Farewell to please-all commercials

What I liked: "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone"

Well, it was definitely a year of advertising that seemed to agree with Bill Cosby's sentiment completely.

It looks as if the entire advertising industry had unanimously decided to be as nice as possible to every single person involved in the making of an ad.

I guess everything and everyone goes through various phases in their individual life cycles, but I sincerely hope that this is one phase we never have to revisit.

There were very few pieces of work that managed to take a stand  --  be it right or wrong, popular or unpopular. All this probably boils down to some very plausible economic reasons.

But even in this sea of pedestrian advertising, there were a few campaigns that did manage to shine through, and, I am pretty sure, they didn't do too badly at the 'box office' either.

My first and all  -- time favourite is the brilliant re-birth of the Coca-Cola brand with the Amir Khan Series. Every single spot is a sparkling little sketch to be treasured and enjoyed over and over again.

They have managed with just one creative idea/execution, not just to steal their competition's thunder, but also to draw the spotlight from the bigger agencies, to their own. Commendable achievement indeed.

The second in the list are the ads for Toshiba and Sansui. This team too seems to have achieved a double coup -- clutter-breaking advertising and getting their agency talked about at the same time.

The third and the last on the list is the Windbiking Campaign. Tapping into a universal response to bike riding, the work is sharp, dramatic in its quietness and stands out with a definite attitude.

What I've learned: The Power of a Pat.

It's amazing how a little encouragement can go a long way. Admittedly, there are two schools of thought on this approach.

One that believes that this is too indulgent and will lead to overconfidence and laziness. The other, of course, believes that this is the most powerful management tool in the book.

Fortunately for me I had a boss, Dhirubhai Ambani, who was a firm believer in the latter. His legendary "pat on the back" is what we all miss today and it was what kept us going from assignment to assignment.

Positive reinforcement, is how I see it. Rather than whipping a performance out of us, he believed in encouraging us to excel.

Let me share with you an anecdote which illustrates my point. In September '79, I was in charge of one of the first major photo shoots for Vimal Suitings.

It involved the top models of the day and was an expensive affair (the campaign incidentally went on to win the Print Campaign of the Year Award at Ad Club, Mumbai).

I was nervous beyond belief and, as was customary, I dropped into Dhirubhai's office for a morning meeting, my mind pre-occupied as you can imagine, with the operational nitty-gritty's of the shoot.

He was very supportive of the campaign, encouraged me to go ahead and then handed me an expensive gift. I was initially stunned, and then thrilled that he had so much confidence in me.

I went for the shoot, and surprisingly, the entire exercise took on another dimension altogether. I now realise that he had, with that one small gesture turned me into the owner of the idea and the brand.

And by doing so, shifted my focus from worrying like a harassed employee who just wanted the job done, to a more responsible and authoritative manager.

I have often wondered what would have happened if he had chosen to employ any other less positive approach as a motivational tool instead.

I suspect, this is what would have happened: it would have created a joyless, soulless product from which I would have washed my hands off immediately. And if there was a flaw in the campaign, I would have said, "I didn't do it, he wanted it that way."

Basically, I would have shirked the responsibility of the end product altogether rather than doing what I do today, that is, cherish the campaign by giving it pride of place in my portfolio of work.

So if you are believer too, in the 'Power of the Pat' as I call it, here are three small cues which you might find useful:

i) Compliment the work and not the person; ii) and be totally honest while you are doing it. Most people can tell if you are lying and iii) applaud the initiative and not necessarily the outcome  -- and make sure it is immediate. You will discover that positive reinforcement is the wand that brings out extraordinary performances from ordinary people.

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