We are shortlisted for a State Tourism account. Will be good if it comes through.
What a shift from the earlier days when clients stayed on with the company they were working for and the people working in advertising shifted jobs practically every year. The shoe's on the other foot now. Agencies have people who have been on the account for years while the client side has undergone rapid change.

Saw the latest Mani Ratnam film in Tamil 'Ayudha Ezhuthu'. Loosely structured like 'Amores Perres' - the Mexican film but quite different in terms of the plot. Worked in most places but the end, while logical did not have a twist or prove satisfying enough.

A lot of people at the theater just did not 'get it'. They were confused by the structure of the film and wondered why the same scene was recurring again and again. looks like Indian audiences are going be stuck with linear structure and simple storytelling for some time to come.

We have still not progressed beyond the exaggerated expression and dialogue that has to express every thought. There is no room for subtle touches or unstated irony. A few film makers are rising above this and making films that are a pleasure to watch but the majority are loud and hard to sit through.

All said and done, movie makers are closer to audiences that advertising people are. They also have a lot more time than the ads. 3 hours vs. 30 seconds

I wonder how people 'happen' to come across each others blogs. Is there a Head Council which deems that these blogs are worth reading and the others are not? Or is it simply that someone likes a turn of phrase, an expression, a description which catches the eye and they keep coming back for more?

Seth Godin's blog is consistently interesting. And contradictory. Which is what most of us are. In one blog, he goes on to say that we should aim for the highest we can and we will end up there. In another he talks about the futility of 'benchmarking' - a state of being where you are perennially unsatisfied and then wonder why you are so stressed out.

People view advertising as an intrusion into their lives. Something they must put up with. Or zap, flip and zoom past every TV commercial, newspaper ad, or billboard.

It's only natural. When Sachin has just been dismissed, an ad having him say 'Boost is the secret of my energy' is a joke.

I'm trying to discover how rusty my writing skills are and I realise they are like ship hulls gently disintegrating below the sea eaten slowly by time and salt water.

Writing that seems easy to read is hard as hell to write. Words can either be bridges or obstacles to your thoughts. They can be submissive one moment and dominant the next.

I have been in advertising for a really long time.

Does that make me a masochist?

I've heard that people in advertising are merely marking time before they go on to other professions. That is not true in my case. May be I have made a virtue of mediocrity.

Whatever the reason, I'm inviting all the people who hate advertising to say whatever they like out here.

And I will give you an insider's perspective.