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My Story: I bribed the office guard for a chair & table to get my first advertising job as an unpaid trainee!

KV Sridhar 'Pops', Leo Burnett's Chief Creative Officer – India and Subcontinent, is one of India's most respected creative minds. But it wasn't an easy task for him when he began the rounds for a job”

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My Story: I bribed the office guard for a chair & table to get my first advertising job as an unpaid trainee!

My Story: I bribed the office guard for a chair & table to get my first advertising job as an unpaid trainee!

KV Sridhar 'Pops', Leo Burnett's Chief Creative Officer – India and Subcontinent, is one of India's most respected creative minds. But it wasn't an easy task for him when he began the rounds for a job. His first employer initially threw him saying “I have no intention of patronising a junkie artist who does not understand business”

June 11, 2013

publive-image KV Sridhar

“My good luck was good” – that's the only way I can describe my journey into advertising.

As a student I was always interested in art and architecture and I had no clue that I needed to study Mathematics and Physics to learn architecture. Hence I studied fine art and also graduated in Botany, Zoology and Chemistry. I had no idea what to do for a living with my strange academics of art and science.

I come from a family full of film and stage actors. My maternal grandfather was a famous Telugu film and stage actor which gave me easy access to the film industry. Having painted cinema billboards in my college days, I thought I'd try my hand at Art Direction in feature films in 1978 after working for several short and documentary films, and I did my first feature film called “Kukka”. My intent was to use my art and architectural skills, but I never enjoyed the atmosphere of the film industry then which was full of debauchery.

I figured three career options after my discontent with the film industry: 1. to use my BSc degree to become a medical representative and make money to finance my paintings; 2. to become a drawing teacher and struggle; 3. join advertising, use the skills and make money. Advertising seemed like a saner choice. I made my decision.

I had no idea about advertising except the knowledge that it pays tons of money. I went to all my friends who did commercial art to plan my entry into advertising; they all encouraged me and advised me to try for an illustrator's post, as I was good with human drawings. Except a professor who advised me to embrace the new profession whole-heartedly.

I gathered that the best agency that time in Hyderabad was ASP (Advertising and Sales Promotion Company owned by Birlas). I had decided to only join the best. I knocked their door for almost a month before my relentless pursuit paid off, I managed to meet and impress the Art Director who reluctantly said he can take me as an “unpaid trainee” only if I could impress the General Manager. I took the challenge and met the GM, who looked at my drawings and paintings and said, “You are a fine artist, and I have no intention of patronising a junkie artist who does not understand business” and threw me out!

I rushed to the nearest library and fished out every single advertising and marketing book I could lay my hands on and read them for a week studiously. Met the GM a month later and impressed him with my advertising and sales knowledge and proved him that I am not an arty junkie. But still he refused to allow me into his agency; this time his excuse was that he has no space and cannot offer me a chair or a table!

Out of grit or frustration I do not know, but I walked off angrily, bribed the security guard outside the building, borrowed his chair and went back to the GM with a foldable Godrej chair. I said nothing, just stood outside his office till he came out and gave me an “unpaid” trainee's job!

Three months later, I was confirmed as a cut-paste finishing artist and then got promoted to an illustrator and then to an Art Director – all in a span of 18 months. I did a crazy thing, I went to the GM and asked him to shift me to servicing which he refused point blank and I resigned and left ASP to set up my own agency to learn more about the business of advertising.

I still thank my stars for that mad act of chucking my job to explore the science behind the art of advertising. Thank god my good luck is good.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

(There are great untold stories in advertising. If you know of any ad professional who came into the profession by chance or because of unusual circumstances, do let us know so that we can profile him. Write to us at Info@BestMediaInfo.com)

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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