Sending the Message In Three Seconds: Megha Tata

00:00:13 Speaker 1: Welcome to Goa Cast, the official podcast of Goa Fest. We're coming to you from right here at the festival, bringing you exclusive interviews with some of media and advertising's best and brightest. We'll be speaking with top executives, creative directors and thought leaders to get their insights on the latest trends, technologies and ideas, shaping the industry. 00:00:36 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for taking time to join us. My pleasure. I know it's the end of a long day and you've just come off a session, but we wanted to chat creativity with you. You've, you've had a long journey across different shores, shall we say? And you're now in a very imagination led business. So how's the creative journey been for you so far? 00:00:55 Speaker 1: Very creative. Actually, this is in many ways, my first creative stint in that sense to run a studio which is an animation studio, 00:01:05 Speaker 1: uh Cosmos Maya. And so all this while I was more like in the creative industry, but not creatively uh sort of inclined in that sense, more like a business person. But I think in the last 30 years, I've seen the shifts which have happened in the way creativity has been brought to the table. 00:01:24 Speaker 1: Of course, there is life A CBC, you know, the BC before Corona and AC after Corona. And then I think that's where the whole shift which has taken place in the way the content is being made for the different kind of target audiences. So that's been fascinating journey. 00:01:42 Speaker 2: What are some of the major shifts that you've seen in the 00:01:45 Speaker 2: AC and the BC, as you call it, some of the trends that we hear are shortened. Attention spans, more people wanting entertainment at their fingertips, not as willing to step out, maybe. Are you seeing the same? 00:01:57 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. I think, I mean, you and I live in the same world, you and I the similar kind of tastes of content and how we are consuming our content. 00:02:06 Speaker 1: Um and it's not very different whether it's India or Bharat. So, you know, of course, there are many India within India. So that's the complication of a country like uh our size. Uh So there are different kind of content which is being created and hence the ability to bring in that content on through platforms which can reach different stratas of our society is where it has been a fascinating uh sort of journey. 00:02:31 Speaker 1: Uh But yes, attention span, you know, from 32nd to 6 seconds, like people don't have even six seconds to spend time on, on anything which is being put to out there. And I think O tt and the streaming platforms completely changed the way uh content is being consumed and made as well. So lots of sort of shackles 00:02:53 Speaker 1: broken uh which was great. But also I think as an industry, we are still grappling about the business and the economics of it currently, uh that's the million million dollar question. Like how you make business sustainable in this uh quite a shifting 00:03:09 Speaker 2: world. You mentioned the shift from even 30 seconds to six seconds. What is the impact that has on creativity? Does it allow to even stay creative anymore? 00:03:20 Speaker 1: I think this is a challenge for the creators. That's where they need to figure out now. Um How do you catch the attention or send the message in the first three seconds? And you know, it's not easy, you know, to get a message across in such a short period of time. I don't envy that job. To be honest, it's not easy for the creative community to think of getting that brand message or any kind of content message across in such a short period of time. 00:03:48 Speaker 1: So let's see how technology plays a role in that. I 00:03:51 Speaker 2: was about to go there, you know, is technology actually going to aid in that and sort of the demands is 00:03:58 Speaker 1: what I think everyone is grappling with. To understand. I think technology is one and A I is just another world altogether. I don't think so. Anyone knows what is happening and what can happen. 00:04:11 Speaker 1: Uh Everything, it's very anecdotal. People are having their own personal experiences in that, in that some are good. Some are uh scary. But this has got to be seen how this plays out. To be honest. I think everyone's still learning. No one's an A I expert. Nobody can claim to be and, and that's a personal journey. 00:04:29 Speaker 2: I think we're still just scratching the surface of it. There's probably two things we know we can do right now. But how do you see that affecting creative professionals in the years to come? Will it be more of a addition to the repertoire or will it threaten their jobs? 00:04:43 Speaker 1: So again, it depends how you see this glass half empty or half full, right? There are a lot of naysayers out there and there are the embraces as well. So I'm the embraer kind and uh you've got to accept technology and you can't fight it because that is real. That is in your face, you're part of it. 00:05:01 Speaker 1: So, you know, you can't put a blindfold and say it doesn't exist. It does. Now it's up to you how you want, how you want to use that to enable your own sense of understanding of this, this piece. So if you can use technology to enable your own creativity, because I think the fundamental factors, 00:05:20 Speaker 1: I think people when they feel that, you know, a lot of jobs will go, yes, some jobs may go. But a lot of jobs can get created as well. So you balance the entire ecosystem accordingly, in my opinion. And I really believe that technology and especially the new age technology can play a role in how you can enhance your inabilities. 00:05:43 Speaker 1: Yeah, there is certain things maybe you were not able to do, but maybe this can aid you to do better as, as, as your creative contributor. 00:05:52 Speaker 2: Interesting now you're in an industry right now, which is already at the forefront of technology. You know, a lot of audio visual uh innovations have come out from this industry. They've, they've then been served to the other aspect to the other parts of the audio visual communication world. Do you see the animation industry continuing to take this lead as we move into the next phase of technology adoption? 00:06:14 Speaker 1: Absolutely. If we don't, will be left behind, 00:06:16 Speaker 1: I don't think so. Enough has been done in that space the early days. But that's absolutely a must for any industry including animation 00:06:24 Speaker 1: to see how you can get technology to enable and make your business far more efficient. Uh And so it's not just about uh in my opinion, it's not about just about the ability to add to the creative process, but it also brings in business efficiencies and uh those are the conversations uh like, you know, everyone's having, I don't think so. I definitely don't have a like a black book to say that OK, this is 00:06:49 Speaker 2: evolving 00:06:50 Speaker 1: evolving in this. But absolutely, animation is definitely needs to acknowledge and accept this technology. 00:06:55 Speaker 2: So we'll put you down for a half glass full person. 00:06:58 Speaker 1: I am hardcore half glass full person. And, 00:07:02 Speaker 2: and what are your thoughts on the go? How are you enjoying it as 00:07:05 Speaker 1: always? It's been fun work here, you know, interacting with people, friends from industry, been coming here for so many years on and off, not regularly. 00:07:13 Speaker 1: But yeah, we could do with better weather though. But I know it's 00:07:16 Speaker 2: been a little bit of a dampener 00:07:17 Speaker 1: this year. Yeah, but I think maybe we can do it in a better month unless a I can create better weather. Let's not 00:07:23 Speaker 2: go there. That's, that's messing with the environment further. Yeah. But yeah, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate that and have a wonderful evening 00:07:31 Speaker 2: ahead and hope you'll be part of all the celebrations coming up. 00:07:34 Speaker 1: Thank you. You too. Thank you. Thanks for tuning into this episode of goa Cast. We hope you enjoyed listening to some of the best and brightest minds from Indian advertising for more episodes. Follow the podcast on Bing Spotify, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.