Prathap P Suthan, National Creative Director, Cheil Communications
As an industry, especially from an Indian perspective, agencies have always been underpaid for their true contribution. Ideas have been our only asset, and for ages, our short-sighted and self-obsessed agency heads have subsidised the cost of our valuable ideas in the fat media commissions that agencies made. Which was all very well till the media companies smelt the opportunity, re-engineered their lives, and scurried away with most of the money that was to be made. Leaving a whole school of gifted yet naïve advertising professionals (both servicing and creative) flopping on barren sands.
As an industry, especially from an Indian perspective, agencies have always been underpaid for their true contribution. Ideas have been our only asset, and for ages, our short-sighted and self-obsessed agency heads have subsidised the cost of our valuable ideas in the fat media commissions that agencies made. Which was all very well till the media companies smelt the opportunity, re-engineered their lives, and scurried away with most of the money that was to be made. Leaving a whole school of gifted yet naïve advertising professionals (both servicing and creative) flopping on barren sands.
Q. What are the things that the Indian ad industry needs to watch out for in the days to come?
As creators of advertising, we have the freedom to spark thoughts, initiate movements, influence thinking, innovate new ideas, showcase execution trends, and build inspiring brands. But as generators of communication, we have the added responsibility to polish our sensibilities, encourage proper behaviour, improve language, amplify aesthetics, impress social and civic etiquette, and quietly touch the evolution of our people.
Not all of us went to finishing schools, and not all billion of us are model citizens. While some of our work does stretch to be examples to follow, most of our mainline work doesn’t speak much about our ability to positively impact our country. I mean, look at the overdose of grammatical plunder, over-the-top jokes, loud and garish art, linguistic murder, affected characters, and the rest of the terrible warts that we palm off as brand building.
I am not saying that we shouldn’t cut the clutter, but the little chap living in small town India doesn’t know the difference. He uses the credibility of television to affirm shabby conduct and mispronounced words as ultra cool. I just hope we won’t leave behind a generation that takes inspiration from our work and creates it own crass and undignified culture. Though I suspect we already have.
We will still continue to have the wonderful opportunity to liberate, enhance and elevate our collective culture and outlook, because we create the most pervasive and impacting medium of national influence. We have so much power, it’s scary. Let’s not blow it.
Q. You are still fondly remembered as a Grey Man. Any particular reason behind it?
Q. What is the creative direction that you would seek to give Cheil? In creative terms, where would you want Cheil to be – as compared to the other top creative agencies in India - in the next 2-3 years?
From an advertising perspective, many of our campaigns, including the Next is What! campaign have been noticed, and from an awards point of view, I know Cheil India has surprised many people. It hasn’t been a helpless little barnacle on a whale. And it’s been a lot whiter and blacker than grey.
I walked in here to prove two things. One – a timid little agency can be powered into delivering standout creative for its main client. Two – an almost unknown agency can be inspired to compete and be heard at the biggest advertising awards festivals. All it takes is commitment to the cause, complete belief, and inflexible resolve. In less than two years, I think I can look back and hold my head up. I know I don’t lead the biggest creative department in Delhi, but I know I lead the creative department that has the biggest of smiles and the brightest of faces… and some shiny things on the walls.
There was a time when I couldn’t find people to join me, or people willing to join Cheil, but today it’s a different brand of exhilaration. I am proud of what we have been able to do, and prouder that our work helped Samsung gain more equity. We are full of great people, honest friendships, solid camaraderie, common cause, compelling work, new ideas, clean air, and zero politics. And we will continue to add more adjectives.
I have always loved being in the middle of the action, and I think I am right where I have always wanted to be. More soldier, less general. I know our journey has just started. And I think, with Alok and JS Ryu encouraging all of us and all our ideas, I have a fairly clear idea of where Cheil is headed. We are certainly not in the race to be among the biggest of the agencies. But I do know that I want us to be among the finest of them.
It will take time, it will take more than just consistent work, it will take spectacular thinking, and it will take hard work. I am more aware of our shortfalls than our strengths, but as long as I drive the bus around the potholes, I think we can get there without too many flats. And all this has been and will continue to be inspired by Bruce Haines – our global COO, and Joe MacDonaugh – our worldwide CD.
Q. How much do global affiliations help in the progress of any Indian agency? Any disadvantages, especially in times of a global recession?
I think India has a domestic market that has a purchasing power that’s fairly self-sustaining. And I think the strength of our middle-class comes from the fact that their monies, fixed deposits and traditional gold savings are not blatantly given to the vagaries of the stock markets.
I am no economist, and I am no investment savvy analyst. Yet common sense tells me that our people are far better insulated from the global financial dragon than any other country. The spectacular optimism of the Indian stock markets earlier this week is clearly indicative of our strengths.
Coming back to advertising from an Indian business perspective, no brand is international anymore for the purchasing Indian. If the brand is available in India (and I am not speaking about high-end cars), then that brand is more or less seen as Indian. And the longer it’s been around, the more Indian flavours it will absorb. The point that I want to make is while the brand may be international, the effort of many agencies, including us, has been to create advertising crafted through an Indian prism, charcoal-filtered through all the cultural intricacies that our country is all about. Much like the advertising that we now deliver for Samsung. It is no longer made by people who don’t know the buyer or the buyer’s lunch.
Q. How has been your performance at One Show and Clio Awards? How important are awards for a creative agency?
While all this has been wonderful, our success has been equally noted, complimented and appreciated by our clients. And I suppose I can say our returns at the international award shows have been a convincing enough tribute to quality of my team and the quality of expertise we have on stand by for our clients.
As far as the importance of awards go, at no point can any client ever overlook awards and be dismissive of the calibre they uphold.
Q. What are the areas of concern or things to watch out for in 2009 for the industry? Any job cuts or pay cuts at Cheil?
However, my main concern area is singular. As an industry, especially from an Indian perspective, agencies have always been underpaid for their true contribution. Ideas have been our only asset, and for ages, our short-sighted and self-obsessed agency heads have subsidised the cost of our valuable ideas in the fat media commissions that agencies made. Which was all very well till the media companies smelt the opportunity, re-engineered their lives, and scurried away with most of the money that was to be made. Leaving a whole school of gifted yet naïve advertising professionals (both servicing and creative) flopping on barren sands.
In the process, the clever clients – pampered as they have always been – continue to remorselessly demand ideas without wanting to look at the rising cost of talent and sustaining the talent who will bring strategic and aesthetic radiance to their business.
Most clients have always been receivers of free ideas, and since ideas have always been cultivated in the brain, they really haven’t chosen to see precious anguish that went into creating them. The occasional pat on the back is a nice gooey feeling, but it doesn’t exactly buy me even half a biryani. We can always make noises about this issue, and negotiate and re-negotiate fees and rate cards, but I certainly believe that most of our industry’s top men and women haven’t the foggiest on how to feed the troops. The world is more than flat; it’s a damn slope.
We have been caught in a self-defeating vortex that keeps agencies raging into mergers, acquisitions, BTL shops, digital forays, mobile content generation, artwork manufacturing for the West, and whatever else have you, including hiring out the premises for film and commercial shoots. But the critical need of the moment is to resuscitate the heart of the business. Our people need to be enriched – mentally, emotionally, financially. They need to feel for the magic of our business. They need to fall back in love with what used to be the world’s most selfish mistress. And to fall back in love, intelligence needs to get back in, intellect needs to be nourished, company needs to be uplifting, pride needs to be stoked, and we also need to put our business on some seriously big bottles of financial drip.
By just getting bigger and mutating beyond our skills, we are only seeking transient safety by providing a gamut of internally produced services. Essentially to quell the rising tide of demands from our clients, who fight against far more monsters than they can ever vanquish. But if I know my peers, barring an affected smirk that dismisses my words as the incoherent ramble of a dreamer, most of them would go back to their daily grind and generate even more ideas to delight their clients. But seriously, what on earth are we doing for the true capital of our business?
Just how many workshops did we have, just how many thought leadership sessions did we take, just how many insight mining seminars did we conduct, just how many additional people did we hire, just how many specialists did we invite, just how many consumers did we meet and listen to, just how did we add value to ourselves, just how do we bring richer value to our brands?
If we, as genuine advertising professionals, are supposed to lead our clients, just what do we lead them with? And where are we leading them to? Well, the answer is getting blown and blistered in the solar fury outside my window. If we aren’t allowed to make enough money, just how do we replenish ourselves? Just how do we reinvent ourselves to be offices of fun and brilliance? Catch 22, 23, and 24.
There was a time when I started off in Mudra Ahmedabad, I looked at my agency as an amazing reservoir of knowledge and experiences. I was the smallest fry in a pond that had a lot of people who knew a whole lot of things, read many books, told many stories, and who were respected and held in awe by our clients.
I never walked out of a meeting – both internal and external – without feeling smaller than I walked in. There were leaders, thinkers, visionaries, poets, actors, sculptors, philosophers, designers, architects, behaviour analysts, human resource developers, market researchers, and AGK. Advertising was a reflex that sprung from this incredible cauldron. The richness of minds, the freedom of intellect, the collection of those inquisitive and passionate minds are but the brilliant lights of a distant memory.
At Cheil, however, ideas rule the roost. And people with ideas are kings and queens. I have personally never come across a global system and a leadership that places such a beautiful stress on the importance of ideas and promotes a culture of encouraging everyone to be ideators. If we are in the ideas business, then everyone ought to be coming to the party.
Then again, salary cuts and job cuts are always the unfortunate fallout of compelling financial strictures. That’s part of the game. We must all live with it. And we have no escape till as such time profit is seen as the defining end result of any business. Unless one happens to be in the charity business, and one happens to be a philanthrope whose annual salary is measured in smiles.
Q. How has 2009 been for Cheil Communications? Has it been impacted by the slowdown?
However, the thorns on the cactus are real and when belt tightening happens, skin will get pulled. But then, personally speaking, I have always thrived under stress. And I sincerely believe that nothing is more enlivening than a deadline. I am also glad to be part of a global organisation that looks at tough conditions as opportunities full of bright optimism, rather than dark pessimism. Especially so when the products that we advertise for bring brighter value to the people – both quantitatively and qualitatively.
At Cheil we are completely aligned worldwide to deliver solutions and answers for questions that buffet us these days, and we view constraining parameters as the bold playground of the brave. There’s really no room for the fragile among the heaving waters of a stormy night. These are challenging times that ought to inspire our lateral spirit. Sure enough, there are issues that will come up when prudence takes high ground. And the ensuing steps are necessary for every agency to get its head around the market.
For us, this slowdown has been a great time to refocus and revisit our raison d’etre. In a market as large as India, enabled by our proprietary tools and understanding of the lifestyle market, I suppose there are business opportunities we can convert into rewarding relationships. When we commit ourselves to that path, retreat will not be an option.
Q. Please name three ads in recent times that have impressed with their creative work.
Somehow I am convinced, and much like I shared my almost juvenile enthusiasm with both Rajiv and Prakash, that Zoozoo flurry came in at a time when the air was sombre, the mood of the country was anything but optimistic, and there was really nothing much to cheer about. Their arrival, completely delighted and lightened up India, and I really cannot think of another campaign that has made us enjoy advertising and look forward to the next film. I have no qualms about admitting that this is a campaign that will win every possible heart, and must go on to win every possible award.
At this moment, besides this Vodafone campaign, there’s really no other commercial or campaign that gets me charged up and pushes me to find pride in an industry that has the potential to make a whole country smile.
Q. How do you justify scam ads, would you say that when an agency is doing good work that delivers for the client, there is no harm in passing one or two pieces of work that's scam but would fetch awards?
My take on this is very simple. The day the festivals decide to close the door on illegal entries (or work that’s been published in the Quilon edition of the Eastern Mizoram Afternoon Mail), I promise not to applaud proactive and pro-bono work. Till then, and till such time festival judges continue to ignore everything legal and flock together to celebrate the ideas that come to the judging table, I see no reason to be a hypocrite. Or grow more double standards in my balcony.
More importantly, the pecking order, at least in creative, is based decisively on the basis of metals won. The more you have – whether you won that for a cheap ambient idea for a local cycle repair shop in Mylapore, or for a 300-page brochure for an imaginary vegetarian bakery in Old Delhi, or for successfully triggering an impossible social change in the country – the more respect and the more moolah you will make.
The unfortunate soul who slogs on the regular day-to-day work that feeds the award machinery of the agency remains seemingly banished to a life of drudgery. Unknown and unseen, he remains chained to his non-award winning ways. And for someone like him or her, who might not be even trained to see opportunity in a traditional product window film, their only recourse to bigger pay checks and even brighter smiles is an unabashed flight to scamville and to immediately apply for permanent residency.
Like they say, if you can’t beat them, join them.
When we have created a society of sorts where awards are the currency, when clients ache to rub shoulders and clink glasses with celebrity award winners, when media goes all shrill to celebrate award winning talent, and when we explore even more ingenious ways of importing precious metal, pray tell me, what’s scam? And why are we scamming ourselves? Everything is legal. Let’s all play.
This is what we have evolved to become today, and barring a few diligent men and women who truly deliver awards in the market place for the money they have been entrusted to spend, many of us are parents of scam. Let’s not badmouth our children.
Born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, a “land that lives under a zillion coconut palms, drunk on toddy, and green with backwaters” (in his own words), Prathap P Suthan’s journey in advertising began in this very state. He then joined Mudra Ahmedabad, where he worked on some of India’s largest brands – Reliance Industries, Rasna, Dhara Oils, etc. His first big award arrived in 1991 – for Ajanta Clocks, which won the CAG Commercial of the Year. In June 1992, Suthan represented Mudra at DDB Needham Worldwide Creative Director’s Conference in Monte Carlo.
He left Mudra in 1996 and joined Grey Delhi. A few more national awards later, and by
January 2004, Suthan was made National Creative Director. By 2005, the agency climbed back up the creative ladder, and in 2006 it had the second highest number of awards at the Abby’s and GoaFest, plus wins at AdFest, LIA, One Show and Cannes. A couple of his campaigns became critical in the national space – India Shining, and Incredible India. While India Shining was arguably India’s biggest ever campaign, Incredible India won Grey the only Euro Effie ever won by Asia.
Suthan quit Grey on August 15, 2007, after 11 years. Soon after, he joined Cheil Worldwide, SW Asia as its National Creative Director. And in less than a year, Samsung India successfully repositioned itself in all its categories, and Cheil did well at GoaFest 2008, besides getting five shortlists at Cannes and five finalists at One Show.
Suthan considers himself a copywriter at heart. As he says, “I cannot give up my soul. It’s been fed and raised on Fred Woodward’s typography, Ammirati’s BMW print ads, Television Registers and Shots, National Geographic, Japanese art and art direction, foreign films sans subtitles, world music, Economist, and at least one new random website every day.”
In a freewheeling interview with exchange4media’s Pallavi Goorha Kashyup,Suthan pours his heart out about Cheil Communications, gets candid about scam ads and takes pride in the work done so far. Q. How far can awards take people in this profession? Is this also leading to a fall in advertising standards?small pipipaydayloans.com They can take people a long way ahead, and to multiple destinations. I have a feeling that much like in other industries, where designers become brands, where architects become millionaires, where surgeons become celebrities, even our able men and women have made their way to snotty designations and loftier responsibilities.
Awards are but our industry’s medals of honour – for battles won, demons slayed, ideas hunted and fonts conquered. After all, in a profession where but for the television spot that showcases your supreme command over 30 seconds of time, the common citizen of the world doesn’t recognise you, nor does he respect you. Thank goodness for awards.
Then again, as I said earlier, I don’t think a committed focus on winning awards is going to make the bottom fall out of the agency. On the contrary, if metal chasing doesn’t happen, we will be fat with ineptitude. We will stop innovating. We will stop discovering. And we might as well be a lazy suit. Working on ideas that could get you Pencils and Lions makes Tom a sharp boy, and a very sharp boy at that. Chances are also that his client encourages him to think more horizontally, because the smart client knows that his brand stands to benefit on a daily basis.
It’s the sadder lot in the department who gets lynched by the mob. And who eventually run away and get married to scam and other dirty words. I don’t see the intent to win awards working against agencies. I actually think it helps all of us copiously, including the client. I completely believe in this free unfettered enterprise and I absolutely know that this thinking enhances mainline work.
Thinking extreme lateral will bring more value to brands and clients, help find surprising and cheaper ways to execute ideas, and work ever harder towards forcing the scrooges among our target audiences to swipe their debit cards. Therefore, it makes scant sense to follow any other theory. Advertising, as we know it now, will and must continue to regale our lives. Because hidden inside every brand is a possible Lion. All we got to do is dig it out.
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Q. What are the things that the Indian ad industry needs to watch out for in the days to come?
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I have a sense that we need to reflect and ponder on a small thought that can have big repercussions. This is something I have said before, and it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. As an industry that lives within media that touches India day-in and day-out, we mustn’t forget that we have both freedom and responsibility. As creators of advertising, we have the freedom to spark thoughts, initiate movements, influence thinking, innovate new ideas, showcase execution trends, and build inspiring brands. But as generators of communication, we have the added responsibility to polish our sensibilities, encourage proper behaviour, improve language, amplify aesthetics, impress social and civic etiquette, and quietly touch the evolution of our people.
Not all of us went to finishing schools, and not all billion of us are model citizens. While some of our work does stretch to be examples to follow, most of our mainline work doesn’t speak much about our ability to positively impact our country. I mean, look at the overdose of grammatical plunder, over-the-top jokes, loud and garish art, linguistic murder, affected characters, and the rest of the terrible warts that we palm off as brand building.
I am not saying that we shouldn’t cut the clutter, but the little chap living in small town India doesn’t know the difference. He uses the credibility of television to affirm shabby conduct and mispronounced words as ultra cool. I just hope we won’t leave behind a generation that takes inspiration from our work and creates it own crass and undignified culture. Though I suspect we already have.
We will still continue to have the wonderful opportunity to liberate, enhance and elevate our collective culture and outlook, because we create the most pervasive and impacting medium of national influence. We have so much power, it’s scary. Let’s not blow it.
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Q. You are still fondly remembered as a Grey Man. Any particular reason behind it?
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Obviously because of my campaigns. There is no other reason. And as everyone knows, I am not particularly fond of Grey.
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Q. What is the creative direction that you would seek to give Cheil? In creative terms, where would you want Cheil to be – as compared to the other top creative agencies in India - in the next 2-3 years?
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There is just one principal way ahead for Cheil – deliver the finest effective advertising possible for our clients. To do all that’s possible and beyond to make our brand the brand of choice in all the categories that we are present, and in all the future categories we will find relevant. From an advertising perspective, many of our campaigns, including the Next is What! campaign have been noticed, and from an awards point of view, I know Cheil India has surprised many people. It hasn’t been a helpless little barnacle on a whale. And it’s been a lot whiter and blacker than grey.
I walked in here to prove two things. One – a timid little agency can be powered into delivering standout creative for its main client. Two – an almost unknown agency can be inspired to compete and be heard at the biggest advertising awards festivals. All it takes is commitment to the cause, complete belief, and inflexible resolve. In less than two years, I think I can look back and hold my head up. I know I don’t lead the biggest creative department in Delhi, but I know I lead the creative department that has the biggest of smiles and the brightest of faces… and some shiny things on the walls.
There was a time when I couldn’t find people to join me, or people willing to join Cheil, but today it’s a different brand of exhilaration. I am proud of what we have been able to do, and prouder that our work helped Samsung gain more equity. We are full of great people, honest friendships, solid camaraderie, common cause, compelling work, new ideas, clean air, and zero politics. And we will continue to add more adjectives.
I have always loved being in the middle of the action, and I think I am right where I have always wanted to be. More soldier, less general. I know our journey has just started. And I think, with Alok and JS Ryu encouraging all of us and all our ideas, I have a fairly clear idea of where Cheil is headed. We are certainly not in the race to be among the biggest of the agencies. But I do know that I want us to be among the finest of them.
It will take time, it will take more than just consistent work, it will take spectacular thinking, and it will take hard work. I am more aware of our shortfalls than our strengths, but as long as I drive the bus around the potholes, I think we can get there without too many flats. And all this has been and will continue to be inspired by Bruce Haines – our global COO, and Joe MacDonaugh – our worldwide CD.
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Q. How much do global affiliations help in the progress of any Indian agency? Any disadvantages, especially in times of a global recession?
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This is something that cuts both ways. Yes, affiliations do help, and it could help you with a windfall. But sometimes, that doesn’t work out well if your local partner agency isn’t equipped right. That aside, there could fresh trouble if the local agency doesn’t perform, and it can lead to big time unrest within the network. This is in the light of the view that India is no longer a small and uninteresting market to the world’s brands. I think India has a domestic market that has a purchasing power that’s fairly self-sustaining. And I think the strength of our middle-class comes from the fact that their monies, fixed deposits and traditional gold savings are not blatantly given to the vagaries of the stock markets.
I am no economist, and I am no investment savvy analyst. Yet common sense tells me that our people are far better insulated from the global financial dragon than any other country. The spectacular optimism of the Indian stock markets earlier this week is clearly indicative of our strengths.
Coming back to advertising from an Indian business perspective, no brand is international anymore for the purchasing Indian. If the brand is available in India (and I am not speaking about high-end cars), then that brand is more or less seen as Indian. And the longer it’s been around, the more Indian flavours it will absorb. The point that I want to make is while the brand may be international, the effort of many agencies, including us, has been to create advertising crafted through an Indian prism, charcoal-filtered through all the cultural intricacies that our country is all about. Much like the advertising that we now deliver for Samsung. It is no longer made by people who don’t know the buyer or the buyer’s lunch.
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Q. How has been your performance at One Show and Clio Awards? How important are awards for a creative agency?
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We’ve had a decent run at international festivals, across both 2008 and 2009. Since the time I joined Cheil, and since the time my team has come together, I can happily record the fact that our name hasn’t remained unknown. Last year, Cheil India had five One Show Finalists and five Cannes Shortlists. This year, until now we’ve had four Finalists at One Show Design, and two One Show Shortlists. Pity we couldn’t convert them, but there’s always next year. While all this has been wonderful, our success has been equally noted, complimented and appreciated by our clients. And I suppose I can say our returns at the international award shows have been a convincing enough tribute to quality of my team and the quality of expertise we have on stand by for our clients.
As far as the importance of awards go, at no point can any client ever overlook awards and be dismissive of the calibre they uphold.
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Q. What are the areas of concern or things to watch out for in 2009 for the industry? Any job cuts or pay cuts at Cheil?
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Let me talk about this from a personal perspective, and not as an ambassador of Cheil.
There are enough and more issues that pound the industry – from talent depletion, increasing multitude of media options, to the almost inevitable yet complete and overt conversion of a passionate industry into a cold financial operation. However, my main concern area is singular. As an industry, especially from an Indian perspective, agencies have always been underpaid for their true contribution. Ideas have been our only asset, and for ages, our short-sighted and self-obsessed agency heads have subsidised the cost of our valuable ideas in the fat media commissions that agencies made. Which was all very well till the media companies smelt the opportunity, re-engineered their lives, and scurried away with most of the money that was to be made. Leaving a whole school of gifted yet naïve advertising professionals (both servicing and creative) flopping on barren sands.
In the process, the clever clients – pampered as they have always been – continue to remorselessly demand ideas without wanting to look at the rising cost of talent and sustaining the talent who will bring strategic and aesthetic radiance to their business.
Most clients have always been receivers of free ideas, and since ideas have always been cultivated in the brain, they really haven’t chosen to see precious anguish that went into creating them. The occasional pat on the back is a nice gooey feeling, but it doesn’t exactly buy me even half a biryani. We can always make noises about this issue, and negotiate and re-negotiate fees and rate cards, but I certainly believe that most of our industry’s top men and women haven’t the foggiest on how to feed the troops. The world is more than flat; it’s a damn slope.
We have been caught in a self-defeating vortex that keeps agencies raging into mergers, acquisitions, BTL shops, digital forays, mobile content generation, artwork manufacturing for the West, and whatever else have you, including hiring out the premises for film and commercial shoots. But the critical need of the moment is to resuscitate the heart of the business. Our people need to be enriched – mentally, emotionally, financially. They need to feel for the magic of our business. They need to fall back in love with what used to be the world’s most selfish mistress. And to fall back in love, intelligence needs to get back in, intellect needs to be nourished, company needs to be uplifting, pride needs to be stoked, and we also need to put our business on some seriously big bottles of financial drip.
By just getting bigger and mutating beyond our skills, we are only seeking transient safety by providing a gamut of internally produced services. Essentially to quell the rising tide of demands from our clients, who fight against far more monsters than they can ever vanquish. But if I know my peers, barring an affected smirk that dismisses my words as the incoherent ramble of a dreamer, most of them would go back to their daily grind and generate even more ideas to delight their clients. But seriously, what on earth are we doing for the true capital of our business?
Just how many workshops did we have, just how many thought leadership sessions did we take, just how many insight mining seminars did we conduct, just how many additional people did we hire, just how many specialists did we invite, just how many consumers did we meet and listen to, just how did we add value to ourselves, just how do we bring richer value to our brands?
If we, as genuine advertising professionals, are supposed to lead our clients, just what do we lead them with? And where are we leading them to? Well, the answer is getting blown and blistered in the solar fury outside my window. If we aren’t allowed to make enough money, just how do we replenish ourselves? Just how do we reinvent ourselves to be offices of fun and brilliance? Catch 22, 23, and 24.
There was a time when I started off in Mudra Ahmedabad, I looked at my agency as an amazing reservoir of knowledge and experiences. I was the smallest fry in a pond that had a lot of people who knew a whole lot of things, read many books, told many stories, and who were respected and held in awe by our clients.
I never walked out of a meeting – both internal and external – without feeling smaller than I walked in. There were leaders, thinkers, visionaries, poets, actors, sculptors, philosophers, designers, architects, behaviour analysts, human resource developers, market researchers, and AGK. Advertising was a reflex that sprung from this incredible cauldron. The richness of minds, the freedom of intellect, the collection of those inquisitive and passionate minds are but the brilliant lights of a distant memory.
At Cheil, however, ideas rule the roost. And people with ideas are kings and queens. I have personally never come across a global system and a leadership that places such a beautiful stress on the importance of ideas and promotes a culture of encouraging everyone to be ideators. If we are in the ideas business, then everyone ought to be coming to the party.
Then again, salary cuts and job cuts are always the unfortunate fallout of compelling financial strictures. That’s part of the game. We must all live with it. And we have no escape till as such time profit is seen as the defining end result of any business. Unless one happens to be in the charity business, and one happens to be a philanthrope whose annual salary is measured in smiles.
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Q. How has 2009 been for Cheil Communications? Has it been impacted by the slowdown?
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I suppose when it is summer for everyone, we cannot be the only agency wearing woollen jackets to work. Of course, we have been impacted by the slowdown. Though I would hasten to add that since our future is intrinsically connected to Samsung, and since we will have new innovations to introduce in India, the yonder road promises to be exciting. However, the thorns on the cactus are real and when belt tightening happens, skin will get pulled. But then, personally speaking, I have always thrived under stress. And I sincerely believe that nothing is more enlivening than a deadline. I am also glad to be part of a global organisation that looks at tough conditions as opportunities full of bright optimism, rather than dark pessimism. Especially so when the products that we advertise for bring brighter value to the people – both quantitatively and qualitatively.
At Cheil we are completely aligned worldwide to deliver solutions and answers for questions that buffet us these days, and we view constraining parameters as the bold playground of the brave. There’s really no room for the fragile among the heaving waters of a stormy night. These are challenging times that ought to inspire our lateral spirit. Sure enough, there are issues that will come up when prudence takes high ground. And the ensuing steps are necessary for every agency to get its head around the market.
For us, this slowdown has been a great time to refocus and revisit our raison d’etre. In a market as large as India, enabled by our proprietary tools and understanding of the lifestyle market, I suppose there are business opportunities we can convert into rewarding relationships. When we commit ourselves to that path, retreat will not be an option.
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Q. Please name three ads in recent times that have impressed with their creative work.
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Much like the many thousands of us, I am an out and out Zoozoo lover. And if I have been envious of one campaign in recent times, it’s certainly these charming eggoids. How I wish I this thought had smashed into my head! Somehow I am convinced, and much like I shared my almost juvenile enthusiasm with both Rajiv and Prakash, that Zoozoo flurry came in at a time when the air was sombre, the mood of the country was anything but optimistic, and there was really nothing much to cheer about. Their arrival, completely delighted and lightened up India, and I really cannot think of another campaign that has made us enjoy advertising and look forward to the next film. I have no qualms about admitting that this is a campaign that will win every possible heart, and must go on to win every possible award.
At this moment, besides this Vodafone campaign, there’s really no other commercial or campaign that gets me charged up and pushes me to find pride in an industry that has the potential to make a whole country smile.
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Q. How do you justify scam ads, would you say that when an agency is doing good work that delivers for the client, there is no harm in passing one or two pieces of work that's scam but would fetch awards?
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I think that’s quite a prudish way of acknowledging the truth. About justifying scam ads. I also know some gentlemen in my trade who go hoarse about vilifying the industry’s penchant for creating work that’s created purely to dance in front of the juries, when they themselves have weighed in with a few tons of dubious entries. My take on this is very simple. The day the festivals decide to close the door on illegal entries (or work that’s been published in the Quilon edition of the Eastern Mizoram Afternoon Mail), I promise not to applaud proactive and pro-bono work. Till then, and till such time festival judges continue to ignore everything legal and flock together to celebrate the ideas that come to the judging table, I see no reason to be a hypocrite. Or grow more double standards in my balcony.
More importantly, the pecking order, at least in creative, is based decisively on the basis of metals won. The more you have – whether you won that for a cheap ambient idea for a local cycle repair shop in Mylapore, or for a 300-page brochure for an imaginary vegetarian bakery in Old Delhi, or for successfully triggering an impossible social change in the country – the more respect and the more moolah you will make.
The unfortunate soul who slogs on the regular day-to-day work that feeds the award machinery of the agency remains seemingly banished to a life of drudgery. Unknown and unseen, he remains chained to his non-award winning ways. And for someone like him or her, who might not be even trained to see opportunity in a traditional product window film, their only recourse to bigger pay checks and even brighter smiles is an unabashed flight to scamville and to immediately apply for permanent residency.
Like they say, if you can’t beat them, join them.
When we have created a society of sorts where awards are the currency, when clients ache to rub shoulders and clink glasses with celebrity award winners, when media goes all shrill to celebrate award winning talent, and when we explore even more ingenious ways of importing precious metal, pray tell me, what’s scam? And why are we scamming ourselves? Everything is legal. Let’s all play.
This is what we have evolved to become today, and barring a few diligent men and women who truly deliver awards in the market place for the money they have been entrusted to spend, many of us are parents of scam. Let’s not badmouth our children.
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