Yeh dil maange more!

Look within and see if there is a latent desire you have forgotten, overlooked or are refusing to recognise..

One thing at a time and that done well” is a proverb that many people of my generation can remember and recall, though fondly! I was reminded of this often enough in my life and have often parroted it to whomever I came into contact with, despite their apparent lack of interest in this one-liner, which displayed my profound wisdom. My second son led the pack of disbelievers. One day as I found him at the dining table, simultaneously listening to his iPod, reading Calvin and Hobbes and munching his sandwich with peanut butter (what else?) I started again on my favourite subject, trying to impress on him the need to focus a la Jack Trout. My son has several admirable qualities that are not worth speaking about but one supersedes all the others. No one can accuse him of holding back his views; he rarely does. He certainly did not hold back on that day. Without even bothering to look up from his plate he said: “Pa, that is the problem with your generation. That is the reason why you have achieved so little.” He shut me up, for the present at least, and got me thinking (I do this too, once in a while) of people who had done multiple things in their lives and in their time with astounding success.

Dreams are goals with wings

Many of us dream of achieving fantastic things, sometimes in areas that are esoteric and outside the mundane world, that provide us with our very means of livelihood. Some of us dream of being writers, others of being experts on cricket on television, others of becoming famous musicians and others even of making films. Sadly, though, for many of us, these dreams run the risk of becoming mere pipe dreams. The reasons for this are not difficult to find. While we wish to savour the results and enjoy the fruits of success, we are not willing to put in the extra hours that these dreams need. Having another engagement can be heady, but it needs a commitment of time that many of us are loath to give, even as we yearn for the delights that it may bring. Having waxed eloquent about the philosophy of the situation let me get down to the actual example that demonstrates what I am trying to say as I can almost hear you say “It's about time”.

Way back in 1987 I was the Branch Manager of Mudra Communications in Bangalore. It was a small set-up for those days, and we thought and behaved like a start-up. We had a small, energetic and passionate team, hungry for business and visibility. One of the team members, the youngest, if I may add, was an intense copywriter who had the intriguing qualifications of a Master in Computer Applications. To cut a long story short, that writer was R. Balakrishnan, or Balki, as the advertising and the entertainment worlds know him today. He was mad about films, but then who isn't? Yes, I too was from Tamil Nadu and to me too Ilaiyaraja was God. But Balki had a dream. He wanted to direct films He wanted Ilayaraja to compose the music for his films. We were great admirers of P. C. Sreeram who, at that time, was doing the commercial for Padmini Lyrics, one of the emerging agarbatti manufacturers from Bangalore. He spoke about Amitabh Bachchan whom we had all grown up on. In the middle of this we pitched left, right and centre for advertising business, and while I felt that at times we were more concerned with Bollywood and Kollywood than our own business, life went on. We won business, did campaigns, started building brands and grew both professionally and personally even as the dreams continued in a copywriter's heart.

Balki continued to produce outstanding work in a different agency, eventually rising to become its chairman. But the story did not end there. He continued his obsession with films and directed Cheeni Kum which had Amitabh Bachchan as its hero. Not a coincidence. The film's music was composed by Ilayaraja (is there anyone else in the world of music) and the cinematography was by our old friend P. C. Sreeram.

I travelled to Mumbai for the premiere and I wonder who was prouder that day, me or Balki. My mind went back to those early struggles of 1987 and how he had retained his passion and his ability to pursue that dream. In all fairness, he has not been alone in pursuing his dream. Alyque Padamsee's name comes readily to mind. He was and continues to be a doyen of the advertising world while being a celebrated theatre personality for years. In fact, the advertising industry has had its fair share of people who contributed to theatre - people such as Gerson and Sylvester DaCunha, Kersy and Usha Katrak, Homi Daruvalla, Dolly Thakore … and the list goes on. Today we have people such as Prasoon Joshi who writes phenomenal lyrics in addition to leading a large multinational agency and I may have missed several others.

On to Paa

Another film by Balki. Another premiere, this one, last Thursday night at Bangalore. The music director? Need you ask? Ilayaraja, of course. The cinematographer was P. C. Sriram, no prizes for guessing that one. And while the film had Amitabh, it was in many ways introducing Amitabh as Jaya Bachchan coyly announces in the titles. I am no film critic, just a guy who likes films and I loved the film and Amitabh in the film. I am not alone in my views, clearly. But I'll wax eloquent on that at another time, another place. To get to what I am trying to say. What is your own special dream? One that only you and your spouse or a special friend knows about? Do you have one? If not, why not?

A fine balance

Today none of us have the luxury of goofing off in our jobs. Our supervisors, clients, and sometimes even our subordinates, keep appraising us so intensely and observe us so closely that we have very limited scope to give anything but our best. We spend endless and often pointless time in never-ending meetings. We carry our troubles, our laptops and Blackberries home. We send out mails at unearthly hours, not so much because we wish to make a point, but because we will be overwhelmed by mail if we don't and the inbox overpowers us. So where is the time to even think of our interest, even if we had one? What is the point of dreaming of replacing Harsha Bhogle if you cannot even watch the highlights?

Be prepared to work your guts out

I am sure Balki must have been on the verge of a physical and mental breakdown, spending time in recording, re-recording, post production, editing and so many other things that go into making a film, of which I have the haziest idea. Then throw in the agency, its people, its clients and the brands that still needed outstanding advertising and you can get the picture and the pressure that straddling both these disciplines must have meant for Balki. Phenomenal.
But what are the learnings for you and me.? Look within yourself and see if there is a latent desire that you have forgotten, overlooked or are refusing to look at. An interest can certainly keep you away from needless distractions, such as booze. I just need to look around at the advertising industry to see the potency of this particular distraction.

Imagine the end result. Often we see the thorns on the way which prevent us from looking at the accolades and the attention that successful realisation of the destination might yield. Of course, success that is hard earned is far more enjoyable and if it is not too much of a struggle then it's not even worth it in the first place.

Are you setting your sights too low?

Many of us suffer from a common ailment. We defence-mechanise, we rationalise and give ourselves and the rest of the world reasons why we are already stretched and how we don't have a minute of spare time to think, much less do anything else. But is that really true? No one knows the answer to that question as well as us.

Remember too that this is not in any way to suggest that you will have less intensity or less time at work. Today's world demands a total commitment from all those who are involved. So it is not either or as some of us would like to believe. It is all this and more. The operative word is “more”. Are you ready mentally, physically and emotionally to give more? Is your family empathetic to your hidden desire to excel? Is it willing to understand and put up with your long periods of hibernation from an active family life?
All of these are questions that anyone who leads a ‘double life' needs to think about and perhaps answer.

Who knows, you might be the next big person in cricket, entertainment, music or the theatre! Get ready to work for your success.

(Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, brand-comm, and the author of Googly: Branding on Indian Turf.)

Image Source: Susanhenschen

Changing world of ads and entertainment

The emergence of regional markets and consumers has led to the evolution of regional brands and advertising. Entertainment formats are evolving too, with reality shows capturing eyeballs and TV ratings..

The changes in advertising continue just like the changes in this column or the uncertainty as to whether the Ashes will change hands (at least at the time of writing) as the teams have just left Edgbaston.

A quick recap, more for my benefit, dear reader, than yours, of what we discussed in the previous column. We spoke about some of the legends who led the advertising industry with great distinction (not only their own advertising agencies).

Another significant shift that we mentioned has been of the trend of creative people leading agencies today, which too is an important point of difference from the past. Media too has transformed from five mainline newspapers and one Government-controlled TV channel to a bewildering array of choice for both the media planner and, more importantly, the consumer.

The increasing literacy in India has been a source of optimism for advertisers and advertising agencies, unlike in other countries, as India is one of the few markets where readership is growing and, consequently, advertising revenue and rates. And while 80 per cent of the world is under the grip of recession, India seems to be one of the few exceptions bucking the trend, a bit like England which seems to be the only country where even the fifth day of a test match is a sell-out!

But there are a few more changes that one has observed in between the rain interruptions at Edgbaston and the shifting of the battle to the possibly weepy skies of Headingley.

English to Hinglish to Hindi to regional

When I first came into advertising (Oh God! here I go again), the industry suffered from the Madison Avenue hang-up. Agency types looked westward for inspiration, quoted Ogilvy and Bernbach and admired George Lois. The generation was proud of saying ‘we don’t see Hindi movies or Tamil movies ...’. They were from St. Xavier’s or Stella Maris and spoke the Queen’s English. They presented scripts, concepts and ads in English. Then the ads were translated and, usually, badly.

It was in the mid-eighties that Asian Paints recognised the importance of regions and languages with the commercial ‘Pongal’ that was conceptualised, filmed and released in Tamil Nadu with great success. Then, as India became younger, it started to loosen its collar (I am not speaking of ‘Friday dressing’ only) and if one may add, its tongue.

It first started speaking in a mix of English and a regional language as it no longer needed to speak in English to either express or impress. This led to lines like ‘Hamko Binnies mangta.’ Soon the wheel turned a full circle, just a bit like the Australian cricket team’s fortunes — more and more scripts were conceptualised, filmed and released with ideas that were essentially Hindi, and to confound people like me, many of them had a clever turn of phrase as well that are as perplexing as Abdul Qadir’s googly. Slogans like ‘Daag achha hai’ and ‘Dimag ki batti jala do’ to recall just two simple ones (you must make an allowance for my ignorance of the noble language) led the way.

However, much as I might crib about it, I do know that this trend is here to stay and a new breed of writers has emerged whose creative ability extends beyond scripting mere 30-second commercials selling soaps and shampoos to tear-jerking commercial cinema as well.
Hindi movies, and if one may add, TV scripts, conceptualised in Hindi for brands that are part of our everyday lives, are now on our television screens, often for 24 hours at a stretch. The emergence of regional markets and consumers is a trend that promises to stay as more and more brands are creating specifically in Tamil, Bengali or Malayalam for their customers so that they can engage with them.

The other trend is the emergence of regional brands that are making their presence felt and growing their market share with the aid of cable and satellite television. ‘Think regional beat multinational’ could well be the slogan of 2009.

Programmes, commercials or both?

I remember reading an interesting study many years ago which said that consumers in India found the TV commercials that preceded a programme to be more interesting than the programmes that were being aired. Soon things changed and serials such as Humlog and Buniyaad, not to forget ‘Ramayan’, ushered in the context of long running serials.

Aradhana, the movie with Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, ran for a mere 100 weeks in Madras of all cities but this was nothing compared to some of the television serials that followed.

Ramayan was followed by Mahabharat and now by Jai Sri Krishna, not to forget the K series and the Chithis, the Arasis and the Kolangals on Sun TV. One of the biggest challenges that advertising agencies seem to face (and it is not a new challenge) is the answer to the question, ‘when do consumers get tired of our ads?’ I wonder if the makers of TV serials worry about such unnecessary trivia as the serials seem to go on and on ad infinitum (pun intended).

But other formats have emerged, not the least of which has been the reality show. Whilst one may agonise about the reality in the Rakhi Sawant wedding, the ratings are real. The TVR for the final episode on August 2 was as high as 6.3 and the audience an estimated 15.8 million. Of course, a few mad Indians were watching Australia salvage a draw, but many more savvy Indians were watching the ‘real thing.’ Consider, too, the tremendous build-up to the grand climax, the publicity, the cynicism from the elite (!), all of which points to a new, more confident India.

Yes, even as India is changing in front of our very eyes, so too must the means of communication to its people.

You’ve come a long way, baby!

Advertising, television and movies can at best represent the times we live in and symbolise the current generation of Indians. The new India is confident of itself, though, at times, it is possible for some to view this as arrogance. But honestly, today’s India does not care. It has found acceptance from the rest of the world and is not afraid of reiterating and reinforcing its importance to the rest of the world.

The BCCI can tell the whole world a thing or two about being successful and reminding the world about its success. India has its fair share of successes from the smaller towns. It has cricketing greats who will stare at taller, stronger and more reputed guys in the eye or sledge them to kingdom come.

This attitude reflects India more and more and you just have to switch on your TV sets to watch this on display not only in the cricketing field but in advertising and in the films that are re-run Sunday after Sunday.

The woman is no longer content to keep quiet but actually raves and rants in front of the camera as to why the person at the other end of the line could have sex without protection. A small bit in a commercial but a giant shift in outlook and thinking.

Celebrities rule the roost as every third brand uses celebrities with varying degrees of popularity inflicting varying degrees of damage to the advertiser’s wallet. India and its advertising have come a long way like ‘Virginia Slims’ — a far cry from the days of using Leela Chitnis for Lux in 1941.

Unbundle, consolidate or perish

As for the agency business itself, the days of 15 per cent commission and 85 per cent confusion have gone. More and more agencies work on reduced commissions and some on retainers. The full service agency is a thing of the past, a bit like full houses in test matches in the sub-continent. The agency share of the pie is shrinking as clients use identity experts, event companies, media agencies, PR companies, creative shops, packaging consultants and brand advisors on a regular basis. The agency is being seen as a provider of ‘creative services’ and often enough not a partner. The reduced earnings make it difficult to get the talent that clients want and yet refuse to pay for, which is adding to the stress. The core competency of the agency is still the ability to produce great TV commercials that make a difference.

The agency business has changed and will continue to change in front of our very eyes. The agency business needs to take a closer look at itself and maybe find answers to some questions that are perhaps easier to ask than to answer, but here goes:

Are agencies truly partnering their clients, or are they living in hope?
Does the agency understand new media such as digital and mobile or is it merely looking the other way?
How much time and money are agencies investing in training their people to serve clients better?
How well does the agency understand and apply the other allied communication services?
What is the strategy to get better people into the business?

These are not great times to be in business. But this is, perhaps, the time for serious introspection. It generally needs a good crisis to get people thinking about important stuff that can make a difference to their future. Let’s not waste this opportunity to worry about the future now. That way we will, at least, have a future.

(Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, brand-comm, and the author of Googly - Branding on Indian Turf.)