Looking At An Evolution Roadmap For The Next Decade…

The first years of Isobar were about being a digital marketing agency, and the future is about Isobar being an agency for the digital age, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar-South Asia tells Venkata Susmita Biswas

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The timing could not be more apt. Two weeks ahead of Isobar India’s 10-year anniversary, the agency’s first team member and Managing Director, Shamsuddin Jasani, was handed the reins of the South Asia operations for Isobar. It is perhaps a testimony to Jasani’s leadership and the success of Isobar India as a full service digital agency over the last 10 years.

In 2008, when the entrepreneurial bug bit Jasani, a chance meeting with Ashish Bhasin, then Chairman India & CEO South East Asia, Aegis Media (the Dentsu deal happened in 2012, post which it was christened the Dentsu Aegis Network or DAN), led to the creation of Isobar India. Isobar was the first full-service digital agency that the erstwhile Aegis Media debuted in India, prior to going on an acquisition spree around 2012. By the end of 2008, Isobar India had six clients, one of which - Reebok - continues to be its client 10 years on.

The year 2008 was an interesting time to launch a digital agency. The global economic meltdown had just hit, and as a result advertisers had slashed TV budgets. With the limited ad monies they had to spare, advertisers experimented with digital. “This helped us push digital as a medium to advertisers. Since we were a full-service agency, we could offer much better ROI to clients in comparison to two separate agencies doing the same work,” says Jasani as he reflects on the early days of Isobar India.

ROADMAP FOR THE NEXT DECADE

Digital marketing has come a long way since 2008. Marketers are not experimenting with digital anymore and instead are expecting better results and ROI on the money spent on digital. Digital is changing how business is done beyond just marketing communication. As Isobar enters the next decade in India, it is evolving into an agency that will aid business transformation.