The two-day symposium would be best remembered for the dignified presence of three eminent speakers - all epoch-making achievers in their respective fields. The man with nerves of steel Dr. J. J. Irani, former Managing Director, Tata Steel; Ad Guru and a true ‘maverick in motion’ Alyque Padamsee and the unassuming genius behind Amul’s phenomenal marketing campaign Sylvester da Cunha. Sudhir Raikar reports.
The Association of Business Communicators of India (ABCI), under the stewardship of its President Yogesh Joshi, has been at the forefront of promoting effective communication strategies and knowledge in businesses. Towards this end, ABCI conducts workshops, seminars and programmes all over India including the Annual Awards that recognize excellence in Business Communication. ABCI is the first organization in India to have successfully launched the concept of Accreditation Programme for Business Communications & Public Relations fraternity.
The recently concluded ABCI ComFest 2011 on the theme ‘Change makers’ promised to be a feast for patrons and followers of thought leadership alike...what with eight Change makers from diverse industries, businesses, spheres and countries unfolding insights, narrating experiences and explaining strategies.
A superb hourglass visual depicting ‘Footprints on the Sands of Time’ (reminiscent of H W Longfellow’s Psalm of Life) proved just the right backdrop for the symposium theme - the brainchild of ace designer Milind Ghaisas.
An added attraction was the presence of the dynamic Sri Lankan Hudson Samarasinghe, the man behind the transformation of the once- ailing Radio Ceylon into a vibrant organization called Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. But the 2-day symposium would be best remembered for three eminent speakers - all epoch-making achievers in their respective fields.
The man with nerves of steel Dr. J J Irani, former Managing Director, Tata Steel; Ad Guru and a true ‘maverick in motion’ Alyque Padamsee and the unassuming genius behind Amul’s phenomenal marketing campaign Sylvester da Cunha. The trio enriched the audience with pithy observations and perceptive insights on life and work.
Dr. Irani’s key note address was interspersed with his characteristic humour and humility. He spoke at length on some of his successful experiments in communication in Tata Steel.
Tracing the Tata Steel history right from the days of the License Raj, Dr.Irani recounted his now-famous interaction with the Tata doyen Mr. J R D Tata “If we don’t do something very quickly, we both would be seen outside the Tata Steel gate selling tickets - to show a glimpse of the Tata Steel Museum” And what a turnaround they engineered after that - so much so that the international consultancy firm Mckinsey which had initially advised the Tata Group to get out of steel later became a trusted partner in the transformation exercise.
Dr. Irani narrated several inspiring incidents where the right message was conveyed in the right language to the target audience. When the organization was forced to right size the superfluous workforce as an integral part of the transformation drive, he personally toured to the plant sites and explained the company’s larger cause with the help of metaphors that the shop floor guy could easily grasp. He spoke about the mammoth visioning exercise to replace the poetic tag line “We also make Steel” that had reigned for years but was fast losing significance. Just as the new vision statement declared- ‘Where Tata Steel ventures, others will follow’, the company indeed went on to become the global leader in cost-effective steel making.
Legendary Ad Guru and film and theatre personality, Mr. Alyque Padamsee recalled his personal and professional voyage through an Audio Visual presentation fittingly titled “A Maverick in motion”. Drawing from his unlimited wealth of experience across verticals, he stressed on the need to think different in life as also at work. In his inimitable tongue-in-cheek style, he threw light on many a bold campaign in advertising that invariably caused a stir before becoming a rage. No wonder, the maverick artiste has raised the bar in everything he’s done - from playing Jinnah in the film “Gandhi” to conceiving the intimate “Kamasutra” condom ad to architecting Chandrababu Naidu’s grand makeover. He gave a blow-by-blow account of how Bill Gates was so very mesmerised with the instant online issuance of a driving licence renewal in Hyderabad that he became a wilful ambassador of Naidu’s ‘Cyberabad’ on his trip to Japan.
He also spoke about his family life, early days of struggle and sacrifice, his timeless chemistry with wife and creative partner Pearl, the golden days of theatre, paradigm shifts in television like the unlikely detective character ‘Karamchand’, innovative public service campaigns like the ‘Gandhi and the Simplicity’ theme and last but not the least - the humungous talent he unleashed across spheres - whether Shyam Benegal or Kabir Bedi, Shiamak Davar or Sharon Prabhakar, Suneeta Rao or Alisha Chinai, Javed Jaffery or Karla Singh.
The last speaker on the second day of ComFest 2011 was the legendary creator of an equally legendary brand - AMUL. Mr.Sylvester da Cunha. He recalled a few hilarious stories about the witty and ever-topical Amul ads. He also spoke on the making of the Amul brand - the backdrop of the Swadeshi movement, India’s poor ‘milk scene’ of those times, the ensuing co-operative movement and last but not the least, the technical and creative genius of Dr. Verghese Kurien.
The best anecdote about Mr. Kurien was about how the Amul patented buffalo powder milk was developed in the nick of time, minutes before the arrival of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru for the grand inauguration of the milestone innovation in India’s milk-making prowess. Thanks to the Kurien-da Cuhna chemistry, the Amul family grew steadily with different products for different needs - Nutramul, Amul Milk, Amul Cheese, Amul Kool and Amul Baby Food among others.
As he looked back in time, the audience could very well appreciate why the ‘utterly butterly delicious’ Amul, more than an advertising success story, is part and parcel of the Indian ethos. Precisely why Mr. da Cunha’s achievement is cherished to this day as a judicious blend of commercial objectives and social values.