Their team synergy wasn’t evident initially, but complementary traits have in fact done wonders for Vaybhav and Tirth
"As we speak, we’re in the process of taking on the role of Senior Creative Directors at JWT on the Airtel business,” declares an exuberant Vaybhav Singh, CD, Dhar & Hoon. With the ‘we’, he refers to his better half – Swami Anand Tirth, who also works as Creative Director at the same agency, and has been working with him for eight years now.
Interestingly, the sparks flew off in the air for them when they first exchanged glances at Grey, but with different partners. At that time, a campaign at the agency had propelled them to spend a weekend, as a team, with the execution and finishing stages completed by them. This was a campaign for Hindustan Times which was soon followed by another stepping stone in the form of a campaign done for Business Today. The campaign not only fetched great reviews among their peers but also marked their establishment as a team; as they soon shook hands with the bitter but true reality – that in the field of advertising it takes two to tango most of the time! Thus the duo gradually started using each other as a springboard to push the bar on their work. Since then, they have been sounding boards for each other’s ideas, as well as of those who’ve worked with them. And still, after years the aura, this effervescent relationship is still evergreen.
However, as said, their understanding wasn’t a given at the beginning of their relationship. Tirth reminisces about Vaybhav as he shares, “He thought of me as an absolutely spooky advertising fellow who remains soaked up in his own creativity, while I thought that he was senior to me, as he worked with Pat (Pratap Suthan) at that time.” But the start wasn’t as disastrous as it is made out to be. The duo’s jam sessions after office hours helped them break the ice, until the two overtime became great friends and realised the value of that camraderie. “Being in a business that’s about ideas and people, it’s great to work with people you respect and yet have the freedom to question. And working in a team gives you the opportunity to have both,” admits Vaybhav.
And soon enough, the duo had changed track to agencies like Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and McCann Erickson. It was their stint in McCann Erickson, however, which was the most special one. The reason was that they got the opportunity to gain as much as possible from the iconic Indian ad guru Prasoon Joshi, an opportunity many others in their ilk would sell their souls for. Over time, everything just “fell in place.” And as of today, Vaybhav says, “It’s the understanding that we’re together to do good work, if not great; that keeps us curious and pushing each other.”
The duo bring with them an incredible client list. At their earlier agencies, they had chalked out creatives for some of the biggest brands like RIG, Reebok, Microsoft, Happydent, Chevrolet, Santro and of course, Hindustan Times to name a few. Despite having already worked with such big names, both of them feel their best work is yet to come. As Vaybhav asserts, “From our last agency, the work we feel closest to was for RIG, a utility clothing brand. For the armchair explorer, the campaigns pushed beyond boundaries to an exploration of landscapes filled with incongruous imagery and visual oddities; and to that extent aroused the interest of both the viewer and the advertising within the category.”
"As we speak, we’re in the process of taking on the role of Senior Creative Directors at JWT on the Airtel business,” declares an exuberant Vaybhav Singh, CD, Dhar & Hoon. With the ‘we’, he refers to his better half – Swami Anand Tirth, who also works as Creative Director at the same agency, and has been working with him for eight years now.
Interestingly, the sparks flew off in the air for them when they first exchanged glances at Grey, but with different partners. At that time, a campaign at the agency had propelled them to spend a weekend, as a team, with the execution and finishing stages completed by them. This was a campaign for Hindustan Times which was soon followed by another stepping stone in the form of a campaign done for Business Today. The campaign not only fetched great reviews among their peers but also marked their establishment as a team; as they soon shook hands with the bitter but true reality – that in the field of advertising it takes two to tango most of the time! Thus the duo gradually started using each other as a springboard to push the bar on their work. Since then, they have been sounding boards for each other’s ideas, as well as of those who’ve worked with them. And still, after years the aura, this effervescent relationship is still evergreen.
However, as said, their understanding wasn’t a given at the beginning of their relationship. Tirth reminisces about Vaybhav as he shares, “He thought of me as an absolutely spooky advertising fellow who remains soaked up in his own creativity, while I thought that he was senior to me, as he worked with Pat (Pratap Suthan) at that time.” But the start wasn’t as disastrous as it is made out to be. The duo’s jam sessions after office hours helped them break the ice, until the two overtime became great friends and realised the value of that camraderie. “Being in a business that’s about ideas and people, it’s great to work with people you respect and yet have the freedom to question. And working in a team gives you the opportunity to have both,” admits Vaybhav.
And soon enough, the duo had changed track to agencies like Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and McCann Erickson. It was their stint in McCann Erickson, however, which was the most special one. The reason was that they got the opportunity to gain as much as possible from the iconic Indian ad guru Prasoon Joshi, an opportunity many others in their ilk would sell their souls for. Over time, everything just “fell in place.” And as of today, Vaybhav says, “It’s the understanding that we’re together to do good work, if not great; that keeps us curious and pushing each other.”
The duo bring with them an incredible client list. At their earlier agencies, they had chalked out creatives for some of the biggest brands like RIG, Reebok, Microsoft, Happydent, Chevrolet, Santro and of course, Hindustan Times to name a few. Despite having already worked with such big names, both of them feel their best work is yet to come. As Vaybhav asserts, “From our last agency, the work we feel closest to was for RIG, a utility clothing brand. For the armchair explorer, the campaigns pushed beyond boundaries to an exploration of landscapes filled with incongruous imagery and visual oddities; and to that extent aroused the interest of both the viewer and the advertising within the category.”
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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