My First digital ad agency experience...

Yo estaba pensando que debo escribir en Español, pero mi español no es muy bueno… no importa, voy a escribir en Inglés. Por lo tanto, aquí va… [I was thinking that I should write in Spanish but my Spanish is not very good ... doesn’t matter, I'll write in English. So, here goes ...]

Well… it’s been only three months since I’ve joined, but I think I have already learnt a lot from all of you.

This is the first digital company I’ve worked with. I’ve had a lot of fun working with the team so far. It’s been a really good experience; every day I learn something new working with my team. In this regard, I would really like to thank Sreekant and Vikram for guiding and inspiring me.

I would also like to thank the Search team, Creative team, and Tech team, and all the other members at Ignitee, who’ve helped me a lot.

My first fully fledged campaign was Whirlpool’s Ek Jodi Kapda initiative. I didn’t realise it back then that it was going to be a case study for us. Again, I’d like to thank Vikram and Sreekant, who’ve guided me on this live project. I was worried whether something would go wrong. But I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to all the teams who supported me, because of which the project was completed smoothly.

I really enjoyed the Induction session when I went to Mumbai. Some people said things like, “Arre yehi hai… Ek Jodi Kapda… Pakdo isko…” I also enjoyed the welcome given by the tech and creative team there.

The audio workshop too, was awesome. It’s such a great idea to ask the employees to create a theme song for their own company.

Sitting late in office, working on weekends, shouting at clients, getting stinkers, bosses shouting at you—these things don’t create any negative impact. Instead, it gave me a new perspective and I was able to approach my work positively. Also, I’ve learnt that we, the client servicing people, are like ‘Dholaks: jo dono taraf se bajte hain’.

Here’s a small example:

Me: Hello, Saurabh, sir kaam kab tak kar ke doge??

Tech: Kaam ho raha hai yaar, jaldi de dunga…tere chakkar mein poora tech team baitha hai abhi tak office mein….

Me: Are mein bhi to baitha hun…

Tech: Karta hun yaar, jaldi karta hun…

Me: Bhai banner to resize karo jaldi… Aaj se campaign live hona hai..

Designer: Kal milenge saare…bahuit kaam hai yaar… Chal theek hai…. Half of them will be done today…rest tomm…

Me: Ok…Thanks…

So far it’s been a superb experience and I’m waiting for more challenges to come my way…

Saludos a todos!

CHANGE IS THE NEED FOR THIS HOUR – IGNITEE ROCKS

As the heading goes “Change is the need for this hour” now you might ask why this gyaan session is happening. After joining Ignitee an advertising agency from a usability firm, I thought it will be just another Web Designing Firm but it is it surely more than that. Now you might ask, Why this title? Because just having a “Need for the Change” is not enough But “Getting Adjusted to the Change quickly” is also really necessary.

It really took me 1 & half month to adjust to this firm, but after 3-4 months I had a feeling that I was in Ignitee from 1 & half year or so.

Now you might ask, Why this difference?

Understanding the whole structure of Ignitee & in what way I am helping the company. As Ignitee have lots of Skill sets in many different fields, which makes the company different from a normal web designing firm. Tech team, Search Team, Creative Team, Operations Team, Accounts, HR etc & each team having different Skills sets within them.

AFTER 3-4 MONTHS…

The happiest thing for me as a part of Ignitee is, I get to interact with as good as everyone in one way or other & get to know them.

The other main happiest things to be in Ignitee are Table Tennis, Carrom, and UNO. Friday Fever being enjoyed with Dance, Fun-fair, Parties, in teams: Power Rangers, Fanatics, Angels & Demons, Holy Cow. These things are being carried out with loads & loads of work to everyone.

This was what Ignitee is all about.

Now it is the time for a Joke (PJ) in Hindi:

Que: आगर एक आदमी के ३घुट्ने है तो उस का नाम क्या होगा?

Ans: Nitin he he he

Now this is the Change from serious talks to a Joke. Work to Games/party, from being a superior to a being a friend etc and everything at Ignitee.

What else can you Change???

Glory, Glory To Ignitee!

Yes, I am an unabashed Man United fan. Who isn’t? It’s really great to see them win game after game (ok, so they lose a few times, but who doesn’t?) And, my favourite colour happens to be RED…

Oh, you must be wondering then what Ignitee’s all about. It’s the place where I work these days. No, sorry, not work, ENJOY. When you do something you really enjoy, you can’t call it work, can you? I’m a web designer and I get to do the coolest stuff around here. Websites, banners, site caps, you name it, I done it.

The best part about this place is that I don’t have to sit hunched at my desk all the time. We have a TT table, and a room for relaxation we call MOKSH. In the evenings, after office hours generally, there’s an army that gathers at the TT table. I form part of this small army and I enjoy myself after a day’s hard work (oops there I go again). Another great thing is the events that are staged every alternate Friday. It is fun to see everyone run helter-skelter at the last minute, and even through ridiculous deadlines and mountain loads of work, we do manage to have a lot of fun every time!

If I had to describe Ignitee in one word, it would be ‘magic’. It really is a magical place. Even my team is a magical team. And every day, from Monday to Friday, we perform magic tricks to amaze and appease our clients. Come over sometime. You’ll enjoy yourself, I promise!

- Elton Afonso

What’s on my mind? I don’t know!

I have started to type this sentence without any knowledge of what I am going to say in the next 300 odd words. This is a familiar situation to most creative people who sit and stare at the white blank paper everyday of his/her life while cracking an ad. A blank paper is scary at times; you don’t know where to start, what to draw or what to write.

The Facebook status asks ‘What’s on your mind?’ And I find it extremely difficult to fill in that blank. My mind is constantly churning thoughts. And they happen to be random every moment. Good, bad, meaningless, philosophical, childlike and wicked. And the list is endless. Information, Messages, Words, Images, Sounds gets tattooed on the brain. And this hard disk is storing everything I think or not think? Where am I heading? Why am I thinking in the first place? Why can’t I stop thinking? Shut my brain. Was it like this a few years ago? I ask this question to myself. I don’t think it was. Life was definitely not like this.

So, what has made this change? Not long time ago someone helped me open an email account. It was simple; writing a mail to a friend. Today, I don’t have the time to reply to any mails. Too much is happening in the virtual world which I have been part of it knowingly or unknowingly. I am sucked into it. It’s like I live another life in the virtual space. Can I discover a new dimension of myself? Am I the same person who is in the real world? I have noticed, otherwise unassuming, shy and quiet person suddenly showing completely opposite personality on the social networking sites. Should I call this double life?

We are social animals. But today we want to be even more social in a new world.

We like to know what is happening in other people’s lives, we want to share, we want to comment, we want to chat and we want to give our opinion. We want to sell, we want to buy and we want to get entertained. We have the option of changing our identity. Live vicariously. Will it stop here or is there something to be unraveled; something different and bizarre. Is life getting simpler or complicated? I don’t know. I don’t understand. I am not a psychologist.

We (Ignitees) live in one world and work in another. Isn’t it fascinating?

A project developed by American scientist for the United States Defense way back in 1973, known to us as Internet is now become part of ‘our’ DNA. And everyone’s too.

- Ashok Karnik

Why Ignitee Is the Much Coveted Place to Work

Ignitee is the coolest place to be on this earth! Ok I know the initial enthusiasm wears off like that for the newly married couple once they are back from their Lemon Sun (hmm honeymoon sounds too boring). But more than 3 months & I know I can safely say that the Lemon Sunny period is still going on man!

Ok here I go with some cool reasons to work with Ignitee (note: it’s NEVER ‘work for’ but ‘work with’)

* Words like ‘kit kit’ & ‘bossgiri’ ‘chamchagiri’, ‘I-am-the-boss-attitude’, ‘Only If…’, and ‘If you don’t then…’ blah blah blah don’t exist at Ignitee.

* Get unlimited access to internet, chai, kaaphi & nimbu paani

* Get Nihal’s idli chutney (early birds only!)

* Every Alternate Friday evening you can showcase your ‘kala’ i.e your talent

* Makes you feel at home (especially for the creative keedas who spend most of their weekends at moksh. (Ignitee’s abode)

* The fact that each karmchaari has some kind of uniqueness for e.g : Kunal’s taste for dukhi aatma gaane, my manager Kamlesh’s constant antics which include innovative style of mixing up a couple of songs & coming up with a funny composition, Monali’s amriki accent which tickles even our tongue bones (that was sad) & for my boss he keeps pulling our leg whenever he gets a chance hmmm…as for the new chick Bhakti we ragged her & made her remember her good ol’ college days! (Btw it was healthy ragging-we made her meow like a cat & dance her garba). As for the Creative team karmachari’s Nihal & Amyth (real name Amit) have the weirdest, funniest anecdotes just tell him anything & there it goes twisted & strangled to yet another ‘dilbert stumpleupon’. Creative Director Bhavna has a penchant for words, loves to scrabble & can smash guys! …I mean at table tennis…Our VP Mr.Ramani is a die hard cricket fan. There are many more characters here but for that you got to come to Ignitee for a live performance!

* We all keep dieting (decode dieting: a process of continuous diet intake)

* We have our lunch when the rest of the Iggi’s have their chai/kaafi/nimpu paani/etc & we still love it!

* You get a free body massage (b’day bums BUT only for GUYS!)

* Cool Ignitee Tees

On a serious note each day at Ignitee is learning & the people here are just so cool & chilled out! No one feels out of place here & infact each once of us discovers the ‘Ignitee’ in him/her. Hmmm till then will keep you updated with the Iggy Antics. Ciao!

IGNITEE NIGHTS

Big accounts. We’re getting some REALLY big accounts these days to work on. For security reasons (and to keep my sanity intact) I won’t reveal the names, but let it suffice to be known that they’re BIG.

And what do BIG accounts do? They keep the creative team up during the night. Yup, that’s us, the CREATIVE team. Web designers, art director, copywriter, creative director, illustrators, visualisers… the works. We stay up all night to work for a pitch that tons of other agencies are pitching for. We need to win, we WANT to win, we WILL win (it’s a kind of imaginary war cry I’ve made up in my head).

The best part is, we have fun during these nights. LOADS of fun. We do a lot of stuff in between work to keep us going through the night. We dance, we sing, we EAT (eat a LOT), and sometimes, if something interesting is happening on TV, we watch that too. Hey, I said we do this stuff IN BETWEEN work. We do work, you know. But we make sure that it doesn’t feel like work. We make it feel FUN and INTERESTING. Without that, you really can’t get through a night of work.

So, if you ever do want to know what having fun means, walk into our office past 10 PM on any given weekday (sometimes, weekend too). You’ll find us fooling and laughing around… and of course, working EXTREMELY hard. We just love this place. It’s truly ‘ignited’.