• "Every agency or organisation pays lip service to the ‘we are a family’ line, but I have lived it at Interflow. We would randomly have a *dholki* at Taher’s place, even if no one was getting married, just because we felt like it. There were no ‘bridge *ke uss paar*…’ divisions."
• "When I look back at those years that I spent at Interflow, I marvel at the kind of freedom both creatives and account handlers had. We had the courage to make decisions, safe in the knowledge that Taher and Seema had our back."

Fair warning. This piece may seem like a tribute to the living legends that are Seema and Taher A. Khan and I make no apologies for it. You cannot tell the story of Interflow without the woman and the man who made it happen, so I won’t even try. Now, since every story has to begin somewhere, I will start with the first day I walked into Interflow. I was a copywriter working at Asiatic (now JWT), pampered and feted by the Rammals, happy and even more importantly, content. Yet here I was, entering the lair of the ‘enemy’, the closest thing that you could find to the big, bad wolf in the advertising industry of Pakistan at that point in time.

The interview had been set up by a former colleague and dear friend who wanted me to move on to bigger and better things. I was supposed to meet Seema Taher and all I had to do to get the gig was to convince her that I had potential.

I made a complete hash of things. I was cocky. I was brash and I acted like I was the greatest thing that happened to the world of advertising since David Ogilvy put an eye patch on the Hathaway man and Bernbach decided to ‘Think Small’. And I trashed her favourite author – just to add the cherry on top. And yet... she hired me.

"Every agency or organisation pays lip service to the ‘we are a family’ line, but I have lived it at Interflow. We would randomly have a dholki at Taher’s place, even if no one was getting married, just because we felt like it. There were no ‘bridge ke uss paar…’ divisions."

You see, that was the kind of place Interflow was. Taher called it ‘organised chaos’. It was an agency that not only tolerated mavericks, but bred and nurtured them. Dissent was not frowned upon; it was actively encouraged. It was the bravest of agencies and every individual who graduated from those hallowed halls still carries a bit of Interflow within themselves to this day.

We knew we were the best and we had a roster of clients to prove it. Over the course of my eight-something years there, I had the chance to work on BAT, Daihatsu, Emirates, Nestle, Pepsi, Unilever, Union Bank, United Bank, … the list goes on and on. Clients came to Interflow because they knew that there was only one Taher A. Khan in the industry; the one man who could create the magic their brand needed. And Taher knew that he had created a strong enough bench that would deliver on his vision. He used to tell us that while other agencies told their clients, “Ho sakta hai”, we will tell them “Ho ga”. Of course, he also gave us a whole lot of other aphorisms that are too colourful to print, but you get the gist.

Interflow was the first agency to have a full-fledged strategy and planning department, led by Shoaib Qureshy. It was the first agency that had its own production house, run by Rohail Hyatt. It brought in MindShare (Now GroupM), with Asad-ur-Rehman at its head. And these were just the people that were there when I was. At some point in time, Mehdi Raza worked at Interflow, as did Omar Fareed. Raihan Merchant is a legendary alumni. Taher never turned talent away, even if he didn’t have a role for them at that specific point in time. If the man or woman showed potential, Taher would even go so far as to create a business unit for them.

"When I look back at those years that I spent at Interflow, I marvel at the kind of freedom both creatives and account handlers had. We had the courage to make decisions, safe in the knowledge that Taher and Seema had our back."

And while Taher was that ‘larger than life’ figure who inspired awe and sometimes even wonder, Seema was (and is) simply, Amma. She was temperamental, impulsive, sometimes exasperating… but always and forever loving. But then that is who the Khan were. Every agency or organisation pays lip service to the ‘we are a family’ line, but I have lived it at Interflow. We would randomly have a dholki at Taher’s place, even if no one was getting married, just because we felt like it. There were no ‘bridge ke uss paar…’ divisions.

The only divisions were those of ability and initiative. It did not matter where you came from at Interflow. If you showed the desire to grow, you knew you would be going somewhere.

I don’t know whether it was because of, or despite, the fun we were having that we were able to produce work that is still a tough act to follow.

When I look back at those years that I spent at Interflow, I marvel at the kind of freedom both creatives and account handlers had. We had the courage to make decisions, safe in the knowledge that Taher and Seema had our back. Perhaps that is why we were able to do what we did. Don’t get me wrong… Interflow had its share of epic disasters (NICOP and Hero card, just to name two). But we always came back bigger and stronger. Today, when I look at agencies and the cookie-cutter work we are producing, I cannot help but wonder where did we lose the way? When did we stop being brave? When did we start working for clients and not brands? 

Ali Hayat is Executive Creative Director, BE DDB.

First published in THE DAWN OF ADVERTISING IN PAKISTAN (1947-2017), a Special Report published by DAWN on March 31, 2018.