Creativity, for me, is sensitivity in a world where no one is listening: Josy Paul

The biggest motivation for any creative team is a good brief from the client and the planning team so that there is clarity right at the beginning before the start of the campaign. Having said that, different creative leaders have different styles and thinking when they approach a campaign. Right from brainstorming to intense discussions, the team will always be thinking on their feet to crack that magic of an idea which will help in developing the campaign once the brief arrives. Would the team need more information on research, or will they jump on a bike and hit the streets and meet consumers and do some quick sound bites to get first hand consumer feedback – the approaches are different. Different creative leaders have different techniques and processes that they follow to motivate and inspire the creative team to get the best results, but most creative honchos do believe in giving an open freedom to their team to come out with some path breaking ideas.

There is a lot of hard work and sweat that goes into creating some of the successful campaigns. And there are several challenges that the creative leader comes across at every stage of the campaign discussions. In the case of a new business pitch, the agency gets only one chance and they must be totally sure that they are able to deliver the right creative and business solution to win the pitch.

To understand better and more as to how a Creative leader navigates his creative ship to produce a great campaign and what are the challenges that he or she is facing to motivate the team and to get the best results, Adgully spoke to Josy Paul, Chairman and CCO, BBDO India, to know his perspective in our weekly column Talking Insights.

What are your expectations from a client’s brief? What are the key nuggets you look in a brief from a client?

It’s not about the brief, it’s about the briefing. A brief is a transaction, a briefing is an interaction. Some of our best ideas that led to transformational market impact for our clients have come from such discussions. These include brand movements like Whisper ‘Touch the Pickle’, Ariel ‘Share the Load’, Mirinda ‘Release the Pressure’, and All Out ‘Stand by Tough Moms’. We didn’t create ideas like these by merely responding to a brief, we discovered them during the interaction and confessions of highly charged briefing sessions.

Internally, your account planning team will work further on the client’s brief. Is there any process or system that you follow to get that big idea?

At the BBDO Ashram, we have a more circular planning system, not a linear one. After the briefing session, we come together as a team. We discuss our personal relationship with the brand and category. These are guided sessions that open up the floodgates of emotion. People often break down! We are not unearthing insights here, we are going deeper. The sharing is electric! It’s a very moving experience that uncovers some raw and real hidden truths.

Research forms a key component when working on a campaign. How much of importance do you give to research to crack your key insights for the campaign?

There is big data and then there are lots of interesting ways to mine insights. But, like I said before, our way of unearthing the truth is very human, very anecdotal, very personal. If you are part of these sharing sessions, you’ll see how sensitive it is. We call it ‘emotional data’. It’s the data of the soul. We go to the ocean floor of ourselves. It’s not advertising, it’s creative therapy.

Some of the best ideas come with multiple grey cells, or what they call a brainstorming. Do you believe in brainstorming with the team and does brain storming help you coming out with the right solutions?

Brainstorming is good fun! It’s intelligent and creative. We prefer heart-storming or soul-stirring! These are more authentic, more empathetic and more true to the world we live in. And everybody can contribute. It’s an inclusive form of creativity. Creativity, for me, is sensitivity in a world where no one is listening.

Multiple ideas emerge when you work on a brief. How do you single out on that one idea which wins the client’s heart?

We believe ‘Content is king, but context is King Kong’. The context is what connects with consumers. It’s what makes some brands more relevant than other brands. That is what we seek. You get a lot of things thrown at you, but in the end it’s instinct. You just know when the right context hits you! It keeps you awake. You are too excited to sleep. I remember when we created Visa ‘Kindness Is Cashless’, Gillette ‘Women Against Lazy Stubble’, and eBay ‘Things Don’t Judge’, we were just waiting for morning to break… so that we could rush to the client to share the idea. We felt it deeply.

What are your views on awards? Are they one of the best ways to inspire the creative team so that they get motivated?

The world’s biggest creative and effectiveness award shows serve a missionary purpose. They attract new talent to the industry, and to the agencies! They shine the light on great work. You get to see amazing stuff that was not in your line of vision. They take your best work and enable it to reach far and wide and influence people in other countries. The best award shows point you to the future. They show you where advertising is going!