The Hindu Business Line : ‘We need to live up to our talent, potential’

Among the many CEOs of Indian advertising agencies who headed to Cannes was Subhash Kamath, Group CEO, Bates 141. Soon after he got back to Indian shores and his office, jet-lagged and woozy, Kamath took some quick questions from Brand Line on the Cannes experience. Here’s his take:

On Our proudest moment

It’s certainly a very proud moment for India. Getting a Grand Prix is no joke and hats off to Aggi (Agnello Dias, Chief Creative Officer, JWT) and his team for pulling off the big one. In a market that tends to focus primarily on television advertising, winning a Titanium for an integrated campaign is just awesome! More than anything else, it’s a genuinely brave idea, and credit must also go to the client for backing it all the way. Compared to the US and Europe, we’re still way behind, but not that far behind Brazil, which has been a consistent winner. I’m sure next year will be even better.

On India’s large Lions haul (23 in all)

The talent was always there, but I think Indian advertising has become more conscious of global standards, and is therefore breaking its internal glass ceiling. Take JWT, for instance. For long they have been touted as a behemoth and a client-servicing-driven agency. Aggi and his team have now conclusively proved they’re right up there. It’s truly been a remarkable turnaround for them.

On the impact of the Cannes wins

I do believe it’s a beginning of sorts. The host of the Cannes presentation ceremony described India as “an awakening giant of creativity”. We’ve always had the talent and the potential. I think our time has come to live up to it. I hope these wins will galvanise our youngsters to create more global ideas.

On the Indian impact in Cannes

India made a huge impact at Cannes! Not just the 23 lions that we picked up, but it was also the large, passionate and rather vociferous contingent that made its presence felt. Later that night, we were all singing ‘Saare Jahan se Achcha Hindustaan Hamaara’ on the streets as one big group. And many foreigners joined in the clapping and partying. Everyone’s talking about India, believe me.

On scam ads

Ahh, that’s the sad part about our industry across the world. There were plenty, especially in print, outdoor and poster categories. Incredibly creative stuff, brilliantly executed, but targeted only at the jury. But that’s Cannes for you ... the only criterion of judging is the pure creativity and execution of the idea. Nothing else matters. And as long as it’s been released once, then it’s a legitimate entry. People tend to get upset these days if you use the word ‘scam’. It’s now called ‘initiative work’ or ‘pure art’

On the cutting edge work

Plenty of them! HBO’s ‘Voyeur’, Microsoft Halo 3, Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’, Jeep, Volkswagen ... All of these were big winners. And it was not just about strong ideas, the execution also was just so perfect. It’s something we really need to learn in India. Some of these ideas have taken months to complete. And, obviously, their clients back them fully. In India, we try to complete our work within a month because of client pressure and because of our own drive to do more and more. Our ideas are quite strong, but we tend to fall short woefully in execution.

online media the next big frontier

Yes, digital is huge across the world, and is bound to happen in India as well. But no, I don’t think it will ever unseat traditional forms of advertising. The challenge, however, is not to see them as different silos, but to integrate them beautifully to work for a brand. The one big thing I got out of this Cannes trip is that digital (or new media) is not about technology, it’s about ideas! All the great digital work I saw were superb ideas, rooted in basic human truths. Technology only provides the backbone of the execution, and is mostly invisible to the audience. What affects the audience is the interaction with the brand, and that’s what really matters.

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