ITV

Tag: Viral Pandya

  • Viral Pandya moves on from Cog Culture

    Viral Pandya moves on from Cog Culture

    Mumbai: Viral Pandya, a celebrated creative figure in the advertising world, is stepping down from his role at Cog Culture to pursue opportunities beyond the advertising industry, according to industry insiders. Under Viral’s visionary leadership, Cog Culture evolved into a creative powerhouse, firmly establishing itself on the advertising map. The agency earned accolades such as being named the number one Independent Integrated Agency at the prestigious Goafest Creative Abby Awards, alongside Design Agency of the Year in both 2019 and 2023. It was also recognised as Still Craft Agency of the Year in 2019. Viral’s creative genius was pivotal to the agency’s exceptional growth over the last five and a half years.

    On his decision to leave, Viral remarked, “India is at an exciting juncture, and with AI rapidly advancing, the possibilities are endless. However, the current state of creativity is disappointing. Ideas, skill, and craftsmanship seem to have taken a backseat. My forte is sound strategy weaved by great design thinking, and the digital realm lacks these. Rather than lament this, I want to take action—apply my experience directly with clients, embracing technology and innovation. It’s also a perfect moment for me to take it slow and reflect.”

    When asked to elaborate on his criticism of the industry, Viral added, “Today, more than ever, you need to earn attention, not buy it—thanks to the digital explosion. But look at the work coming out of many digital agencies. Barring very few ideas, it’s abysmal. Some agencies, along with clients, seem to think that boring carousel posts or elementary motion graphics qualify as digital work. All they manage to do is contribute to global warming by overloading servers. I’m hopeful that I can make a meaningful difference.”

    During his tenure, Cog Culture attracted marquee clients including DLF Offices, Devans Modern Breweries, Emaar, Central Park, Trehan Iris, Cashfree, Reach Group, LVR (makers of O’Darling whisky), and the luxury fashion startup Coyu. Today, the agency boasts a team of over 120 professionals spanning multiple disciplines. Before joining Cog Culture, Viral founded Out of the Box and previously led creative departments at Saatchi and Saatchi and Grey Worldwide. A thought leader with over 800 awards—including a Cannes Gold Lion Design and numerous Merits and Print and Design, several One Show Pencils—Viral’s work has been recognised by One Show for ten consecutive years.

    He has also served on prestigious juries such as Cannes Lions, One Show Design, Kyoorious Design Yatra, the New York Fest Executive Jury, and as Jury Chair across multiple categories at Goafest Abby. He is notably the only Indian creative to have developed work for Rolex. The brands he has worked for range from global giants to local businesses: Hyundai, Panasonic, Tata Tea, Taj Group of Hotels, Maruti Suzuki, Bridgestone, Pedigree, Samsung Mobile, Samsung Appliances, Haier, Ariel, SOTC, Rolex, Ranbaxy, Veen Waters, Tigre Blanc Vodka, Mother’s Pride Preschools, Presidium Schools, and Haldiram’s.

  • Strike ‘Out of the Box’ to win!

    Strike ‘Out of the Box’ to win!

    MUMBAI: While playing a game of tic tac toe, ever thought you could win a game by just drawing out of the box? If not, then maybe you weren’t creative enough.

    With a single stroke of pen, Out of the Box, a Delhi-based creative agency has proved its point. Tired of the recycled ideas and unoriginal advertising, Saatchi & Saatchi ex-creative Saatchi & Saatchi (then, now L&K Saatchi & Saatchi) Viral Pandya decided to start his own venture.

    The agency formed in 2006, has been planning to revamp its logo for a long time now. It claims that after long, it finally had time to put its creative heads together.  “With so much of work on your table, you rarely get time to think about yourself. Ironical as it may sound, it’s the truth. However, the thought of designing a fresh, new brand identity for Out of the Box was always there at the back of our mind,” says the agency’s co-founder and chief creative officer Pandya.

    With the new logo, the agency wanted to say everything about the agency without speaking a word – its philosophy, its approach, its challenges, its lunatic side, everything. So what one sees as the logo is what defines it as a creative company.

     However, it wasn’t an easy task. With hundreds of drafts on their heads, the agency arrived on something extremely simple – a tic tac toe game with a strike through outside the boxes to say that one will always win with out of the box ideas.

    When asked what the agency is trying to convey to its clients and market, Pandya explains, “Playfulness. Spirit. Radical Approach. All in all, it talks about what we truly are. For clients, it gives an indication of what can be expected of us. As for the market, it tells them how mad we are about what we do. For aspirants, it reminds them of what we expect them to be and deliver.”

    The year has been full of work, full of awards and full of happiness. Graceful to God, Pandya believes that the agency has been able to pull off work that augurs well for the clients. So, far the work has won a fair share of awards this year. Whether it’s One Show Design, New York Festivals, Kyoorius, Luerzer’s Archive or Goafest, the agency has hit a jackpot. “Indeed, it feels good to be consistent. And it also keeps us on our toes to deliver every time.”

    And with two or three exciting accounts in the pipeline, the agency believes that every day there’s a new brief, a new challenge, a new idea and new excitement. But the work that really excites the people at the agency is the curriculum books for Presidium Schools.

    It was the biggest challenge, as well. The agency was supposed to adhere to the guidelines set by NCERT’s National Curriculum Framework (NCF), something that it was completely alien to.

    “Keeping that in mind, our job was to make these books interesting, inspiring, stackable and identifiable. Above all, the biggest mandate was to create the finest curriculum books in the country. It took us one and a half years to design the entire set of books, and there are more than 100 books still in the pipeline,” says Pandya while adding that it would be fair to say that this year was dedicated to education books.

    There’s another piece of work the agency is really excited about. It is a new campaign for Presidium Schools called Leadership via Academics. The first print ad of the campaign was released on Independence Day, and one can see a lot more of them in the coming weeks.

    One work, which made Pandya jump off his seat was ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ for Metro Trains, Melbourne. “So simple, so adorable, so moving, and bang on to the brief, a proof that the more innocent an idea is the more it touches the society,” he says.

    The agency which believes in never giving up, strives for the best and then tries to better it. So, what sets them apart from the others? In one word, passion. “We don’t take any short cuts. We pull all stops when it comes to generating ideas as well as in execution. And most important, we enjoy what we do,” states Pandya matter-of-factly.

    To create its unique identity, even in the age when digital medium has become an integral part of communication, the agency has successfully executed social media and digital campaigns, but it doesn’t set out to do digital campaigns. It wants to crack media-neutral ideas, and factor in digital, if needed.

    In the competitive market where mergers and acquisitions have become a common phenomenon, Pandya thinks it’s both easy and difficult for an independent agency to operate. “There are no network clients and therefore no free lunch,” he laughs and adds, “On the plus side, we enjoy creative freedom and can have clients who appreciate good work.”

    As for the future plans, Pandya jokes and says that as of now, the plan is to print T-shirts for the team with the new logo. “At Out of the Box, we hardly worry about the future. Our primary focus is to keep on creating work that works for the clients and us. What we really worry about is what we are going to drink after a long day at work.”

  • Seven years of Out of the Box ideas!

    Seven years of Out of the Box ideas!

    MUMBAI: It was in 2006 when advertising professional Viral Pandya found his calling. With over 15 years of experience at that time, Viral wanted to break-free from the recycled ideas and clichéd advertising, and the outcome was Out of the Box.

     

    As the name suggests, the Delhi-based advertising company believes in taking the unbeaten path. As the agency turned seven on 10 January, the co-founder and chief creative officer believes that it has been a great ride ever since and he’s still enjoying the heady feeling. “While I was heading creative at Saatchi, I got this chance to set up an agency from scratch, and I grabbed it,” he recalls while on a celebration trip with his entire team to Shimla.

     

    On the years just a little short of the big 10, the team feels that the appreciation that it has received from clients, the industry, peer groups and award juries is the high point. “Year after year, we have won just about every award worth winning,” points out Pandya while stating more instances of their work been acknowledged and respected. For instance, a poster developed by the agency was displayed by Museum of Design in Zurich.

     

    The agency’s copywriter, Vaibhav Pandey, won the All-Star competition at the Portfolio Night organised by Art Director’s Club, New York. He was chosen as the Best Young Creative from New Delhi, and was invited to New York to work for the global campaign for Ford Motors. Apart from that, last year, Pandya was invited to be a jury member for the New York based One Show Awards (Design) that celebrates the best of the advertising world.

     

    The agency caught everyone’s attention a couple of years back when it won its first ever Cannes Gold Lion in Design for its work – Love blossoms here.

     

    The agency attributes all these accolades on a conscious effort to do away with the stuffiness of big agencies, and have more creative freedom and tighter creative control. “In this day and age, agencies will go to any extend to get more business, we are an exception. Our focus has always been quality, not quantity,” emphasised Pandya.

     

    Unlike others, Pandya doesn’t shy away from saying that awards are an important source of encouragement for him and his teammates. He believes that validation about anything is good, and who wouldn’t welcome it!

     

    He goes on to say, “I believe everything that goes out of the agency should carry our mark of excellence. We will go to any extend to live up to this belief.”

     

    But every agency would like to believe the same about them and thus when quizzed Pandya about what makes Out of the Box stand out, he candidly puts it that there are two answers to this. Quoting Abraham Maslow, he says, “If hammer is the only tool you have, you see every problem as a nail.” He further adds, “Thing is, if you are an ATL agency, you come up with just ATL solutions. If you are digital agency, your solutions are digital. Luckily, we approach every problem with a clean slate. We have competencies in every discipline – whether it’s design, advertising or digital. If it’s PR that the client needs, we have no hesitation in recommending that. Point is there’s no standard way to develop a brief; we define the marketing problem, keep an open mind, and arrive at a solution.”

     

    And the shortest way to put it according to him is: See our work. And you will realise how different we really are!

     

    Sounds like a lot like boasting, but the agency doesn’t feel that way. “Apart from the work, our people and the clients which have always supported, appreciated and encouraged us add up to make it worth it,” he says.

     

    The agency boasts of clients like Mother’s Pride, Haldiram’s Presidium, Adiva Healthcare and Art of Curry that have been with the agency since its inception. In fact, it was Mother’s Pride that had got them the Cannes Lion. The team had worked on it with collaboration with Bombay Duck Design and came up with numerous layouts and taglines before producing the award-winning designs.

     

    Small independent agencies have and are still mushrooming in the country, but not many last for long or are bought over/merge with bigger agencies. Dentsu India group (which acquired 51 percent stake in Taproot India) executive chairman Rohit Ohri believes that it doesn’t matter if you are a small or big agency, or if you work independently or are a branch of a giant group, it is the work that matters. “Size doesn’t matter. It is a level-playing field and the key differentiator is the work,” says Ohri who thinks even small and independent agencies can survive in the competitive world.

     

    However, Pandya says that a merger doesn’t make sense unless there’s a meeting of minds. “We set up Out of the Box to get away from the stuffiness of a big agency. So naturally, we will be careful before we jump into a merger. However, if our values and beliefs match, we’d be open to it,” he remarks.

     

    When quizzed if he regrets any decision taken about the agency so far, he says, “I only wish that we had started this venture a little earlier.”

     

    As he signs off, in an optimistic way he says that there will be big surprises from the agency, “You just wait and watch.”

  • Bang in the Middle gets Knoxx Global’s India biz

    MUMBAI: Delhi-based ad agency Bang in the Middle has won the creative and media duties for Australian integrated security and management services provider, Knoxx Global.

    The company from the land of down under is set to launch in India. Bang in the Middle will manage the entire spectrum of services for Knoxx Global‘s India plans.

    Knoxx Global MD Ajay Pal Singh said, “I am delighted to announce that we have found like-minded partners in the Bang in the Middle team. We have very ambitious plans for our services. We, along with Bang in the Middle team, will create a brand that India will aspire for.”

    Bang in the Middle MP Prathap Suthan said, “This just reaffirms our collective calibre and ability to launch and grow a brand within India and globally. We are very proud to have been chosen by Knoxx, and I am pretty sure we will help Knoxx become the marquee global brand they can become.”

    Bang in the Middle was started in 2011 as an in-house creative division of global tech support provider iYogi and went independent on 1 May 2012. The team at Bang in the Middle boasts of industry veterans like Prathap Suthan, Naresh Gupta, Viral Pandya, Manoj Deb, and Sabu Paul.

    The agency provides services across verticals such as brand advisory, campaign design, and advertising across platforms and customer touch-points and aims to assist brands in creating holistic communication approaches that will reduce dependency on traditional media and leverage digital to get better results.

    Knoxx Global is in the process of introducing GPS tracking services and devices for both commercial and individual vehicle owners.