I was interviewed on a Ferris Wheel!

This one deserves a blog post!
So, the graduation date is coming close and the job hunt has begun!

Today was my first interview of the season and it was on A FERRIS WHEEL! 



HAVAS, a fabulous agency and also one of my dream companies (known to have made some of the best campaigns such as Cracker Barrel, Hefty and Dish) had its recruiting event at Chicago's iconic Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. This was special for 2 reasons:
One, because advertising agencies are known to be innovative, cutting edge and quirky in their approach and Havas definitely tops this recruiting game, and two, because this beautiful classic wheel is retiring on September 27 and is going to be replaced with a brand new, bigger, modernized temperature controlled wheel!

I have obviously been on a blogging sabbatical for a while but this Summer I interned with the 4A's through which I spent a week at 9 of Chicago's best agencies!
One of these was HAVAS and my entire team absolutely loved the culture, pace and people of the agency in our week there. This is what motivated me to interview for this company but what would be better than interviewing on top of the world looking at Chicago's skyline? The cherry on the cake was that I had the opportunity to be interviewed by HAVAS' CEO Paul Marobella one of the warmest and most passionate people I met in the summer quarter! He was so humble, appreciative and really ensured that I felt comfortable up there.

Being an IMC student, I took an IMC approach for the interview. I took a paper powerpoint presentation (who needs technology on a Ferris wheel?), a pack of personality cards where he could pick a card and I'd speak about it and a 14 minute elevator pitch and then asked my interviewer to take his pick! Afterall, today's consumer wants options and customization and it's up to the marketer to ensure the best consumer experience!

Speaking about the experience, I think the experience of being on a Ferris Wheel and the experience of an interview really go together because both are so stimulating and generate the right kind of excitement to bring out one's creativity and enthusiasm. As I was interviewing for a strategy position it was better as it brought out all my best experiences and creativity.

This leaves me with a thought, the new age company has to constantly strive to do something bigger, better and crazier to attract people that resonate with its values! This resonated with mine :)

Fingers crossed for what happens next but whatever the outcome may be, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to interview on a Ferris Wheel again!

Next blog post about a campaign really close to my heart!

xo

Thoughts on Branding

Growing up, I loved expressing - in the form of stories, spoken word poetry or music. When I tied my passion to its main objective I realized that telling stories is what I really enjoy. Identifying things, relating them, connecting dots and creating experiences. A love for human nature and all of the above brought me to the field of Marketing Communications. I am no expert and not even close to accomplished but as I probe deeper into a subject I am so passionate about, it continues to fascinate me. After taking a few brand classes at school and learning from some very insightful teachers and mentors, I kept noting down what really speaks to me. Here are a few things that  I learned and I believe in:

• Stop & Stare: In today's time, wherein you and I have such strong opinions and the media landscape is so intensified, It's so difficult to come across brand communication that actually makes you stop and stare. Be that! Make them wonder and give them a feeling they can't name. Make it a piece of art that means something in their lives.

• Be human: People want to talk, feel, react and actually relate to these messages. They want it to feel like they are having a real conversation which makes it even more important to personify the brand. Be something more than just the product for someone. Be a friend, a lover, a mentor and perhaps even an enemy? Let people visualize it as skin and bones with real thoughts, real opinions and real beliefs. Sparkling eyes and a witty tongue and a personality you'd want to be stuck with at a bar. Don't be just a name! 

• Be simple: Don't make them think too hard and don't make it seem like rocket science. Let them think only till the extent that when they figure it out they feel a sense of accomplishment. Articulate clearly and in a way that is easy to register and remember, only then will the brand be memorable. Keep it simple, silly!

• Ongoing Process: Today, brands aren't a one step product. A great logo, some great packaging and a great color scheme - Voila! It's done! NO! Its much more than that: It's an ongoing process, being shaped by every step you take, every move you make, every breath you take, every bond you break, they'll be watching you! (Yes, I feel particularly musical)

• Relentlessly Relevant: That is why it's  key for brands to be relentlessly relevant. Everyone who wants to see great brand communication should see "Amul" advertisements. Amul is an Indian dairy brand and in my opinion it is the best example of relentlessly relevant advertising. They started in 1967 and today in 2015 they are still going strong which makes them relentless They create spoofs of current affairs and tie it strongly with their butter brand using wit and sarcasm which makes it so relevant. They speak culture and they speak a language that everyone knows. It's flawless and fabulous!

• Surprise-surprise: People want to be surprised! They want to laugh and cry, be agitated and get excited. They hate predictability because that's how life is anyway. They want an experience that isn't like their daily life. Why do you think movies work? Romance works and so do thrillers, only because you're taking them into a life so different than their own and for those 400 pages or 3 hours they feel like they're a part of that life!

•  Innovate: Innovate! Show them something they've never seen before. . We did an assignment in our brand content course which is called : "An orange is an orange except that it isn't!" We had to sell an  idea of  oranges as not-oranges. Make them think about something in a way that they have never thought about before  This drives away predictability and brings in freshness in the way a consumer perceives your idea.

• Adapt:  Watch culture, watch trends and observe the building and breaking of opinions. Be politically correct and don't be controversial. If there's something raging in culture, make it a statement of your brand. Pop culture is your best friend, always use it to your advantage. Adapt to technology and adapt to user experience. Make it simpler as the world becomes simpler. Adapt before you're extinct.

• Don't be fluff! Consumers see through it. They know when you're selling the idea of the whole world being a beautiful place, collective love and lots of feathers and teddy bears because they know that IT'S NOT!  Tell them something they believe in. Don't manipulate them. Make them feel what you feel, make them think what you think. Be genuine! Manipulation will bring in one purchase and then a lifetime of a negative fixed opinion but ingenuity will build trust for a lifetime

• The past is the future: This one is my favorite! Look back in the past. These are things nobody does anymore. There's a reason why people like classic and vintage and the same goes for branding. Throw in hand written notes, use a colloquial tone, design cards with felt pens, use classic fonts and pastel colors, use classic music and old jingles. Nothing strikes a deeper chord than history! 

Be passionate, persuasive and observant of people!

Et tu brute

William Shakespeare,

He was pure genius.

I had a hate-love relationship with him in school. I loved Julius Caesar,  hated Macbeth and loved Merchant of Venice. Romeo and Juliet was beautiful, The tempest was like a conjurer's dream and Hamlet was pure boring. But when I say hate-love, whatever I felt the stories always demanded a strong reaction. They couldn't be ignored. It demanded of you to form an opinion with real raw emotions. Today we read books -  good and bad. There are books that make you go crazy. The alchemist did that for me. But there are so many that just pass by and you never look back. He could never make that happen. 

That was his magic. 

I had a phase when I tried talking like his characters.The dramatization, poetic emotions, passionate characters, murder and insecurities, love and lust. It enthralled me. (I also sounded really stupid) 

His works were life-like. His characters imperfect. They were like you and I. They were just more honest about their emotions.

Of course, now there is this new theory saying he was they and Shakespeare was a pseudonym.

His language was arcane but somehow his words touched you. They had a certain depth in them. He created an atmosphere that set perfect pictures in front of your eyes. All books do, but these were vivid colored pictures. I haven't read any of his works since school but the stories and phrases were the kinds that remain etched in your memory. I still fear the Ides of March (Something Bad always happens) , I wish life had time pauses where I could come out and recite a Soliloquy. In fact there are times when my mother catches me talking to myself (Read: I am not mad) , and I put the blame on Shakespeare. I do a little literary genius strut and tell her its my version of a Soliloquy. My inner goddess does a cat stretch with her chin up. 

The point being,  we owe him so much today.

We don't realize but there is so much we say, so much we do, the thoughts we feel, the wit that we think is ours -  that we owe to him .

Knock- knock !Who's there? - Yes, we joke because of him.  

Do you smell "Foul Play" ? Even if you do, stand by your opinions, "Come what May." 

Lovers that we are we say , "Love is blind!" 

 To pamper our ego we quote, "The world is my oyster" and the incessant ego boost is what we owe to him. 

 "Wear your hearts on your sleeves" when you communicate and when you joke, "Brevity is the soul of wit."
A homeless man is a "Sorry sight" and a stupid man is a "Laughing Stock."

 When we are nervous we waited with "Baited breath"  and it "makes your hair stand on ends" and once the results are out it doesn't matter because "What's done is done." 

When someone dies, "He breathed his last" and when someone disappears without notice,"He vanished into thin air" Then follows the philosophy of life and death and how nothing is permanent , because  'All the world's a stage."

That was "Good Riddance" of the "Green Eyed Monster"  and its great that you finally "Sent him packing." 

"For Goodness' sake" let me sleep "I haven't slept a wink". 

The "Naked Truth" is that we "break the ice" and make new friends, but keep your old ones close because, "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions." 

We say good people have "A heart of gold" and bad people are "Devil's incarnates" 

We have "Seen better days" but don't be fooled because, "Too much of a good thing" is bad.  

We shouldn't be "Faint hearted" and we should "Fight fire with Fire"  because life is short and once the "Game is up"we will all be "as dead as doornails."

 Life is a "Full Circle" and we should "Play fair" to make it a "brave New World" before  the "Game if up" 

Oh, Shakespeare, you were a "A piece of Work" 

ps. There are SO many more. Read them on http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/phrases-sayings-shakespeare.html.

Ink-blue finger tips

I wanted to write something.
You know those nights when you're just itching to write? 
I'm not sure if you know...
You crave to hear the intensely fast clatter of the keypad as you move your fingers at lightening fast speed or the squeaky high frequency scribble on a sparkling white piece of ruled paper.

Writing brings immeasurable happiness to me,

So I thought I'll start writing and see where it takes me,
Because words, they take you traveling. You start at one pole and end at another, and the story in the middle is what manifests on its own.You think you're doing it, but you're really not. One word leads to another and it forms a sentence. You don't even realize it but it turns into something magical.That's the thing about wordplay, it's insanely mysterious and double-insanely powerful. I don't usually know where I'm going to end up until I get to the end. Sometimes its unstructured (like I usually rattle away), and sometimes it has a definite structure. 

Today I use the keyboard to type words, 

but writing with a blue fountain pen with ink dripping all over my fingers was close to heaven.

The smell of ink is divine. 

" If dawn and dusk had a scent then the smell of ink is the smell of dawn and dusk with a white lily dipped in it."

The shabby ink blue finger tips that lasts for days is a happy memory of a peaceful hour gone dreaming, rummaging and scribbling. 

Writing is a life within a life. Blue words on white crisp paper take you into a new world where you need nothing but your words. They become people, emotions and sometimes entire lives. These words have the capability to make us feel things deeper than they are, more vivid than they seem and more beautiful than it is. Two words can make you want to rip somebody's heart apart and one word can make a life-long friend. Sometimes half a word is enough to fall in love. Some power isn't it?

And words, they make you feel so vulnerable and vulnerable is so incredibly scary but so beautiful! Where you let it all out and place it messily on a piece of paper:
This is me, all of me, nothing more, nothing less. Nobody else could bring out that kind of unconditional vulnerability.

But these words, little buggers made of alphabets, they've got double standards too,
They make you feel vulnerable yet extremely powerful. They help you communicate and sometimes they help you stay away from communication. They help you love and hate, they help you imagine and ideate. 
Little love letters, novels, a thesis on archeology. 
Emotions, history and philosophy. 
They're all but words. 
Nothing more nothing less.

After all,
It all starts with ink blue fingertips and a whole lot of happiness.

Transit

As I write this, I am flying 20,000 feet above Kansas. It’s a warm, sunny day (Read: A blessing) and as I prop my legs against the seat board with a book in my hand (Thank you, Nina), life with all its imperfections, feels perfect. Not because I am going to California or because I am meeting my best friends after 10 months(THAT), but because I, for once feel like this is my happy place – exactly where I'm meant to be – flying above a blanket of clouds, driving by lush green plains and poppy fields, zooming past a mountain trail, or sometimes even taking the shuttle to school?

On the move, bags packed, tags tied, seat belts fastened, sceneries around me and sunlight on my face. The rush, the inertia, the fast paced walk and curious eyes that seem to absorb all the stimuli around. Knowing that I'm on my way to someplace. It’s in that moment where I’m really in the present. Not thinking about anything and just being myself. Crying babies, reunited couples, dozing grandpas. It all feels so raw and real! Traveling brings out human behavior in its truest form, I think. Sweatpants and flip-flops – zero pretentiousness.

Life is a journey and probably that is why traveling brings you to your most innately natural state. Because you know that the journey has a start and an end, everything in the middle is valued so much! It feels like in that one journey, you lived a little life.

I’m going to go back to my book now and then probably take a nap!
Ah, the good life.

Just wanted you to know that:

My soul smiles when I'm in transit! :) 

Sunsets

Sunsets have always been my favorite for many many reasons.

But today's was different and definitely the most beautiful since I have moved to Chicago :

It was absolutely breathtaking. Most of the sky was a steel gray because Chicago is obnoxious  in terms of weather and it was a cold cloudy June day. But far at the horizon there was a rich golden yellow and a flurry of crimson, mauve and peach slowly blended flawlessly into the steel gray. I had never seen something like that before. It was different.

It was different, not just because it was splendid but because of the realization that followed after.

Its a casual sunday and I'm over-worked. I have been sitting in the same position on the same side of the couch with my body aligned against the same pillow working on multiple presentations. Finals week struggles are real. So I was sitting, propped against my pillow, cozy under my fleece sheet working on the content strategy for an ice-cream company.

It was 8:07 pm and I happened to stretch and look outside the window that was right behind me. I saw this beautiful sight. The picture does not do even half the justice to the real thing. Technology is obviously overrated. I removed my cellphone to take a few pictures and dramatically gasped a little at the beauty. At approximately 8:09 I was back to my couch propped against the same pillow working on the ice-cream strategy again.

At 8:23, I turned again and the sunset was gone.

I realized I was never going to see the sunset again except in this 8 megapixel form.

And the same goes for every day :)

Carpe Diem

Interventions & Lists

Yet another sabbatical. Week 4 onwards is just downhill every quarter. This quarter has been particularly dramatic and I have been particularly amazed at how much can happen in one quarter (which is not even over yet)  - Good and not-so-good.

Point being, I was galavanting on my old blog and found a list I wrote on July 24, 2014.

It's titled : To-Do. 

Very very interesting piece about things I wanted to do once I made the big move and today as I read the list I felt awesome but at the same time horrible about myself because while there was so much done, there was also a lot left to do.

1)Drink More Water 

2)Talk more, Text less.

3)Sketch a lot. Sit by the lake and sketch.

4)Organize my Desk

5)Mind-Map (Work in progress)

6)Read one good book every month

7)Be more Direct & less diplomatic

8)Create a brand

9)Start a new blog 

10)Eat weird food

11)Wear less Makeup

12)Make a mood-board

13)Sky-Dive (Summer 2015)

14)Stop dwelling , Stop worrying

15)Read about the economy and about money

16)Save (Constant work in progress)

17)Spend less on clothes and more on food

18)Get retweeted 100 times

19)Design a typeface

20)Get comfortable on Skype

21)Send postcards back home

22)Watch foreign movies in languages that I don't understand  (Work in progress)

23)Learn a foreign language (Work in progress, thanks to Qiu from Ningbo)

24)Fewer emoticons :(

25)Learn to use Google Maps better  (I have aced this one)

26)Learn to make really good coffee

27)Be vocal, be honest.

28)Start an online portfolio

29)Do 16 Suryanamaskars and Tibetan Yoga everyday

30)At the end of these15 months read this to-do list and feel happy about yourself (6 more to go!)

Lists make you revisit your goals and reconsider your priorities.

When you're living in a new city - you're often so consumed with so much stimuli around you. You find less time for yourself and Your thoughts revolve around people more than your goals, it's often overwhelming, sometimes lonely and sometimes you create a million problems that don't exist. 

Obviously, some days are entirely spent on netflix.

 Sometimes you forget to think about the present and dwell in the future. Job/No job? India/America? At such times it's so important to have an intervention with yourself, go through old lists, make a new list, take the pressure off and have a jolly good time ;)

A new spring cleaning list & more updates on this eventful quarter will be up soon!

A bright yellow spring carnation, 

Juie