AgTalk | With digital we are looking for a new compelling way of story-telling: Saatchi & Saatchi's Kamal Basu

Kamal Basu, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi India, believes that it is never too late to learn and re-learn and that it is very important to be passionate about whatever one does. In an exclusive interview with Adgully, he talks about the discrepancies caused due to separation of the media and the creative function and the growing youth market in India. Excerpts:

Adgully (AG): Can you share with us some of the key milestones of your career?

Kamal Basu (KB): It has been a long journey but an exciting one. The key milestones have been my move to Ogilvy Delhi ' which gave me the kind of exposure on global businesses that I had not earlier experienced. Joining Saatchi & Saatchi and getting a first time responsibility on bottom line, becoming the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi India and learning the ropes on managing upwards are a few that I can connect to turning points in my career.

AG: How have you seen the advertising space evolve over the years?

KB: During my tenure in this industry, I have seen the splitting up of the Media and the "Creative Only' agencies. This I believe has not been good for our industry. The evolution of the new media space is taking place under our nose and the agencies are busy formulating plans to adapt and adjust to this new culture albeit with moderate success.

AG: Do you think in the profession of advertising there has been an erosion of ethics?

KB: I do not believe so. Ethics are about people who run organizations. If these people have wrong ethics the organization becomes that way. It doesn't make sense being unethical in the business as with the churn that agencies suffer from, the news of these wrong ethics travels faster than one can imagine. Lastly, we thrive in this business basis our reputation. If that is soured we get nowhere. In my opinion it can only be a short term gain and a long term disaster.

AG: Is advertising more outspoken and young today?

KB: Yes it is and bound to be. India is the "Youth' country with the largest youth population in the world. The evolution of our youth today can be seen by the number of people following their hearts professionally and not their father's profession. When I see the number of people auditioning for the various reality shows on television, it is encouraging that this younger generation is adopting new things passionately, with the blessings of their parents and without losing their moral values.

AG: What roadmap have you charted for the agency now and are you looking at strengthening your digital offering?

KB: Everybody wants to get into this space and is learning the ropes through trial and error. We are not any different. Firstly, our top management has realized that we need to turn into students of this new digital world as we are migrants here. As students we learn far more openly and are hungry to translate these learning into our business. We interact with the younger masses to understand their world. We have just completed a global study on the youth called Gen X to Gen Y. This was conducted across half the world including India. We also believe that digital is a new media vehicle and what we are looking for is a new compelling way of story-telling; a change in the formats.

AG: What do you think have been the pros and cons of the separation of the media and the creative function within agencies?

KB: As stated earlier, not a good move. With media and creative housed together earlier, there were creative media opportunities that one saw with a higher degree of frequency. Media innovations were a result of a close coordination of the media and creative minds. Today there is a lack of understanding of the creative opportunities that lie in media and hence creative agencies tend to resort to the conventional formats that they are used to.

AG: Any message for young aspiring talent?

KB: What I see lacking in today's generation is the passion and excitement that was prevalent in the earlier generation in our industry. This is probably because each one of them sits with a few appointment letters in their pockets. So passion towards the agency or the client's brands that they work on seems wanting. So my advice to aspiring talent will be that the ones who are hungry to learn and are passionate about what they have, will prepare themselves faster to be the leaders of tomorrow. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]