Victoria

Before we consign the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) Diamond Jubilee Seminar to the scrapbook of history, a few observations.

David Gurrero, Creative Head of BBDO from Manila, was speaking on `Shorter Attention Spans.' He spoke about humour, choice and growth, and the short attention span of the audience forgave him for not keeping to his topic.

Piyush Pandey has become a specialist at the oldest presentation trick in the business. Show some interesting television commercials, interspersed with some comments. Make sure you try to be funny as well. End of speech.

Shivkumar of Philips made an interesting comment. These are the days of "word inflation and thought recession." Couldn't have said it better, Shiv.

Bhaskar Das, introducing a speaker, said, "Work with an eye on the future or mould your actions to shape it." We like it.

The Professor from Indian School of Business said almost 90 per cent of academic theory in the US comes from research done on only undergraduates. Not out of real market research. Now, tell me why do we rate this theory so highly? After knowing this, if we still value it, we deserve it.

Agency changes

Michael Birkin is apparently going to receive a couple of e-mails from agencies wanting to be bought out. This is of course in response to his open expression of interest made on stage at the AAAI seminar. Are there any sizeable agencies left to be bought? Ever considered Mudra shedding some equity to DDB? That will make Anil Ambani's tirade against the Indian agencies (at the AdClub jubilee function) which prostrated before the gora sahibs a real laugh. But can it happen? Stranger things have, my friend. But let us not indulge in idle speculation. Let's just wait and see.

10 years of Airtel

A leading newspaper in Mumbai had advertisements on the top and bottom of its front page, on every page thereafter and on the whole of its back page. Hey, Airtel turned ten, and wanted to "express itself" in style. One must say its advertising is looking pretty good. Happy Birthday and all the best!

15th November

Sania mania was very much in evidence. The bright Indian hope turned 19 on November 15, and every newspaper made a pretty pile. Mumbai's newspapers had entire pages filled with classified ads wishing Sania happy birthday. I would love to dive into the minds of these small advertisers and see if they hope that Sania would even read their messages. Yet, we respect their sentiment and admire their enthusiasm. Sania makes all Indians feel proud. Hindustan Petroleum went to town over Sania's birthday and plastered papers with their `achcha lagta hai' slogan. I'm sure the newspapers and ad agency said "ditto."

Then, one stepped out on the roads and found them empty. It was a bank holiday. Just when one was about to acidly comment that Sania's birthday was all we needed to declare a bank holiday, we were told it was also Guru Nanak's birthday. Well, we live in interesting times. The shape and nature of our worship might be a-changing.

SRK no smoking

This column had once derided the fact that youth icons like Shah Rukh Khan were not doing a lot of good, smoking the way they do. Well, we will not claim he read it and decided to stop smoking, but the fact of the matter seems to be that he has decided to kick the butt. If the Union Minister for Health has his way, SRK could soon be advising Indians on the ills of smoking. We'll cheer to that.

Arun Adhikari

A national newspaper reported on its front page that Arun Adhikari, Managing Director of Hindustan Lever, was strongly tipped to become Chairman.

In our previous column, we had commented that the AAAI diamond jubilee seminar brochure mentioned Arun Adhikari as Chairman. We learn the brochure was prepared by one of HLL's club agencies. Was it a Freudian slip or a hint of the shape of things to come? Well, we at least noticed it first.

AdAsia 150

Why do you think 150 Indians (the largest ever contingent of Indians to any foreign AdAsia) have packed their bags and headed for Singapore?

Sure, the last AdAsia in Jaipur was a winner. Sure, Singapore is a great shopping destination. Sure, the airline fares are pretty conducive to visiting the city-state. Sure, you have four Indians speaking on the AdAsia stage. So, does that add up to enough reason? I guess it does. And by the time you read this, the serious delegates will be preparing to return to India.

Let's see what they have to say.

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