#LeadersOfTomorrow: Never give up on who you want to be: Prachi Karan, Isobar

Prachi Karan, Senior Director - Media at Isobar feels encouraging to  be a part of the #30Under30 list and shares some important facets of her journey in the ad world so far.

'Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’ - The Great Mohammed Ali's quote is the motivation mantra Karan lives by. As she continues to narrate her journey and behind the scenes of her work module, Karan also puts the spotlight on lesser knowns to keep thriving in the industry. Excerpts below:

What led to your entry in the dynamic world of digital marketing?

I was in my final trimester of PDGM atWelingkars and the placement season was on. There was a digital media agency on campus that year for talent recruitment. Now typically you have a very set pattern of recruitment in colleges. There are GD’s followed by personal interviews but these guys were so much different from typical. They had an extremely unique process that made the applicants channel their true self via different activities that they asked us to do and that evaluated us on multiple parameters. At the same time making it was super fun. This truly was a game-changer for me because it demonstrated the culture and dynamism of the digital industry and that was the moment I knew I wanted in. Long story short, I got through the process and that’s how I got in.

Looking back, how would you describe the journey. What is the one instance that made it all worthwhile?

I feel that I am still at the early stages of my career and the instance that would make it all worthwhile is yet to come. But to answer your question, if I had to do it all over again, yes, I would do it the exact same way, won’t change a thing.

Your idea of an ideal campaign?

An ideal campaign should provoke something. An emotion, a thought, a response, a change. We advertisers and marketers have a lot of power at our disposal that spreads awareness and influences thinking. An ideal campaign should enable us to do all that and more because we really are shaping the culture of our country with each piece of work we do.

One memorable campaign that you worked on. Any behind the scenes dope?

As clichéd as it sounds, with each campaign we do we try to put a little bit of our love and sweat, so they are all memorable. But if I have to quote, it would be the most recent Mother’s Day campaign that we did for Godrej Security Solutions. We used voice-activated engagements in a banner space which was done for the first time on a mobile device.

Motivation mantra.

‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ - The Great Mohammed Ali.

One day in your work life...

Getting to work, becoming a Ninja and everything else that follows.

One upcoming trend you want to latch on

Voice, all the way.

One trait that helped you win 30Under30; any tips for upcoming participants?

Never give up on who you want to be.

One moment or instance from your journey that aptly describes #AgencyLife

Challenging each other, in-fact lots of challenging each other and plenty of disagreements. That is what gets you to super solid work.

Rapid Fire:

• Your favorite campaign
  Isobar’s recent and very own Reebok –‘Bruises Can Be Good’ that won the prestigious CLIO.

• Most irritating word in a brief
  Depends on the brief.
• Most overused digital marketing buzzword
  Overused and abused.
• One brand you love on social media
  Currently Netflix, they are killing it with surround content. And Zomato, of course, so contextual. I look forward to them on my feed.
• Rank in order of fondness: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn
  Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Snapchat

One stereotype about working in the digital media sector that is thrown at you every-time

That we have a really cool job. I get so mad every-time anyone brings it up, because it is true.

One campaign you wished you had been a part of and why?

Everything that Netflix has been doing on Digital in 2018. The passion with which they are approach their game plan on digital is so brilliant. They are constantly setting up great benchmarks for themselves and that’s very inspiring for our industry.

3 things you do daily that have helped you excel professionally

1. Start my day early.
2. Keep a close eye on the to-do list and prioritize.
3. Keep aside a me-time to focus on bettering my craft.

Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line

Trying my best to make a difference in the world through my work.

Marketing and Advertising Icons/Leaders you follow and look up to for inspiration

Well, we are very lucky to have some really inspiring icons and leaders who have done such amazing work, so honestly, it is very difficult for me to pick a few.

But a bit earlier this year I got a chance to attend Fernando Machado’s session, who is the CMO Global of Burger King. I find his approach to work and his leadership style so dynamic and inspiring. For me to see him speak live was a huge fangirl moment. I also find the work of Tom Fishburne really amazing as he challenges and shapes change to a lot of conventional marketing.