Sumita Vaid Dixit
Interviews

Our ideas will be oxygen for brands.

When Ravi Deshpande quit Lemon, he had no clue about what lay ahead. But what was uppermost in his mind was his keenness to bury the past and move on. Deshpande was made two hard-to-resist offers. One was from Saatchi & Saatchi and the other, which we all know of, was from Contract.

Contract presented an opportunity to get the once-shining agency back on the creative road map. The promise of a challenge and a free hand to fashion the agency’s creative product thrilled Deshpande, and he accepted the offer. In conversation with Sumita Vaid Dixit of agencyfaqs!, Deshpande talks about designing a new way of working for the future.

Edited Excerpts

It has been two months for you at Contract. What's keeping you busy?

A number of things, actually. I joined Contract with the understanding that we all join a vision. And my colleagues couldn't agree more. Contract is going to be a different agency from what it used to be. Not merely because the people have changed, but because times have.

The agency is gearing up to face the challenges of the future. It is very important for communication to be as dynamic as the market is right now. It is becoming harder and harder to keep people interested in listening to what a brand has to say. So we're busy putting together ideas on how to achieve this. But what I'm concentrating on most is to get some great work done.

Your elder sibling JWT has a new identity. Even Everest has a new one. What about Contract?

Since we are looking at a new vision for Contract, we would like to change the identity as well. And, we would like that change or that philosophy to reflect the new feel of Contract.

How different is the present Contract from the one you had left in 2001?

Very different. A lot has changed.

Once upon a time Contract had managed to build a strong creative reputation for itself. However, now that image has faded. So in that context, what exactly is your task?

Contract was the most creative agency in the country until the end of the millennium. Now, that's something the agency has already achieved. It has a different goal now.

It involves doing away with how we worked in the past and designing a new way of working for the future. Our task will be to create ideas that are like oxygen for brands. Through this journey, we will be keeping abreast of the need of the times and then staying ahead of it.

The way to go about it is to go where the consumer is, rather than wait for her to turn on the TV. We will do this by treating every empty space in the environment as an ad. We will try to carve our unique brand of creative by transcending set formats of advertising and breaking more rules than ever before. Not just because it's our job to be creative, but because that's the only way of getting people to hear what the brand has to say. So, unexpected work is what we are working towards. It will be about something people do not know, and something they're waiting to hear. And in the process, we would be creating a newer and a better agency to come and work for or to do business with.

What would you say about the current creative output of Contract?

It's good, but good is not good enough. I promise we will do some great work in the shortest possible time.

When you left Contract to set up Lemon, there were many dreams and hopes. Were you able to realise them?

A few 'yes' and a few 'no', thanks to the short journey we had. However, we did manage to create a sharp agency.

Your departure from Lemon was a very sudden affair. We have heard that your exit wasn't very pleasant. What happened exactly? Was Lemon doing badly as Euro RSCG honchos claim? Or, was it the other way 'round?

Lemon was doing extremely well. It had blue chip clients. It produced very good work. So in my book, it was a successful agency. We had our own identity and philosophy. It won quite a few big pitches against big agencies. And it was going to get even better. But since there was no agreement on how to take the brand forward, I decided to leave.

Despite a few bad memories, how would you describe your stint at Lemon? Could you highlight a few of your better works there?

I enormously enjoyed the process of setting up Lemon and building it. I'm sure the other people who worked there will also echo the same feeling. It was an enormous learning experience for me. Except for two or three pieces of work, I practically like all the work we did.

How does it feel to come back to Contract? Is it a homecoming of sorts, as Contract's press release described? You, we believe, were also made an offer from Saatchi & Saatchi. However, you opted for Contract. What were your reasons for doing so?

As far as Saatchi & Saatchi is concerned, I have a very high regard for the network. And, who doesn't? I love its work. I have great regard for Bob Isherwood. I truly respect and love Shanta. I would have thoroughly enjoyed working with him. The network has produced such wonderful creative stars like Craig Davis and Dave Droga.

The request to join Contract from my past colleagues and Jagdip (Bakshi) was very earnest and sincere. They strongly felt that Contract needed me. I too happened to have fond memories about Contract. And the fact that I'd be working with old buddies was a comforting thought. In short, both the agencies are fabulous. I just happened to join one and not the other.

How important is Contract in WPP's scheme of things?

As important as all other WPP companies. I'm sure they are equally concerned about all their companies in India and around the world.

What do you think of JWT's current creative output? I ask you this because the agency is apparently desperate for a NCD.

JWT's current creative output could be better. Just the way our entire advertising industry's product could be better.

Among the present crop of CDs, whose work do you really appreciate and why?

In recent times, I like the work done on Orange by Rajiv Rao and Mahesh V. It has truly built the brand. Right from the phone bill to the billboards, the work is holistic and consistently good. I think, 'Wherever you go, our network follows' is a great idea. I like Prasoon's (Joshi) 'Paanch' commercial for Coke; Balki's work on Saint Gobain is very nice. I like ANC's work on Barista and Crossword very much too. I'm sure there are others who are doing some good work as well, except I can't remember them off-hand.

These are times of clever executions and fewer enduring creative ideas. Why is that the case? If you were to compare the advertising of the 90's with that of now, what are the basic differences that strike you?

Within India, enduring brand ideas are rare. Great execution is rarer. But we are surely getting better. Orange, in India, is a good example of an enduring ad. Internationally, though, there are quite a few enduring creative ideas. Budweiser True is an enduring idea. So is Nike, Tango, Peugeot, and Ikea.

An idea's endurance depends entirely upon how you see various interesting creative renditions of that big idea. As far as the difference between advertising in the 90s and 2000s is concerned, I suppose most advertising in the 1990's was a forerunner of the advertising in the new millennium. It's not that as if one is better than the other.

When you advertise your brand through decades, you have more new things to say about your brand in the 90s than in the next decade.

This is probably why advertising in these days 's is more lateral. The execution has more finesse. Wieden and Kennedy's work for Honda (Cog and Grrr) and also Nike (Tag) are so wonderful. So the wheels of time are rolling to produce better minds and better work in great agencies around the world. People are setting new benchmarks and exceeding them every year.

Is there a sibling rivalry between JWT and Contract?

No, not at all. The two agencies are totally different from each other. We have regard for each other's capabilities.

Is O&M really head and shoulders above the rest in the industry? Or, is it just a case of successfully built hype?

O&M has indeed done very well. Full marks to Piyush and Ranjan for taking it to where it is today. As I mentioned earlier, the agency's work on Orange is very good. So is some of the work on Fevicol and Tata Safari. They are indeed a good agency but I don't think they're truly head and shoulders above the rest of the industry. Other agencies are building good brands too.

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