‘The Mudra kind of man’
Founder of Mudra and MICA AG Krishnamurthy talks about essence of good advertising, and what makes for a good ad professional

AG Krishnamurthy is the chairman of AGK Brand Consulting. He is the founder and former CMD of Mudra Communications and founder of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. Mudra, which was initially scoffed at as an inhouse agency of Reliance, and which had just one client, went on to become among the top agencies within a span of just nine years. Mudra’s success was also considered remarkable in that it broke apart from old stereotypes of anglicised workplaces and celebrated Indianness in its way of work and in its ads. Krishnamurthy, who contributes a column AGK Speak in the Business Standard, has penned two books on his vision for Mudra and his early experiences with the company — The Invisible CEO: My Mudra Years and Desi Dream Merchants. He delves into the issues raised in these two books with Management Compass. Excerpts:

What qualities should a ‘Mudra kind of man’ have, besides Indianness? While you have touched on values and the need to be a good human being, what kind of values do you seek for success in a work culture?
I think the description ‘good human being’ is all encompassing. Inherent in this requirement are the values that I sought for, in my team. A good human being in my definition is someone who is able to exert morally right decisions at every stage, whether the seas are calm or rough. And is able to see beyond himself, ie for his colleagues, the brand, the company etc, as well. It is a tough demand but if your internal compass is set right, it will surface. And when it does, it is visible even to his harshest critics.

Another quality that we laid a great premium on was positivity. We embraced the glass-is-half-full kind of person and took extreme measures against those who kept picking at their colleagues weaknesses and flaws. In fact I remember sacking one of our people on the spot because I walked into a ‘bitching session’ that he was conducting with a large group of people. Constant cribbers are extremely detrimental in a small organisation where morale can deteriorate very rapidly because of one or two malcontents. In fact I remember buying plane tickets for his wife and him to head back to Bombay! Large organisations may be able to weather small groups of ‘water-cooler or corridor cribbers’ but smaller set-ups most definitely lack the resilience to counter it.

Mudra has also done ads like Team Samsung and The honest shirt. Are these Mudra kinds of ads — ones that a Mudra kind of man with Indianness produces?
To me a Mudra kind of ad is sound on strategy and innovative in execution. So that the ad gets noticed in a good way. And yes, both Samsung and Peter England’s Honest shirt did do some very good work when I was there.

Clearly as someone who has built Mudra from scratch, I will obviously stand by every single ad that carries our key number. I would hate to be the one to pick favourites but having said that, there are always some ads that fulfil more of our criteria than others. 

Since you started on the premise of serving Indian clients, why didn’t you stick to that mandate? Was attracting foreign clients not against the ‘Indianness’ plank you started with?
Our first few clients were all Indian entrepreneurs who related to us easily because we shared the same value system, shared similar responses that were consequences of an upbringing that understood Indian sentiments, rather than being dismissive of it. I don’t at any stage recall having mentioned that we began Mudra with a mandate not to partner foreign clients. After all, inclusiveness is an Indian trait. A foreign client needs to talk to India to market his products. Isn’t it natural that he chooses someone who knows the language?

While describing the kind of people you were looking out for, you mention that the idea was to go for male candidates from joint family background who were ready to work 24x7. Don’t you think getting people with 24x7 mindframe from a joint family of 1980 was next to impossible?
Clearly not. The rolls of Mudra in the eighties is proof enough. We had scores of people who fitted this description. Even today it is pretty easy to find this profile. Honestly I don’t know why you think that it is ‘next to impossible’ to find such people.

In both your books you emphasise that if you have a dream you will succeed. But don’t you think that such statements are only made in retrospect, once a person succeeds. What would you say of those who have failed?
No. It is not a statement made in retrospect. I truly believe and practise it even today. About people who fail there are two reasons why it happens: one is that they did not hold on for long enough. I’ve always maintained that if you believe strongly enough and long enough, you will succeed. It took all my heroes — Dhirubhai, Giraben and Dr Verghese Kurien — their entire lifetime to achieve their dreams. None of them were overnight wonders. If you remain tenaciously focused on your dream,  the universe will help you get it, as Paulo Coelho says. The keyword is tenacity.

The second reason it happens is when their dreams and core competencies are not in tune with each other. When they are, they will be almost subconsciously guided into taking the right steps towards fulfilling it. For instance I get scores of mails where people tell me that they have an excellent film script for a TVC and ask my advice about how to go about making it a reality. Now, if for instance their dream to see it on air was in sync with their competencies they would know almost instinctively that they needed to be educated in the craft first! And they would set about trying to get trained rather then expecting an ad agency to jump at their idea! So recognising your core strengths and then dreaming in that framework will definitely bear fruit.

Does a person have a grand vision from day one? Or does he arrive at goal-setting after a certain experience? Do goals evolve? At the beginning of one’s career, what is a realistic vision: ‘I will be at the top of advertising industry one day’ or ‘I will start an ad firm that will be a market leader in terms of billings and profitability;.
Some people have a grand plan and some have shifting goalposts. Each person chooses what is most suited to them. Both your examples are eminently possible. As I mentioned earlier, mere dreaming is not enough. Staying focused is key. In my case, it was shifting goalposts most definitely. Mudra began with Vimal. When we started doing well on that brand, we took up Rasna and so on and so forth. It was one dream at a time for us.

Your books talk of Indian motifs. Which ad, according to you, is quintessentially Indian?
The work of Vimal and Rasna in the eighties and early nineties have always been my benchmarks for its creative use of Indian motifs.

It’s difficult to agree with certain observations you make. For example you say that handing down of skills is the only way to ensure that successful creative temper lives and grows through time. How can there be heredity in creativity? Does that mean that employers should look for family background during recruitment?
Our entire tradition of music, art and craft is about the handing down of skills. And by saying that one way is good does not mean a negation of every other way.  We have a tried and tested route that has been proved over time to be successful. If the race has already been half run doesn’t it make more sense to take the baton forward rather than going back to the starting line?

“You should never take on anything in your life when you don’t feel that you are right for it. There is a time for everything in life and you will know when it is right.” This is a very pertinent issue you raise, as to when to take the plunge into something new. But in providing solution to people at the crossroad, you advise them, “Before choosing a job, choose the industry you see yourself in, many years from now.” Now, given the fast-changing world, isn’t there a risk that a given industry might not exist in its current form?
Every industry evolves over time. That is a given. If you choose the industry you love working in you will automatically evolve along with it. Changing with the times is not a frightening prospect. It is a natural progression. Being close-minded, on the other hand is fatalistic, whatever the industry you choose.

There is a contradiction. At one point in the book you say you never felt the need to put in your papers at Mudra because of “100 per cent psychic ownership of the organisation”. At another point you say, “Tunnel vision and my total dedication and passion for Mudra was what kept me chained to my chair.” Does this tone of regret mean that there should be some element of detachment from an organisation, some degree of mercenary approach?  

It was my 100 per cent psychic ownership that gave me my “tunnel vision”. What I meant later on, was that I never realised that life outside the four walls of Mudra could be so rich. While I was heading Mudra it was my all. I did not even contemplate at that time a life outside it and I was pleasantly surprised when I came face to face with it.

I do not subscribe to the view that passion is anything less than 100%. But yes I do believe that when your work is done, it is important to let go of it.

Can you elaborate on Mudra Management Training Programme (MMTP)? Like what were the modules like?
The programme had two modules. The first one was a three-month intense classroom session where the principles of marketing and marketing communication were taught. And the second module was a nine-month onsite programme in which the trainees were sent to the different branches of Mudra for hands-on experience on real brands right from account planning through to advertising operations. At the end of the completion of the 12 month programme each MMTP batch was absorbed in the different branches and divisions of Mudra.

The success of MMTP inspired us to dream a much more ambitious dream-MICA. The MMTP experience came in handy while designing the course content for MICAs PG programmes. In fact the MMTP structure was expanded and refined to become what is now the course content of MICA. Though MICA has a small core faculty, it largely draws on guest faculty from the Indian masscomm industry. The students profit a great deal from this ‘live’ teaching method . Top