Abhijit Avasthi talks to Saloni Dutta about Sideways - his new agency in partnership with fellow former O&M executive Sonali Sehgal – which aims to provide creative solutions to any problem faced by its clients in any aspect of life
Creativity is literally in the air as the lift door opens on the 42nd floor of the Lodha Bellissimo building at Mahalaxmi. Enter Flat 4202 and there is creativity in abundance to be seen and felt - from the beautiful walls to the colourful door, to little figurines of birds all around and the person whose home it is, Abhijit Avasthi. Avasthi, former national creative director of Ogilvy & Mather, has just announced his new creative problem solving agency, Sideways Consulting, in partnership with Sonali Sehgal, also a former O&M executive, and we are eager to hear from them what they have in mind.
“I am a firm believer in the power of creativity and think that it can be used to unlock potential and solve problems in any aspect of life, including personal life, not just business and business enterprises,” says Avasthi, clarifying that Sideways will look at solving issues beyond advertising, branding and marketing.
Asked to elaborate on the kind of solutions that it will provide, Avasthi adds, “We can look at solving an HR problem, do interesting dealer loyalty programmes. If the government wants to change behaviour of people towards a certain social issue, I think it can be used to do that. I can use it for innovation, come up with new products, services. As a philosophy, it has many utilities.”
So, why the name Sideways? Saying Sideways is indicative of a way of looking at things, a way of looking at life, Avasthi talks of one of his all-time favourite books, the ‘Art of Looking Sideways’ by Alan Fletcher, being an inspiring source behind the venture. The book encapsulates how lateral thinking has moved needles in every aspect of human existence. “I love Sideways, the movie too, and I think it works at many levels for us. Also what I like is that it is not saying anything,” he adds.
Commenting on the initiative, Sonali Sehgal - formerly Senior VP (client servicing) at O&M - says, “The journey has been quite interesting so far. It’s reassuring that our model has found takers among both potential clients and talent that we have been meeting. Now, the responsibility is on us to find interesting solutions.”
With a firm belief in collaborations, Avasthi is looking at hiring a core team of around 15 people with different skillsets – an engineer, a tech guy, a designer and the like - to brainstorm about creative solutions. Elaborating on his hiring plans, Avasthi says, “The core team would be around 10-15 people. Some hiring has already taken place. I am essentially looking for people who love to solve problems. It is important as a mindset. It is not that we don’t want to write good films or a lovely Facebook post. We will do it, if it is needed for the client. But more importantly, the tuning has to be that we have to solve the problem in an impactful and surprising way. And since in today’s landscape, a solution can come from anywhere, we have already hired and are in touch with some engineers, designers, researchers, design thinkers, installation people... I am looking for talent in any sphere. They could come from different parts of India and the greater the variety, the better it is for me as an offering. Also, this model works a lot on the power of collaborations. Obviously, I can’t hire everybody at first go. We are going to be putting a core team together, and will have lots of collaborative tie-ups where people will come in for certain projects and then move on from them.”
Sideways will attempt to bring in experts and people skilled in different things to the table, park a problem with them and let them come up with their way of looking at it and then collaborate and come up with an elegant, hybrid and impactful solution. The agency is looking to focus on three client verticals in the initial years - big corporates and established organizations, start-ups and the social sector. “I am quite keen on mentoring start-ups and young entrepreneurs and regional players who have national ambitions. Therein, we can help design their businesses, products and services,” adds Avasthi. The social sector is special in Avasthi’s plans for Sideways, and he is already working with Aamir Khan to help in the Maharashtra government’s Jalyukta Shivaar Abhiyaan, where the actor has been appointed as brand ambassador.
The company is already in talks with a couple of companies in each of the verticals it has chosen, including e-commerce players, consumer durable companies and banks.
Asked to give examples of the kind of problems to which Sideways could provide solutions, Avasthi cites the need of a garment company to get people to wear more denim. Another problem they could possibly solve would be to change the mindset of people to dress Indian and feel good, contemporary and progressive about it. Or help a food start-up to differentiate itself through its business model. Another problem could be of people not stopping at red lights. “The advantage of having people of different skillsets is that they will approach it differently. Take the example of the city’s traffic light problem, of getting people to stop at red lights. The advertising team will pick on an insight and develop a really powerful piece of content. A tech guy will take the phone and put a sensor in it and it will sense it each time you stop at a red light. So, over the year, if it senses that you have stopped at 500 places, we will do a tie-up with the government and important in the scheme of things is the reason why people start up on their own and that is what will define the success of these agencies. “Eventually, it will all stabilize, and in a landscape like India with diverse needs, you need the big traditional agencies, small specialists, collaborators and then you need a Sideways,” he observes.
Work at the new agency will start in right earnest in July, once Avasthi is back from jury duties at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, he says.
BEHIND THE VENTURE
Abhijit Avasthi:
He joined Enterprise Nexus in 1997 as a copy-writer, and moved to Ogilvy & Mather in 1999. He is ad guru Piyush Pandey’s nephew, but has made a name for himself in the world of advertising, creating some iconic ads for brands like Cadbury, Centerfresh, Asian Paints, Google, Fevicol, Tata Sky, Bajaj, Unilever and Mentos, amongst others, while at O&M.
Sonali Sehgal:
She had worked for 14 years at O&M, heading the Cadbury account, before deciding to quit, and join Avasthi to launch Sideways. Incidentally, her husband Rajiv Biyani, nephew of Kishore Biyani, is the managing director of furniture and home décor store, ‘Sidewalks Of The World’. Sehgal is the daughter of adman Ram Sehgal, an Ogilvy, JWT, Contract and Rediffusion Y&R veteran.
Feedback: saloni.dutta@exchange4media.com
