Digital needs to get creative: Piyush Pandey @IAA Retrospect & Prospects

“If you give me facts, I learn
If you give me truth, I believe
If you give me a story, I remember”
- Piyush Pandey

A packed audience witnessed Padmashri Piyush Pandey, Chairman, Ogilvy Group, presenting the International Advertising Association (IAA) Retrospect and Prospect in Mumbai yesterday (February 7, 2018). Pandey in his presentation shared some outstanding work that has the depth and potential to be adopted by people in our kind of countries. 

IAA President Ramesh Narayan remarked, “This is a unique event where an industry leader critiques the year that was, and does some crystal ball gazing into what the year ahead could hold out for the industry. Piyush and Prasoon Pandey are an inspiration for generations. They have made a huge contribution.” 

Piyush Pandey also spoke on what the industry needs to incorporate in their value system. He suggested that the advertsing industry needs more maturity in assessing our work, that hey, this is what we did good and this is what we need more to hone our skills. This WE is really important. It is not just the advertising industry but also the clients, associates and the credit and the responsibility should be shared and by all to buck up.

Looking at the retrospect, Pandey mentioned, "that some brands and causes have done some wonderful which make us a better society by creating communications which help us improve. Some brands have created communications which involve society and there are some agencies which touched upon causes with no brands involved. It is our contribution to things that we can make a difference on. I think we have done a very good job this year. Some of the works has that depth that can be adopted by people in our country and work well."

Some of the ads Pandey suggested stood the test of creativity while keeping the cause at the helm:

Speaking further, Pandey said, “Celebrities should not be reason for lack of creativity. We must respect the celebrity and work 10 times more on those creatives. Find the nuances of the celebrity and use it.” 

Showing his sheer delight on the way celebrity should be used for advertising, Pandey showcased the series of ads from Tata sky made by Ogilvy India:

He also believes that these ads are a wake-up call for the brands to associate with causes. Accordidng to him, with Print, the scenario has been a little pathetic for some time now.

Pandey also added that the digital needs to be understood better and has to be embraced, while also making it creative. He suggested learning from the medium and from the people who know the medium while commenting that, "No media will ever die. Nothing will kill anyone. Make use of every medium from what the medium has to offer."

In Prospect he mentioned that “Digital needs to get creative. As of now, it is just a medium. We need to learn how to make it happen.” 

The programme included a medley of the favourite ad films made by Piyush and Prasoon in what was named ‘Pandey’s Picks’. 

Pradeep Guha, MD, 9X Media, regaled the audience with a quick tour of how the entire Cannes story was born and where it had now reached. It was all about taking Indian advertising global. 

The presentation was followed by a felicitation of Piyush and Prasoon Pandey for having truly taken Indian to a global level. The two brothers have become the first Asians to receive the Lion of St Mark, the highest honour that the Cannes International Festival of Creativity in the communications industry. 

Speaking on the occasion, Prasoon Pandey said, “Our body of work is deeply rooted in Indian ethos and from slice of life. It is because we are passionate and love our country.”

The occasion was also used to present industry veteran Roger Pereira with the IAA Global Honorary Membership, which had been recently conferred on him at Bucharest. 

IAA Global Senior Vice President, Srinivasan Swamy, remarked that these were all signs of the great work that has been done by the India Chapter.

Pandey gave a quirky concluding remark by adding a prediction for this year, where he said that, “FMCG multinationals will not go to any B-schools this year for recruitment. They will go to Yogashrams and Ayurveda schools and get their people to grow long beards instead of using razors,” hinting at the emergence and growth of Patanjali Ayurved and other brands following suit.

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