Piyush is the greatest among us

Puspinder Singh, national creative director, Ambience Publicis, was once studying to be a pharmacist. But like most creatives, he too stumbled into advertising.

After his two-and-a-half-year stints at Trikaya Grey and Leo Burnett India, Singh went to O&M. It was during his five-year tenure at O&M that Singh gained prominence as creative director, winning 22 Abbys in four years. Also to his credit is a bronze Clio for McDonald's and a gold Lion (for the 'Cancer cures smoking' ad for the Cancer Patients Aid Association). But the recognition Singh received at The One Show for the Proof Checker ad for Leo Burnett is dearest to him.

In an interview with Sumita Vaid Dixit of agencyfaqs!, Singh talks about his experience in the advertising world. Excerpts..

Edited Excerpts

Yes, I do believe that Ambience is actually one of the most creative agencies in the country. Let me give you an example to illustrate my point. Recently, Media Asia rated Ambience Publicis as the second most creative agency in India. Now, how many advertisers know that? How many in the marketing and advertising community know of our achievements at Cannes and The One Show? How many know of the people behind the recent good work on Sampoorna, Silk and Shine, Elf and Vicks?

The fact of the matter is Ambience Publicis is guilty of not profiling its achievements enough.

Ambience Publicis has always been the leader in lifestyle and fashion products. The accent now is to repeat those standards on our mass market brands. Inshahallah, this will make our offering, the best rounded one in the industry.

To fully appreciate the opportunity that exists at Ambience Publicis for a creative person like me, or others who will come in later, you have to go back a little in time. This is the agency that has always lived and died by its work. Not surprisingly, guys like Freddie Birdy and Cyrus Oshidar have been associated with it. And because the DNA is right, it is easy for the management to look a creative guy in the eye and say we need you to correct our creative standards and will stand by you one hundred per cent.

In fact, that is the mandate for me as well. The opportunity also lies in the good mix of entrepreneur-led and MNC businesses that we have. The entrepreneur-led businesses are special since their relatively low media spends give us the opportunity for breakthrough work.

Legitimate is a very harsh word in this context. And I think the agency that built Thums up, TVS Shogun, Sil, Vadilal, Garden, Lakme, Elle 18, and now handles Vicks, Kama Sutra, Playwin and Reliance shouldn't be bothered to correct the perceptions of a few semi-informed people.

And, I have already spoken about the mass market brands. This category is our biggest challenge and also our most exciting opportunity.

Well-rounded creative people are an asset to any agency. And here I am talking about people, who not only produce great work but are also able to sell it, lead the client relationships along with servicing partners and ensure (especially in film) that execution does justice to the thinking.

Going by those parameters, I don't think the departures hurt us much. Having said that, I think Uday Parker's coincidental departure was rather unfortunate.

The intention is to get talented and hungry people and give them the space and opportunity to grow into bigger roles. But as and when required, we have also recruited senior people. Recently, Tushar Wadwalkar joined as as Creative Director.

I would not like to talk about how we stack up. I would much rather let the work do the talking in the months to come.

The best way to unleash the creative guys is to leave them alone. Rolling up the sleeves and doing the work yourself should only be done, when a certain creative professional isn't measuring up.

Trikaya was on its way down, when I entered the place. What remained were a few vestiges of greatness and a plethora of fakes. Frankly, it was filled with people who were better off in Soho than India. And even as a cub writer I could sense, something was wrong, very-very wrong. The creative people were too divorced from street reality.

Burnett was a more street-smart place.

Ogilvy, I guess will always have a fond place in my heart. It is where I learnt not to be a slave to Anglo-Saxon conditioning. That my instincts and upbringing were correct when it came to touching the masses of this country. I discovered Neil French, a man who taught me not to be afraid. I met Piyush Pandey, who with his own achievements and attitude, convinced me that it was better to go down fighting for what you believed was right, than reconcile yourself to the meaningless existence of an Eklavya.

It would be foolish of me or any one else in Indian advertising to talk about filling up Piyush's boots. The man is by far the greatest creative leader this country has produced. He is the only person I have ever addressed as 'Sir.' My departure was prompted more by the slow speed at which I was moving up.

The Ambience Publicis visiting card is the most powerful one in fashion and lifestyle products. If in two to three years' time, it doesn't emerge as an opener of client doors and minds for mass brands too, I will be a very disappointed man.

David Droga's big Lion haul last year at Cannes is perhaps the beginning. The network now boasts of names like Nick Worthingto in New Zealand and Olivier in Paris. Publicis has also aggressively recruited in Asia Pacific. There is Larry Ong in China, Kitty Chaiyaporn in Thailand and Shaun Branagan in Hong Kong.

The biggest support that I wanted from the network has already come my way. They fully understand and support the fact that while international awards are important for a worldwide reputation, a local reputation is probably more important. And that for us will come from work that is so uniquely Indian, which may not cut ice with worldwide juries.

Awards are a very substantial indicator of an agency's creative prowess. However, they are not the only measure of mettle. Work that excites the masses and makes the cash register sing for the client is a more meaningful measure.

Having said that, I do believe edgy work – created towards the end of the year with the full consent of the client and paid for by the client – is important for the industry. This kind of work is akin to the R&D effort in other industries. Plasma TV, when it was first exhibited at a technical exhibition, was laughed at for its commercial inviability. Today, it is redefining the television experience. Likewise, year-end work explores the new and unchartered territory that communication can be pushed to.

That also explains why the only people who have a holier-than-thou attitude on year-end efforts are the ones who have never written an ad in their lives, nor experienced the pleasure of creating something totally new and different.

Mediocre work is like a formula Bollywood flick. Work that only wins awards is like an art film, appreciated only by a select few. Great work is like Lagaan. The critics salivate, the cash register sings and in your heart you are proud, very proud of the effort.

And by that yardstick, Ambience Publicis is due for a blockbuster. I pray and strive that it comes sooner than later.

Absolutely. Planning has an important role in the life of a creative professional. And the best planners today are the ones who have managed to break down a certain compartmentalization that results in a 'them-versus-us' feeling.

Partnerships are all about trust. One has to evolve to a matter-of-factness where both parties understand that punch-ups are necessary and are only about the work and nothing more.

I hope the quality of work in the coming months will speak for the creative-planning partnership at Ambience Publicis.

Any agency that emerges as a champion will surely believe that it is not just here to provide a service. And, that it is selling a product...a unique product that the client cannot get from anywhere else.

A champion agency will appreciate the fact that a creative mind needs support and affection. And of course, no one ever emerged a champion without an intense desire to 'show them'.