This one is for some lighter moments. There have been so many interesting anecdotes in my career that I could write a book on the same. Do wait for the book but till then suffice with this blog. For obvious reasons the names of key characters in the instances below will be a secret.
This incident happened on my first day in advertising. Around 20 of us from prominent business institutes trooped into the conference room at Lintas Mumbai. It was the happening agency in the country and all of us were starry eyed keen to change the course of some of India's well known brand. What happened was quite anti climatic.
A senior management walked into the room in a suit. Full of poise and self assurance the gent with a calm demeanour proceeded to put up his first acetate (this was the pre powerpoint days when acetate projection was the rage). And there was an audible gasp from all of us. The 20 odd Management graduate's first encounter with a MNC agency read "From today, your soul may belong to God but your a*** belongs to me."
After that rather warm welcome we were for one month put through a double grind. The days were devoted to lecture sessions and some idea about how the theory part of the business ran. But the evenings, yes 5:30 onwards we were attached to various servicing teams in the agency and worked the second shift as trainees on the job.
I was put onto a team which had an MNC bank as its client and the very first day at around 7 pm I was told to go to the Times Of India's printing section and hold the press till the material for the client's ad reached (again, in the pre computer days material meant, block or matt or negative or positive). When asked as to when will the material be ready, with a shrug I was told, maybe around 11. Oh and don't bother to come to office tomorrow if the ad does not appear tomorrow, I was told.
So off I marched to the printing section of Times of India, without any idea of what I was being pushed into. Don't forget those days TOI had hardly any competition. There was no Mid day or DNA or HT and Indian Express was seen as a rebel. So the newspaper was the monarch of all it surveyed. Dressed in a jacket and tie I walked into an area where workers with ink all over and in overalls were to be seen. Obviously I was not allowed into the main printing area and was first asked to get in touch with the advertising department. But since almost everyone had left there, I faced a reluctant supervisor in the printing department.
To say that I was overdressed for the occasion would be stating it mildly. Quickly taking off my jacket, pulling off my tie and rolling up my shirt sleeve I narrated to the gent in crisp English that he will have to wait till 11 pm to print my ad! The incredulous look on the face of the gent said it all. In chaste Marathi he ticked me off. What I could understand was that he asked me to shove the ad up my backside if the material was not delivered by 9.
In a bit of panic, I tried calling the office through a public phone (remember, these were not just pre computer and pre powerpoint days but also pre cell phone days). after an eternity I got through to my boss (an account executive just one year into the business). He curtly told me that the material could in fact be further delayed. And the ad was topical so it must appear tomorrow.
With visions of losing my job in a day I turned on all my persuasive powers on the supervisor. I begged, pleaded, gave him a sob story of losing my job, offered to buy him some vada pav and Thums up (it was pre Pepsi or Coke days too)...you get the drift. What I did not realise that behind the scenes the media department of Lintas had already spoken to the right person to ensure that inspite of the delay in material the ad would be published.
By this time I was a mental wreck and also wondering if this is what I deserved after doing a MBA. All the dreams of changing the course of brands like Liril or Surf had evaporated. But I did not want to fail. So I persisted and could have kissed anyone in sight when around 11 pm the material reached the press and the supervisor took it with a wink and asked me to go home and sleep.
Next day morning when I saw the ad in the newspaper, I had an extra zing in my step. I knew I could honestly claim to be a part of the ad. So I walked into office full of high spirits, lauding myself on chosing the right job and headed straight for my boss's desk. "I got the ad printed" was my proud comment to him. He looked at me from the corner of the eye and instead of the praise spat out "yes, but why didn't you get it on the right hand page!"
In the days of print media right hand side page commanded a premium because natural eye movement is first towards that page. And to get an ad on right page without paying extra would be a big triumph. A confused me was again debating my choice of profession!
This incident happened on my first day in advertising. Around 20 of us from prominent business institutes trooped into the conference room at Lintas Mumbai. It was the happening agency in the country and all of us were starry eyed keen to change the course of some of India's well known brand. What happened was quite anti climatic.
A senior management walked into the room in a suit. Full of poise and self assurance the gent with a calm demeanour proceeded to put up his first acetate (this was the pre powerpoint days when acetate projection was the rage). And there was an audible gasp from all of us. The 20 odd Management graduate's first encounter with a MNC agency read "From today, your soul may belong to God but your a*** belongs to me."
After that rather warm welcome we were for one month put through a double grind. The days were devoted to lecture sessions and some idea about how the theory part of the business ran. But the evenings, yes 5:30 onwards we were attached to various servicing teams in the agency and worked the second shift as trainees on the job.
I was put onto a team which had an MNC bank as its client and the very first day at around 7 pm I was told to go to the Times Of India's printing section and hold the press till the material for the client's ad reached (again, in the pre computer days material meant, block or matt or negative or positive). When asked as to when will the material be ready, with a shrug I was told, maybe around 11. Oh and don't bother to come to office tomorrow if the ad does not appear tomorrow, I was told.
So off I marched to the printing section of Times of India, without any idea of what I was being pushed into. Don't forget those days TOI had hardly any competition. There was no Mid day or DNA or HT and Indian Express was seen as a rebel. So the newspaper was the monarch of all it surveyed. Dressed in a jacket and tie I walked into an area where workers with ink all over and in overalls were to be seen. Obviously I was not allowed into the main printing area and was first asked to get in touch with the advertising department. But since almost everyone had left there, I faced a reluctant supervisor in the printing department.
To say that I was overdressed for the occasion would be stating it mildly. Quickly taking off my jacket, pulling off my tie and rolling up my shirt sleeve I narrated to the gent in crisp English that he will have to wait till 11 pm to print my ad! The incredulous look on the face of the gent said it all. In chaste Marathi he ticked me off. What I could understand was that he asked me to shove the ad up my backside if the material was not delivered by 9.
In a bit of panic, I tried calling the office through a public phone (remember, these were not just pre computer and pre powerpoint days but also pre cell phone days). after an eternity I got through to my boss (an account executive just one year into the business). He curtly told me that the material could in fact be further delayed. And the ad was topical so it must appear tomorrow.
With visions of losing my job in a day I turned on all my persuasive powers on the supervisor. I begged, pleaded, gave him a sob story of losing my job, offered to buy him some vada pav and Thums up (it was pre Pepsi or Coke days too)...you get the drift. What I did not realise that behind the scenes the media department of Lintas had already spoken to the right person to ensure that inspite of the delay in material the ad would be published.
By this time I was a mental wreck and also wondering if this is what I deserved after doing a MBA. All the dreams of changing the course of brands like Liril or Surf had evaporated. But I did not want to fail. So I persisted and could have kissed anyone in sight when around 11 pm the material reached the press and the supervisor took it with a wink and asked me to go home and sleep.
Next day morning when I saw the ad in the newspaper, I had an extra zing in my step. I knew I could honestly claim to be a part of the ad. So I walked into office full of high spirits, lauding myself on chosing the right job and headed straight for my boss's desk. "I got the ad printed" was my proud comment to him. He looked at me from the corner of the eye and instead of the praise spat out "yes, but why didn't you get it on the right hand page!"
In the days of print media right hand side page commanded a premium because natural eye movement is first towards that page. And to get an ad on right page without paying extra would be a big triumph. A confused me was again debating my choice of profession!
