Exit Balki, enter next

Change is inevitable and when someone like Balki steps down, there is a vacuum in the minds of the people. But I always say that the new generation will take over, and taking nothing away from the old ones, will do a better job.

The young guys in the ad-world today, who will shape the next decade or two of advertising in India, are more informed and aware than we were and they are scattered across various functions. They are faster and better networked with the world and their pace of work is also phenomenal. In our time we used to do one commercial a year and today, if you see there are three commercials a quarter! A huge change.

Balki is a strong personality and has had a massive impact on the industry. It will be unfair to compare the current crop with him, just like it would have been unfair to compare Balki or Piyush (Pandey) to their predecessors.

The good thing is we have a lot of talent and they are working in various places in different ways. The ones I would pick as the faces of the future of advertising, in no particular order are:

ARUN IYER, MullenLowe Lintas
Having worked with Balki he has grown in the same mould. His work on the bigger brands, right from the Daag Acche Hai campaign for Surf Excel has proven that he fits the Lintas image of creativity with effectiveness. He promises to keep the flag up at Lintas and continue doing what the agency is known for and the kind of work that Balki upheld in his time there.

RAJIV RAO, O&M
He is a master storyteller. We are a people who say a lot and show little but he has learnt the art of showing more and speaking less. He demonstrates a child-like simplicity in his storytelling and conveys a lot without using too many words through effective art direction. Today social media is all about visual content and he has perfected the art.

SENTHIL KUMAR, JWT
He is a new age creative guy, who knows and understands how to use the internet as an effective tool for communication. His Nike campaign is an apt example. He is always questioning why and why not and his campaigns are always very participative and interactive. His campaigns have impressed everyone.

AGNELLO DIAS, Taproot (part of Dentsu Aegis network)
Agnello is already a legend in his own right. He would be a contemporary of Balki in many ways and has age on his side as I feel he will scale bigger heights with his work in coming years. His campaigns have already had a powerful impact, the ones for Pepsi and Times of India among others.

Finally there are others who are still very young, under 30 years most of them. They have a long career ahead and a lot of promise. There is Raj Deepak and Piyush Gupta of Leo Burnett who have shown some excellent work so far

KV Sridhar
Chief Creative Officer, India Sapient Nitro

(As told to Urvi Malvania)