Advertising Workshop 2018 @ ICAT, Chennai

Advertising, Graphic Design and students from other streams of ICAT, Chennai were offered a stimulating four-day workshop by the faculties of the Advertising Department, from 26 to 29 March, 2018, from 2: 30 - 5: 30 p.m.

Senior Faculty, Mr. Peter J. Asirvatham led the workshop along with the lecturers, Mr. Nahid Sikander and Mr. Dheebac. R. Though the topic was more to benefit the student of Advertising, participation was open to anyone who was interested in knowing about advertising. With an overwhelming response, totally about forty students participated in the workshop.

The main objective of the workshop was to introduce students to advertising; and to create a stimulating environment in which student teams brainstorm advertising ideas, share, discuss and develop them towards achieving a common goal — creating interesting pieces of advertising.

Students got to catch a glimpse of some great Indian and international advertising campaigns on all three days of the workshop. On Day 1, students were taken through an overview of advertising and basics of what makes an ad campaign. Both television commercials and print campaigns were used as case-studies woven into the presentation as illustrations, so that the students could grasp the subject easily. Mr. Dheebac conducted a session on the importance of identifying and knowing Target Audience and on SWOT Analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat). Later, students were briefed about four mock products for which they have to come up with advertising ideas. They were divided into eight teams and were given assignments to work on. To create a sense of healthy competition, the four mock products were given to two teams, each respectively.

On Day 2, Mr. Nahid Sikander made a presentation on the importance of Semiotics in Visual Communication. After the session, all teams got down to work on advertising the mock products by brainstorming ideas. The faculty guided and helped student teams in the ideation process. On Day 3, Mr. Peter J. Asirvatham made a recap of the key elements that had been discussed so far; most importantly the importance of being single-minded. The students had a fun-filled time and they continued working and fine tuning their ideas.

Day Four saw students arriving in early to execute their ideas and display them for review. The room was filled with excitement. For many teams, the work was still in progress with animated discussion and debate. The student teams had prepared PowerPoint presentations of their thought process and final output, and printed prototypes for display and review. The Judge, Mr. Gowthaman Kandavelu, a Former Creative Director of Lowe Lintas (a multi-national advertising agency) and an alumnus of Birmingham City University, UK, was truly impressed with the excellent work that was produced in such a short time. When student teams presented their ad campaigns, Mr. Gowthaman asked pertinent questions to make them think and answer clearly. The constructive criticism he offered was illuminating and encouraging to everyone. The students enjoyed the process they had gone through and expressed their willingness to attend more such workshops in the future. Thanks to Mr. Gowthaman for taking time and interacting with the students. He enjoyed this as much as everyone involved. The day ended on a happy note with Mr. Gowthaman announcing the runner and winner teams.