No dearth of talent coming in advertising, it just needs mentorship, say experts

There is a lot of conversation going on around the decrease in the talent pool, especially in the advertising industry, where every other agency is in dire need of talent. According to Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer at DDB Mudra Group, there is a lack of talent pool because of a lack of proper mentorship and guidance as the job has become more hectic due to the daily changing trends.

BestMediaInfo.com caught up with Mathew; Josy Paul, Chairman at BBDO India, and Parixit Bhattacharya, Chief Creative Officer at TBWA\India during the Portfolio Night 2022 event which was hosted by three Omnicom agencies — BBDO India, DDB Mudra Group and TBWA\India in collaboration with The One Club for Creativity.

Rahul Mathew

Speaking on the decreasing talent pool in the very demanding advertising industry, Mathew of DDB said, “I think it is the biggest debate that we all have been having for a long period of time. I feel some of it is because of the lack of mentorship. The rawness of talent also needs mentorship, to groom it to a certain level, I think in our hectic days where all of us have been working, mentorship is somewhere getting compromised.”

“I keep telling people that the most I have learnt is from watching my bosses, that how my boss is writing and turning what I wrote into something meaningful. Somewhere this mentorship has become too less, especially in the last two years, there was no proper mentorship since we were just stuck on our screens. This is also the gap that we are seeing in terms of quality. None of us came as masters, we have all done mistakes and learned from our bosses. There's great talent coming in, we just have to embrace it,” he added.

Josy Paul

Paul of BBDO India said, “We have to keep our outlook positive, and not get carried away with cynicism because every day something is going to hit you and bring you down but you have to keep going. So, when people say that there is a dearth of talent, sometimes you have to say, what you have is good enough and you create something from it and that constraint will create a new song, when we say there is no talent, we are going by an old formula. We have to work on this new formula and see this as an opportunity.”

Parixit Bhattacharya

On the same matter, Bhattacharya TBWA\India, said, “If you look at what you have positively, it will increase in a positive way, likewise if you look at the lacking it will also multiply. That is a universal truth.”

Manvir Mahidwan had the best portfolio of the evening and has been selected for Portfolio Night All-Stars. Agencies were seen fighting fiercely for her.

Pallavi Chakravarty

Pallavi Chakravarty, Creative Head at DDB Mudra and Jury Member of the event, said, “The candidate had the sharpness in her thoughts and a very straight vision to what she wants to put forward. When asked if she had kept other concepts apart from this one, the candidate said - No. This shows the fierceness and the confidence in her.”

Paul found Mahidwan’s work to be articulated and something which is inspired by her own experience.

Here’s a post from the event held on Thursday night featuring prominent personalities from the Indian advertising industry:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by DDB Mudra Group (@ddbmudragroup)

Established in 2003, Portfolio Night has long been recognised as an advertising portfolio review program.

The One Club is a non-profit organisation that puts revenue generated from award entries back into the industry in the form of programs under its four pillars: Education, Inclusion & Diversity, Gender Equality and Professional Development.  

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