In school I shared Calvin’s opinion on schools; Calvin, of the “Calvin and Hobbes” fame. I realised our agreement on the issue when I read “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoons at the age of twenty. The realisation couldn’t have come earlier because I had an unhealthy dislike for texts as a school kid. My tolerance of books was restricted to the ones I required to memorise to get through examinations and be placed in the top ten to five percentile of the class. When one could run down and play some cricket, what motivated someone to lie idle in a chair or on a bed and read a thick book—was beyond my comprehension. Until I read.
It is, in part, my delayed discovery of an intrinsic thirst for knowledge that urges me to pursue graduate study.
I cannot start to assert my purpose without putting light on the time of my life when I had decided to discontinue my schooling. Disillusioned by excessive employment of rote learning techniques and lack of emphasis on the applicability of theories I gave up school in 12th grade. Coaxed by family to reclaim some honour, I agreed to appear for my 12th grade examinations six months later on the condition that I am allowed to take a course in computer graphics design, post examinations. I passed my 12th and to further the skills acquired through the computer graphics design course, I decided to go to undergraduate college. Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM), a new programme introduced by the University of Mumbai turned out to be a degree course tailor made for my aptitude.
I thrived in the liberal environment that involved learning through class discussions and debates as much as visits to the library. The untrammelled explorations into a variety of disciplines like Economics, Psychology, Sociology, History, Literature, Culture Studies, Media Theories, Marketing and Management, amongst others, in college, did better at satisfying my curiosity than school. The emphasis on carrying out practical projects in the BMM programme, as much as on written examinations, proved advantageous to me. I have been more adept at practical work and the programme allowed me to showcase my versatile skills and creativity. On the dint of my projects and presentations I gradually gained the recognition of my peers and matured from a shy student who commuted back home alone to one assuming leadership roles in several issues facing the class. One such opportunity was heading the organising committee of the students’ media festival “When Media Attacks” in my alma mater. My undergraduate mark sheets stand witness to the steady growth of my enthusiasm, dedication and application.
Through the sophomore year my intention to pursue advertising as a career took shape and between Journalism and Advertising chose the latter as my major field of study in the final year. I expressed my keen interest through good performance in the business subjects like Financial Management, Consumer Behaviour, Brand Building, Media Planning & Buying, Direct Marketing and Advertising & Marketing Research as well as I did in craft based courses like Copywriting and Advertising design.
As an assistant to the brand manager at Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, the pioneers of jewellery retail in Mumbai, I had the opportunity to understand the motivations and compulsions that drove marketing communication. Interning at Cogito Media Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, as an assistant director on a prime-time television show, I gained an insight into the tastes of the Indian masses, an insight hard to capture from my urban social circles. A stint as content developer in the branding department of Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), Mumbai, gave me a closer look at the booming Indian IT services industry. In a highly price sensitive industry, how can the Indian IT Industry, as a brand, command and justify a premium—is a question on my mind that contributes to the affirmation of my intention to pursue graduate study in the field of marketing and one I hope to answer in my career to some extent.
I am intrigued by brands. I aspire to be a Creative Brand Manager. After my grounding in the basics of advertising in college and work experience, brand management is the direction I plan to progress in. I simply wish to be able to deliver effective solutions and those I am sure come only out of innovative thinking.
It is my strong belief that as strategies are rendered banal probably faster in advertising than in any other discipline, it is important to galvanize the creative limbs of the mind as much as the analytical ones. Further, as the practise of producing advertising material is ultimately a craft rather than a perfected science, one must train in the crafting process as much as learn the evolving science, its schemes and tools. This is the prime reason convincing me that the Creative Brand Management course at VCU Adcenter is one that suits my need to a T.
The unique methodology of the Creative Brand Management course, I find, sets apart VCU Adcenter from other brand management courses available in India that are either strictly restricted to the MBA format or focus on advertising with a broad scope. I wish to specialise within the field of advertising; hence, a broad scoped course wouldn’t do. I am keen on gaining a practical experience of working alongside copywriters, art directors and account planners; hence, a regular MBA wouldn’t do. The prospects of studying in USA is interesting to me mainly due to the mature and constantly updating advertising culture of USA. It wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that the USA is the Mecca of advertising. USA has a good share of the world’s most experienced agencies and promising, younger agencies that together influence the advertising trends worldwide. VCU Adcenter, with the cumulative experience of its faculty, acting as a single point of source would allow me to tap from the repository of USA’s experience and inspiration of advertising. At VCU Adcenter I will be surrounded by highly talented and creative minds that come from different cultures that I expect would not only challenge me but help me broaden my outlook further. I hope to gain a global perspective and graduate education in the USA is sure to give me that.
I believe I have the prerequisite qualities—business acumen, ability to think strategically, leadership, experience of working with teams, a creative bent of mind and most importantly, curiosity—to be a promising candidate for the Creative Brand Management course.
Having completed the course, I plan to work either in an advertising agency as a strategist across a few brands or join the marketing department of a company. Within the marketing department, I would seek the opportunity to not only shape brands by influencing communication, but feeding marketing research into innovative product development.
Ultimately, I aspire to help make Indian brands competitive in global markets and have a hand in pushing the growth of the Indian economy even further in the years to come. Graduate study in Creative Brand Management from VCU Adcenter is one of the early steps towards that goal.
