‘The Logic & Magic of a campaign rollout’

OOH provides great scope for creativity, and yet the OOH landscape in India does not see a high level of creativity everywhere. In your view, is creativity essentially about innovations or does it apply to every campaign that is launched?

Creativity is alive in OOH, in comparison to earlier times where the focus was merely on delivering the campaign. Now there is a mind shift not only within the agencies but also among clients. Hence we see more efforts going into creativity and innovation. I believe there is mammoth scope for creativity.

Creativity is like the icing on the cake, whereas delivering a campaign is the first priority of any agency. Frankly to me it is a balancing game; we must deliver a campaign but with a buzz. There can’t be any competition between the two. I would like to term it as “Logic and Magic”. Logic is about delivering a campaign and magic is about creating a sensation.” 

What are the typical challenges that you see when handling the creative side of campaigns, and how do you raise the creative quotient of campaigns?

A quick turnaround time is one of the major challenges and in this cut throat industry media availability becomes another challenge. 

Yet another major challenge is about catering to different budget caps whereas creativity cannot be capped. Creating an innovation while keeping in mind time constraints, limits on budget, and media location is akin to clipping the wings of a bird that is ready to fly.

Location of the media also matters. For instance, Mumbai city has linear media landscape, hence innovation can be easily executed. However, Delhi has a circular media landscape so the scope for creativity is less. 

How much does recognition of creativity matter for the team, and in that context, tell us how awards win matter, such as, winning OAA awards?

Recognition matters a lot. It’s about acknowledging the efforts put in by a team. The creative person/team needs to feel valued. Recognition is a motivation for consistently delivering good works. Winning awards is the easiest way to earn that recognition. Hence, everyone wants to win and be the number one. 

The OAA contest like a mirror that shows us the outcome of our efforts, as the entire industry looks up to it. Many of our clients take OAA awards seriously.