Ad land’s Young Guns: Ayushi Rastogi, Havas India

Ayushi Rastogi, Creative Supervisor - Art, Havas India has tasted success early on in her career. Rastogi, along with her colleague Shilpa Chaudhary were the recipients of the special award at Goafest 2017 for their multi-media campaign aimed at mitigating gender violence. The winning campaign will be funded for production by The Advertising Club (TAC) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). 

What does it takes to climb up the ladder in advertising? Here’s Ayushi Rastogi in her own words... 

How did you get into the role you are serving?
After completing my graduation from Amity University in visual arts, I joined advertising first as a trainee for nine months and then later got confirmed. Like every advertising person, I, too, have hopped skipped and jumped to find a place at Havas. 

What particular skill sets do you think you bring to the table?
My knowledge of art and my middle class upbringing have helped with my ideas and thinking. I feel I can bring small town insights into ideas and can relate to how people outside the metros look at advertising. 

One campaign that you have worked on that you are particularly proud of? Please take us through the making of the campaign.
The campaign is called ‘Par’. It is targeted towards women who face domestic abuse. It aims to tell them to negate any justification... “Par” (means ‘but’ in Hindi). 

The idea started as a poster campaign. But we extended the idea into a TV ad, as well as a series of online ads. The film was shot in the streets of Mumbai in just a day. We went from one street to the other to check which was less crowded, and then found an appropriate moment to take the shot. It was a gruelling experience as we kept moving locations. But the end result really had everyone giving it a round of applause. 

While working on the creatives how do you prepare yourself? What goes on in your mind?
I do not dive directly into brainstorming, I let my mind wonder and only get down to working when I have a free state of mind. I keep jotting down ideas as and when they come to me. Only later do I get down to picking and choosing the ones which seem to stand out. To get my mind ticking, I also look at great advertising campaigns and examples at large. 

Icons in advertising you look up to and how they have influenced you and your work?
There are many, but specifically Piyush Pandey (I am sure every advertising person follows him), Santosh Padhi and Jessica Walsh. It’s not just their work, but their lives, too, have influenced me. 

What are the five most productive things that you do in your everyday routine?
I do not follow a specific pattern, but few things that I do a lot are:

  • I keep doodling, be it an idea or just a funny illustration. I feel it frees my mind.
  • I go through sites randomly to get inspired.
  • I like to read news to be updated.
  • I try and spend as less time on the chair as possible and keep walking about in office.
  • I like to end each day with a good meal. 

Do you think a career in advertising is a viable one in the long term?
While there are many who switch careers, I see advertising as a long marathon. It’s not the miles that you have covered which matter, but the ones you are yet to cover. It can get frustrating at times, but those are the moments where you have to bring that extra energy to use. 

What does it take to succeed in a career like advertising?
Patience in all forms because most of the ideas you do, they do not see the light of day. But you have to be really patient enough to see the ones that do. Advertising success can also be shortlived. So, you actually have to find one success after the other and not lose steam. 

What would be your advice to youngsters planning to enter this industry?

Youngsters should not see this career as a stop-gap career option.

In advertising, you have to earn your stars and only then will you reap the fruits.

The beginning years can be tasking, but those are the ones where you actually learn (and have fun).

Later on, life can get repetitive, and you could end up doing the same thing over and over again. But yes, the beginning is actually where the fun lies. 

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I see myself at a place which is more design specific and caters to new mediums. 

Is there any agency/ organisation that you would like to work with in the future?
I do not have any one organisation in mind because agencies are changing with time, and only future will tell where I belong. I am more attracted to working with people rather than organisations.

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