If the processes are clear, there will be no problems with Creative Abby: Pratap Bose

The new Advertising Club President’s has a day job that possibly has him work beyond 24x7. As Chief Operating Officer of the DDB Mudra Group and a member of the agency’s operating board, Pratap Bose joined DDB Mudra from Ogilvy & Mather in 2008, where he worked for 15 years in various capacities, and went on to become its youngest CEO in 2006.

He currently drives the vision and growth strategy for the DDB Mudra Group comprising the three independent agencies -- Mudra Advertising, DDB Mudra and DDB MudraMax.  In in his media capacity, is also the Chief Executive Officer of DDB MudraMax and is responsible for the 17 specialist units which come under the DDB MudraMax umbrella.

Excerpts from an interview with Bose where he speaks on his priorities, a problems-free Abby and how he hopes to drive the Ad Club forward.

What will be your priorities as president of the Advertising Club:
For a long time, the perception has been the Advertising Club is the purveyor of awards. While awards are important and they recognise the best in class, for me the focus is going to be on continuing education programmes. Giving back to the community in various forms – by not just awards, but also education, seminars and learning via interacttion with personalities.

Speaking of awards and the Creative Abby specifically, while a lot has been cleansed, it touched a new low this year.
Remember, the Emvies and Effies go without a hitch. It’s only with the Creative Abby. Mind you, there were no issues the year before.

Last year, there were a couple of things that sprung up but we realise that these issues can easily be fixed. What I am looking to do is to institutionalise a very transparent and frank discussion on what needs to be done with all stakeholders well before Goafest.

I am a strong believer that if you have a process that has a buy-in from everyone and it’s not a diktat, things will sort themselves out. If the processes are clear and there are no ambiguities, we should have no problems whatsoever.
 
Some agencies have had reservations about going to Goa. Any thoughts of shifting the awards back to Mumbai?
It’s not a Goa versus Mumbai debate in my mind. As long as the process is clean and you are fair, rational and honest, I don’t think there’s any issue about Goa and Mumbai

The Bombay has been dropped from Advertising Club, how successful has the move to go national been?
I think we’ve made a start. I believe the local ad associations – whether in Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai should co-exist. We are happy to have them on board… at the end of the day, we are one community.

The whole idea is to be inclusive and work for the betterment of the industry. We have made some progress by having the awards judging of Effies and Emvies in Delhi. And there’s no reason why it can’t go beyond Delhi. We could extend to Kolkata, Bengaluru…

What else in the next two years?
Well, we are going to looking at all forms of communication. We are talking of a two-day workshop for the entertainment industry and looking at people to help us on film production.

So, it’s not just talking to creative guys or planners. We are also looking at developing a new website, a new logo, be relevant on Twitter and Facebook. All in all, lift the image of the club and not just an awards club.

All this is going to take a fair bit of time… how do you take care of your day job at DDB Mudra?
(laughs) Well, that’s the reason why I have picked a nice mix of people. I am going to entrust each of them with a responsibility that’s clearly defined and they will all take things forward.

By Arrangement with MxMIndia.com