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Clash of the advertising titans: (From
left)
R. Balakrishnan of Lowe India, moderator Bharat Dabholkar of
Publicis India and ad film-maker Prahlad Kakar |
The
Taj in Mumbai was out of bounds for advertising clients that evening.
They gatecrashed, of course. Who'd want to miss some of India's
most voluble adfolk, even if doused with Royal Challenge whisky,
breathing fire over the good and evil that clients do?
'Client intervention limits advertising creativity'
was the motion at the Mumbai Crossfire, and in its favour stood
Prahlad Kakar, ad film maker, scuba diver, and dhaba owner (it's
called Papa Pancho Dhaba, if you must ask). And against the motion
stood R. Balakrishnan, Executive Creative Director of Lowe India,
better known as Balki, his bulkiest client being HLL. The moderator
Bharat Dabholkar kicked off proceedings with an ode to Amul's V.
Kurien, his career-fave client-for giving him a totally free hand.
Kakar hit the mike first, describing himself
as "a survivor of many clients", thanks to his freelance
independence. "The difference is Balki is unhappily married
to the client, and I am a one-night stand," he grinned. And
then, his main argument: "In our business hindsight is the
greatest eraser of truth." Pre-meditated success? Bah. It's
all happenstance. To illustrate this, he launched himself into a
free-wheeling narration of the real story behind Maggi's 'It's Different'
blockbuster. The concept couldn't be put on paper, so HTA's Denis
Joseph decided to dummyshoot eight options, which got rendered into
Hindi by Javed Jafferi, the films' actor. The 'clients', the brand
managers, got miffed: they wanted the USP, the 'sauce moment' and
so on-scripted and presented on paper. But Nestle big-honcho Darius
Ardeshir, who heard the noisy films playing in the conference room
on his way to the loo for a leak, popped in, asked questions and
demanded to see seven of the eight options on air.
"Okay Prahlad," intervened Dabholkar,
"you're fighting for the wrong cause." Not at all, replied
Kakar. The client didn't approve the idea, but "the guy taking
a leak" did.
Balakrishnan, in response, began by accusing
Kakar of having fun with a "very very serious topic".
Because clients, he clarified, were picking up the tab for the debate.
Artistic vision? Hah, he scoffed, "They're all out here to
make money." Moreover, who's a client and who's not depends
on that particular transaction; Balki is a 'client' to the music
man-so should this fellow be groaning, 'I'm a pure artist, what
the hell does this guy know about music?' All services must be bought,
like anything else, and all buyers ought to be particular about
what they get. "Try paying money without asking a question,"
posed Balki, "That's an ideal world. We cannot talk of exceptions
as a rule." Also, clients are not adfolk, and understandably
so. "You expect clients to behave like agencies and give you
all the freedom and say, 'I know exactly what you're doing, go and
do it'? My left foot. That's 20-30 crore rupees."
Sure, granted Dabholkar, "But do those
questions harm creativity?" Balki's response: "No, they
don't. A lot of harm in creativity is because of misunderstanding.
It's not that just clients are fools, there are also creative people
who are fools or a lot of film directors who are fools."
Just Try Having Fun
Clients, insisted Kakar, only want to check
how strong the work's creative conviction is. If one is hired because
one knows the job, then it's no point buckling under and selling
one's creativity short. "The basis of all creative is about
originality, simplicity and high risk." So clients ought to
take the risks the creative wants to take, and watch results. "The
business of business is to take risk," said Kakar, "If
it is to play safe, everybody will be a millionaire."
It's not so simple, felt Balki, arguing that
the task is to "address the problem, remove his fear".
It is clients, after all, who "live the problem day in and
day out". So understand what they're trying to say. "Remember,
a client is not just a client, he is representative of an organisation."
And likewise, he as the creative chief too has to take responsibility
for the work. "Finally I am answerable when my neck is on the
block."
"Remember one thing," cautioned Kakar,
wrapping his argument up, "bad decisions are always yours regardless
of who makes them." Well, said Balki, putting the thrust of
his grim case in a nutshell, "Don't sit in the artist zone
and expect to be paid Rs 20 crore."
The Q&A session was the one chance that
clients had to make their voices heard. And some actually did, too.
A banker complained that ad agencies are more interested in media
buying and budgets, and it's the client who has to twist some arms
to get the creative juices flowing. Kakar's response: "The
most important part the client can play in creating the advertisement
is to give a very clear brief, and 90 per cent of the time that
does not happen."
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