CCO and group chair discuss the Motilal Oswal ad and how ideas can be owned. They also talk about the power of relationships.
Motilal Oswal’s ad below, which focuses on how expertise builds experience, is almost innocuous. Almost.
It turns out that the new spot, which was released a few days back, is a reprint of an earlier spot by the company from 2017. The ad was then created by MullenLowe (below), while Motilal Oswal had the new one produced in-house.
Amer Jaleel (Group chairperson, CCO, MullenLowe Lintas Group) took to LinkedIn to express his dismay at the new spot as well as the insufficient intellectual property coverage for agencies.
Ramnik Chhabra was Motilal’s former executive director, and head of marketing. He resigned in June 2022, but he still held the position when MullenLowe posted the ad.
Motilal Oswal’s latest ad gets a sharp reaction from MullenLowe Lintas Group chief Amer Jaleel
Who is the owner of the idea? Motilal Oswal Financial Services is at the center of a storm that is brewing between MullenLowe Lintas Group and Motilal Oswal Financial Services, a giant advertising network.
Amer Jaleel (Group CCO and Chairman) took to LinkedIn to lament the “blatantly brazen copy of one’s creative mehnat” and the absence of intellectual property protection for agencies.
Motilal Oswal’s new ad (above) is a reprint of the ad MullenLowe created (below), for the financial services company in 2017.
“It’s common these days to take the most valuable output of the agency, ‘the brand idea’ and move on. Get the exact same campaign done ‘outside’. No shame. No guilt. No ethics,” wrote Jaleel.
He also mentioned the low post-pitch fees that clients pay agencies, “saying “you will grow with us”. Don’t forget that promise, but actually take the idea and fire your agency!
This post generated a lot of comments from adland. However, one was from Ramnik Chhabra. He was Motilal’s former executive director, and head of marketing. He resigned in June 2022, but he still held the position when MullenLowe posted the ad.
“Acknowledge that while the original idea has come from the agency; it has been built by us together. Also assumed that since we have compensated the agency for the idea over previous campaigns; it is the client’s property and can be used for a campaign created in-house,” wrote Chhabra
“No external creative agency was used. We created script/situations, and a freelance production house added some more & executed the film,” he clarified about the 2022 ad.
He also revealed that MullenLowe’s 2017 campaign was done on a project basis and that the agency was guaranteed more work based on the campaign output. “The campaign was very successful, and we continued to work together on seven projects; the last one being Jan 2022.”
This issue brings up a simple question: Is the agency obligated to give away the idea’s ownership if the client pays for its services?
