WHAT I LEARNT FROM MY COMPETITOR(16)
“My Biggest Competitor Taught
me to Always Play on the Front Foot“
Josy Paul, Chairman & Chief Creative officer, BBDO India
CLAIM TO FAME: Paul is as
famous for a hat fetish as he is for ground-breaking work on P&G brands
like Gillette and Whisper
THE LESSON: When Paul and
his team started BBDO India from the backseat of his car in 2008, they
identified their biggest competition as news television channels, not
advertising agencies.“NDTV, CNN-IBN, Times NOW and others were creating content
that was travelling at the speed of social media,“ he says. “Watching them we
learnt an important lesson -what if we could create ideas that generated news
for our brands. Action-oriented ideas that help our brands stay relevant and be
part of the social conversation. That's how we be gan with newsworthy ideas.“
However, on a per sonal note, when we ask Paul who from among his competitors
has taught him the most valua ble lesson, one he applies in life and work every
day, he doesn't name the person but gives us a clue as clear as day. “He is my
biggest competi tor,“ says Paul, “but he is also my friend and mentor. And the
greatest lesson that I learnt from him is `Always play on the front foot'. He
taught me to fear nothing.
By watching and interact
ing with him, I am now able take on many of the bouncers and unpredicta ble
balls that life throws at me.“ There's only one adman known for peppering just
about any and every conversation with cricket analogies and he is Ogilvy's
Piyush Pandey.
(Delshad Irani)
ETM27DEC15
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