Bobby Pawar, CCO, Mudra
In conversation with Rishi Vora.
Excerpts...
How is it celebrating advertising in
Goa?
I guess the hangovers are more tolerable when
you are living on a great beach or near one.
Seriously now, what this event can do is bring
the industry together. A one-night award shows
all too often are just about who won what, people
come as part of their agency gang and leave
as one. At Goafest they have the time, space
and a festive mood that helps them bond over
the thing that lured most of us into this biz
in the first place, which is for producing great
work.
Do you think the event has set international
standards, good enough to be recognised as an
Asia wide event?
One stone doesn't make a Laal Killa; you know
what I'm saying? We are at the beginning of
something here and how it will go depends on
the work we do in terms of evolving it. One
step in the right direction is getting more
and bigger global stars at the event. Cannes
is big for that reason. But ultimately how big
the show becomes, depends on all of us- the
practitioners of the craft. If we produce some
of the best thinking in the world, the other
guys would want to compete with us in our own
nukkad.
How do you think this year’s
event is different from last year and since
the time it was launched?
It's obvious innit. Everybody has made nice
now. There's just one award show. The categories
are great because it’s not just about
traditional work. And the list guest speakers’
is impressive. That's all to the good.
Apart from coming together of AAAI
and Ad Club for hosting one single event, what
do you think are the key changes that the industry
has seen say over a period of one year?
To be perfectly honest I don't know. I have
been maybe a bit too obsessed with the changes
at Mudra. That or the new and interesting escapades
of my two and half year old diva/item girl/maharani/grandmother.
What areas according to you needs due
consideration? What do you think the industry
is doing about it?
Are we getting really good at judging execution
and not paying enough attention to the thinking?
Shouldn't conversations about the strategy also
be part of the process? After all most of the
greatest work we've ever seen started with a
brilliant start idea.
Another thing, we need to reward ideas that
are 'media multi-taskers', because guess what,
our consumers are going that way. The new ambient
and interactive categories are a start. I would
like to see that get bigger and broader in its
scope and imagination.
What difference do you think it makes
to the young creative minds of the country?
Get the young-guns to think solutions first
and executions later. Baba- and- baby-log, you
can't just be brilliant once, you have to double
or quit.
If you were to select the campaign of
the year award, which one would it be and why?
My opinion is that this should remain just that
- my opinion. Lol!!!
