Gopa Menon, EVP of Isobar in a candid interview shares learnings and experiences gained over 15 years of his fantabulous working life
- The agency has recently won a very big account with a multi- agency pitch. How did you and your team made it possible
Any win big or small is made possible by the hard work of the team behind it, We have super talented team across disciplines which makes this happen every time. Winning is a habit and team believes in the same, We enter into any pitch with a belief that we can make a difference to client’s business and help them meet their objectives. This can be only done with a deeper understanding of the business that client is operating in and then trying to figure out a solution which is best suited for the same, backed up by great delivery. Great Strategy & Superb Creative idea is a fail if one is not able to execute the same flawlessly.
- Being the Executive VP of a giant multinational agency, how do you manage to bring out the best in you and your team?
I believe in empowering people and asking them to be responsible for the actions that lead up to it, Asking people to take risk and not worry about the outcomes helps people to think big and Just being there with them & standing with them if they fall or things don’t work out the way it was planned is what one needs to do. This will only come in by trusting your people . Openness, recognition, trust, humility & accountability some of these traits do help in managing and brining the best in me and my team.
- How does it feel to be one of the winners of top 40 under 40?
It feels really great and also feel humbled to be part of illustrious people in Asia Pacific’s Advertising and Marketing Community. When you look back on the journey , This is also recognition of the work done over these years achieved primarily with the help of an awesome team. I Truly believe, we are in people business and if we don’t have great people working for you who are aligned to you goals nothings moves and i have been fortunate enough to have had great bosses and awesome teams to work with.
- What are the 3 major trends that stood out for you in your 15 years of career?
Interesting question, When i started off in Digital There was no Facebook or Social Media, So it’s great to be part of this transition of digital from fringes in India to the fastest growing medium now.
The trends which have really shaped the internet and the industry over these years are definitely the Rise of Social Media, Growing Importance of Data and how it can impact everything that we do and now AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain which will define the next wave of changes in Digital is truly interesting
- From the time you started your journey, what areas of advertising you have seen developed more over time?
As mentioned above Digital Advertising has changed so much over these years. If one has to further dissect it , Social Media has really developed over this years, From engagement to commerce it helps drive all the funnels. Insights and data have also become complex over period of time, there is a need to simplify the data and bring out the insights. Programmatic Advertising is also on the rise and becoming more and more mainstream. and Last but not least Mobile advertising and the various ways by which one can reach to consumers through that is truly amazing
- In a few words, what does company plan to achieve for its clients and industry?
We are doing great work for our clients over the years and driving our philosophy of Transforming of brands & businesses with creative use of digital. We are working with clients to drive digital transformation in their business. Digital agencies for long has played a part of execution agencies here in India and elsewhere as well, Its time with growing importance of digital and it becoming mainstream, dialogue should shift from execution to more strategic. We need to be clients business partners in this journey and that’s what we do now and intend to do in future as well.
- How do you try to be creative and unique with every new pitch that you make?
It’s not about always that creative pitch or unique selling point, its about what is right for the client and their business. As mentioned earlier we would like to solve their business challenges through digital as a medium and that is what we do day in day out. Our promise is to deliver desired result with best of talent available in the industry.
- You have delivered many successful pitches to clients. Tell us about the time where you were disappointed with one of them and what did it teach that you will always remember?
Every Pitch that you win or lose is a learning on what could have been done better and different, But as in Life you win some and you lose some, Key thing is to learn from them and Keep on getting better with every pitch, every campaign. Our record with pitches over last couple of years have been very good, we have nearly converted every pitch we have made, the one we would have not converted would be for different reason all together. One thing this business and digital medium makes you learn is to never lean back and get complacent with your achievements or accolades, Every day is a new day and you need to keep reinventing in this medium to make a difference.
- Do you believe that there is such thing as “Bad Publicity”? Can you give us any example on that?
I don’t think there is anything such as bad publicity, Its about perspectives and those differ from people to people and everyone has right to have one. Only thing one should be wary of is imposing your perspectives on others and forcing them to believe in their beliefs.
- If not advertising then what would you have been doing?
That’s the Funny part ,I always wanted to be in advertising ever since my dream of becoming an Indian Air force pilot went off quite early in my life . So i am living the next best profession that i always wanted to be in.