Do you really need the balls to break the rules?

What is the easiest and simplest theme to keep for an advertising related event? Break the rules? Oh come on. Not again. I am sure that is what is going through your mind now. Yes, that is the theme we kept for The Ad Club Bangalore Big Bang Awards 2019. It might sound very clichéd. But, yeah, if there is one set of people who would break the rules first, it is the advertising fraternity.

But, there is lot been spoken in the recent past about the love for advertising and whether the rules are really getting broken or not. Especially, the older generation seem to be complaining a lot about professionals having less passion and not raising the bar. While there is a lot of innovation happening in the form of technology, content and media, this debate seems to be never ending.

We invited the much celebrated ad man and film maker, Prasoon Pandey, as the chief guest for Big Bang 2019 Creative Awards, to throw some perspective on this and most importantly inspire the audience to break some rules.

Here are some pointers from his key note speech:

-         Every rule should be challenged and that is the only way to deliver remarkable creative ideas.

-         The millennial's and the youth of today don’t need to break any rules. They are born creators and they don’t want to replicate anything. Their mind is tuned to create.

-         The older generation are the ones who are desperately looking for rules and templates etc. in order to replicate success. This is an escapist attitude. More like a Safe Mode on the computer. In order to break the rules, you first need to recognise them. But the problem is as soon you recognize them they corrupt or contaminate your thinking.

-         Breaking rules means to question anything that you see. If you don’t question them, it will end up becoming a rule.

-         Do not start with assumptions. The start point should always be as open ended as it can. If there is any leading insight, the whole idea will automatically skew towards that insight. So, always challenge assumptions.

-         Most rules were created by fear. When people are afraid to go somewhere, they say that if they go there they will fall and that becomes a rule.

-         Small regional brand marketers and owners are much more fearless than the marketing managers who work for national brands. Big Brand marketing managers are more bothered about keeping their boss happy, their next promotion or the bonus, than breaking the rules and leaving a legacy behind. And yes, this is one of the main reason why I enjoy working with regional brands and not national.

So, after reading through all this, what do you think? Do you really need the balls to break the rules? When you have decided to be in this profession, the question is not really about having the balls or not. Whether you are a Veteran, Millennial or GenZ, keep in mind that this profession is all about challenging the status quo, every moment, every day, every brief and every client. So, don't let assumptions define your thinking and ideas. The real question to ask yourselves is, how often do you break the rules. And it was very nicely summed up by Prasoon in his parting words “Go ahead, break the rules. We chose this field because we wanted to do something brilliant and different.”

I would love to hear your thoughts on Ad Club as an industry body should be breaking some rules and also do share some of best practices which you or your organisation follows, to make sure you break the norms and challenge status quo, every time.

P.S: entries are open for Big Bang Awards Part 2 for excellence in Media & Wellness. Register now >> https://bigbangawards.com/2019-eimw/home/