"Great creativity changes culture and inspires people": Andy Greenaway, Saatchi & Saatchi

Andy Greenaway, regional creative director, Asia Pacific, Saatchi & Saatchi, says that he sees big ideas as culture changing and social networking to be the thing to watch out for

He did not shy away from saying how much fun he was already having at the great advertising carnival in Goa - without yet having checked out much of the Indian creative work! When prodded further, Andy Greenaway, regional creative director, Asia Pacific, Saatchi & Saatchi, revealed his perspectives that are clearly cut out when it comes to "good creativity".

In a freewheeling conversation with afaqs! on the sidelines of Goafest 2010, Greenaway spoke about how he sees great creativity to be culture changing and revolutionary. He also spoke about why Saatchi has been low key in recent times and how the social media boom has just begun and is waiting to take over the future.

Excerpts from the conversation:

afaqs!: If you could point out a distinct factor, how would you differentiate Indian creative work from the rest of the world?

Greenaway:
I just think there is a very different flavour in India. I am very reluctant to be critical here. You see - your film industry is very different from Hollywood. Your views depend on how you were brought up. I was brought up on Hollywood films. When I see a Bollywood film, it does not appeal to me. It is as if I cannot connect to it.

That kind of legacy can be seen in the advertising scene, too. There is a certain particular flavour about Indian advertising. I would not say it is right or wrong because that would be rather imperialist.

I think that is where the country must be careful. When you go to international juries, they look at your work from a western point of view. There is a lot of advertising here that emulates the western kind of approach, which is not necessarily the right thing to do.

However, if you want to win awards, that is the right thing to do. So, it is a catch-22 kind of a thing.

It all depends on how much you value awards. If you lay too much importance on awards, you start missing the connection with the consumers.

afaqs!: So, according to you, how would you actually measure creativity?

Greenaway: I think really great creativity is something that changes culture. It inspires people. In recent memory, Cadbury Gorilla (a British advertising campaign to promote Cadbury Dairy Milk in 2007) was one of the most revolutionary pieces of work because it created massive polarisation in our industry. A lot of people said, "That is not an ad. Where is the benefit?" On the other side, there were people saying that this is actually the future because it is born out of the "YouTube generation".

That was culture changing. Gorilla was culture changing! From a Saatchi employee perspective, that has been a turning point in our organisation. It has sort of shown us the way - the potential of where our business is going. That has been a massive inspiration for us to see how we look at campaigning for brands.

So, to me, if it is culture changing - then I think it is a big idea, especially in this new world as it goes online.

afaqs!: Talking about culture change - there is a lot of engagement with the advent of social media. What is your take on it? Consumer engagement is getting more important all the time?

Greenaway: We call it the 'participation economy'. It used to be about grabbing attention, then about attraction - and now it is about participation. How do you like your consumers to take part in a programme? It is not about broadcast anymore. It is about how you allow people to come in and actually take initiative.

It does get challenging but at the same time, in many ways, it means you have to be more creative.

The nice thing about the future is that for people to truly engage with your ideas, they have to be really great. In a broadcast world, you could do quite an average ad, carpet bomb your message to people's living rooms and find acceptance. The people have no choice.

Now, if you carpet bomb with an average idea, it would not take off. For the spark that would actually start winning conversations, the initial bit has to be absolutely brilliant. That is where clients need to take a leap of faith and they need to allow agencies to get creative.

afaqs!: We have not really seen path breaking campaigns from Saatchi here recently. Comments?

Greenaway: Saatchi Asia Pacific and the other parts of the world, too, have gone quiet for the last 18 months. That is because we decided that we need to reinvent ourselves. We are saying to ourselves that if we are still winning Lions for print ads three years from now, we are dead in the water. That is not the future.

We do not aim to be seen as a print agency. We still do print because it is still a core part of what we do but we do not want to be seen as an agency essentially doing print.

One of the reasons why you have not seen a lot of Saatchi work - for instance in Goafest - is because reinventing yourself is hard work and it takes commitment. So, we have decided that we would not do any awards except for Cannes and some local shows for some time and focus on our reinvention.

A lot of those new campaigns we are working on will start coming through. Unlike print ads, which take a few weeks or a month maybe, these new campaigns are huge and have scale. They are quite complex in terms of logistics. As a result, they do not take two or three weeks. They take six months, one year, 18 months.

So, India is doing a couple of campaigns right now that will take a long time to settle in and organise the logistics behind them.

That is why Saatchi has been a bit quiet for now. One year to 18 months from now, you shall see a different Saatchi. It would not be about volume. You will not see a hundred print ads. You will see three or four really amazing media agnostic ideas. That is where we are headed as an organisation.

afaqs!: What do you see as the growth drivers for creativity? How do you see advertising moving ahead?

Greenaway: Social networks have changed the whole world. You must have one foot in the past and one in the future - and never both ahead. Anyone who thinks that the status quo will remain is out of his mind.

What is deep rooted in all of us is that we all have the desire to love, the desire to discover, the desire to be healthy and the desire to be happy - and these are the things that the Internet provides.

So, I think the habits of the Indian youth will be the same as the habits of the youth elsewhere, which means that social networks will take over.

The social networking boom has just started. It is addictive. It is already so successful because it is happening to our deep DNA. People become obsessed and addicted because it allows them to be more humane.

Say there is a group of school children. There is one nerd at the back who does not have too many friends. He has a very small community in the real world. As soon as he goes online and starts joining technology forums - suddenly there are thousands of people following his threads and commentary. He becomes the centre of the network.

This is the thing about the Internet. It actually helps you expand. It actually helps you feel good about yourself. That is where the future is.