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76th Episode. Pratibha joined my team at Dainik Bhaskar Group in September 2006. As we had a lean team structure, even as a trainee she was reporting to me directly. I think I hired her more from a gut-feel than anything else on the resume and I have been proven right. She is still part of the group though now with MYFM.
Though she was new to the team and organization I gave her the assignment of making the 2007 Calendar. Now irrespective of your best efforts the Calendar approval process keeps dragging till late. Result Mid November to December end it becomes a hectic pressure job. The calendar once fabricated at Indore (that time we were using an outside printer at Indore) then had to be dispatched to all states – offices in predefined quantities. It is a complex matrix with it being printed in three languages. Hindi, English and Gujarati.
The work on this assignment was going smoothly and I was absolutely happy with the way Pratibha was handling it. She had sourced the required quantities from every office and vertical and maintained details in a very easy to operate sheet. But, then this business of advertising, marketing gives you surprises when you least expect them.
In this case, after printing of calendars, the printer called for the last check before dispatching them. He had a problem in hand. He had more Gujarati Calendars than the dispatch instruction and less Hindi calendars. Pratibha at first did not comprehend the situation. She did what most of us would do in such a situation. She denied.
She searched through the mails and all instructions she had shared with the printer and soon it also became apparent to her that the vendor was right and she was the one at fault. She had made a huge mistake.
She was new in the system and could not think of a possible solution. She decided to raise the red flag. In my team it is a SOP- bad news must travel faster than the good news. She waited for the last moment. And I think post one of my smoke breaks when I went back to my cabin, she could hold it no more. When she walked in, her face said the story. There was something wrong. Something I did not know.
I had to just ask ‘What Happened?’ and the teary eyed totally nervous Pratibha shared the story. Now she was stuck with more Gujarati Calendar which were of no use in any other state and less of Hindi calendars. Sure the teams expecting Hindi calendar was soon going to raise their voice.
I listened to her story. Asked my set of polite questions and said ‘It is Okay, it happens… Buss itni si baat’. I know Pratibha was surprised; she was all ready to be scolded. She was expecting me to shout at her. And here was I behaving peacefully.
Now we needed to come out of the situation. Though the mistake could be directly be attributed and traced to Pratibha she was still my team and TEAM COMES FIRST. I called up Ashwini Agarwal, it was good that he was a colleague and a dear friend; we both have worked at Mudra in late eighties and been room partners. When Ashwini came on line, I said as a matter of fact ‘Ashwani yaar, mere ek bacche se thodi galti ho gayi hai, usney Gujarati calendar extra chaap diyeh hai, please see if you could tae the extra quantity and distribute then. Use them across units’ (one of my team member has done a mistake, she has printed more of Guajarati calendars than required, could you utilize them through your centers). It was essential as the Gujarati calendars were billed to Gujarat. He asked – how many extra units were printed. I shared the numbers. There was silence and then he said- Kotu Yaar bhej dey dekh lengey . (Dear Kotu send them will manage.).
This was half the problem solved; we still needed more calendars in Hindi. We dispatched part requirement first, so that everyone in the requirement list got some calendar to start distributing. Then the second lot after printing was dispatched by end of December.
Pratbha was speechless at that moment. She was all so full of ‘thank you sir’
Now here was another thing that helped us do this. These calendar were printed
@ Rs.135-140 per unit. This year we were expecting rise of some 5-10 paisa, but the team negotiated and controlled the work in such a way that per unit it cost us around Rs.110/-. So even after paying for additional Gujarati calendars we were below budget as compared to last year.
Then I told Pratibha. I was happy the way you were progressing on this assignment. Mistakes do happen but we must learn from them and not repeat them – ever. I remember, sometime later she shared with me what she learnt that day. I am sure that now as a senior she has not forgotten the learning’s that are helpful both in personal and professional life.
1. Not just hear them. Listen to your teams.
2. Before reacting understand the situation.
3. Respond to situation. Do not react to situation.
4. First find a solution. Discussion learning and reprimanding can wait
5. Teach teams to come with solutions and not problems.
6. Trust your team. Have faith in them.
…………… This has been rewritten basis input from Pratibha Singh who shared this with a message of ‘Happy Teachers Day’. Thank you Pratibha. ……………………………
OTHER MARKETING AND ADVERTISING EPISODES
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DAINIK BHASKAR – ● FORMULA 1- better watched on small screen ● NEGOTIATOR– how the media publisher decied to teach negotiation to the media buyers that only bargained with it. ● 248KB – How a simple mail fired to save the honour ● REJECT AD– Why the brand created an Ad that it wanted Publication to reject ● REVESRE SELLING– how the hunter becomes hunted ● OVERDOSE – What happened with a good B2B initiative at holi● DING DONG EXCITEMENT AT MACAU – the addiction to casino ● DOUBLE SURPRISE– Never walkin a party not knowing the occassion ● HIGH SEA GAMBLING – the merry making in international waters ● The Jump – a team of 7 go skyjumping during annual conclave at Pattaya ● KOTI ANGLES: Gambeling in Goa ● Equal Opportunity to Indulge: How HR finds itself ina spot in Pattaya ● STRATEGIC RAIN BREAK – How ZID KARO DHONI film was shot ● HIGH JACKING THE GOAFEST DELEGATES – a ground event that took Goafest by surprise ● SUE THE AGENCY. Every agency gives its client a reason to sack- but is that reason good enough
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MUDRA – ● The unforgettable morning at naukuchital ● UNNAMED SPIRIT- A SPOOKY EXPERIENCE at Mcleodganj ● THE LOST HAUNTING MUSIC– An experience ● UNDERGROUND – Printing fake currency could have led to jail ● APPETITE – It does not matter where you get the appetite till you eat at home ● SHOOT REPORT – junior saving the issue by innovative process ●KAALI PEELI PICTURE – what do you do you’re your model is featured in Debonair ● SHOOT AT MUD ISLAND – shooting with Denzil ● SARDAR KHUSH HOGA – the agency reaction to a demand
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HTA– ● THE ACRONYM – How while branding one must do the acronym test ● THE CHASE that could have got us killed ● CAN YOU MAKE SOMEONE AN ENGLISHMAN OVERNIGHT ● THE WATCH: How do you know what your client is signalling ● IRRATIONAL DEMAND – how clients expect agencies to do things ● DELAYED LAUNCH – Why HT Delhi Colour supplement launch was delayed ● I AM SANKAR – soft ragging of new trainee ● OUT – let game be game ● BUFFERED –delivery at airport ● JUHI EFFECT– there is something called lady luck in gambling ● ELEVEN MINUTES – client tackles late agency ● CONTINUE WITH CLIENT – The management supports a high pitched battle with client ● THE GHOST OF 35 RANI JHANSI ROAD JHANDEWALAON – The unsiad stories ● UPGRADE – Bangalore ITC ● TWO MORE – how not to pay for the drinks ● BANYAN TREE AGENCY – Agency tackles cost issue on unapproved estimates ● ASSET – how a famous Indian model was rejected ● INTRODUCTION ● LETHAL COMBINATION ● THE COUNT ● THE PROBLEM – Agency tackling a no-brief from client
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LINTAS – ● SHARING IS CARING The coded message by a PSU client ● The other semi-final –How beer has answer to everything ● RUMBLING – amplifying the peace ● PUNJABI LINTAS – Amrit Puri takes over Lintas ● RAIN CLAUSE – I – The fight with Whitelight film over Maruti film ● THE CHERRY WIN –Team plays a prank ● ONE LESS DECISION – a campaign thought represented umpteen times ● BLACK GOLD – A lesson on TVC presentation ● POWER OF PUNJAB ● Puncture – how not to get caught ● THE PRESENTATION – junior takes revenge for last minute changes ● IMPORTED ART CARD – a quick retort to finiky client ● THANK YOU
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OTHER EPISODES INCIDENTS AND STORIES — ● The ZenTangle Meditation – try it it works ● TRIMING THE BILL OF BEER FAT – how the bill at a 5 star hotel in Mumbai was inflated with beer fat that needed triming ● THREATENING TO DANCE WITH TWO LEFT FEET – just to get the party going ● SLEEP How Swaraj Mazda account was won by Anil Maitre● THE WALK : How we discovered the culture at Macau COWARD – A sad smiling face had lot of unanswered questions . ● HOT RIDE AT PUSHKAR – adventure ● The Trap: How the AE searching for adventure got duped ● MISSING LIPS : How friendship develops to create different expectations ● ADULTERY- THE MOMENT – Its all for you to decide how far you would go ● TIME BOMB – How to avoid embarrassing situation ● NOT FIRED – just in time action by agency ● SMALL TILE – eye for detail
