The Evolution of the Animal!
Hi Animal. We think almost everyone is familiar with the “March of Progress”. But if we show the illustration to anyone in the creative industry, they will first think of you.
What are the other things you would want people to think of when they hear — Animal?
What we would really like people to think of when they hear Animal is contemporary creative excellence. A place where tech is mashed with consumer insights and gets manifested with unique sensibilities. So that ultimately, when people hear Animal, they think “now that’s a place I would like to work at/with”.
Before we dive in, how did it all start?
Like most things, it started with dissatisfaction. With the way people had to “stay in their lane” in most agencies. While what we wanted to was to drive like a Delhiite and go in every possible lane and sometimes even leave the road altogether. With this bad driving philosophy, Kunel and Sharon set up Animal.
In 2023, a few agencies have proclaimed to be proudly leading with AI. Ofcourse, it is set to change the way we work. But despite all the buzz, do you think AI can imitate “Animal”?
We don’t want to sit here and predict what AI can or cannot do, and then look back at our quote in a few years and wince. But when it comes to Animal, none of us look at it as a fully formed, matured thing, but rather, something that is forever evolving. So to imitate it, one will also have to change constantly. Which is not the easiest thing in the world to do. So we’ll see.
Now that we have gotten AI out of the way (one can only wish), what do you think are the big disruptors in the creative industry?
When one thinks of the biggest disruptors in the industry, one usually thinks of things that have pushed the industry forward. But unfortunately, the one thing that has really disrupted the creative industry, and not in a good way, has been a growing tendency of everyone concerned to go for the lowest possible hanging fruit. A collective loss of confidence on the creative product, and in its place we have the deification of the media. The result: this whole message-in-the-first-five-seconds, no-one-reads, let’s-not-be-clever bull that we encounter. If we don’t love the thing we have created, why would anyone else.
Your portfolio showcases a diverse range of work across various mediums and industries. How do you maintain a consistent level of creativity and innovation while adapting to different client needs and project requirements?
How we maintain a level of creativity and innovation across different clients, is actually very simple. It is because our clients expect it from us. The reason why most clients come to us is because they like the work we have done. So usually, they are coming with an expectation of a certain quality of work. Which is why it is essential for us to deliver good work. The work we do today begets the work we will do tomorrow.
While we are still talking about the future, how would you describe the future of brands, especially in an Indian context, in 8 words?
The future belongs to brands that take what they do extremely seriously, but don’t take themselves too seriously. (more than 8 words, but creative freedom and all that).
With incredible access to the industry, new-age creatives (sometimes even zealous students) prefer to start their own studios. Today we can see several strong brands which have come out by partnering with these niche studios. Being one of the OG small but big impact agencies in India, do you think monolithic agencies are losing a bit of speed?
We don’t think it would be too controversial to say that they have lost a little speed. But it could just be a temporary phase. With bigger agencies becoming more nimble and many smaller agencies yearning for the status of ‘big’, tomorrow it could all change completely.
But at a smaller scale, how do you build financial sustainability? Can you share some strategies you’ve adopted to maintain the vision Animal is known for, while effectively generating income?
The million-dollar question. Or rather, the 10-lakh-retainer question. Truthfully, although we have a very clear vision of our creative goals and standards, we are not similarly clear-sighted when it comes to financial matters. The one thing we try and do is value our own work. We believe what we do is uncommon and unique and valuable. Hence, we try (‘try’ being the operative word here) to only work with people who view it similarly.
Another thing is like we mentioned before, work begets more work. So it is of utmost importance to us to do work which goes out to the world and does our selling for us. The work we do tells people about the work that we can do, of what we are capable of if given the opportunity.
Basically, for us, there is a very strong correlation to the work we do and our financial health. So we need to keep the work in rude health, for the income to be the same.
If you were given an unlimited budget and resources to create a project, what would it be, and why?
If we had that, then we would love to create a product. That is an area that we have always interested us, and where we have dipped our toe in.
Tell us more about the most recent one. What were the challenges, and why was it all worth it?
The most recent one was the Hyatt project, where we turned the tables on the big, fat Indian wedding and put the focus back on the people for whom it was the big day - the bride and the groom. The challenge was to give a different feeling and sensibility to one of the most fetishised parts of Indian popular culture - the Indian wedding. Something which has been the backdrop of a million movie sequences, ads, songs, tv shows etc.
The campaign did fabulously for the brand and us. But the best part was having our client partners, who had fought and protected the campaign through many internal levels, were lauded and celebrated by their organisation. That made our day.
You guys are very excited about AR & VR. Tell us more about your recent project with Autohood Branding. Why are we looking for the future at the back of an auto?
Is there a better place to see the future than at the back of an auto! It is one of those quintessential Indian places, which has its own design and writing style. A place that is sometimes used to advertise products that might appeal to an everyday person on the streets of India. All of which made it the perfect place to talk about the potential of AR, VR and other emerging technologies. Whose effects won’t just be felt by the genteel places of culture, but in everyday places that are embodied by this humble space at the back on an auto.
Innovation and pushing boundaries seem to be integral to Animal's approach. Can you share some examples of projects where you've embraced experimentation and achieved groundbreaking results?
One such project would be the 2018 edition of Indianama. A curious enquiry into the rich visual culture of the streets of India. The aim - to take design and to sell it to people who mostly, haven’t ever seen value in it. Small businesses or SMEs that contribute to 25% of India’s GDP. Why? Because if good design has to emerge from the niche that it is in right now, these are the people who will have to play a part. We paired 71 graphic designers with 71 street side shops from 5 markets in Delhi.
The designers re-imagined every element of the shops. From packaging of medicine for a century-old healer, to menus for a roadside dhaba, to signages for a humble hairdresser somewhere in Old Delhi -- all this while we ensured that the design utilised traditional practices like hand-painted signages and murals and iconic, custom typography. The project received great attention worldwide, and travelled to the London Design Festival, Jerusalem Design week and TEDx.
Animal’s work often displays a strong emphasis on storytelling. How do you weave narratives into your design and creative work, and what role does storytelling play in delivering a memorable and engaging experience for audiences?
The more design, communication and advertising changes, the more it remains the same. Storytelling appeals to people in the most basic, fundamental way. Our tools and approach might keep changing - like being the first to bring a Virtual Reality brand experience to India 2016, to launch the Pharell collection with Adidas Originals - but integrating storytelling with those tools remains one of the biggest weapons we have to engage our audiences. The more we can do that, the more memorable our work is.
Oh by the way, congratulations on turning 9! If you could describe the biggest project for each year of Animal, what ones would they be?
Bhima: A campaign about a trans person’s journey that broke the internet and set the standard for the representation of LGBTQIA+ people in advertising.
Budweiser Made Over Nights: An original Animal thought that was launched in India. And then travelled all over the world to launch communication featuring Messi, Halsey et al.
Hyatt weddings campaign: The campaign that aimed to bring the ‘you’ back in your wedding. And put Hyatt back in the map as one the best destinations for weddings.
Budweiser Streetwear: One of our favourites, we designed and helped produce a line of streetwear for Budweiser that was then sold (out) on Myntra.
Keventers: One of our oldest ongoing relationships, which began with an identity refresh we did for this much-loved brand.
Adidas Pharell: To launch the Adidas Pharell collection, we did India’s first VR brand experience.
Setu: A brightness-filled re-imaging of medicinal supplements sans mundanity. The project got the golden stamp of approval at The Dieline 2022 Awards.
Housing: We came up with a new visual language and interpretation for the Housing brand across outdoors, online and social media. It was the first campaign that made people sit up and take notice of us.
Species: A project that announced the launch of Animal. A world-wide collaborative project, where we invited artists from different creative backgrounds to design their favourite animal, in the exact form of the Animal logotype.
Before you go, one last question. What would be your advice to the young Animals out in the wild?
Our advice would be to take all the advice out there with a pinch of salt. What works for one, may not work for another. But the one thing every Animal can do is to stay interested in everything that is happening in the world around - in tech, advertising, design, film, content, politics - as much as you can. Nothing is operating in its own silo anymore. And the more we draw lines in our work connecting as many different things as possible, the more interesting that work will be.
