”

What Punt-ers bring to the table

Founded as a MarTech venture by Siddharth Rao and Madhu Sudan, Punt has evolved into a modern agency model designed to tackle what Rohan Naterwalla sees as a two-fold problem.

“The first issue,” Naterwalla explains, “is that marketers often don't see creative agencies as true solutionists. They think we can craft clever ideas around a brief, but they rarely trust us to address the broader business challenges the brand faces. The second issue is that creative agencies tend to only approach briefs at face value without diving deeper into the underlying problems.”

These limitations, he believes, hamper effectiveness—something Punt Creative prioritises by centring its work on blending business solutions with creative storytelling.

Looking ahead, Punt aims to deliver results that not only tug at consumers' hearts but also make a tangible impact on brand performance. Additionally, Naterwalla emphasises ‘tangibilising’ the creative team’s dreams and ensuring they receive their due credit—key factors that he believes differentiate Punt Creative from the competition.

Naterwalla attributes the surge of new agencies to the romanticised notion of advertising that many people in the industry hold. This idealistic view often stems from established beliefs about what works in advertising. 

For him, the essential question is, "Can a team work together to build something in the way they envision?" Punt Creative was designed to replace the “poetic or over-intellectualised agency memo” with a more straightforward and practical approach, resulting in their "obvious manifesto."