AURORA: You started your advertising career in 1992, what led to your decision to quit in 2000? SHAHZAD NAWAZ: I went into advertising because it was a field that catered to my specialisation – visual communication. I loved my journey and experienced the real Pakistan, but in a sea full of fish, I was the trout. I go against the current and don’t fit in with the mould, so in 2000 I called it quits – although I still work in brand and communications. I thought I would be better off being the shooting star, but a star nevertheless. I did not want to be part of a galaxy, where shooting stars go down. It was a leap of faith and it gave me my identity. I wanted to stand apart from the industry and create my own value system and adhere to it.

A: What made you want to distance yourself from advertising?
SN: Historically in Pakistan, advertising began as a media space brokerage business. Post 1947, the people in advertising were essentially sales representatives for ad space. Then, they saw a niche and converted themselves into ad agencies; they were smart and quick to adapt to the needs of the time. However, during this journey, the torchbearers of the profession somehow became stagnant. Until the sixties, in terms of either film or advertising, there were contemporaries on both sides of the border and the thinking, the intellectual input, the craft, the art and the skill were at par. Then, in the seventies, our film industry – and by extension advertising – started to go downhill, whereas in India, it started to improve. The difference was that India invested in the academic side of it. There were institutes, schools; there was structured learning. Bill Bernbach once said that an idea can turn to dust or gold depending on the talent that rubs against it. In Pakistan, the torchbearers did not invest in the industry in order to prepare a new generation and instil that fervour, drive and magic the profession deserves. Advertising was never part of a national framework and what we see today, by and large, are ads that are subservient to the requirements of the client; there is no creative spark. The debate of commercial necessity versus creative ambition and the need to find the golden mean, or the balance between the two, is missing. There is no one reason why this has happened; with everything that goes up or comes down, there are multiple factors that lead to a peak or decline.

A: Is part of the decline the fact that in 2019, most agencies are still family-run?
SH: No other profession works on this basis; you cannot become the president of a bank on the basis that your father was. My father was a soldier but that does not automatically make me one; he had to go through the training and the process. There is no harm in having majority shares in a company but if the son is not as skilled or does not have the spark for advertising, he should hire professionals to do the job. The notion of a paid CEO is a miss for most agencies and consequently, the respect for advertising as a skill or a trade is missing. Skill has nothing to do with genes. As a family member, you can be part of the ownership structure, but that does not qualify you to be an ad man; you must have the spark to do it. This is the reason why the advertising business and the quality of HR are on the decline. It is a self-inflicted wound and one that has been going on forever. Agencies are now restricted to creative retainers at one end and at the other, there are specialists and experts like myself, and others who are taking a bite of that remaining little pie. There was a time in Pakistan where it was glamorous to be in the ad business. Today, it is the reverse and the magic wand has gone to the news media as far as young people are concerned.

A: Would you agree that corruption is a major issue hampering the business?
SN: People in advertising do not operate in a vacuum. They are part of our national life; they are not imported from somewhere else. It comes down to our nation’s ethos and value system. This is how the country works, so why would someone be different from anyone else? This has an impact on advertising. Before the digital age, it was universally agreed that people were exposed to over 1,400 messages a day. Imagine the number today! It therefore becomes even more essential for the industry to conduct a study and see where we are headed, because advertising influences lifestyles and behaviour and it has to be far more responsible than it ever was. The responsibilities of advertising agencies go far beyond being creative houses. Advertising is supposed to set values. It was always more than about selling a product. There is no discourse about the future of the industry and this leads to the absence of standards and systems.

A: When did you set up Shahzad Nawaz Consulting?
SN: In 2005, I set up my own consultancy on media arts, communication arts, applied arts and motion arts. It can be anything from behavioural change communication to advocacy to training. In simple terms, from television launches to bridging technology with creativity in terms of screen, static, print, writing and film.

A: How does your consultancy differ from an ad agency?
SN: Advertising works on commission as well as on retainer. I work purely on retainer. I offer my clients different packages based on whether it is advisory or academic. My services include due diligence on campaigns, visual and design audits and event management. I differ from an agency in that I am essentially a one man show and so the business model is different and I have the freedom take on a project or not.

A: You outsource the expertise you require?
SN: I have a consortium of talent of various kinds in and outside Pakistan and I build the team accordingly.

A: What projects have you worked on recently?
SN: I recently concluded the launch of Aap News as well as Indus News. I have been appointed as consultant to the Pakistan Cricket Board, where I have just delivered on the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, which has never had an identity of its own and I am also working on the packaging and reimaging of Mayfair confectionery and biscuits. I don’t take on more than two to four clients at a time; I like to have the freedom to read, write and do other things I enjoy. And as you know, I am currently working on AdAsia 2019.

A: How did you get involved with AdAsia 2019?
SN: I was invited by the Pakistan Advertising Association (PAA) to give the event its identity. Faraz Maqsood Hamidi was also approached, but he declined due to reasons I do not know. I was very excited by the project.

A: Given your scepticism about the advertising profession, do you not think it ironic that you have landed, albeit temporarily, right at the ‘heart’ of it?
SN: I would not call it scepticism. I see myself as a reformer; I am part of the trade except that I have redefined it to the way I like to work. I combine engineering and imagination. I shape perceptions, which are both a science and an art. My designation is imagineer and communications advocate; I could have been the CEO, but I do not adhere to the conventional model. When I was invited to develop AdAsia 2019’s identity, I had one condition. It took 30 years for AdAsia to come back to Pakistan and I wanted to be a part of this event. There is a Chinese proverb that says that life is like a room with two doors; you walk in from one and leave from the other, but only a few people leave their impression on the wall. I wanted to leave that impression because it is about Pakistan and I breathe my country. My condition was that there was no way I would do just the identity; I would be part of the overall project in terms of ideas, event management, planning and strategy. It took them six months, but they agreed.

A: What exactly are you responsible for?
SN: Everything you see – all the audio and visual material; from the website to the music to every comma and typo. All the graphic elements; be it digital, social media, print or TV. Since January 27, 2019, every single thing you have seen in any form about AdAsia 2019 is my work.

A: Including the social events?
SH: That is part of the event management side. Without getting into the nitty-gritty – it extends all the way from writing to the cue sheet, the event flow, the branding and the stage set-up. Everything you will see in those three days in Lahore, will be my work.

A: Did you coin the theme ‘Celebrasian’?
SN: It was given to me by the PAA and I agreed to it. I don’t know who came up with it; it is like the AdAsia89 logo, nobody knows who designed it. We are bad when it comes to recording history. In fact, the subcontinent owes a debt of thanks to the British for recording our social and cultural history.

A: Why was the logo based on truck art concepts? SH: The brief was simple. I was given two mandatories; it has to have truck art colours and a peacock.

A: Wasn’t this rather restricting?
SN: That was the brief and I love decoding and cracking a problem. It is my job as a communicator.

A: Why were they set on the peacock?
SN: It was the PAA’s decision. They wanted it to relate to ‘Celebrasian’; Asia, diversity, colour and harmony through the peacock, which is essentially a subcontinental bird. I came up with the sub-theme: Welcome Back After 30 Years. The whole idea was built around the construct of: ‘Although a lot may have changed in the world we live in, some things do not change, such as our warmth, hospitality and love, and we will welcome you in Lahore with that same warmth and hospitality.’ To me, this was a classic opportunity and a catalyst to showcase Pakistan. It was a great opportunity to bring into play cultural diplomacy; I wanted to capitalise on this, knowing how important narrative and discourse is in shaping the opinions of the international community.

A: Why were they sold on truck art?
SN: For the past two years, truck art has been in the news in the West, where it has been incorporated into different artistic expressions.

A: Was truck art selected because it seems to be the only emblem that represents Pakistan visually?
SN: Not necessarily. However, the point is that this was the brief and I brought in the originality. Let me give you an example. When I launched Geo, no one could fathom why I had selected two particular colours – orange, representing day and blue, representing night. In fact, everyone thought I was crazy. Well, this became the first logo in the history of design and advertising in the world which was a 24-hour logo; the colours would flip according to Pakistan Standard Time. It was a ‘logo expression’ and I did this long before Google. Similarly, when I was given the AdAsia 2019 project, I wanted to create a unique signature. I looked at the traditions of the subcontinent, of Persia and of Arabia. I saw how they used calligraphy to create shapes of birds and animals and plants – and this was an originality that was intrinsic to Persia and the Indian subcontinent. I created AdAsia’s peacock using Urdu calligraphy and created the first logo that used the national language of the host country. The first AdAsia took place in Japan in 1958, yet, this is the first time a logo has been rendered in the national language. That was how I decoded the first part of the project; the second part was the colours and if you look at the tail feathers of the peacock, there are 15 in number, which is the number of AFAA member countries. The logo represents the collective nature of the brief and the maturity of the logic that I brought to it.

A: Would you agree truck art has been overdone as an expression of Pakistan’s visual identity?
SN: I do, but as I said at the beginning of our conversation, there has to be a balance between creative ambition and commercial necessity. I submitted several different versions that were perhaps more indigenous. They had filigree, motifs and designs inspired by the tiles and patterns that are typical of Lahore, especially the Anarkali design, which is only found in the Mughal motifs in Lahore. I presented over 40 adaptations of the peacock in different colours. It was not a case of putting together a design; there is a philosophy behind it, which is rooted in our traditions.

A: You clearly come from a place based on knowledge and research. Would you agree that these are fundamentals to the creation of excellence and they are mostly missing in a lot of the commercial work we see and may explain their lacklustre appeal?
SN: When I hire people, I make sure that a good percentage of them have bad portfolios. I see a portfolio as nothing more than a representation of the teacher. A student can never be bad. I was a terrible student; my teachers groomed, chiselled and opened up my mind and made me see things from a different perspective; perspective is what makes the difference. You move away from the mundane by seeing things from a separate set of pivots or strategy or angle. Then you find the idea, which is never yours. I refuse to believe that man is capable of creating an idea. Ideas exist metaphysically and man, when he endeavours, can tap into that idea and it is always an idea that has been thought of before, is being thought about now, and will be thought about later by someone else. Our teachers do not teach to impart knowledge, they are just doing a job.

Shahzad Nawaz was in conversation with Mariam Ali Baig. For feedback: aurora@dawn.com