Does your client own your shower time?
Shower time? What the hell is that?
This is the perfect relationship between a client and Agency and the most popular and celebrated advertising genius does it. I read an article which was published in financial times a month ago and I could not resist myself to write a few words in the honor of Great AdMan of India. Our own Piyush Pandey.
Ogilvy has so many prestigious accounts under his guidance such as ITC but any of his accounts don’t need to give him any specific brief on how an ad campaign would shape-up, its positioning and other details. They enjoyed his shower time. That’s the commitment towards his work and client, really commendable. I rarely see such passion in anyone towards his job except our prime minister – Narendra Modi and captain cool – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in modern times.
If you read this article, you will find how – At a press conference a few months ago for the launch of a campaign for ITC’s Savlon, a journalist asked Piyush what the brief was. He replied there was no brief, as ITC and Savlon owned his ‘shower time’.
Piyush explains, in his own way, that in cases where the agency and the client have a long-standing, firm and easy relationship, he doesn’t need specific briefs.
Piyush and his team are 24×7 available in 365 days for his client, There are a number of companies and brands that ‘own’ Piyush’s shower time and Piyush owns the client’s shower time as well.
Another most interesting thing which we got to know from this article which is written by Anant Rangaswami, that this Advertising genius is not on any social platform, except WhatsApp, which he generally used to give his inputs on creatives and to keep in touch with family.
He believes in the real world, not in the virtual one, he loves to see, feels, touches hears and smells the things in the real world and brings out something which we can’t able to get. That is something very natural traits of a great Adman.
Do you believe that security is important in the world of advertising?
Yes, it is, and this question often asked by Piyush in interviews, in his words:- All that I want to establish is that the candidate is a ‘secure’ human being.”
Who’s the secure and who’s an insecure human being.
In advertising business – An idea should have legs to travel, and how would u check the legs of ideas? by sharing…. isn’t?
After sharing, the recipient can’t agree with the idea or he may not convince the idea’s durability or worthiness as you thought, it was. So a secure person takes it as a suggestion and lives with it but an insecure person would allow this rejection to whitewash the entire idea, scrap everything without further discussion.
A Secure person would always allow transforming the idea to flourish from being his or her idea to groups ideas, A group which is responsible for a common goal or objective. An insecure person hesitates to transfer this ownership from his domain to a group of people. An idea cannot stick to one individual, it belongs to an objective, a vision, and people who are responsible to execute this.
I have been instrumental in shaping so many marketing campaigns in my career, which once belonged to me but I let it go with the group of people which aligned with those ideas. Now after years, I could proudly remember those ideas.
This is not only for the Agency and client but true for every Professional relationship.
An organization grows when all the stakeholders share the same responsibility and ownership to get that shared objective. This is an excellent article and must-read for professionals.
Great write up and vision . Keep writing