Betting on the humble horse

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What I've liked

I must admit it was just a wee bit difficult to get used to the new Cadbury's Dairy Milk campaign. After all we are so used to a very 'urban' portrayal of who should be eating Cadbury's and on what occasion.

All our lives we've been accustomed to associating the brand with up-market city kids and their fathers, even though the emotions have been universal.

So when the company took this radical step of widening its canvas to accommodate a very 'different' type of endorser for their product it did seem a bit difficult to swallow. But many exposures later I am getting quite fond of Pappu. And the brave stand the brand has taken.

Admittedly, shifting the image would not have been a simple task. I wouldn't really call this a 'rural' ad. Our cities are filled with countless Pappus too. A second-class ticket ride to anywhere would serve as enough education for the uninitiated.

What is even more interesting are the innovative ways in which the advertiser and the agency is extending the phrase Pappu paas ho gaya on radio as well.

Apart from the Cadbury's radio commercials, the FM stations have their own creative take on it and have incorporated it in their programmes too, showing us the multi-faceted dimensions of this extremely simple yet universal sentiment.

And let's be honest. No matter what we wear or which school we passed out from, haven't we all been a Pappu at some stage of our lives... and succeeded?

What I've learned

Respect your rival.

I must confess that though I now know this maxim to be true, it was one thing I just couldn't accomplish for a major portion of my career. It is the toughest lesson that 'Life', our personal coach, teaches us.

A few wins here and there and we start believing that no one else could be better than us. Then we are introduced to the concept of defeat. I remember all of mine, vividly.

All through my career, Vimal Suitings and sarees and I had two constant spurs on either side every time we slacked. These came from Raymond for suitings and Garden for sarees.

One stunning campaign from them, and my confidence would take a major blow. Late nights, endless smoking, acidity, high blood pressure, cursing life in general were part and parcel of my response.

After all that ranting, the morning would dawn with the challenge still left unmet.

Then came the impossibly difficult task. Accepting that the other's campaign was really good. Accepting and respecting that my rivals were worthy enough for me to follow in their footsteps.

Once this humility was allowed to grow, it was amazing how easy learning became. And that is the only way a loser wins the next time around. It's surprisingly similar to a race.

You have to keep your eye on the favourite's flank, run behind him in the race, marshal your energy for that final spurt and then... there you are, suddenly racing ahead to victory.

But, there's one thing that should never be forgotten, however badly you handle your defeat. Never forget that the reason you are in the race is because you are a thoroughbred. Because no matter how much the odds are stacked against you, don't forget there is someone out there betting on you to win.

And the chances are that you will, just as we eventually did, with Vimal.

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