An evening with Mr KV Sridhar
On Friday, March 3, we had a very insightful session by Mr KV Sridhar.
About Mr KV Sridhar
Mr K V Sridhar (Pops) is currently the Global Chief Creative Officer, Nihilent Limited and Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Hyper Collective.
'Pops' has spent close to 45 years in advertising. He has seen the evolution of advertising from the era of black and white print ads and radio jingles, to using AI to understand consumers better.
Pops has been the Chief Creative officer India at Sapient Nitro , Chief Creative Officer India Sub continent at Leo Burnett, Executive Creative Director at Lowe Lintas , Chaitra Leo Burnett, and Creative Director at Lintas India. He has also worked at Enterprise, JWT Bangalore and ULKA Hyderabad.
Pops has built some of the most well-known national and global brands such as Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Limca, Bajaj Auto, McDonald’s, LG, HDFC Life, Unilever, P&G, Marico, Nestle, GM, Colors, Fiat, Fair, & Lovely, Whisper, Tide, Jet Airways, DHFL, Maaza, Minute Maid and Samsung.
Pops has also mentored some of the Indian film industry’s leading technicians, art and music directors, and production designers.
Pops has been the driving force behind several international awards including 22 Cannes Lions. He has been a part of many awards juries including Cannes, One Show, D&AD, New York Festivals, London Festivals, AdFest and A-Lister Hollywood Awards.
Pops has won a record 23 Cannes Lions, over 100 international and 300 Indian awards and was honored with the New York Festivals Creative Achievement Award in 2010. He was inducted into the “Hall of Fame” of Asian Advertising and Marketing Legends last 40 years by Campaign Asia.
The importance of purpose
Some like Sachin Tendulkar find their purpose early in life. Others like MF Hussain do so late in life. But whatever be the case, we must have a purpose. Only with purpose can we lead a meaningful life and make a big impact.
Purpose makes us do the right things. What we have is a consequence of what we do. What we do is a reflection of what we are.
Brands and human beings
Life teaches us everything. Life has answers to all our problems whether we are an entrepreneur or a techie trying to build an algorithm. All successful businesses believed in something.
Brands are like human beings in various ways. They are a consequence of how they behave in the marketplace. And like humans they must learn from other entities in the neighbourhood. Just like humans build relationships with others based on shared values, brands must also share values with customers to resonate with them. Loyalty is converted to business.
In the context of values, Mr Sridhar mentioned that corporate problems and personal problems are not all that different. People with the right values can do well in both environments. For example, mothers who lead our household, are frugal and good at putting away savings for a rainy day. Similarly, women leaders are often better at managing the business during a slowdown when cash flows are weak.
Sacking people during slowdowns (even when the profitability as in the case of the tech companies) is high does not send the right signals. Companies with the right values will realize that the right option is not to cut costs but to increase revenues.
The successful brands play an important role in our lives. That is why we forgive them even if something goes wrong occasionally. (Think of Uber drivers not reporting and the recent incidents on Air India flights.)
Vison, Mission and Purpose
Vision is the long term aim of the company.
Mission is about how to achieve our aim.
Positioning is about how we are perceived to be different from others.
Purpose is about why we exist.
Examples of corporate purpose in action
Mr Sridhar provided several examples of how purpose comes to life.
Tata Salt
The purpose was to eradicate iron and iodine deficiency. No wonder it became” Desh ka Namak”.
Thai Life Insurance
Believe in doing good. That is the theme of Thai Life’s extraordinary campaign. We learn from the young man, how by doing good deeds, we can connect with people. We should spread happiness among people who need our help. The emotional returns from these connections are phenomenal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaWA2GbcnJUCoca Cola
Happiness starts with a smile. What are you waiting for? Choose happiness. That is the theme of Coca Cola’s famous campaign. We should remain optimistic and spread the cheer around. Nothing is more infectious than laughter. When we laugh, other people around also feel happy. In this case the entire train coach is laughing, as they see one fellow passenger laughing merrily.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1veWbLpGa78Vicks
It is all about how a woman adopts an orphaned child and how she cares for her child and drives her to do well in life. Vicks positions itself as caring for families for generations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zeeVEKaDLMNike
Nike through its campaigns makes us feel great. Even if we are not athletes, we feel like one. Nike has instilled the morning walk/run habit among people of all ages.
Airbnb
Airbnb provides a different experience from five star hotels. It has changed the way young people travel. Airbnb brings the personal touch and makes us feel we belong to the place and encourages us to explore.
iPhone
iPhone celebrates the photographer in us. It provides the tools to make us more creative. Another Apple product, IPad enables us to “doodle”.
Mr NR Narayana Murthy
The Infosys founder wanted to answer the question: How do we make more people wealthy?
Dhirubhai Ambani
His purpose was to make shareholders happy.
Azim Premji
Premji started off as a traditional businessman. He found his purpose later. He has done more for education than even many state governments.
Concluding remarks
In short what we do in our lives, we must apply to our brands. We must humanize brands and organizations. We must change the lens with which we see the world. Consumers are also fellow human beings. Purpose helps brands to connect with people and make a greater impact.
Q&A
Passion is essentially what we want to do. Purpose is how relevant it is to others. Passion without purpose will not be that inspiring. If we say we want to go up a tall mountain, we will make some impact. But we will make a greater impact if we say we want to be the first person from India to do so. We will also receive greater support from our family, friends, and the people around us.
Bill Gates wanted to see a computer on every table. Satya Nadella wants to empower everyone on the planet. How realistic are such statements made by companies? Should we take them seriously?
Mr Sridhar emphasized that we cannot fake our beliefs. Our actions must reflect our statements. Microsoft has demonstrated that it is serious about its purpose. If we profess sustainability but dump oil in the ocean, we will not be taken seriously. A genuine internal transformation of values is needed before we communicate our purpose to the outside world.
The Tata Indica was once the most popular taxi in use in the country. The Tatas had all the contact details of the taxi drivers. They could have easily started a Uber like service. But then the Tatas believed they were car manufacturers and not mobility providers. That is why they did not enter the space.
Tata Capital worked on its campaign for two years to ensure that it was genuine and authentic. See the Count on Us campaign by clicking the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAR-XDl6roET Now presents the rationale behind the campaign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyQFnU3KO9cPurpose driven organizations try to find the believers who then propagate the brand. People relate to what their friends and peers are saying rather than senior people. If one person believes, he can make 10 peers believe. At Air India, even though the senior people are clear about the purpose, down the ranks, the message does not seem to have percolated.
Purposeful brands are often more profitable. They attract customers with similar values. Once people believe in the brand, they will start buying the products. No discounts will need to be given. If people do not believe in the brand, the only way is to offer discounts. Consider the Hamara Bajaj campaign. There were no sales objectives, but the campaign made money for Bajaj and drove up the share price.
Some companies do not have enough conviction in their purpose. They are driven by materialistic motives. It is important to become selfless and indispensable in the lives of others. Then profits will follow. Companies must build the business around core values and beliefs rather than around the compulsion to gain market share.
At a well-known tech company, an employee is recognised today for great performance and sacked the next day. Such news has gone viral. It will certainly affect the image of the tech companies. In a family of five children, the mother will not throw out 2 children just because the income is not sufficient.
Purpose is important to the success of organizations and brands. Even ICFAI is driven by purpose. The mission of ICFAI is to mould responsible students who are responsive to societal needs. All of us need to find our purpose! Then only life will be meaningful.