‘Brands working with active audiences to tell their stories’

Known for popular campaigns such as the “cool Matlab Coca Cola” or the acclaimed HappyDent chewing gum ad, where people light up a palace with their glistening teeth, Joshi said the brand narrative should be carefully woven because they have Have a physical form (product). And that which is born out of imagination.

He said that whenever he is invited to be a part of a brand narrative, the first question he asks is “why” – why the brand exists or what is its origin. “That’s because there’s a huge amount of truth hidden in it, which needs to be investigated and understood.”

It is important to understand the purpose and intent of the brand. In the case of Coca-Cola advertising, the marketing intent was very clear: Coca-Cola was trying to reach the grassroots to a bigger, deeper India. This gave rise to “Chalda Matlab Coca Cola”, where Joshi created the characters and the appropriate vocabulary.

“Why” followed by “what” – story is what, and that’s where the art of storytelling comes into play and imagination plays a very important role, he said. He said subjectivity reigns at this stage because different people can see the same thing from different vantage points. He cites some of his campaigns as being derived from local folklore or mythological tales. “So, stories also arise from experiences, culture and surroundings,” he said.

According to Joshi, advertising should understand and focus on the value of the art of storytelling, which is being underestimated today. “Craft is almost meditative. Craft is where the X factor enters… You say this work gives me goosebumps. It can give you that feeling in that moment… that only great craftsmanship.” is achieved through

Highlighting the challenges faced by advertisers today, Joshi said that earlier there was an active performer and a passive receiver, with whom it was easy to communicate. “Now, let’s talk about participation, which has given rise to active receivers,” he said.

“Today, if you are telling a story to someone, someone is more eager to tell you their story. As a result, it is today many more storytellers. With the democratization of platforms, everyone is a storyteller and you are dealing with this active audience. So, you can make sure you stimulate the imagination and steal the imagination in the direction your brand narrative wants to go,” he explained.

The second challenge is the short attention span of consumers. Although short-format content is hugely popular, Joshi also makes people watch longer series. Obviously long formats are also being consumed.

“We can’t be obsessed with the short format, although it’s important to understand it. But it’s also important to know that what people are looking for is something that excites them, that engages them.”

Since people have been snacking on ingredients all day and “almost the ingredients are indigestible”, you can’t give them something regular. “It has to be extraordinary to be able to enter your (consumer) space,” he said.

“It was easier to tell our stories to past generations deprived of the material. Today your story is fighting many stories in a chaotic world.”

He also mentioned the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in every field including story writing. “We are hearing about AI screenwriters these days. But where I think there will probably be a challenge for AI is that AI doesn’t have direct experience…”

Joshi also highlighted the importance of first hand experience of translation into a narrative written by a real person. “If I went to attend a funeral and I experienced the whole place, the narrative of that place, ate a lot of things sensory, the heat, the face, the voice, and I came back and about. Wrote a story. AI has that story. But I don’t have direct experience with AI.”