Bharat Dabholkar to consult with Cayenne Communications; Helios Media is strategic partner

Ad veteran Bharat Dabholkar, who currently runs ad agencies in Tanzania and Kenya, has come on board as creative consultant to Cayenne Communications. Divya Radhakrishnan's Helios is a strategic partner to Cayenne. A look at how the model works and the reason for this kind of collaboration.

Divya Radhakrishnan, founder of the ad sales company Helios Media, advertising veteran Bharat Dabholkar (founder of the ad agency Zen, which he sold to Publicis around 2001), and Kiran Vernekar, managing director of the ad agency Cayenne Communications, are now working together. The trio will pool in their expertise and resources and pitch for business as a team.

Interestingly, the three are not launching an agency or banner which they will use to approach clients. Rather, here's how the arrangement works: Bharat has come in as a consultant with Cayenne Communications. And, the agency has entered into a strategic alliance with Divya's Helios Media. So, going forward, Divya will handle sales, while Kiran, in consultation with Bharat, will handle the creative side of the business, for a single client.

Divya and Kiran worked under Bharat at Zen. When the latter became a part of Publicis, Divya moved to Rediffusion, while Kiran moved to Madison (his second stint at the agency), and Bharat took a break. Subsequently, Divya launched Helios Media and Kiran launched Cayenne Communications.

"We started working together and did a lot of pitches, signed some clients, and to be frank, what happens at that point in advertising business is that people recognise you with your past work and your name. Right now, we don't have a portfolio. I can say I personally worked on some accounts, while Kiran worked on some."

On why she decided to team up with Bharat, Divya says, "You meet a lot of creative people, people who know brand and people who are story tellers. You won't find the combination of all three. When I met Kiran, I said, 'Why are we thinking here and there, let's work with the man who knows it all'..."

But, Bharat was busy with his agencies in South Africa, wasn't he? How then did Divya and Kiran approach him? "We hesitantly went up to him and told him that this is what we have in mind. In a minute he said yes. That is where it all started," explains Divya.

Divya goes on to explain how this arrangement works. "It's a loose arrangement of sorts; Bharat gets aligned with Kiran's agency and now he will be a mentor and Helios is aligned with them from a creative point. So, when we go for a pitch it will be Cayenne Communications and Helios Media. If it is food, it will be Brand Chef which is a product of Helios. If it is not, then we will still say Helios Media."

She's quick to clarify, though, that this is not some kind of back-end operation. "We are straightforward organisations coming to you (the client) for your benefit. We are two different organisations coming with different expertise. And, we don't have a common parent like WPP," she says.

"Bharat is aligned with Cayenne so they represent the agency and I am part of Helios and these two companies are strategically aligned. It is a partnership that has never happened in this industry. What has brought us together is only passion," Divya adds.

Kiran feels it's more of a partnership of ideas and thoughts. "We offer a far higher value than a regular service that my agency would do. But, together we have become a huge value addition for current clients as well," he says.

About their Zen days, Divya says, "We were literally on the ground. We have worked with clients like Parle, Zenith, Good Knight (R Mohan), and Tata Tea - all guys who used to put us on the road, in the shop. During our market research for the launch of Frooti, Prakash Chauhan made us look inside dustbins to check the number of empty tetra packs."

About the current Frooti campaign, Bharat says, with candour, "I feel bad every time I see the new Frooti campaign. That is the worst thing that I have ever seen in my entire life and I feel very bad about it. I have never seen an ad as bad as the current Appy Fizz one (featuring Priyanka Chopra)."

Talking further about the association, Bharat adds, "We understand each other, there are no ego issues here about 'Whose idea is it?' or 'Who has the veto power?'" The idea is not to approach MNC clients who want a big team, he says, expressing his desire to work with entrepreneurs with a high risk appetite. "These are small guys who have great products because they are using technology like the big guys. They don't have big marketing departments, but are open to ideas," he says.

Is he looking to win this account back, under this new arrangement? "I am not saying this because I want to handle Frooti, but I am saying this because we launched it and when I see something like this happening, I say why are they doing this to this brand?" answers Bharat.

Will Bharat be part of every pitch Divya and Kiran participate in? "Well it depends," she laughs, "If we want to add some glamour quotient, we will be taking him."

Currently, the trio is in the process of working on pitches for government accounts and a few FMCG brands.