TBWA India launches Disruption Consulting practice for brand marketing

Global creative solutions agency TBWA is set to boost its consulting practices in the Indian market through the launch of its Disruption Consulting arm in the country. The agency, which is known for its out-of-the-box approaches, will make use of unique features of its strategy such as ‘Backlash’ and ‘Bench’ to provide truly disruptive solutions. 

Established in India in 1988, TBWA was conceptualised as an advertising agency, and has since grown into a consulting firm offering solutions in marketing and communications to a range of different industries. The firm is headquartered in Gurgaon, but has offices across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi.

Internationally, TBWA has taken on a new character as a branding and innovation agency, particularly through its Disruption Consulting arm, which brands itself as ‘the disruption company.’ The primary distinguishing factor for the firm, by its own declaration, is a strong identification with radical open-mindedness and creativity when devising branding and marketing solutions.

Now, in light of a promising advertising landscape in India, combined with more of a digital space to navigate through, TBWA has launched its specialist Disruption Consulting arm in India. The primary aim of the wing is to “craft the ‘2.0’ for businesses,” said a statement released by the firm.

Among the highly unique techniques employed by the firm are ‘Backlash’ and ‘Bench,’ both of which the firm plans to apply widely in the Indian market. An innovative method of market research, Backlash is essentially a year-long editorial practice, which involves keeping tabs on culture-conversations that sprout up, thereby allowing the firm to stay in sync with the latest cultural developments in the market.

Bench, on the other hand, is a structural innovation, which entails a proprietary in-source talent mode, whereby the firm creates a pool of talent consisiting of professionals from within as well as from outside TBWA, who can be called upon to participate in any project where their expertise may be required. Agility and flexibility amongst the talent pool is key for the success of this model.

So far, the Disruption Consulting arm has secured contracts from Open Magazine and Fractal Analytics among others. In order to illustrate their goals with respect to market disruption, the firm cites the example of Airbnb, which disrupted the hotel industry through its personal touch to hospitality.

Commenting on the new venture, CEO of TBWA India, Govind Pandey said, “Today's marketing feels like being on a treadmill. One keeps running, but does not go anywhere. That is why Disruption is a powerful tool for today's times. This unique worldview allows us to unlock the growth narrative for any business agnostic of their life-stage.”

Meanwhile, Krishnan Subramanian, Chief of Strategy at TBWA India said; “We have put together a diverse bunch of story designers (strategists, visual and verbal designers) who are already dirtying their hands on a wide variety of issues for our client partners. Our solutions aren't just fresh, they energise clients to imagine new possibilities while our thoroughness in bringing these solutions to life doubles their confidence in them."