A G Krishnamurthy: Of ego trips and creative ideas

AGKSPEAK/ Advertising is never art for art's sake but art for product's sake

It's an ad that has been around for quite some time now and it's so infectious that every time it comes on air, everyone else in the room bursts into a song joining Paresh Rawal in his little dance.

Yet another gem of simplicity, the Domino's ad has so effectively communicated the pizza-in-30-minutes-or-your-money-back theme, that some people actually think that it holds true for all pizza deliveries.

Despite being a high-profile celebrity, the ad team has used Rawal's personality so well that even he drives home the theme, along with the storyline and the jingle and everything else. His personality has been used to enhance the communication.

This is true celebrity endorsing at work. Down-to-earth, refreshing and extremely relatable, Rawal is excellent as usual. The only other celebrity-driven TV ads that I can think of in the recent past that been so well done are the Aamir Khan Coca Cola series.

A bit about the story "" I guess there's some little need in all of us to know that even the most admired celebrities are actually a bit like all of us. So having Rawal at home, breaking into a little childlike dance in happiness at having saved money on a pizza, so nicely caters to that very human need. And he is so convincing, that for 30 seconds we actually forget that he is playing a part.

So there you have it "" an excellent, simple script, a brilliant performer who is given the freedom to perform and you have a powerful piece which entertains as effectively as it sells.

What I've learned
Talent without tantrums...
There's a strange reality that we in advertising have learnt to live with. It's a concept called "team creativity". This contradiction is also what sparks off the most passionate fights in an agency.

I call it strange because most of us are conditioned to thinking that creation is a solitary activity. And, I must say, that art for art's sake most definitely is. But in advertising it is never art for art's sake. It is art for the product's sake and the consumer's sake!

My early days as an account executive were often fraught with tension, as I had to walk up to the "creative god" of the day and give him the bad news "" that the client wanted changes. It would result in an instant explosion with layouts turning into instant flying saucers.

So as I used to sit there watching hours of hard work spin across the room, I decided that if and when I am in charge of an agency, I would make sure that I would never hire prima donnas.

And I stayed true to my word (most of the time!). I believe that in advertising everyone on the team has a right to contribute. An idea can come from anywhere and if it is the best one for the job, it is only fair that it gets articulated.

Being gracious in seeing the merit of and accepting another person's idea is not belittling yourself but fulfilling your responsibility to your client.

And that in my definition is what teamwork is all about. Some of the finest examples I know personally are Vimal, Rasna and Dhara "" where it was one seamless team working under my guidance. Even while filling up forms for awards we used to write the common phrase "Mudra Creative Team" for creative credits. And when the rewards arrived everyone got rewarded equally rather than just one or two names.

Team work in getting a creative product up and away means letting go of your ego and I admit that it can be quite a painful experience for many creative types. But that is the only way I know for a societal creative product like advertising to be created.

Email :   agkbrandconsult@yahoo.com