Listen to this articleImportant Note: always use the front door.
By Rainmaker
I pushed my way into the advertising industry in a case of mistaken identity. It seems all turbans are one and the same.
My friend Malkeet Singh was working as a Copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather and McCann Erickson had expressed their interest in hiring him.
Malkeet told me this and told me to try my luck. I showed up at McCann Erickson bent on getting my foot in the door.
They didn’t bother checking my background (4 years as a bartender and occasional 12-string pub folkrock singer) and I got hired as a ‘Creative Assistant’ for RM250 a month.
I operated a bulky 35mm projector, made coffee, listened carefully to job briefs and basically hung around volunteering snappy headlines to anyone who would listen or eavesdrop.
In four months there was a massive exodus of creative staff who followed the Creative Director to a new independent shop.
The creative heart of the agency was reduced to two Art Directors and me in the middle.
There was no stopping after that.
At my first industry creative awards night at the Hilton, I had my name on over 20 awards.
When Malkeet came over to congratulate us, my boss did a double-take but it was too late to get rid of me!
*This article is taken from the book Rainmaker: Making brands and people famous and furious for three decades. To get your copies, email [email protected]. Copyright © 2021 Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd.
This piece was the Editor’s Note for MARKETING WEEKENDER Issue 315
APPIES Asia Pacific 2022 is happening in Malaysia!
Submission deadline has been extended to January 31, 2022.
Visit appies.asia for details, registration and submissions NOW!
MARKETING Magazine is not responsible for the content of external sites.
The APPIES is an annual event that presents a rare opportunity for creative, media, digital and marketing agencies or brands to present their best campaigns to the industry.
This is the only event where Live Presentations meets Live Judging.
Similar to TED Talks, The APPIES is the chance for great presenters with outstanding work to show it off to some of the industry’s most important industry leaders.
This year’s winners will receive Gold, Silver or Bronze trophies for 10 categories, and 7 special Best of Best categories (red trophies) that require no submissions!
Campaign entries must have run between June 2022 to May 2023
For more details visit https://appies.com.my/ or contact Vishnu
