international man of mystery

I received an email a couple weeks back from Roopak Saluja. Roopak is the 34 year old Managing Director of Bang Bang Films located in Mumbai, India. Roopak was coming to LA to produce a spot for Pepsi International and wanted to meet.  

Roopak saw me speak at a panel discussion at the Boards October '09 Summit. After the summit he started to follow me on Twitter. From Twitter he started to read my blog. From my blog he inquired about a meeting. I love social media. 

Yesterday, Roopak came to the Epoch office. We talked for a while. I questioned him endlessly about production and advertising in India. You won't believe what I found out. 

Cost consultants are on the rise. They don't offer solutions or are held accountable for reducing the bid. All they demand is more for less. And they expect it. 

Here's another shocker. Content is becoming increasingly prevalent. In particular mobile phone content. There are 540 million cell phone users in India. Marketing to them is where the growth of the industry lies.

Another discovery. Agencies power is waning. Clients are looking for lesser expensive alternatives. They want more project based options where more money goes to the screen than to the holding the companies pockets. India is trending toward direct to client. 

This all feels vaguely familiar. My Lord, it sounds like...US. Of course there are differences between the US and Indian markets such as process and sales. But, from a business perspective they are encountering uncertainty and transformative issues directly reflecting our own. 

Intrigued by Rookpak and his experiences as a production company owner in India, I decided to dig into my analytics. I found out that in the last 30 days I had close to 6,000 visitors in 43 countries. If this is the reach of my humble blog, it tells us the issues facing advertising are not exclusive to the good old U.S. of A. The challenges are similar across all borders. Or, maybe the analytics tell me a good recipe for Chicken in a Pot is an international necessity. 

This meeting also made me think about the AICP. I've post about the organization restructuring to create a stronger national foundation. I'll write more specifically about this again in the very near future. Overall the goal is greater inclusion amongst members, create stronger value and voices for our causes and help shape the future of the industry. I believe this goal knows no boundaries. Once establishing a national presence, the natural progression is to grow into an international association. 

Even from this small encounter, it is further proof, as Thomas Friedman has said, the world has become flat. It's an open playing field where everyone competes and communicates. 

Build locally. Act nationally. Grow globally. 

Roopak Saluja. Reason # 137 how social media brings the industry closer.