Looks like some controversies never die and the debate shall go on. Found this Interview with Mr. Piyush Pandey via agencyfaqs. I thought it would be great to know your opinion too. Read on and speak your mind:
‘Scam ads’ is all about bad losers spoiling the party
Ogilvy & Mather India's chairman & national creative director, Piyush Pandey, has been in the eye of a storm lately with virtually half the Indian advertising industry speaking in hushed voices against his domination of the Abbys and even accusing him of indulging in 'scam ads' to win awards.
Pandey, who has maintained a low-profile during all this time, comes out in the open for the first time to takes on these accusations and his detractors in the industry head-on. And in-between, he also speaks on how advertising is selling itself cheap and creative trends to watch out for this year.
Excerpts:
You have been accused of running Abbys as O&M extension?
People shouldn't blame O&M for their failures. Please stop behaving like bad losers or you'll spoil the game for young people who're the future of this industry. Some people have short memories in this industry and they should refresh it a little bit. They may like to do a little homework too. And this isn't about Abbys. They must check from the inception of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) till when O&M stopped participating - who's work dominated the AAAI awards? Till the A&M awards closed down, who dominated these awards?
Till such time O&M stopped participating in the big-bang awards in Bangalore and Chennai, who dominated it? Basically, if young people at O&M did good work and you did not, why blame us? So therefore, if you have a personal agenda of either living up to your secretarial responsibilities this year, please don't blame O&M for it. Life is too short, let's try and admire the good work and get on with it.
Some people also point out that some of your award winning work is basically 'scam ads'?
I think people should look into their own work, their own one-offs. Look at their own victories before they start pointing fingers at others. And those who have issues against awards and one-offs should look at their own awards and their acceptance of being on the jury of international awards, despite claiming not to believe in them.
What are the 'creative trends' in advertising for this year?
Manifestations of reaching out to people will change with availability of new mediums in mobile, internet and radio. What will not change is the value of an idea. Human emotions will not change. But, there will be experiments on new ways of presenting it to consumers. Communication will have to keep in line with the evolution of a society. For even while we have the new-age bold cinema in India, the Advertising Standards Council of India bans a VIP Frenchie ad, which does not show any people, least nude or semi-nude models!
The society will find its own balance, and if need be, will go back to its roots to find answers. Look at the new film, Rang De Basanti. I think it's good, for it tries to address today's problems by using the past. The message is clear, you can't write away your past.Do you see advertising discipline maturing in India?In India, the ad industry is little less aggressive than it should be. It usually sells itself cheaply. It is sad that this industry doesn't behave like MF Hussein, who doesn't work on a turnover target but a dream, an idea.
If you plan your life around (financial) targets, clients will use those targets against you. But an idea doesn't come cheap. The ad business should, once again, start living the ideas, start valuing ideas, take more pride doing what we're doing and charging clients for it. We should get into a scenario of a stronger sales-driven compensation.
How does the ad market look this year?
The market is looking good. Clients are doing well, and they'll be experimental this year. They will invest in new media in a small way. I hope you won't call it a 'scam ad' next year.
Via: The Economic Times
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