Tgthr’s Rahul Vengalil urges brands to return to ‘good old advertising’ in 2025

In just one year, creative agency tgthr has secured projects with major brands like Reckitt, Ultraviolette, and Krafton. But what’s the secret behind its rapid success?

Spilling the beans about tgthr’s success, Rahul Vengalil, CEO and Co-founder of tgthr, mentioned that he is not in the advertising business but in the business of relationships where the product happens to be a creative or a film. 

In the words of Vengalil, “We have collaborated with 12 brands so far, including Lenovo, Ultraviolette, NPCI, and Harpic. How did we achieve this? Despite being a young company, our leadership team has been in the industry since 2006, working with multiple clients in the past, which has helped build our reputation because the advertising business is the business of relationships where the product happens to be a film or a creative ad. So, relationships are crucial, and we have maintained strong relationships with multiple clients, as it helps build trust in your work.”

Should brands work with indie agencies?

Every month, a new agency emerges in India, branding itself as “not another agency” and willing to offer services at exceptionally low margins. In such a crowded market, the question arises: Why should brands choose to work with small indie agencies?

Answering the query, Vengalil said, “There are two main criteria to consider: the idea part and the efficiency part. When dealing with a multinational company whose strategy is set in regions like the UK, US, or Asia-Pacific, it becomes easier for them to work with a network agency due to the synergy across multiple markets, which is a global call.

On the other hand, some brands are looking for a balance between pushing boundaries and achieving faster turnaround times. Compared to a large network, our turnaround time is always faster because we are more nimble and agile, without the bureaucracies and numerous representatives that can slow down decision-making. In such scenarios, an indie agency makes a lot of sense. Additionally, many powerful agencies have emerged in the last few years.”

tgthr’s USP

We asked Vengalil what distinguishes his agency from the many indie agencies that have emerged in recent years. Replying, Vengalil said, “In the next 4-5 years, creating a single brand story will require understanding, knowledge, and experience across all aspects of advertising. Fortunately, our team has experience in every part of advertising, making our solutions more integrated. 

Our creative team understands the importance of media in building a brand, so we tailor our solutions with media investments in mind. This approach makes our solutions more effective, with minimal spillovers. We ensure that our solutions align with the client's needs, such as providing a 15-second ad when requested, rather than a 45-second one. We understand the different formats, platforms, and types of ads in the digital space, ensuring our communication works effectively for the media.”

The problem with young marketers

Do you remember instances of bizarre marketing campaigns? From Poonam Pandey to YesMadam, we could go on and on, but you get the point. When it hurts the brand, then why do it? Vengalil calls this a “problem with young marketers stemming from lack of experience about what is good for the brand.”

Expanding his thoughts on the subject, he said, “Be it on the brand side or the agency side, everyone is focused on short-term objectives and goals, so when agencies are creating a campaign to achieve specific business targets within a quarter, the focus is not on a nine-month or three-year horizon but rather on improving sales in a month. This requires creating short-term strategies within a month, pushing boundaries that are often blurred. 

This lack of experience is common among younger marketers. Some marketers believe that disruption is the only way to capture attention, but great storytelling and communication can also be effective. There are multiple ways to approach solutions, but when faster, shorter solutions are needed, other aspects may be overlooked.”

While constant communication with the customer is crucial, Vengalil shared his ick with constant communication and said, “Certain categories need to be always on, such as food delivery services like Zepto and Swiggy. There is no significant differentiation between them, but better deals and constant communication can influence consumer choices. FMCG brands need to be active at specific times, like the 20th of the month and the 5th of the next week, as consumers still buy every month. 

However, excessive communication, such as a car brand or an apparel brand talking to consumers multiple times a day, is pointless. Which consumer is shopping four times a day?”

Moving to 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, Vengalil shared two key priorities for his agency:

'If I have 10 clients in 2024, my focus will be on retaining them and achieving incremental growth. I’d like to add 3-4 new clients, but I’m in no rush. I’m building a brand for the long term, and exponential growth is not my goal. Organic growth is essential, and we aim to acquire 4-5 new clients annually.'

He further emphasised the importance of financial discipline as a bootstrapped company: 'Having money in the bank is crucial, so I plan to become even more agile in managing finances. We will keep expenses as low as possible while investing in areas that matter, such as people and PR. These two aspects will form the foundation of our focus for 2025.'

Not flying business class

If you follow memes on social media, then you must be aware of how agency margins are going down with each passing day. Amidst a margin crunch, how is tgthr holding on in the storm?

Presenting a response, Vengalil said, “When I talk about keeping my expenses minimal, it means that without compromising on quality or anything the client wants, I remain more affordable than many others. However, some clients want to work at a lower price, and we have to politely decline. We always have a conversation with the client to explain our charges. 

Because we keep our expenses low, our charges are very affordable, but we may still be more expensive than some social media agencies. The cost for agencies will obviously increase if the leadership travels in business class and stays in expensive hotels. Therefore, we remain lean, agile, and very cognisant of our expenses, investing in areas that matter, such as people and PR, to ensure the benefit of our clients.”

Please come back to advertising

“Please come back to advertising. Advertising builds brand love, and the top funnel is built on advertising and not on content,” Vengalil resolved, urging brands to think of good old advertising in 2025.

Elaborating on his thoughts further, he said, “Content is important only when somebody is really considering you. For those individuals, create content. Don't get confused that content can play the role of advertising and vice versa. That's not the case. Content is always a bottom-funnel or, at best, mid-funnel kind of consumption habit for customers. So, give it importance but only to that extent. Advertising is what moves people and puts you into consideration, ensuring that when you create content, it is constantly consumed. Additionally, don't spread too thin. Engage content in a focused manner to avoid missing out on customers.”

To wrap it up, Vengalil’s message for brands is, “Your job is simple: if you aim to be in the top three from a saliency point of view and have a good product, people will inevitably find you. Content spreading is more crucial for B2B businesses as they need more resources. For B2C customers, content focus is primarily in tier-one cities or top metros. In tier-two, tier-three, and rural India, people still prefer to go to the nearest store to make purchases.”