Next Is What?

Ever since I made the transition to digital marketing two-and-a-half years ago, I've spent my first two hours in office every morning reading. I catch up on social media news, tech talk and the latest in digital creativity from around the globe. It's a fixed routine, one that has helped me build my understanding and set the benchmarks for the work I want to do.

In the last few months, quite a few campaigns have caught my attention, and had me wishing I'd done them.

It starts with Old Spice. The online commercial that went viral, sparked a stunning Twitter response campaign and led to a YouTube war between the two Old Spice guys.

Three pieces of work stood out at Cannes: Rom, Tesco and Bing.

Before that, there was the world's largest concert.

Even further back, we applied for The Best Job In The World and blended the world's latest gadgets.

What do all these campaigns have in common?

Well, they're not quite advertising; they're not quite PR, direct, media innovation or activation either. They're not just social media; they're also content, SEO and online display advertising. They're not quite online; but they aren't mainline or traditional either.

What they are, put together, is a great showreel of integrated marketing. And an eye-opener for me.

My last post and several before that have pushed the cause of integrated, technology-led marketing. I realised about three months ago that I wanted to be out there doing this sort of work. Not just developing content and banners, not just posting Facebook and Twitter updates, but bringing into play all possible media and technology platforms to deliver results for my clients.

A fortnight ago, I resigned from my post as Creative Partner at Yahoo. And signed on to work with Roopak Saluja, Prashanth Challapalli and their merry men and women as Creative Head, Jack In The Box Worldwide.

Jack In The Box brings together digital marketing, mainline advertising, video production and content creation. The sort of mix that should, hopefully, result in work as good as the campaigns I've showcased above. I believe that there are few agencies in India that are doing this sort of work. It's a privilege to be associated with one of them - and an opportunity that's too good to pass up.

I'm grateful for my time at Yahoo. I've learnt so much, not just about the business but also about people and how to handle them. I've met and worked with some fantastic, talented folks, and done things that I never thought I'd do. It's been a shorter stint than I'd planned, but this is a step I need to take if I'm ever going to achieve my career goals.

I leave Yahoo on 15th September, and join Jack In The Box a month later. I have a good feeling about this (with a wee bit of nerves too, honestly), and am really looking forward to 15th October. There are lots of plans and ideas bouncing around in my head (and on emails and tweets with Prashanth)...but for now, the only thing I'm going to plan is my upcoming vacation!