“It was because of our good work that Jabong got acquired”: Prathap Suthan

We spoke to Suthan about a new digital poster ad by Bang in the Middle which he explains is a point of view about the state of advertising business.

In July 2016, when Myntra acquired Jabong, people involved in that process certainly would have been happy. But, there was an agency which had built a reputation for Jabong through its good work and they weren’t happy. Which is that agency? Bang in the Middle.

Just a few hours back, Prathap Suthan, managing director and chief creative officer, Bang in the Middle posted an ad on his LinkedIn profile and the copy reads, ‘Most of our clients leave us. They all get better jobs. It’s true. We get hired. We do a great job. The brand soars. Bottom line grins. Competition sulks. And in almost double quick time, the CMO gets headhunted, the Sr. Brand Manager follows, the Jr. Brand Managers quit, and in some cases, even the CMO shuffles along to a bigger richer brand. Soon enough, new people come in. With their own agendas and pet agencies. We get sidelined, and then fired. Terrible, but true. So if you are planning to get a plum job or a fat raise, dear client, do pick up the phone on us. Let’s rewrite your destiny. Bang In The Middle.’

We asked Suthan what led them to do this ad. He says, “Couple of reasons to do that. This goes back to some of the clients we have had in the past and Jabong is a classic example of that. We built it into a pretty formidable brand and then what happened was they were bought by Myntra and the advertising went out of our hands. We weren’t responsible for that change at all. It was because of our good work that the brand got acquired but, in the end, we were not their agency anymore.”

Suthan sees a lot of similar movements very often with other agencies too. “Whenever we do good work, we take the brand to the next level and suddenly there is a change in the management and the mandate goes to someone else. It doesn’t happen only with us but a lot of agencies” he adds.

We asked him, what is he expecting this ad will do for Bang In The Middle? He says, “Nothing. It is not a self-generating post at all. It is more of a point of view about the state of the advertising business.”