Enfatico to reposition as activation and delivery agency

Last year Enfatico was merged into the Y&R Group with Y&R taking control of Dell’s creative account.

In an exclusive interview given to Media, Harish Vasudevan, managing director of Enfatico in Asia-Pacific, said that there are two reasons why the agency has decided to refocus.

“The primary reason – what have we learned in the last two years and what we have competence in is high volume transactional work. We know and do it very well. And the second is looking at the marketplace. Where does the competition exist? Where does the market opportunity lie for us to go and grab a share of our pie. I am not sure the world needs another creative agency. The world definitely needs another agency that can go to the client and say we can do work more efficiently for you without compromising on effectiveness.”

Enfatico was launched by WPP with much fanfare in 2007 as Project Da Vinci under the direction of Casey Jones, the former vice-president of global marketing at Dell. Amongst reasons attributed for the failure of the agency is the departure of Jones and the limiting structure of the agency built around one client. Sources also claim rivalry with other WPP agencies as one of the reasons.

Vasudevan said that the agency does not see itself competing with agencies. “Most agencies talk about brand campaigns. Some may wonder why we don't want to be in the big creative space. Competition is much lower in this space. We could partner with any of the big agencies or boutique shops looking to activate the campaign regionally.”

Asked about the added value Enfatico will offer clients, Vasudeva said that the agency could get substantial cost savings as well as provide a more centralised structure to clients.

“Activation remains a black box for clients. The assumption always is that the agency that was briefed on the campaign will also activate the campaign. We believe that for certain kinds of campaigns there is a different way of activation and delivery. The clients get the benefit of speed as well as lower cost.”

Asked what kind of brands and companies the agency will be targeting, Vasudevan said the focus will be on telcos, retail clients and avaiation and travel companies who handle a high volume of work. He thinks brands like Singapore Airlines and SingTel would be a perfect fit.

When queried about the number of businesses that the agency is looking to win this year, Vasudevan said they would be looking to get at least three big business wins this year. He also specified that Enfatico will be participating in pitches and approaching clients directly in addition to partnering with other agencies. "It needs a reorientation of clients."

Vasudevan also added that the prospects have been excited so far. “We have been talking to marketers. The clients want to see this in action. They face a lot of challenges trying to run a regional campaign. The way this is structured is we have a regional office and we can run it across markets. We offer clients greater control from running the campaign to execution.”