u/Outrageous-Inside341

I’m referring to this Instagram post https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZFkXBqIBoU/?igsh=MWt1N25kZXNmbHpmdQ==

This artist has spoken about gatekeeping problem in Hindustani classical music. While I agree and acknowledge that owing to this gatekeeping problem we have lost some brilliant minds who could have potentially taken the legacy forward… but they have come to dislike the concept as a whole because of the dos and don’ts prevalent.

But I also believe what is seen as “gatekeeping” has also successfully kept mediocrity at bay. I’m a sitar player myself and I’m a little skeptical of putting my work out on social media… not because I’m self-critical but because I know I don’t play up to the standards I’ve set for myself. My feed is full of players who are terrible or average at best but put out video after video, proudly showing off their callouses and other markers that they’re musicians. But their “performances” are noisy, only playing the jhaala or a trending film song at best. There’s no meend nor alaap which is a true litmus test of your ability to wield the instrument. My teacher would often reprimand me saying speed is no stand in for skill, nor is the constant chikari punctuating your alaap. She never gatekeeps… it’s her way of gently sifting the wheat from the chaff.

I see comments full of “you gave my life purpose” or “how soothing” to a post that’s clearly below average. I’m wondering if mediocrity is now the new standard… and if artists who are truly gifted and hardworking will never receive recognition because the average is applauded! What do you think?

Around 2013, we started hearing the words "branded content" over and over again in digital marketing circles. Itself inching towards its early teens, video was slowly and steadily creeping into our collective consciousness, making it an unavoidable investment for brands. But digital ads were a long way to go, so brands ran the same ads they made for TV and theatres on YouTube. With the digital advertising floodgates opening in 2015, and media monies for digital doubling, it became important that brands spent on making ads for the web.

But it wasn't enough that YouTube or Facebook video ads were shot the same way as TV. Having found an audience in a single pair of eyes thanks to the mobile phone than a family viewing on prime time TV, each individual's interest had to be taken into account - you now had better data on who's watching what and you could customise your brand's narrative accordingly. In the middle of this, marketers found a way to white-label existing stories and develop specialised storytelling called "branded content".

We all know the story from here on. Ads today are no longer served like they used to be twenty, thirty years ago. With the presence of SO much content and so MANY ads, do you have any memory of the last ad you saw? We pore and ponder over so much data and mine insights from our day to day lives, only to build something that either gets us awards or the lowest CPV... but hey, is it getting any mindshare, even if you've paid for attention? What do you think of branded content, and what is the last ad you were intercepted by that you remember?

A few years ago, a friend and I visited Japalouppe and fell in love with the idea that an equestrian farm of this nature exists so close to the city. We are both migrants and had met at work, and became friends over time… she had discovered this place, and had wanted to find a way to do some outdoorsy stuff. When she discovered that there is a thriving community of volunteers, over and above learning the sport, she asked me if I was eager to join. I was and agreed immediately!

We discovered that they had some kind of an inter-school competition and needed volunteers to do all sorts of small jobs like managing the participants, keeping time on various activities, making notes with the judges, kitchen and catering, back office, etc. We signed up and stayed on the campus for the duration of the three days, with our meals on the house. So far so good.

But soon we realised that the place is a study in all the possible ‘isms’ that we get to see in corporate politics - elitism, groupism, cronyism, and a general air of smugness amongst the core group of the management.

They wouldn’t want to talk to you properly, and behave as though they’re doing you a favour. Beyond delegating work, and asking if something was done properly, there was no interaction… they wouldn’t be bothered if you were eating alone (if my friend was needed elsewhere, I was alone, and vice versa). We were practically there to be part of the community, so we could come back and feel like we belonged, but they would have their inside jokes and go out of the way to make you feel like you’re not part of their gang.

Ironically, I heard words like kindness, mental health, empathy and inclusion peppered around the same groups. They needed you to be “underprivileged” for them to turn you into a cause, so it makes them feel better about themselves. I was amazed at how they flipped the switch and chose whom to talk to and not in an instant.

Rohan More, the owner of the place and at the helm of affairs, is the nicest person to be around. The rest of them are all his chamchas doing their “dada, dada” thing. I hope he can see through it.

Needless to say we never went back. My friend even moved to another country lol, but we often share a laugh whenever we hear those keywords that were only thrown around but never practised. Thank you for nothing, Jap.

I wanted to check how much is the probation period, how is the work flow and culture.

Would really be helpful.

I was in Chennai recently and was waiting for a friend at a cafe. In walks Buncke with her friends, all looking like a swish set. As soon as they’re seated they break into this loud conversation, full of stuff to laugh at… Aarabi especially had US-le this and US-le that making sure everyone within earshot knew she had just spent time in America. She was scanning the place to see if someone is taking notice but nope… much to her chagrin the café wasn’t as full. She looks Amazonian with her height and athletic build, that’s for sure.

Are jingles only a thing of the past now? All the great jingles of Indian Advertising are from the 80s and 90s... beyond a point, we stop making great ads, and with the death of good quality advertising, jingles also died a quick, painless death. I can actually point it to 2012-2013 when "branded content" started becoming a thing and ads per se started dying is when we last made a mark with sing-song ads. The radio ones were still there, but radio too has been on ventilator for a decade now...

Some of the great musicians and singers of today have their roots in jingles. Ehsaan and Loy famously composed them, Shankar sang in so many of them (Cadbury's Kuch baat hai was him), KK and Shaan, Leslie Lewis made the great ones. I distinctly remember singing along all the ads from the late 80s and 90s - Marlex pressure cooker, OK Sabun, Nirma, Bajaj... my most favourite was Vadilal ice cream.

Why do you think the nostalgia train is overcrowded? That's because nothing in the present in satisfying enough. Earlier we looked only ahead, now we're only looking back. Have you created one, or written one? Tell us your jingle story!

Everybody has a client servicing story - whether you are a servicing person or not. I've met most people who've hated servicing people, me included. I've met all sorts of them, the sly ones, the daft ones, the ones who forward emails with FYI and hand over briefs without so much of a glance. But I've met a few, and I can count them on my fingers, who've been incredibly hardworking, smart, and will fight with the client over creatives and timelines. They fight with you for the client, but if it came to standing up to the client, I've seen them fight tooth and nail. Tell us your CS stories - the funny, the smart, the irritating ones!

My personal opinion is that the Indian advertising awards scene has lost its relevance a while ago. In fact, when ads became “content” in the mid-2010s, I realised they’d become forgettable and irrelevant. None of the award shows I’d gone to were making any sense to me… for someone who was chronically online, I wasn’t even seeing half these ads. I mean they were entire storylines told in “2 mins”, just short of being short films, and they were all but sappy soapy and predictable. What was being awarded then? And who remembered agency of the year… because every other agency was AOTY! Do clients care anymore that they’re working with a highly awarded agency? Does business have an impact if an ad wins an award for best whatever? Tell us what you think.

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