Love letters to the A&M industry (part three)

Here is what Neville Shah, chief creative officer, FCB Kinnect and FCB/SIX India, loves most about the ad industry.

As Valentine’s Day is around the corner, we celebrate the love for the advertising, communications and marketing industries by exploring what makes them truly special.

To mark the occasion, for our February issue, Manifest chatted with industry leaders to understand the one thing they love most about their respective professions. We will be sharing their individual love letters to the industry in alphabetical order as we count down to Valentine's Day.

Here’s what Neville Shah, chief creative officer, FCB Kinnect and FCB/SIX India, had to say...

Advertising is a caffeine-riddled, chaos-fueled, deadline-driven ride. It’s exhausting and it’s exhilarating. It isn’t a job. It’s a lifestyle.

Rife with oddballs, advertising has never needed the perfect CV. It just needs the will to want to work hard, think harder, and chase something original. I mean, where else will you find a room full of dropouts, other jobbers-turned-copywriters, and moonlighting creative directors thinking about the next big idea?

Think about it. One moment, you’re figuring out how to drive sales for tea in a particular region. In the afternoon, you’re skin-deep in personal care products. By night, you’re making motorcycles look like they’re built for gods. And that’s just Monday. It’s messy. It’s manic. But it’s never boring.

We’re a cult. A tribe of misfits; comfortably dressed foodies who just get it. We’re pretentiously unpretentious. We laugh at deadlines and then cry. Because advertising isn’t just about selling products. It’s about shaping culture. Shifting conversations. Sometimes even moving a nation.

We shape culture. We’re the mirror and the hammer, reflecting the world and smashing old ways. Advertising isn’t just cool. It’s powerful. But the truth is, there’s a certain helplessness to it all. Once you’re in, you’re in. You can’t do anything else. This is it. This is you. And honestly, you wouldn’t want it any other way.

Where else would you find such a glorious bunch of misfits who call this madness in a boardroom, arguing on a break, chaos on a set, PowerPoints in the plane, home?

This feature first appeared in the February issue of Manifest. Get your copy here.