Ram's World Tour
I’m off on an 8 day whirlwind tour. The trip encompases the McCann Health Worldwide conference in LA 2012, followed up by events at Cut + Run in New York and The Ambassadors in Amsterdam and finishing up in London at Envy.
The McCann event sounds like it will be incredibly inspiring and we at LBB are always keen to be involved in these closed door affairs. Sure award shows and other open or ticketed events are great but it’s lovely to be involved in these internal conferences which really get attendees fired up. This one sounds particulary interesting as clients/brands will be attending. Partnering with Great Guns, the audience will be in the company of some of the world’s most accomplished directors, filmmakers, gamers, digital and viral content providers from Hollywood/Bollywood and the entertainment industry. I asked Jeremy Perrott, McCann Healthcare's Worldwide Creative Director what this event was all about, his response, "We brought our sparkiest creatives from around the world and our clients, who have fire in their bellies, together for two days in Los Angeles to be challenged. If we are going to stay relevant to our audiences and engage them we must listen, learn and be amazed at those who do it so brilliantly.They will open our minds. Challenge our conventional ways. Inspire us to be so much more and do so much more. Work with the best to be the best."
One of the speakers at the event is director Ram Madhvani, who will be talking on ‘The Hero’s journey.’ He will then be taking this talk onto NYC, Amsterdam and London. I first saw some of Ram’s work whilst working at The Gunn Report. We would go from show to show checking out the best spots in the world and always looking at which ads would get a crowd reaction. I remember first seeing one of my fave ads at The Clios a few years back and that was the fantastic Happydent ‘Palace’ spot. I remember clearly the audience gasping, laughing, and clapping. The ad went on to win awards around the world. What I also remember about this spot was studying it. At The Gunn Report, we used to try to prove that great creative sells, and, this one proved the point. I remember that the ad was so popular that Happydent had to build a new factory (or two) to keep up with demand. Nice work, that.
I’ve followed Ram’s work ever since and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the response from the people that Ram will present to. I asked Laura Gregory, Founder of Great Guns (who now represents Ram in the USA, the UK and The Netherlands) what she thinks the US, and indeed, the rest of the world will think of Ram’s work, as many who don’t spend time on the award circuit may have missed it. While Ram has been directing for over 15 years, only a few of his spots have broken out of the Mumbai market where Ram is based. Laura’s comments were simple, “It is impossible not to be touched by this incredible man and his generous spirit. His work is inspiring and at times, jaw dropping.”
Recently I attended Adfest in Thailand on another LBB tour and I spent some time with Prasoon Joshi, the McCann Creative Director who worked on the spot. Prasoon was equally complementary. He mentioned to me the amount of detail Ram put into the treatment and story boarding of the spot. He said he knew the spot would be a winner.
I look forward to this trip to catch up with Ram and to be inspired by many others. I will be reporting back as I travel from city to city, so please stayed tuned.
These events are sponsored by - McCann Health, Great Guns, LBB, Dirty Soup, Higher Pitch, Asahi, The London Cocktail Company, Envy Post, Cut + Run and The Ambassadors.
Dates:
7th of May at Cut + Run NYC
9th of May at Ambassadors Amsterdam
10th of May at Envy London
