Creativity@Clio: Prasoon Joshi takes his pick

Prasoon Joshi – regional CD, South & South East Asia, McCann-Erickson – was a member of the Jury panel at Clio this year. He tells Sumita Vaid Dixit of agencyfaqs! about the exciting times he had at New Mexico where the judging was held. Excerpts of the interview:

How did it feel to be a part of the Jury panel at such a prestigious awards show?

Awesome. Apart from the prospect of meeting the talented creative stalwarts from over 12 countries who formed the Clio jury panel, the draw of the place – Santa Fe in New Mexico where the judging was held – made my participation at Clio a very interesting experience.

Guess what? I was a tad embarrassed of my limited knowledge of geography - for taking New Mexico to be in Mexico. And, later discovering that it is one of the states of US, albeit on the border of Mexico! Anyhow, after a long tedious 20 hours-plus flight from Mumbai, I finally reached Albuquerque from where it was yet another hour’s drive to Bishop’s Lodge, a resort in Santa Fe.

Santa Fe? Isn’t that place famous for Red Indian heritage?

That’s right. Santa Fe is a charming small town with a rich culture replete with ancient native American Indian traditions, art and architecture.

A music buff, I was enthralled by the innate musical orientation of the locals, nearly all the pubs boasted of some amazing singing talent and our off-hour discussions were so much livelier. The fond memories of chilly weather and chilled beer against a backdrop of jazz music are fresh in my mind!

No wonder, you liked the place so much…

Let me quickly assure you that it wasn’t all play and little work. On the contrary, the 12-member jury – headed by the legendary Mark Tutssel, the deputy Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett worldwide – had to go though more than 1,000 entries nearly every day. Short listing those was a humongous task. The respite was the extremely efficient and professional manner in which the experienced and very tolerant Clio staff seamlessly coordinated everything.

Post the initial two days of short listing, the gruelling judging sessions started. Marked with healthy debate and discussions, we worked from 8 in the morning to late at night, for each piece of work had to be given due respect.

As it happens in most jury panels, there are initial murmurs about the work quality slipping to those disagreeing, and finally all are in consensus that there are enough examples of brilliant work that deserve metals and more.

Why don’t you tell us about some of the work you loved?

Sure. Let me tell you about those creatives – the ones that elicited an “I wish I had done this” mixed reaction of envy and admiration!

The first one in my list is the ‘Honda Grrrr…..’ by Wieden And Kennedy: I am a huge admirer of their work in any case and this commercial has made me an even more ardent one.

It’s a wonderful commercial, a very fresh idea picturized in a very unique manner. The film opens on a beautiful charming animated world – birds chirping, butterflies flitting, clean air, blue skies, and green trees lining an avenue. Amidst all these, there is a polluting diesel engine chugging along the road. The birds try to take a ride but the black smoke drives them away. Several such instances where the engine causes the beautiful creatures to suffer make you look at the little smoking engine with disgust. The juxtaposition of a such an eye-sore in the beautiful fresh environ comes across very impactfully.

The music track ‘Hate something, change something, make something…” is simple and philosophical at the same time. It’s the highlight of the commercial. The creative was an ‘unclever’ simple idea that drove home the point in a charming and effective manner. It had my vote and respect.

That sounds wonderful. Is there any other creative that got your admiration?

Yes. The ‘Ventriloquist and Child abuse film’ was another great piece of work. Even those cynical about Public Service’ route to awards will not remain unaffected by this creative. It is a hard-hitting spot and one of the better ones that I have seen in this genre.

The film opens on a ventriloquist sitting with a girl child puppet in a school, the playground and the classroom. All the questions being directed at the puppet are being answered by the ventriloquist.

The message in the end says, “Children who are victims of abuse don’t have their own voice: Be more careful alert and cautious.” The execution is flawless. And, it induces goose bumps.

Please continue…

Another creative that I liked very much was the ‘Short film festival’. The films are centered around a film-making training school, where students are being taught the importance of writing shorter, crispier, and easy to grasp scenes and situations. Witty and a sparking sense of humour coupled with some great comic timing make these commercials a must see.

Plus, punchy dialogues and perfect casting are the hallmarks of these extremely humorous commercials.

Of course, there were others too – the ‘Adidas Impossible Is Nothing’ campaign, ‘Bonjour Paris’, the language school commercials, and a host of others.

It was an eye-opener to see the kind of work being produced the world over and how some of them are distinct in their own right. The work from Japan, for instance, is unique and stands apart.

After being witness to the rigorous and extremely fair judging process, now I hold an even higher degree of admiration for the Clio set-up.

The Award ceremony, to be held in Miami, is just a few days away and I’m sure that the best will walk away with a coveted Clio. © 2005 agencyfaqs!