Blog: My tryst with advertising

As cliché as it may sound, feels like I was destined to be a part of this industry. 

 

Just the right amount of passion (read 200 per cent), insane amount of hard work and a bit of magic equals to ADVERTISING. One complete year in this industry translates to an epic journey that started out at Isobar, the place that shaped me into 'the coolest/creative servicing' - or that’s what they say - 'a humble brag' indeed.

 

With deadlines to be chased, revenues to be made and the perseverance to bring our ideas to life, life at an agency is much more than you could ever think of. Its mad crazy, and I absolutely love it! 

 

It was love at first late night at my workplace - with lights dimmed, the entire office empty and 'Kaara Fankaara' (from OK Jaanu!) playing on my system - it somehow turned into a perfect Bollywood moment! And oh, of course I Instagram-ed it! It was that very moment it struck me how the universe had conspired to make everything fall into place, and I was happy doing something that was work but did not feel like a burden. Rather, I was too happy in that moment. (Kaafi filmy? Yup!)

 

A lot of times I get questioned by friends outside of this industry about all the fancy shiz that surrounds me - 'Sirs and Ma’ams', there’s a lot of grinding and hard work that goes into putting up what you see parde par. There were moments of anguish and then there were moments of supreme happiness - veiled together, carefully, in order for me to learn my lessons. People throw in the word 'settled' a lot many times - but what for? Why settle? Why get comfortable with what you do? And that’s exactly why I love advertising, because no two days have ever been the same for me ever since I’ve started working. Everyday there’s either someone new I meet, a new idea that comes up or new set of skills I develop.

 

And when I speak of settling in, 'work-life balance' shouldn’t be lagging behind, isn’t it? 

 

Quite some while ago, I read up how once, one of the most inspiring creative of our industry started with work at seven in the morning till late at night and then, drove off to another city the next morning for a meeting. Seems scary to many, but damn this defines your passion towards your work. Of course, this isn’t something that happens every day but when duty calls, 'you gotta do what you gotta do'. 

 

Ownership. Own your shit. No backing out when it gets rough. 

 

“But you should be smart enough to balance out and manage your time” - again, something that people keep reminding me of - but 'no' - that’s not how it works. That’s not how I work. In this business of ideas where every talk, every discussion, every little detail gives birth to a new idea - no matter how tiny or big it turns out to be - how can I turn a blind eye? How can I skip the opportunity of creating something crazy, something beautiful? Isn’t this what we’re supposed to do in our twenties - hustle hard? If not now, then when? But, a lesson that I learnt the hard way the past year was to never take one’s health for granted. So yea, gotta hustle, but smartly. 

 

I’m fortunate enough to have seniors who’ve always welcomed all those crazy questions I’ve had with regards to work or otherwise. I was a noob, and now, all that I know is because of the people who surround me every day. To all those I’ve befriended from different teams, be it media, tech, finance or creative - a big 'thank you', for teaching me so much in last 12 months.

 

I’ve never been so crazy about anything before. 

 

As I complete one year at Isobar and in advertising, thought I’d share few of my learnings – 

 

·  Understand the limitations of a human being. There’s only a certain amount of work that can be done in 24 hours  

 

·  Do not set unrealistic expectations for yourself. 

 

·  It’s alright to ask for help.

 

·  Be awesome at what you do. Everything else will fall into place. 

 

·  Doing the right thing, is always the right thing. 

 

·  Be kind. 

 

I’m 22, and I’ve just started out. We’re gonna persevere and kick some ass. 

 

Ab yahi meri kalma hai, aur yehi mera mazhab. 

 

A Bollywood fanatic cannot sign off without a cheeky (for you)/classic (for me) dialogue, so yea!

 

(The author is account executive, client servicing at Isobar Delhi)