Atlys picks The Voice Company as agency partner from 200 open pitch entries

E-visa startup Atlys has hired The Voice Company as an agency partner for the platform’s launch campaign.

A day after his open pitch post for an agency partner, Santosh Hegde, Head of Marketing at Atlys revealed that they received 200 entries from agencies. Then in the end the project was given to The Voice Company which got the “Not-Cold & Young” brief on point and was selected from the 3 final pitches.

Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, Founder of The Voice Company, said: “I wouldn't want just to say what the pitch was about, but it's launching in the first week of October. What I assume made us stand out was our clarity of thought. I think the brief in itself was a super clear brief unlike what most marketers send. It was very to the point and there wasn't anything left for interpretation or debate. Santosh's post had made it all very easy for the agencies. The proposition itself was very strong, and the creative liberty this gave was quite interesting. I honestly gave a very whacked-out idea to the table which was a bit risky and it may fly or it won't fly, but it was sure that it was very on point with the kind of proposition it was. I mean I wouldn't shy away from talking about the product.”

“But at the same time, I feel that advertising itself sucks. As an advertiser myself, I know that it does. So what I do is to try to strike a balance between advertising and content. When I try to create a product it doesn't feel like advertising. Whichever platform you watch it, it doesn't feel ‘Ady’ is what I go for, there should be a story-related angle to it”, added Dasgupta.

The Voice Company has been around for 5 years and other than Atlys's recent partnership, it handles accounts like Zenma Coffee, Traya, and Eazy Diner.

When asked about their plans for a big account like Atlys, Dasgupta said, “I honestly don't draw a distinction between money invested in the project. For me, the potential of creating exciting work for the brand makes it a big account, and because of that Atlys is an interesting one for us. With the kind of pitch I brought to the table and the kind of agreement we had when I presented, I think the work is going to speak for itself. My plan with Atlys is to first create the launch campaign. Once the launch campaign is done, Santosh and I are very excited to see what this launch campaign does for the brand. Depending on what it does, we're gonna pursue a slightly longer strategy.”

Talking about the changing landscape of advertising agencies selection process, Dasgupta said, “I've spent time at many large agencies. And what I have often found is that the whole pitch process to find agencies, was very secretive and very complicated. The used to be n number of rounds of pitches that used to happen in those agencies. What would usually happen in the entire pitch process is that the top 3 agencies or top 5 agencies who are the big names would be considered. What's happening now is that a lot of the people have left these larger companies to start their own practices. I have been running my company for the last 5 years and of course, it's not as big as JWT, and that is not my aim as well. My ideas are no less than a larger company. But with the crop of new companies, the pitch scenario is changing, giving way to the new advertising agencies to flourish.”

“The transparency on the system is what is required. Now companies are looking for young talents and agencies and it's not a question of money or budget that they want new agencies, it is a way of finding talents outside the larger companies. There is enough business for everyone, so my strategy worked because it was the closest to the brief not because the other participants weren't as good as me. The market is expanding and it's welcoming," he added.