My dream's all a-shattering! (or in good ol' hindi - Sapna mera... toot gaya)

"Live Life King Size"..."Relax, Have a Charminar"..."Only Vimal"... "Gold Spot, the Zing Thing!". These are some of the lines I had heard while still in college.

The imagery was vivid. Cool dudes, with babes wrapped around them, or just a macho loner blowing smoke into nothingness, happy teenagers freaking out in amusement parks, or desirable looking men and women walking the ramp!

These were the images which came to mind when I first walked the aisles of an advertising agency. Mind was working overtime about how, very soon, yours truly will be hob-nobbing with all these desirable women. Further, it was thinking, once this hob-nobbing begins, who knows what may happen next (these were still the times when all you sought from friends was an intro to that girl with curls, with the cool airs of being able to handle the rest yourself with panache - all you felt you needed was a cool bike!).

Starry eyed, I walked into this industry. First few weeks were all about understanding how the industry functioned - inane things like creative, account management, production, studio, and even more inane things like how we make money here.

All this just didn't seem real. But then, I consoled myself that I am new. Surely, once you put in some years in the industry, all this will change, and magically all that I imagined will just appear in front of my eyes.

While all this was happening, some more cool dude imagery was making its way to the idiot box. And that was further reinforcing the belief, that surely the dream I had when I joined the industry, was lurking somewhere just around the corner.

The wait of weeks turned to months, and then to years. Every passing day was filled with increasingly drier stuff like customer insights for mosquito repellents and baby soaps. I came across all kinds of things - like the Capfarer model, the P-Snap, the ABC, and the NRS. What kept eluding me were the models, who were shapely. Not that I didn't go for shoots, or auditions, or events, or recordings; but then, all such visits to locations and studios were filled with extreme stress about deadlines, budgets, approvals, continuity, props, etc.

Though I can boast of a decent IQ, but the thought never crossed my mind that probably this industry is really all about such stuff, and not about glamour. I continued to wait for the next turn, where the scenery will change, and suddenly the cool climes which I had always associated with this industry, will sooth the otherwise stressed out default life one lives, being a part of this industry.

But while I was waiting, something strange started to happen. For some masochistic reason, I started to enjoy it all. The little dream hadn't died, but while it wasn't coming true, I started to enjoy just the wait, and all that was happening during the wait. I became an ad-world junky.

The next campaign, the next award, the next insight, became the things I started to wait for, and not the next comely lass! And believe you me, these became more fulfilling than the dream that brought me into the industry in the first place.

Now the dream seldom recurs. And the hope of that dream coming true has completely vanished. A new dream has replaced it. The dream of understanding the customers even better, creating even more single-minded, even more persuasive communication, a dream of creating a unique strategy for some unique problem some brand is facing. And strangely, I am a lot calmer, as a result.

Working hard at achieving this new dream has become extremely rewarding - both literally and figuratively. And now, when someone asks me that if I had a choice of making my choices all over again, my answer is - "My choice will be the same, albeit for different reasons."

I am telling this personal story for the benefit of all those young, starry-eyed people who possibly are wanting to enter, or have entered the industry for all the wrong reasons. Enter they must, but they should do so with their eyes wide open, and making their choice with an eye on the right reasons. And, most certainly, they will be rewarded!

What hides behind the brief?

Normally our private parts, which in US slang, when used to describe people, are not very complimentary.

This piece is not a litany of the servicing people's woes, but is a clarion call to the creative people in agencies to stop hiding behind briefs.

KKDY Briefs

Not for a moment am I defending the lazy servicing types, who wouldn't think through a problem before briefing their creative team. I am no subscriber to the KKDY (Kuchh Kar De Yaar, or Please do something Buddy) school of briefing. But at the same time, I am not for the creative people who use briefs or lack of it as an excuse for not being creative.

"This brief is not very inspiring;" "I don't understand the brief;" "Can you be specific in your brief?" Oft-used, seemingly harmless comments, which more often than not reflect a lazy mind not willing to stretch.

Our industry is today plagued by such people who would much rather while away their time, than think laterally about what imaginative solution would lick the problem that keeps the client awake.

If you've got it, flaunt it

There are enough examples where creative people have accepted the challenge of a sodden brief and have come out tops! Let's recall one such creative piece. This piece may not have won creative awards, but has stuck in my mind as a brilliant example of work where the brief would have been innocuous. This was an ad released a few years ago for Virgin Atlantic.

The ad shows a caricature of veteran Bollywood actresses Jaya Bachchan and Rekha sitting in an aircarft next to each other, angrily looking away from each other (it is alleged that Jaya is not very kindly disposed towards Rekha, because there was a rumour of her husband having an affair with Rekha). And the tongue-in-cheek headline mentions how the travellers can now choose who sits next to them, as they will now get a free ticket for every ticket they bought.

The most likely brief for this would have been - "Hey guys, Virgin is giving a free ticket for every ticket you buy. Can you do an ad for this promo offer?"

Now this is what I call creativity. Putting two dissimilar, apparently unlinked facts together, and creating a memorable communication out of it. And I am sure, before this communication got created, the normal creative-servicing dialogue would have happened - what are the insights, who is the target audience, what is the response we seek (what do we want the audience to think, feel, do?), etc. But, here, the creative team decided to rise above this dialogue, and delivered a completely lateral piece of work.

By definition, creative people are expected to look at the challenge posed to them, well... creatively. They are expected to look beyond the obvious. They are expected to find ways in to the cosnumers' minds. Not delivering that, is tantamount to failure.

It is regrettable that today, in our industry, we are faced with a lot of such failures. They blatantly hide behind briefs given to them. If they were genuinely non-creative, I would understand this. But, they are extremely aware, extremely articulate and extremely intelligent. And still they creative excuses to avoid being creative. The only possible answer seems to be laziness. They would much rather dissipate their creativity in finding reasons for not delivering, than actually deliver.

Superman wears his brief on the outside

It is anecdotal that once upon a time a brief was given by servicing which actually was used as is, in a piece of communication. This brief was for Allen Solly (remember the 'Friday Dressing'?). The brief goes - 'a week according to Allen Solly - Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday'. Now, while this is an inspiring brief, such briefs are one in a thousand.

The creative people have a choice - they can either keep waiting for such 'once in a blue moon' briefs, or pull up their socks and start to deliver creativity, which by the way, is the very reason for their existance in the industry.

It's time they shed their laziness, and start to be creative. It is time they stopped to look at the glass as half-empty, and call it half-full instead. It's time they stopped cribbing, and start to crow. Or else, they will be the ones who will be squarely responsible for the value erosion that is plaguing our industry today.