Adgully Exclusive | Creatively belligerent: My Creative Sherpa's Linda Kovarik

There are many different courses that life can take you, making all that planning a waste of time and energy. Linda Kovarik, who was all set to be a doctor had no idea that one day she would head a "streative' agency called My Creative Sherpa, where she blends in strategies and creativity to find holistic solutions for brand problems. Craving for adventure, her trip to China changed her course of life, bringing her to the creative field of advertising and the like.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, she discusses the Indian market and the International scenario in this space, giving her insights and views from her varied experience at Lintas, as Creative Director, Asia Pacific at Coca Cola, as Executive Planning Director at Beacon Communication, and her stint with P&G as the Regional Planning Director at Leo Burnett and currently Head of Strategy & Lead Sherpa at Creative Sherpa.

"Sometimes when you are in the creative realm for so long then you get to a point where you develop this itch to create and market your own product. I love this word "sherpa'. He is a person who guides people up to the top of the mountain. He has gone the same path numerous times. In this realm you got to take ego and park it. I like my eulogy to read that I actually contributed to advertising in Asia and that has been the reason or heart beat behind Creative Sherpa. It is a "streative' agency, creative and strategic melded together. I don't want this to be a typical or traditional thing at all," she said talking about her brand new agency. She further adds that this agency may have a stronger focus in China and Japan.

Like everything new, setting up something from scratch has its own challenges and setbacks but one thing which Kovarik faced was her fear. "Biggest challenge I had was fear while setting up Creative Sherpa. But I met a fascinating man who said that I may be over thinking too much so he advised me to just "drive and then think'. And one shouldn't be afraid of failure. So this is something that I have been thinking about, I am going actively try and fail at everything I do. I am just going to go for it. The learning that one acquires from failures is often more powerful. In fact there is this book called "Burning through Worst Practice' where there are case studies where all these brands failed, gigantic amount of learning," she said.

Having great faith and belief in the developing markets, Kovarik believes these markets will drive the growth and other related aspects. "I really believe that "low budgets are the mother of creative explosions' and so it is the scrappiness of people who live in India or China or Philippines because the budgets aren't gigantic and they need to make do. Western world have got a little lazy with their gigantic budgets and they aren't creatively scrappy as developing markets. The important thing for developing markets to remember is not to duplicate. They should have the right mindset and take things in their hands to spearhead initiatives. There is this amazing thing that is happening where someone in Mumbai is able to inspire someone in Frankfurt, Germany. I think inspiration is easily caught on. I think there is a creative global mash up going on," she explained.

Kovarik is of the opinion that someone is in this business not to make pretty ads but to solve a business problem.

"Creativity without a result is not why we are here. You absolutely need to understand how to solve that problem. I really believe an advertisement works if you can make someone's skin tingle or cram ones stomach with laughter or make a tear come to someone's eye. You must understand and try to tap into the local culture and tap into the emotion that prevails locally to be able to reach out to the audience," she further added.

Talking about the effect of the new media, Kovarik discussed at length the need to be digital aspect of campaigns as crucial as other aspects. She said, "You cannot ignore the new media, that's where people are. There are more people gaming in China and India. Having said that, those markets are still stronger where television is concerned. Everyone working in advertising industry must be searching online to see how their campaigns can be done better. You have to be where the audience is. Clients must understand the value of online marketing, one is able to super target your audience. Online enables you to have a direct communication with your specific TG."

"Clients need evangelization where the new media is concerned. I think there is power in educating clients. It is about being an expert and being a leader. Clients sometimes know a lot more than the agency which is a problem. You are paying the agency for expertise. Clients indulge in new media because of competition and the spirit of experimentation. Digital must be a part of the integrated marketing and I find that super powerful. Campaigns should be totally engaging and interactive," she further explained.

Kovarik urges Indians to come up with a stronger and a more advanced way of measuring marketing initiatives whether on web or otherwise. "It is harder to get into IIT than MIT after all. Indians are creators and are not meant to be followers," she adds on. To understand the success of a campaign, one must be able to measure it accurately. Kovarik said that Indians have amazing brains and must take the reins to spearhead such initiatives.

One of the concerns that Kovarik predicts in this space is clutter. "Agencies shouldn't have various compartments. Everyone should work together, side by side. Those agencies which are adamant on traditional ways alone could shrivel up and die. You cannot treat digital media as a step child. One concern the international markets may face is clutter, there are so many different kinds of advertisements and they are almost on every space available that a day would come when people become immune and stop seeing," she said.

Kovarik is opinionated about the improvements clients and agencies need to make from their respective side to work as a team and to make their time worthwhile. Recently at a seminar held by IAMAI, she said, "This industry was created by mavericks, it's time to bring them back in." She is hopeful for India and wants to see local brands going global, a scenario that has already taken place in China. Kovarik also urges the youngsters to join this field with passion and lots of hard work. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]