Scaling new heights in advertising

Creative pursuits

Awards, in every profession, leave an impressive imprint on a person’s resume. Unlike most of the professions where you are appreciated and recognised for the work you do, the world of advertising swirls on a different territory. Here an employee has to log in extra hours, spend sleepless nights to “work for an award”, which invariably means setting your eyes on Cannes Lions, the most prestigious award in advertising.

In 2010, just after finishing BA in Fine Arts from the Banaras Hindu University, a dreamy-eyed Akash Swami moved to the capital. He had joined TBWA Worldwide, an international ad agency, as a trainee in arts department. It was during the first six months, one of the seniors at the agency saw his potential, and asked Swami to work with him for the award. It indeed was a right choice as the duo won silver at Cannes Lions 2011, making him one of the youngest artists to win this award in India at the age of 25.

The idea was simple: A travel portal takes you everywhere throughout the year. The visual for this idea was to have immigration stamps of different countries and states of the world. But it wasn’t easy to reproduce the designs on paper.

“To get designs of immigration stamps from all countries and regions was a difficult task. In many cases where we couldn’t find the stamp of a nation, we took the liberty of designing the stamp by using flags and language of that nation,” recollects Swami.

He had to log in long hours at work. So he, along with his partner, would sit back in office till the wee hours and then report to work by 10 in the morning. For almost three months, weekends too were occupied with this work. Little did he know that the hard work would pay off.

“I had fallen ill severely after we wrapped up the work. First I was down with typhoid for three months and then had stomach problems. So, basically for a year I had to suffer because I had ignored myself for in my quest for the award,” admits Swami who hails from Balia, Bihar.
But he has no regrets because the campaign was well received and won several international awards.

“I had always heard about how awards are very important in advertising, but I didn’t care much, till I won this award. I got calls from several agencies who wanted me to join them... so it is a good feeling,” says Swami who now works as a senior art director.

Next year, he wants to work for the award again, but this time as an independent entry. “I was new to the industry when I won the award. I just wanted to learn and give my best. But this time, I will be working on my idea. As I believe everything can be achieved, if one has faith in one’s abilities,” he says.