Indian Ad Fraternity Laments Dissolution Of The Erstwhile JWT

Legacy puts everything into perspective, gives a sense of direction, and continues to be the beacon of light and hope for the upcoming generations. And what happens when that legacy is abused and written off by decisions which are made purely on the basis of business and not acumen? They wither away. That’s exactly what happened with J. Walter Thompson (JWT), the erstwhile Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA). It has died a gradual death.

The story began with Hindustan Thompson Associates becoming J. Walter Thompson (JWT) in 2002. In 2018, JWT merged with digital agency Wunderman to form Wunderman Thompson. Running through the history, JWT started in India in 1929 (and globally in 1864) and had completed over nine decades of operations in India prior to the merger. It had set up shop at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, primarily to handle the General Motors account. The aim was clear – to give a digital edge to the agency. But the amalgamation of a creative legacy agency with a digital one, didn’t seem to make sense to many – neither to a lot of its clients, nor to a lot of talent within the agency. It eventually led to a loss of both.

Come 2023, WPP has further taken a step ahead, and merged Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R. Dissolving the legacy agency name, VML, the newly formed agency will be spearheaded by Jon Cook as its CEO and Mel Edwards as Global Vice President.

Advertising industry peers can’t seem to stop expressing their sorrow over the loss of a legendary agency. Talking to BW Marketing World, Tarun Singh Chauhan, Former Managing Partner and Senior Vice-President, JWT Mumbai tells, “For a lot of people, JWT is an employer job. In 1996, there was a gentleman called Anil Bhatia and I was holidaying in Bangalore with my wife and my daughter, and I got a call from Anil Bhatia. And Anil said, hi, this is Anil here. I said, who's Anil? So he says, doesn't matter who Anil is, would you like to move to Bombay. I said, where are you calling from? He says, I'm calling from HTA. And those days, there was no internet like the way it is now. So you figured things out and then I figured who Anil Bhatia was. So for me, HTA which was then converted to JW Thompson is the one that company that got me into the world of big advertising. So I have a lot of emotional connection with that name.

And I find it bizarre that you give your clients lectures, on some branding strategy and all that, and then you keep changing a name every day. How does it work? I mean, we tell the client that a brand name is holy, it's like a temple. Don't mess with it. And then we keep changing every day. I just don't understand how these things work.”

He goes on, “That's the problem - when a bunch of accountants take these decisions, they do stupid things. All these decisions are by holding companies who are run by accountants. These guys don't meet the clients. And that's why I hate these holding companies. They're completely stupid. They go acquire companies - they don't know why they're acquiring them. WPP acquired 25 companies in India. They don't know what to do with them, so they are simply merging them.

Lintas had the same story. I worked for ten years in Lintas from 2000 to 2010. I just think it is so stupid that they gave up on a name like Lintas. It's such an iconic name in India, it's like Taj Mahal.  

We are a middle class country. My mother thought account means I'm an accountant. She didn't know what an account manager was. She thought, I worked in the finance department. So this is the state of the country. You have to keep all these things in mind. You can't just throw away iconic brands because you have some theories of life.”

“I don't understand another thing - what is wrong if two brands exist? Yeah. If JWT and Y&R exists, there's nothing wrong. Merge your back end. Let the front end be independent. That's because they are accountants - the decisions are not taken on a strategic level. They're taken at an Excel sheet level. When you take a decision based on a strategic level, you don't do stupid things. But when you take a decision based on Excel sheet, you do stupid things. All the decisions are based on an Excel sheet.

And look at the guys who are heading the groups here - you make a list of people who are heading the region, who are heading these holding companies. They are all finance guys. I know all of them. I won't take their names,” he expressed.

Going into hindsight, Chauhan mentions, “JWT used to have a guy called Michael Maedel. He was the last business head who ran the Asia Pacific for JWT. And JWT was at its best then. The day Michael Maedel retired, they gave the agency to an accountant and he screwed it up. That’s the reality. Nobody seems to be taking the bull by the horns. There is no emotion, it’s only about business.  

The worst part is when you're dealing with clients, trying to explain to them every two years, oh, our name has changed. In the service industry, it is very difficult here. Because client wants to deal with a big brand - clients love to deal with a Lintas, or a JWT or an HTA. They don't know what to call this new Wunderman Thompson. Wunderman is a digital company. Let it be digital.

“In that way, I think Ogilvy is fantastic. They hold on to their equity beautifully. Nobody messes around over there, I think. Because Piyush is a creative guy who runs the creative globally. I think he makes sure all this stupidity doesn't go on there. I'm sure he's got a say in this. Otherwise, they will change the name of Ogilvy also,” he adds.

Tista Sen, Ex-Regional Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson South Asia is gloomy about this switch. “There was a press release. And then it was gone. Poof. Like a David Copperfield illusion. Except it’s not coming back. This is personal like it must be for so many. An idea factory reduced to rubble and just memories to keep the flame alive. We understand the industry is going through a tumultuous time and we see it in the budget cuts, erosion of talent and lack of vision. But we did believe in the legacy that we thought would outshine this all. Clearly legacy is a boring ideology. And digital dragons are here to slay. Literally.”

Agnello Dias, Former Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot India and Former Chief Creative Officer at JWT India is of the view that it is a sad development but a sign of the times. “I feel the weight of the legacy and the brand behind it could be turned around with integrity and focus even now. A lot of legendary careers had their best years at JWT. That cannot be a coincidence. The structure, the intellectual equity and the approach over the years did have a lot to do with how some of India’s most iconic brands. To just cast it aside in a rush of blood feels more like cavalier reckless thinking than a well-thought step. Time will tell if it is a step in the right direction.”

Swati Bhattacharya, Ex-National Creative Director, JWT is absolutely disappointed. “JWT was an organization where brands grew and brands survived. The agency has had such long relationships with big brands. And the fact that the brand JWT in itself couldn’t survive, it’s a very sad thing. And I think WPP should have managed this better.

For a lot of us, JWT was the university of advertising, where we all studied and went out into this world and did whatever we all did. I have an immense amount of gratitude for what that organization gave me. It’s given me my closest friends, and when I look back at the work that we all did there – such incredible brands like from Maggi, Pepsi to Horlicks, Nokia. The whole roster – it’s like a galaxy, and everything is like a shiny star. But this is also a big lesson for all of us – that sometimes in the quest of growth, and in the quest of bigger, better, and further, you can do it up the cost of survival. And that’s really sad.”