CP+B showed us that even conventional media can be interactive: Prasoon Joshi

Prasoon Joshi, CEO, McCann Worldgroup India and chairman (Asia Pacific)

Claim to fame

Writer, lyricist and adman, Joshi has under his belt not only Bollywood hits like Rang De Basanti and Taare Zameen Par but also ad hits like the Happydent 'Palace' commercial. Currently, he's scripting Maggi's comeback campaign

The lesson

Having chaired several juries at international advertising award shows like the Titanium & Integrated category at Cannes Lions, Joshi finds that great work, irrespective of its provenance, makes him "wish I had done that". Work like Project Daniel by Mick Ebeling's Not Impossible Labs and sponsored by Precipart and Intel. Together they set up the world's first prosthetic lab powered by 3-D printers that creates arms for children in wartorn Sudan. So, in a way, the agencies and firms responsible for the campaigns which inspire him are Joshi's competition. But one in particular has his undivided attention - Crispin Porter + Bogusky. (Incidentally, CP+B's former worldwide chief creative officer, Rob Reilly, is currently global creative chairman of McCann Worldgroup.) Says Joshi, "A few years ago, all I used to hear was 'everything should be interactive'. CP+B showed us how to think outside the box and that even conventional media can be interactive."

(As told to Delshad Irani)