Creativity Squared: Journeying into the Creative Wonderland with Priya Pardiwalla

Not many know that she is India’s First Ever One Show Silver Pencil Winner. She has a very common first name. And a very uncommon last name. Priya Pardiwalla.

She’s a natural born dreamer, an animal lover and believes fully in angels. 

A student of art who believes that the learning process continues forever. But for all practical purposes she completed her formal education in applied art from the B K Somani Sophia College in Mumbai. At the same time, she also learnt Bharatanatyam, Carnatic vocal music and was a trainer in Shiamak Davar's dance troupe.

She started her 22 year romance with advertising while training in Lintas working on Bajaj Sunny Zip, Tanishq jewellery and watches, Fair & Lovely, Pepsodent, Clinic All Clear, DSP Black and Somac (public service cell of Lintas).

She moved to DY&R Rediffusion to work on Colgate Palmolive followed by Brand David. Under the leadership of Josy Paul, She worked on brands like Singapore Tourism, Mumbai Mirror, Channel 9, LG mobiles, Radio City, AIS glass, BBC, Excalibur, Nitco tiles, Radio One (Mid Day group), CNN IBN, Essar, Royal Enfield and Cuticura deos and talc.

She moved to WT (then JWT) in June 2007. She currently leads the creative on Škoda, Goodknight, Sugar Free, Nutralite, Park Avenue, Ezee and Sofit. 

She created three back to back IPL campaigns from 2011 to 2013, which included making the entire Nation do the 'Jumping Japang' with Farah Khan. While she has launched Goodknight Fast Card, Gold Flash and many other products, Priya has been an integral part of the Goodknight growth story. She also created the PCRA campaign (which helped the Govt save Rs.10,000 crores in 2009) and has won numerous Indian and international awards.

Priya is a full full bookworm and crystal freak. Someday she wishes to write a book gleaned from all her varied learnings in life. Until then, she continues dreaming and working.

Person

“You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one.”

The words of this song best describe what I truly believe in. A world filled with love, kindness, empathy and compassion. I would call myself an eternal optimist.

With hope that good can be found in every person, every situation. 

Gratitude forms a very large part of my belief system.

I am grateful to all my wise teachers – all my mentors, my creative partner Steve, my clients, my bosses, my colleagues, friends, and challengers too. They have all contributed and shaped me.

They have taught me precious lessons that I apply to my life and my work. 

To be like a sponge and soak up all life experiences.

To be like the earth, nurturing ideas, like life in her womb.

To be like sunshine, spreading warmth and light.

To be still. To laugh, cry and dance in the rain.

To celebrate an idea and sculpt it, shape it, nurture it and approach it with the fresh eyes of a child.

To feel the excitement rising when a new brief comes along and the butterflies making my tummy flutter as I stand up to make a new presentation.

Every piece of creative work I immerse myself in, to me is like a journey into wonderland. Sometimes fun, sometimes easy, sometimes scary, sometimes deep, sometimes demanding. Always loved. But never boring. 

And when the Creative journey is so magical how can it ever be routine.

The trick is to love what you do and then it will no longer be work. 

Product

Madness. Instinct. Bravery

It’s very difficult to create something which doesn’t have any reference point. When we go to Clients, filmmakers, they always ask for a point of reference. Honestly, for me if your starting point is a copy, it's going to be very difficult  to create something truly original.

When I see a piece of work, I always ask myself, does it remind me of something already in the market. If yes, I try to break away from it. Creating without a reference point is the most difficult thing to do. It happens very rarely and it’s even more rare for a client to buy it.

I remember a few years back, we were creating a campaign for Goodknight Low Smoke Coil. While the brand had been using kids, we thought of using an old couple to tell our story. At a time when all brands were using younger people in their commercials to project a more progressive image, we created magic by simply using a charming old couple with childlike enthusiasm about whether they would find mosquitoes or not.

We had also come up with the idea of ‘Sirf Dekhne ka nahin’ for IPL on Sony Max, where we taught the entire nation to celebrate every six, four and wicket by dancing to the track 'JUMPING JAPANG'. 

At first the client was very uncomfortable and said that it can never be a mainline campaign, at most it’s something that their cheerleaders can do on ground! In just two months how do we expect something to catch on. We had no references to show. No case studies of anything else in a similar space. To make matters worse, I insisted we work with Farah Khan as the face of the campaign.

So someone like me who’s not so crazy about cricket collaborating with someone who’s gone on record to say that she hates cricket. It was a huge risk, but the client wore some socks over their cold feet and took a chance. 

The result was one of the most memorable and successful campaigns in the history of IPL.

Unfortunately, today, no one wants to take a risk. It feels a lot more comfortable being in a familiar space. To know that someone else did something similar and it worked. Everything thing is tested, pre-tested over and over again at every level. That’s clearly evident in all the work we see around us.

Madness, instinct, bravery, the very ingredients that make for great work has made way for tried, tested and retested.

Process

'Inspiration is Everywhere'

Everything that we see, hear, touch and experience influences us. It’s a continuous process. For example, watching a movie may trigger off an idea which may have nothing to do with the plot of the movie. I usually make a note of these ideas and tell my partner Steve about them. Sure enough, we end up using most of it in our campaigns. 

Before starting on a campaign, I usually like to take the brief straight from the client and ask them everything. Relevant as well as irrelevant. Any interesting anecdotes, stories. Their own experiences. I feel it’s very important to interact with the client in that first meeting rather than it being filtered out. 

Some of our sharpest work has come from these interactions.

Also after the first briefing, we always encourage our teams to think separately first and then do a brainstorm. This way we are able to bring the most diverse set of ideas on the table. If one directly gets into a brainstorm, one person’s way of thinking can influence everyone else.

For the last 20 years I have collaborated with my partner Steve on every single project. We are completely different people. I’m a glass half full kind of person. And he feels that the glass is completely empty!

We plan everything from the beginning, craft and recraft every word of every single film, song, print ad or post and make sure we finish two days before the actual meeting. Why? Well, the last two days before a meeting brings with it a certain crystal clarity. We evaluate everything we’ve done. Most of the times we’re on the right path. But sometimes if required, we start all over again and create an alternate route. ‘Subah Bolo Goodknight’ a campaign against dengue is one such case.

Press

“You are a child of the universe.

No less than the trees and the stars, 

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

These words from the famous Desiderata were the starting point of my creative journey. A precious gift from my first boss and guiding light Josy Paul. I owe him deep gratitude for shaping my path where I worked closely with him and my present day partner Steven Mathias in Brand David. 

I picked up the habit of questioning everything and approaching life through the eyes of a child by signing ‘my resignation from adulthood’ – a legit document we all signed when we joined Brand David. I was fortunate enough to work with Josy closely and be one of the founding members of the company. It was exhilarating and was one of the building blocks of who I am today.

I learned the habit of perfection and striving for excellence from my present day creative partner Steven Mathias.

I would also like to add that my mum played a huge role in showing me that women are empowered. Not helpless damsels in distress and that there is no replacement to hard work in your pursuit to excellence.  

To me every campaign or project is the same as studying for an exam. You take all the effort, you keep crafting, improving, wrestling with an idea for months together to make that one piece of work shine. But shoot day is like the day of the exam itself. If you don’t get things right on this all important day, then those million sleepless nights and sacrifices you’ve made don’t really matter.

Lastly I would like to say that “Stress only creates more stress. It is courage, belief in an idea and in your team and passion to do your best each time, every time that fuels, empowers and creates the magic for any great creative idea.”