Talented's 'Early' is an organised boost to the fractional CMO practice

The world of fractional CMOs received an organisational boost after creative agency Talented announced on Monday its investment in Early, a fractional marketing consultancy.

Fractional CMOs are individuals who provide marketing expertise to small or mid-level brands that may not be able to afford a full-time chief marketer. By January 2024, 282,000 LinkedIn users had adopted the fractional CMO title, with around 17,000 of them in India.

Talk about trend-spotting from Talented.

Meghana Bhat, herself a fractional CMO, co-founded Early with Gautam Reghunath and PG Aditya, co-founders of Talented.

The three are no strangers to each other: Bhat was the pair’s boss when they worked together at Webchutney, a Dentsu-owned creative agency. When the two later co-founded Talented, Bhat ran a fractional CMO practice under MB Consulting, held leadership positions at ScoopWhoop Media and DIY video creation platform InVideo, and consulted Amazon India on marketing and content strategy.

For a year, Bhat, Reghunath, and Aditya had been discussing what would eventually become Early; they'd spoken to founders and CMOs to get what they wanted to do just right. Bhat had consulted with Talented many times, including co-designing Thinker-Doer, the agency’s industry-first bootcamp for young designers, with Binaifer Dualni, founding partner and creative of Talented.

According to a press note, Early will offer fractional marketing advisory services specifically for start-ups and businesses in the early stages of their growth journey.

Despite the fact that fractional CMOs are typically one-person consultants, Early chose an organisational model because, often, start-ups are unable to execute the strategies these consultants pitch. "When it comes to early-stage companies, they need people to be there to see that strategy through to results," remarks Bhat.

There are multiple channels, different kinds of data, and marketing decisions that require diverse expertise—from an e-commerce specialist to a brand manager—making Early more than just an individual offering.

Another reason for this structure is Talented’s approach to its brands, says Reghunath. Early is part of Talented’s ‘Grid of Companies’, the second brand after The New Thing, a social-first agency co-founded in 2023 by Viren Noronha and Talented’s co-founders.

All three companies have distinct positioning and separate P&Ls, which Reghunath believes creates a massive competitive advantage. "You go to most agencies, their pitch decks look the same, the work looks the same, and the format is predictable."

Reghunath notes that the 1970s and '80s were times when agencies were powerful brands themselves, but in the last decade, this has faded. "The folks who are really standing out today are the ones who take their brand seriously."

Because Bhat had been in the fractional CMO business for two years, Early was able to build a roster of clients before even announcing itself to the world. The problems she has encountered in early-stage businesses range from marketing overhauls after growth slumps to specific issues like activation challenges, customer retention problems, or broken funnels.

Each client’s problems are unique, but how much time does Early plan to spend on these issues? "It’s typically a six-month engagement," Bhat explains. Early will first diagnose the issue and then craft a strategy, which should take about two and a half months. Implementing the strategy, if needed, will take another three months.

"There’s no point doing it if it’s less than three months unless the brand has a very strong internal team and everything is ready to hit the ground running," she adds.

Your agency isn’t making enough money

Talented has been vocal about the agency pricing model being obsolete. To make money, advertising agencies should price themselves based on the value they offer and the outcomes they generate, not the man-hours thrown at a client brief.

"... because you're working with founders, there has to be an agreement on outcomes, and then the pricing will be based on those outcomes," Bhat quips when asked about Early’s pricing model.

Early isn’t the last addition to Talented’s grid, but a question arises: how does Talented ensure its grid doesn’t resemble the agency networks it strives not to replicate?

"The real difference is that they're entrepreneur-led companies," Reghunath explains, "not entrepreneur-led businesses acquired by a network. They're (Talented’s siblings) starting with the help of another company, its goodwill, capital, business contacts, or client base."

With their shared histories, Bhat and Reghunath have a comfortable bond, where many things don’t need to be said, making it easier to get things moving. "Familiarity breeds acceleration, and the friendship is a bonus," he sums up.