Disqus - Latest Comments for Subbu

Re: Dead Horse Theory

Subbu — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:36:05 -0000

This is brilliant. It is so true. I intend to borrow it.

Re: http://the-viceroy.tumblr.com/post/2844845867

Subbu — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:33:51 -0000

Only when candid thoughts like these are expressed is there some hope for correction and hopefully improvement. India is a democracy and therefore we Indian's have to go through the same hassles as foreigner's. Governments approach is 'Maximum Inconvenience' to remind us of their presence 24/7.....

Re: 1968 Awesomeness

Subbu — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 01:00:22 -0000

Awesome....ooops...that's a bad word here. Expecting adland folks to have the vision to predict seismic movements, whether in tech or society or anywhere, is expecting a bit too much. We are a bunch of folks who believe in self-congratulation and mimicking the herd while we advise our clients(and the world) to do just the opposite. There are exceptions to the rule though and you will be hard-pressed to find them.

Re: Mind The Gap

Subbu — Wed, 19 May 2010 02:59:30 -0000

Great read, Charles. The politics of winning elections by bribes etc is not way too different from what we have here in India in spite of the free media and other regulatory mechanisms. However, the big difference between India and Thai or China etc is that whatever good happens is because of the people (and in spite of the State)

Re: 6 habits of effective branding with a nod to jamie oliver

Subbu — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:05:15 -0000

Nice post, Eaon. I will be even more 'simplistic' than you. There is the external as well as the internal aspects to people like Jamie Oliver. By external I mean the appearance, demeanour, style etc. Very often in the shallow world of adland where I come from, we ascribe 'coolness' to the externals. I think the key to the success and acceptance of people like Jamie, Branson etc are that they demonstrate their true character in their work. This is being genuine, cool and informal. A CEO who has captured my imagination in recent times by being 'internally' cool whilst having all the trappings of a stereotypical corporate czar externally is Alan Mullaly of Ford. This video wherein he experiments with Twitter is a case in point (http://bit.ly/hBNw)

Re: Is Social Media About Being Opaque?

Subbu — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 03:49:46 -0000

Thanks Charles for those kind words. I like the LSD bit...

I see comments as an opportunity to kick up dust, if possible. And I am never disappointed when I visit your blog. And modesty is unbecoming of you. I might not agree with the left-leaning bias and the naive activist zeal :) of your posts, but I surely do not think it is a dribble. Keep it coming....

Re: Is Social Media About Being Opaque?

Subbu — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 05:43:36 -0000

Somehow I have always felt that the activist zeal is confined to a few, be it the online space or the offline space. Many years back there was a lot of hue and cry about Nike, Adidas etc sourcing their products from companies and countries with poor facilities (including child labour) It did not make a dent to their sales. I suspect same will be the case with the sales of KitKat. I have always wondered why this is so. One of the explanations I have is that overabundance of media (including blogs etc) and subsequently information has made people numb to the message. a parallel I want to draw is the way the body becomes immune to effects of a drug when constantly imbibed. Does that mean one should not take up causes? Not at all. It is just that please do not expect people to join you on the march.

Re: 5 reasons why Diesel's 'be stupid' works

Subbu — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:10:24 -0000

'Be Stupid' was one of a kind idea and campaign in a category loaded with maverick brands like FCUK, Benetton etc. This fact has been forgotten by lot of people. Anomaly has done an amazing job in resurrecting an almost has-been brand to an iconic status with an iconic campaign. I love this manifesto video and couldn't help sharing it http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: Design Discussion Principles – How to get your client to love your design

Subbu — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:04:54 -0000

Brilliant post. There is a 5th kind of client - The Endangered Species. They are not afraid to have a PoV contrary to their organisation, not afraid to admit that they do not know and not afraid to back the agency. They are seeking to grow in their career by hard and meritorious work. They are the ones who are seeking true creative answers to their predicament. Agencies seldom know how to handle them and squander away a potential goldmine by either selling too hard of a wrong thing or trying to pass off a lousy thing or by not admitting that they don't know!

Re: If it's measurable it's not worth knowing.

Subbu — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:36:51 -0000

Well said, Charles. We are ruled by empiricists at all levels. Anything that is unknown or uncertain makes us uncomfortable and therefore is not desirable. Emotions be damned. Show me the numbers. Such are the ways of the world. What amazes me is that in spite of repeated proof that numbers are not always right, we fall for them again and again. This is especially true of campaign or creative research. I want to share this piece that is proof of this . http://j.mp/9yTTX3

Re: essential purpose

Subbu — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:05:36 -0000

It is a lot better than mine. Cheers and have a great week :)

Re: essential purpose

Subbu — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:23:57 -0000

Nice post. The reason it is onion-like and not as simple as it ought to be is it mimics the texture of our brain :)

Re: Visible & Invisible Lines

Subbu — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:56:45 -0000

The best time is now!

Re: Visible & Invisible Lines

Subbu — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:18:19 -0000

This should be sent to prospective employers instead of your resume. A creative guy can say it evocatively in a few lines and capture the essence very well

Re: before and after science

Subbu — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:13:56 -0000

The only way one can 'Be the Change' in advertising is by creating your own path, like Anomaly. I do not see the large agencies or their holding companies wanting to change....

Thanks for the Whale blubber story. It was a great analogy

Re: How Great Thou Art

Subbu — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:36:02 -0000

Brits do well in the agency business at NY. David Ogilvy, for instance. How about Charles Frith?

Re: Synovate in Sok Kwu Wan

Subbu — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:29:00 -0000

I get the drift. I love the fact that it is about giving creative the much needed elbow room.It sounds interesting and more importantly promising. It will definitely be a leap from what we have today. I am looking forward to the final articulation of the idea.

Re: Synovate in Sok Kwu Wan

Subbu — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:21:17 -0000

'What we don't know' is a great starting point. However, hasn't that always been the unstated objective of research? More importantly, the holy grail - insight - is supposed to be derived from it giving us all our eureka moment! This does not happen as we continue to research what we know. The reason 'what we dont know' does not happen is because of faulty technique. There is a need to explore different research styles for different categories. For example, a focus group for liquor brands might seem like an AA meeting and will completely put-off the respondents. This is what happened in the case of an important brand I was handling. I pointed this to the research agency and client, which pissed them off even more!

I am fundamentally questioning whether research of creative(s) or idea is possible? Please check the following links wherein Scott Bedbury expresses lucidly what we have been discussing. http://bit.ly/4aEugm & http://bit.ly/2BrkFA

Re: Synovate in Sok Kwu Wan

Subbu — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:05:32 -0000

No researcher or client or planner has been able to convince me that researching creatives is possible. Creative is a non-linear process while research is linear. Research to evolve positioning, strategy etc are okay. As regards creative, I have seen far too many good ideas being trashed in research to have any sort of respect for it. The 'strike-rate' of research-winning creatives doing well in the market place is abysmally low. This is a fact research agencies fail to disclose even though it is very obvious. This post in Fast Company generated an interesting conversation that might resonate with your post http://bit.ly/tlAsW

Re: Specialists v. integrators part II.

Subbu — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:06:13 -0000

Managed to get the url. Here goes, http://www.mad-blog.com/200...

I think some of your doubts might be cleared and probably raise new ones :)

Re: Specialists v. integrators part II.

Subbu — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:22:13 -0000

"An industry of ideas and not an industry of action". So True. I will borrow it.

I hope agencies wake up. I read somewhere a piece by Lee Clow wherein he urges agencies to drop terms like 'Media Neutral' and 'Media Agnostic' and instead become 'Media Passionate'. He specifically mentions the need to work hard on each media and not replicate the same idea everywhere. It is a great piece by a great man. Wish there were more like him.....

Re: Specialists v. integrators part II.

Subbu — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:27:27 -0000

Interesting post, Adrian, this and the one before it. I wish to share a recent experience.

My first project when I ventured solo this April was with an IT Major here in Bangalore. I wrote what I thought was a brilliant presentation and shared it with a friend who was a successful serial entrepreneur from the Valley. He looked at it and said "Nice story,Subbu. But where is the cookbook?" What he meant was that my presentation was a whole lot of BS and that I had avoided the part that would have made me Commit. Cookbook I realized is 'IT and Entrepreneur speak for Commitment'. My presentation which was story-telling was a hangover of my advertising days.

Thanks to him I did the 'cookbook'. I had to think a zillion times on each slide. The impact of the presentation - story telling + cookbook- was such that the client was forced to act on points raised. The action involved integration.

I think what I did is possible by anyone and will be the norm in the coming days. Agencies will be forced to commit if they want to retain their business and clients will be forced to be the integrators much like what Andy had rightly said. I also agree with you when you say that Marketers are probably not ready. But when agencies and experts do their part, marketers will be forced to....or am I dreaming an utopian world!

Re: The End of "Creative" Hegemony

Subbu — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:40:57 -0000

"Problem is compounded by lower salaries for what's becoming an increasingly female-dominated side of the business." Ditto in India! I wonder why no one is interested in doing anything about it.

Re: The End of "Creative" Hegemony

Subbu — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:55:27 -0000

Agencies have a dug a hole by creating these silo's and deep-mining them. In the last ten years or so, I have seen the devaluation of suits role completely. You are spot on when you say that "everyone else is there for just silent support". In fact, this aspect of the business has reached epidemic proportions in India with good 'suits' either leaving the business altogether or staying clear of the business. What we are left is suits who do not have the passion for the business and play as important a role as that of the lift-operator. This has affected the business very badly.

I do not have a solution. But I can tell you from my experience that whenever I had a good chemistry with my creative partner, the results were sheer magic. This happened because the creative person was 'open minded' and I tried to be as helpful without breathing down his/her neck. And this requires enormous amount of hard work on the part of the suit and one used to wonder whether it was worth all the trouble!

Re: Aha with live streaming

Subbu — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:12:06 -0000

The core is 'news'. How you deliver it - Newspapers, TV, Web etc - is a choice that media houses should make. The fact that they seem to be obsessed with the 'vehicle' is the reason for their decline. This is unfortunate as they have phenomenal strength in the 'core' in the form of writers. For example, nobody can deny the quality of penmanship of NYT writers. They should capitalise on this to get out of the rut.