Ad Guru & lyricist,Physics Degree & an MBA: A candid conversation Prasoon Joshi

• You are an Ad Guru, lyricist, scriptwriter, eminent panelist etc., with a physics degree and an MBA. How did advertising and Bollywood happen?

When I joined advertising and told people in Lucknow what I do, they used to think probably "poster-woster lagata hai ye", some publicity business or that he is a slogan writer. They had no clue about the profession. So it took me time to earn respect. But I am very thankful that I stumbled upon advertising while doing MBA. This is a profession where I can still write, might not necessarily be poetry, pure poetry or music or songs or scripts or novels. I used to always think of crazy ideas, I always thought beyond boundaries. Advertising was a place where I made a mark, where I got a lot of name, fame and accolades from around the world. I got to work with and learn from some great people. Suresh Malik (former head of Ogilvy) was one such person.

I came from a background where I was made to believe that creativity will not help me survive but I had a dream of making a living out of my ideas. But advertising wasn't enough for me. My basic strength has always been human connect, and I used that in advertising but I felt I needed to express myself even further. So I chose song writing.

Both my parents are classically trained musicians. So I was musical, as a child, to begin with and I had a writing strength. So I combined these two and became a song writer and that's how I got into Bollywood. I did private albums like Silk Route and 'Ab Ke Sawan' and 'Man ke Manzeere'.. The first people who approached me were Rajkumar Santoshi and Aditya Chopra. For Raj Ji I did a song for Lajja, and then Hum Tum simultaneously happened with Aditya Chopra who met me at the airport.

I was still a part of the corporate world then, the largest advertising agency in the world. I had to travel a lot and I had international commitments. I couldn't have gotten out of it. There was a balance I needed to strike because on one hand I loved advertising and on the other hand I needed to express myself through more than just advertising.

• Teeth as bulb in Happydent ad, dialogues like 'Yeh finger kitna hai, counting karo toh' in Coke ad- How did these campaigns take seed? How do you convince your clients to agree to crazy, out of the box ideas?

Conviction. I think now it is much easier because they have seen my crazy ideas being successful, like the Chloromint ad with 'Dobara mat poochna', a bear falling in love with Kareenaand the 'I am crazy' ads which is now running for Coca Cola. Earlier, they used to feel let's research. Now there is credibility. But they still worry sometimes that maybe the guy is going wild. But I am not old yet. I am 40+ so I can still have fun for a few more years and be crazy. I would like to stay crazy all my life. Look at Woody Allen- still as crazy as ever. So I think it is your DNA. It's nothing to do with age. I am designed in a crazy way and I feel I just take the basic, simple things and think out of the box. I love entertaining people. I feel I have to reward my consumer for watching my ad. I always feel I can't expect a person to sit through an ad. I am selling a product. I have taken his time and if I don't reward him with something at the end of my ad, then I have cheated him.

• New York Times quoted "Social media lingo is entering the ad world". How do you think social media is transforming advertising in India?

Social media is definitely making the task more honest. I am a great fan of social media. What social media does is make people well connected with each other. People are now very well informed. Today, you can't sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo because one Eskimo is connected with another Eskimo and they are talking and they will say why on earth are these guys selling us a refrigerator. No matter how charming you are, you won't be able to sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo. Today, they understand they have to sell warmth to an Eskimo. You have to know that you are adding value to the consumer's life. That is the biggest change social media has brought in.

Also social media brings the products closer to the consumer. People are not watching ads, they are watching content now- branded content has been done by creative people. For someone like me it is much easier because I always work with many fields of entertainment. So earlier people used to say you are a song writer, you are a script writer, you write for television, you write for films and advertising. Now the lines are blurring.

• What are some human traits that you think are productive and counter-productive to being a successful person?

First of all, I think you have to be authentic, you have to be yourself and you have to learn your own truths. You can't read a book and say this is what I should do. You can imbibe things from books. Unless you have experienced yourself, you won't be a able to form an identity. You have to form your own identity. You have to look for your own unique truth. That's what is more important and experience, not shying away from experience. If you are closed, you will never grow and it's important to keep growing, keep learning more. Do not let the child in you die. The child in you is inquisitive. The child in you is uncorrupted. The child in you is innocent. The child in you is naïve. The child in you is trusting. As far as the child in you is alive, you have faith.

To see the full interview, please visit CoolAge.