Even the receptionist & guards regarded me with new-found respect : Raghu Bhat
On the eve of Goafest 2014, Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications reminisces of a time when agencies didn't boycott awards and what his first advertising award meant to him

I started my career in agencies like Contract and Ogilvy, Delhi. During that time, there were only two kinds of creative people—those who had won awards and those who hadn’t. The ‘award-winners’ were the real creative guys, a superior breed who walked with a swagger and had the license to literally shred a bad creative brief and if need be, even physically assault the servicing people who had written it. The aura around a creative person was directly proportional to the disdain with which he treated the servicing people. And of course, the number of awards he had won. The coolest Creative Director in Delhi was someone who had won four CAG awards and had apparently flushed the brief for a print ad down a commode just because the brief didn’t mention whether the ad should be in black/white or colour.
Naturally, we started out hero-worshipping the award winners. In this environment, I too developed a hunger for awards. In my second year in advertising, I won a CAG award for a press campaign for Shell. A bronze. My first award ever, art directed by Prasad Raghavan who is a now a renowned painter. If getting through the IIT JEE was the happiest day of the decade till then, this was the second happiest day. Even the receptionist and security guards of Contract’s Delhi office started treating me with a newfound respect. It was like what Shraddha Kapoor must have felt after Aashiqui 2. Even the system acknowledged an award-winning creative person. I got promoted and even got a raise. I started getting job offers from other agencies.
In my next stint, at Ogilvy, we created a campaign for Satyam Cineplex that won 22 awards in one year. Including four Abbies in an era when agencies had not yet started boycotting awards. Not to mention, Cannes and One Show finalists. Owing to this, we got a chance to work in Ogilvy, Kuala Lumpur and more promotions.
Ironically, after five years, in which we won close to 100 national and international awards, I started deeply thinking about the eco-system of awards. Blame it on my engineer training or whatever, the propensity to go beneath the surface and question everything regardless of popular opinion, was what really led me to this. Some of the questions that occurred to me included:
1) If rewarding creative excellence is the real agenda of the award show organizers, why does a single Cannes Lion entry cost 23 grand?
2) Does a client look at me more respectfully if I have won an award?
3) Does winning an award for the 200th time make me as happy as winning it for the first time?
4) Do I derive happiness winning an award from a jury containing people whose work or creative judgement I don’t admire or don’t even know?
All these are my personal thought processes. There is no doubt in the initial phases, when there weren’t as many opportunities within the agency and also no Facebook (where a creative person can achieve relative fame just by the periodic posting of selfies, images from that trip to Cappadocia and other equally evocative ones like him buying groceries!), awards were the only way to get noticed and create ripples in the industry.
At the same time, it was an illusory glory. When I turned entrepreneur, I had to shift my focus from illusion to cold reality. When I went scouting for new business without the backing of a big agency label behind me, the past campaigns that really helped land our first set of business wins were KILB (for Aegon Religare), Vaseline (Aam Chori Chappa Chori), Asian Paints ‘Budget Shaadi’ and Nerolac Shalini Chopra. Real campaigns that had garnered real market share. Not the award-winning but less visible campaigns for book shops and barbers. Even today, Scarecrow has won lots of business, organic and inorganic, based on successful market place campaigns for Quikr, Fiama Di Wills, Poshan Wala Lotion and ZKK ‘Kal Kya Banaoon’ to name a few.
To reiterate, these are just personal observations. Despite all this, the fact remains that for most creative people, awards matter. The way I see it, it’s a personal choice how much you want to chase it. And for how long. Ultimately, it all depends on what you seek from advertising.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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