Much has changed in the advertising business since the advent of AI, but no sector has been impacted as much as production has, which went from elaborate, well planned on ground shoots, to videos and creatives churned out with a press of a button followed by a small prompt. But what does AI in production truly mean from a creativity and profitability lens?
Omnicom’s merger with IPG and the resultant consolidation last year saw Omnicom Production coming to India with Magnon Group’s Vineet Bajpai taking over the reins of the company here. Several months later, their global CEO, Sergio Lopez visited India. In conversation with IMPACT, he shared that the shift in production is far bigger than simply making content faster or cheaper. “Production has become the engine that connects creativity, data, media and consumer experience, with brands demanding more personalised, relevant and localised content across platforms,” Lopez says.
And India, he believes, is increasingly central to that transformation. With 20% of Omnicom Production’s global workforce based in India and more than 40% of its assets being produced here, the market is moving beyond its traditional role as an execution hub to become a global content factory.
He strongly maintains that not only is the face of production changing but also India’s role in the global arena. “There needs to be a level of confidence and understanding that India is not simply an execution market. It is already leading a lot of projects globally. When you combine entrepreneurship, creativity and technology, India becomes the perfect place to build content factories.”
‘India produces 40% of Omnicom Production’s assets globally’
Sergio Lopez, CEO, Omnicom Production speaks to Neeta Nair, Editor of IMPACT on AI, importance of India market and the reinvention of production as a content engine
Q] Clients earlier allocated huge budgets for traditional production in India, but with AI are the margins under pressure?
Not in a market like India. For some brands, AI has certainly been a savings driver. But what I see in many markets is that it has unlocked possibilities for work that didn’t exist there earlier. A lot of work used to be relegated to markets such as the US or UK, where budgets were much larger. Now clients with smaller budgets can do more ambitious storytelling. That is the result of democratisation of technology. For India in particular, it is an exciting time because it changes the country’s image from an offshoring destination to a place from where creativity can be expressed on a global arena.
Q] But when you know the investment in production is high and failure would cause substantial losses, you automatically give your best. However, with AI lowering the cost, time and efforts involved in production, is there more trial and error, also leading to creation of AI slop?
There is certainly a trial-and-error component to what we’re doing. But you also have to remember that in many markets, including India, marketing is growing at 12% to 14% a year, while content needs are doubling or tripling year on year. So, it is not that investment has gone down. The investment is being allocated differently. A lot of it is going to areas where we can measure what is working and what is not working and learn over time. AI is helping us test better. It helps us understand what works with audiences and predict how something is likely to perform. There is a high level of measurability now.
It is a big evolution of production, from the big television campaign to something that is much more fluid and intuitive. There is the creative component, where everything has to be beautiful. Then there is the data component, understanding the audience and making that creativity relevant. And finally, there is the efficiency component, making sure we can provide scale, reduce costs and produce more at a higher speed.
Q] Omnicom Production recently launched the global content and production solution for Bayer Consumer Health. Are dedicated production units for individual brands going to become more common as we move forward, just how Bernbach was created as a specialised agency for exclusively managing Volkswagen’s creative and media duties?
We have plenty of those. We are fortunate to work with brands that are driving the conversation not just in production but in marketing too. They want solutions at the forefront of modern marketing. For some of our top brands, it is not just about executing through a production house. It is about creating operating models on a global scale, along with products, tools, technology and teams that cater to their specific needs. If you look at Apple, the quality expectation is extremely high. L’Oréal needs speed of culture. Nissan and Philips have enormous complexity. We build models around those specific needs. In India, ambitious brands such as Luminous are benefiting from things we are doing globally across technology and AI. It is a blessing for smaller companies in a local market who may not be able to afford those capabilities.
Q] Has AI in production led to lesser people being employed for creating the same end product at Omnicom Production?
If I look back at all the technologies that have been embraced during my career, it led to some people having had to find ways to recycle themselves and evolve their knowledge. As a creative tool, AI is not very different from when CGI, 3D and visual effects came on board. We used to build physical things and shoot them with a camera, and then computer graphics changed that. AI is computer graphics on steroids. The first generation of people using new technologies tends to be more technology-focused. We are now getting to a place where creative people are starting to use the technology, and we are beginning to see great work. Very soon, it will not just be about one individual prompting AI. It will be about groups of people collaborating and bringing to fore different expertise. You will have more specialists.
Q] How big is Omnicom Production’s workforce, and how important is the Indian market for you?
We have more than 1,000 people, and about 20% of our workforce is in India. India is very important, not just because of the high number of people it employs but because of what the market is doing. It has grown more than 30% in the last year. We don’t see India as an offshoring centre. We have a content factory model where India does creative thinking plus execution on a global scale for some of our major brands, which is critical.
Q] How much does India contribute to Omnicom’s global production revenue?
Revenue is not necessarily the fairest way of looking at it because some markets, such as the US and UK, are much bigger budget drivers simply because of their size. If you look at the volume of assets, however, more than 40% of our assets are produced in India, with about 20% of the workforce. That is a good metric to understand how important the Indian operation is.
Q] What is your advice to CEO Vineet Bajpai for taking the business forward in India?
Since we met two years ago, he has been a fantastic partner. He has a great team and is incredibly entrepreneurial. He has built the company from scratch and, 19 years later, still has that entrepreneurial spirit. The quality of the work is fantastic, and the way the team is adopting technology is impressive. India office is adopting AI faster than anybody else in our network. My advice to Vineet is simple: keep going.
Q] What is your favourite piece of work from India?
I know this is controversial, but I really like the Indian Railways campaign (Lucky Yatra). It was really smart. I like it because it shows the value of production and articulation. It is not just one piece, it has an experiential component and a communications component. It has a lot of history and is a good combination of something that transforms a brand. Not only is it very emotional but also very technical.
