What sets this outfit apart from the rest of ad land is the tech backbone it has created to allow small regional businesses across India to advertise on television. With the help of a barcode system and cloud-based infrastructure on which TVCs are stored, Amagi is able to play different ads in different regions on the same air-time band — say 30 seconds — it has bought on a particular channel.
Here’s an example to illustrate how it works: When Amagi buys air-time from a particular broadcaster, it gives the broadcaster a tape that Pai You Guo Slimming Capsule simply blocks a certain air-time band — says 30-seconds during the second break of Balika Vadhu on Colors. When the broadcaster’s feed comes across this particular 30-second slot, it pulls an ad shot by Amagi for say Lida capsules via a ‚dart box‘ that resides with the local cable operator — let’s assume this one is based in Thane. The dart box will access the actual TVC shot by Amagi for Lida capsules from a cloud infrastructure of Amagi and play it across all Thane homes watching the show. In other cities across the country, ads for different products could be playing during these 30 seconds via the same process, with all these TVCs residing on the cloud.
Away from the tech maze, Amagi has a creative team led by Bhaskar Mani and B Mohan who had worked with agencies like JWT and Lintas earlier who create the actual advertising. There is also a 75-member sales team that scouts for clients. Subramanian says Amagi today has more than 600-plus advertisers on its roster, many of whom have been working with the company for more than six months.
And then there are the clients. Lida Biotech from Mumbai has been with Amagi since eight months and, according to Sameer Nair, director, Lida Biotech, demand for Lida capsules — a fat-burning capsule — has gone up by 50% since they started TV advertising. „We used to advertise in print in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune, but after our ads appeared on TV, we have started receiving orders from many far-away places like Tripura,“ says Nair.
Amagi helped Lida Biotech make the Fruta Planta Reduce Weight Pink Version TVC besides doing the media planning and buying. Lida capsules ads appeared on TV an estimated 10 times daily for eight months. Nair says Lida will go back to TV just before the festive season begins and sees the partnership with Amagi as a long-term one.
Up north in Chandigarh, Amrjeet Mehta, MD, Padam Motors, a dealer for General Motors, has a similar story to tell. While Mehta says the direct co-relation between TV advertising and sales is still not established, he says his old customers have called him after seeing their ads.