BBH India’s Aarti Srinivasan: “Stop saying sorry before you ask a question.”
In September 2021, Aarti Srinivasan joined BBH India in Mumbai as Executive Creative Director. She caught up with Campaign Brief Asia to explain how it’s going so far.
Srinivasan has won a ton of awards for work that’s progressive, modern, with a strong point of view, including Ariel’s ‘Son #Share the Load’ campaign. She joined BBH India from MullenLowe Lintas six months ago, drawn to the agency’s positive energy and “open-heartedness”. In her new role, she continues to create work that she cares deeply about, while making time to support the free library movement for children, saying: “Books can give them wings”.
When you joined BBH you said you hoped for an abundance of “great conversations and good work”. Can you describe the culture there?
With most people at BBH being a mix of young and feeling young, the idea of ‘the more experienced you are, the wiser you are’ doesn’t apply in our conversations. The best ideas can come from anyone. Newer talent is encouraged to grow, shine and have a point of view. I have hardly ever heard words like ‘senior’ and ‘junior’. None of this matters. Each of us is simply working towards creating work that is Modern in its outlook and mediums, Indian at heart and makes us and our clients Famous. For this to happen, we believe it is important to leave one’s ego at the door.
One of your most awarded campaigns is part of Ariel’s #ShareThe Load platform, which shows a mother realising that she’s been passing down unequal lessons to her son and daughter. It has notched up 9.4+ million views since launching in 2019. How does it feel to be involved in a project that connects with people so strongly?
I have always been passionate about the theme of gender equality. Even before I was involved in this campaign, as part of my volunteer work for a children’s reading and library movement, I’ve been telling stories to young girls and boys using children’s books like ‘The Weightlifting Princess’ by Soumya Rajendra , ‘Abba’s Day at Work’ by Sunaina Ali, ‘Pink and Blue’ by Ritu Vaishnav to name a few where I have explored a deeper conversation around gender inequality and stereotypes. So, when this campaign garnered such an overwhelming response, I was deeply moved. Because in many ways, Son #ShareTheLoad is more than a piece of work. It is my personal voice and belief. However, I am waiting for the time in India when we don’t need to do campaigns like these, because then we are living in an equal world, in the true sense.
Your work always has a strong point of view. What sorts of things do you care most deeply about?
To be quite honest, I don’t think of deliberately forcing a point of view. It is who I am. Growing up, I had strong views on almost all things from being told how I am supposed to sit to how I should grow my hair because I am a girl. I was someone who often asked ‘Why’ and my parents happily encouraged me to do so. So when it comes to advertising work, this need to have a point of view comes quite naturally. I feel I am more sensitive than creative. I care about honesty and empathy. I don’t like the word ‘consumer’ because at the end of the day, we are connecting with your own neighbour, friends or the people one interacts with on a daily basis. I also deeply care about being inclusive, respecting all skin colours and body types, avoiding any kind of stereotypes, and keeping the work positive and hopeful. I am joyous when my mother enjoys my ads. Simplicity is key.
You volunteer with The Community Library Project. Why is this organisation so close to your heart?
When I’d moved to Delhi for a few years, I came across The Community Library Project (TCLP), which champions the free library movement in Delhi and Gurgaon. They welcomed me with such openness that I felt I belonged in spite of moving to a new city. The organisation has opened up and strengthened my belief in what books and free libraries can do for children. Books can give them wings. They are doing some amazing work, especially with 12-16 year-old members who run the show. I am just a tiny, tiny drop in the ocean.
There is still a gender imbalance when it comes to creative leaders in advertising: how does being a female leader help you at work?
The late Kamala Basin, an iconic feminist activist and author, said: “I know enough women who are totally patriarchal, who are totally anti-women: who do nasty things to other women, and I have known men who have worked for women’s rights their whole life. Feminism is not biological: feminism is an ideology.”
So for me at work, what matters more than gender is the mindset in which one approaches a problem and delves into insights. Women can bring their sensitive side to a brief as well as a strong, powerful side. And so can men. I also feel terms like ‘women leaders, female bosses, female directors’ don’t help push the narrative ahead. It differentiates more than liberates. In every day work, one of the things that I encourage my team of young women to do is to make themselves heard more often and stop being on mute, and also, stop saying sorry before they ask a question. It bothers me.
Are there any films, musicians, artists, or places you recommend that would help others to understand life and culture in modern India?
More than films and artists, I would recommend conversations with taxi drivers who travel near and far across India. I feel they have some of the best insights on life and on India. Also Teen and Young Adult Literature of today is a great reflection of modern Indian thinking. Whether it is communal violence, sexuality, gender identity, social justice – literature has moved far away from tried and tested formulas and is exploring disruptive narratives that will give a window into understanding culture here. You can get in touch with me for book recommendations
Are you working on anything interesting right now: what are you goals for 2022?
I am not a fan of goals. I enjoy every moment, every day, every brief, every conversation. Advertising has taught me many things about life and one is that both happiness and sadness are short lived. Just like a 30-second commercial. So I prefer taking each day as it comes.