Agency folk belt out pop numbers for The Job Shop’s ‘Voice of Advertising’ idol

The ‘Voice of Advertising’. Hold on! Before you drift off into the imagery of the resolute and rebellious admen, let us tell you that it is a ‘sing from home’ contest by The Job Shop, a recruitment consultancy specialising in advertising for the last 35 years. The Job Shop was founded by Vijay Uchil, a former adman himself in 1985.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has pushed advertising to a new low; with recruitments across the country coming to a standstill. Ishan Uchil, managing partner at The Job Shop, says that the lockdown has resulted in a rising number of victims of layoffs, desperate candidates, stress calls, and candidates who couldn’t afford pay cuts.

“We created a community building exercise, in the form of ‘Sing from Home’ exclusive to the advertising fraternity,” says Ishan.

The virtual platform is functional over WhatsApp with 30-plus contestants and over 200 audience (members). The idea was pitched to folks in the ad fraternity, and was followed up by sending out invitations. The participants shoot videos of their singing and post it on a WhatsApp group. The videos are then shared on a separate group for audiences, which also includes ad agency personnel.

Contestants include people from across departments, from copywriters to account managers. Similarly, the audience group includes senior ad and marketing individuals from across the globe. The contest has already completed three rounds. Each round is followed by an audience poll conducted via Google Forms. This decides the rankings.

“By mid-April, we had around 40 contestants, and a pool of 250 audiences on a WhatsApp group. The songs are sung and posted in front of the audiences, and they react. The winner is decided by an audience poll. The finale will be judged by Uvie Singer, an eminent personality in the Bollywood music industry. We are currently in the final phase of the contest, and the final showdown is scheduled for June 7, 2020,” Ishan signs off.