ITS TRUE - IDEAS IN THE SHOWER!

Client : 21st Century Management Services, Chennai, India

Brief : To communicate that Twentyfirst Century Management Services is a very modern company with a large number of branches spread throughout India but still deep rooted in traditional values of integrity, family values etc.

Headline :

The extent of our branches shows the depth of our roots.

Idea Trigger :

At last one Account Executive was sure of what he wanted his message to be this time. Abraham did a good job of rubbing in the "modern company, traditional values" bit. This focussed my approach. They wanted me to come up with a hard-hitting line the very next day. Thought about it a bit at home. Slept over it. Woke up. Thought about it. Went into the shower thinking about it…and…bingo ! In the middle of the shower, thinking about roots and branches, the idea was born. I was excited. Got out of the shower and immediately noted it down. But I was not sure of their reaction. I knew that I had a good line but…so to be safe I also put down 2 to 3 options. Back at office, Sandesh, then the Art Director, now the Creative Director walked in, settled down in his desk and immediately called me. "Got anything?" I showed him the options first. No . No. No. Then I showed him the line. Not a word said…just a quiet "Ok". He started working on the layout. Abe too was excited. Aubrey had to pass by at that time. He peeped into the computer screen on Sandesh's desk and turned to Abe. "Quite good." Abe pointed to me. Team work, good brief I said. "When the creatives are good, Client Servicing has a ball !", Aubrey told Abe. Quite true as I found out. Because the ad was approved in the first go. The client was thrilled and immediately wanted a high profile release. I never knew when it happened nor ever saw it in print. (Later I heard that it had an all India release in India Today).

THE 3RD SIDE OF THE COIN

Client : Salem Steel

Brief :

To communicate that Salem Steel has invested Rs. 630 million to give its customers better quality, lower prices and faster delivery.

Medium : Press

Year : 1995

Headline :

We invested Rs. 630 million to give our customers a few ups and downs.

Visual :

A sine wave with High Quality and Fast Delivery marked on the crests. Low Price is marked in the trough (my visual idea)

Idea Trigger :

Minoo had already established two routes for the above brief. With my usual fascination for actual sketching and visualizing of the communication problem, I was playing with the 3 important customer benefits of 'High Quality', 'Faster Delivery' and 'Lower prices'. These fitted perfectly on the crests and troughs of a one and a half cycle sine wave. But only after a while, the phrase 'ups and downs' struck me that went along well with this visual.

Minoo remarked "I thought these were the only two possible routes, but he has found a third." This immediately brought to my mind what Konrad used to say about Beethoven - when other music composers, developing a piece, used to think that a particular tune could only take two possible routes, Beethoven would always come up with a third. No. I am not Beethoven, but I mention the above incident to illustrate my idea that Copywriting is very much like music composition (though I am illiterate about the latter, Konrad can speak volumes about it and whatever little I have understood of it is due to him) filled with ideas. And your copy like a music piece has to be developed creatively, written and rewritten, cut, mixed, edited - very much like creating a musical piece. Maybe all Creative work or idea generation is, only the forms or the medium of expressing the ideas differ.

SHRIMPS AND TEAK FOR BREAKFAST

Client : VGP Teak

Brief : To communicate that VGP Teak and Shrimp farms have shifted their office to 41, Andheri West, Bombay.

Year: 1995

Medium : Press, Bombay Times of India, B/W, maybe 10 x 2
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Headline : There are teak trees and shrimps sprouting out of 41, Andheri West, Bombay !

Idea Trigger : Just a dramatic premise. I immediately did this after completing the Strawberry Stripes assignment. I was on a creative high. Just churning out stuff at speeds which others could but didn't want to experiment. I didn't see the ad in print as it was released in Bombay..