As I was reading a blog on the importance of "idea"in cracking a communication problem, my mind went back to the days when I used to face the same issue while at work in agencies.
We would all, including the client agree that the most important thing was to crack an idea and not just an ad. We would all want to use the idea across communication platforms be it press, TV, PR or even digital. We would all agree to approve an idea only if it worked 360 degrees across media.
But in reality that hardly happened. Most of the times we ended up having a TV script which would be approved first and then work backwards trying to crack an idea out of the same which could be then used 360 degrees. In fact I think 360 degrees became quite an abused term in industry parlance with everyone paying eloquent respect to its meaning but doing nothing to bring it alive.
In hindsight the problem was simple. It was the way a whole generation of communication professionals in India, across creative, servicing, planning and clients were trained and brought up on the staple diet of TV commercials. Right from the time "Lalitaji" entered into our consciousness to even now with "Aur dikhao" a good TV commercial was the solution to all communication issues.
We tried to embrace new mediums like PR or CRM or internet by trying to hide behind the "idea". But the idea never came. The TVC as an execution always defeated the idea.
So I tried a different tack this week.
In one of the institutes where I take guest lectures, I asked the students to give me communication solution to a case study with digital ideas. I clearly told them I did not want TVC's or press ideas.
Mind you these are students who belong to Bharat. They do not live in a metro, they do not have unlimited use of 3G or broadband connections. They do not earn so and are neither from affluent households. They have limited shoe string budgets and many have either taken education loans or have worked earlier and are using the savings to get a PG degree in management. They are net savvy and almost all have their own smart phones.
And what they do not have is allegiance to a media or a habit.
So when they came up with their presentations, it was not surprising that without realising they were giving ideas. They had ideas on how to use Facebook or Instagram or event and PR. They had ideas which were based on consumers habits and preferences. They had thoughts which were simplistic and had freshness and some of the suggestions could have been used in real life too. For me the icing on the cake was when one group suggested how to make a TVC based on the feedback received on FB and Twitter. They had unknowingly suggested an idea where the TVC existed as part of a full 360 communication plan and not as a standalone hero.
Maybe, that's what agencies need to do today as well. Get youngsters comfortable with the digital media and force them to give digital solutions.
Maybe, asking for an idea is not a solution. But asking for a digital breakthrough is the solution.
Maybe, sometimes we get caught up in our jargons and terminologies so much that we forget about simple approaches.
And maybe, we tend to ignore the talent in Bharat too.
We would all, including the client agree that the most important thing was to crack an idea and not just an ad. We would all want to use the idea across communication platforms be it press, TV, PR or even digital. We would all agree to approve an idea only if it worked 360 degrees across media.
But in reality that hardly happened. Most of the times we ended up having a TV script which would be approved first and then work backwards trying to crack an idea out of the same which could be then used 360 degrees. In fact I think 360 degrees became quite an abused term in industry parlance with everyone paying eloquent respect to its meaning but doing nothing to bring it alive.
In hindsight the problem was simple. It was the way a whole generation of communication professionals in India, across creative, servicing, planning and clients were trained and brought up on the staple diet of TV commercials. Right from the time "Lalitaji" entered into our consciousness to even now with "Aur dikhao" a good TV commercial was the solution to all communication issues.
We tried to embrace new mediums like PR or CRM or internet by trying to hide behind the "idea". But the idea never came. The TVC as an execution always defeated the idea.
So I tried a different tack this week.
In one of the institutes where I take guest lectures, I asked the students to give me communication solution to a case study with digital ideas. I clearly told them I did not want TVC's or press ideas.
Mind you these are students who belong to Bharat. They do not live in a metro, they do not have unlimited use of 3G or broadband connections. They do not earn so and are neither from affluent households. They have limited shoe string budgets and many have either taken education loans or have worked earlier and are using the savings to get a PG degree in management. They are net savvy and almost all have their own smart phones.
And what they do not have is allegiance to a media or a habit.
So when they came up with their presentations, it was not surprising that without realising they were giving ideas. They had ideas on how to use Facebook or Instagram or event and PR. They had ideas which were based on consumers habits and preferences. They had thoughts which were simplistic and had freshness and some of the suggestions could have been used in real life too. For me the icing on the cake was when one group suggested how to make a TVC based on the feedback received on FB and Twitter. They had unknowingly suggested an idea where the TVC existed as part of a full 360 communication plan and not as a standalone hero.
Maybe, that's what agencies need to do today as well. Get youngsters comfortable with the digital media and force them to give digital solutions.
Maybe, asking for an idea is not a solution. But asking for a digital breakthrough is the solution.
Maybe, sometimes we get caught up in our jargons and terminologies so much that we forget about simple approaches.
And maybe, we tend to ignore the talent in Bharat too.
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