‘Tony Hawk’s Underground 2’, Korn, and Nike: The Work That Made Dhruv Warrior
Dhruv Warrior is the creative director of VML India and an internationally awarded creative leader. He loves reading and writing, art, and music and has happily explored all these avenues of expression as a child, and continues to do so.
He plays guitar, draws and writes poetry. But his first love has always been football and sport has been an indelible, inseparable part of his life.
Over his 17+ year career his goal has been to create innovative campaigns that shape culture or become a part of it. With the rapid onset of digital adoption globally, he has had the chance to join a vast cultural evolution that’s shaping the world. His work therefore has an integration of technology and emerging trends, impeccable craft and powerful messaging, sharp insights and data enabled thinking to create new age campaigns.
Dhruv believes that creative thinking is at the heart of the best campaigns permeating strategy, interactions, engagements and media, data and technology. Dhruv has dedicated himself to this goal and developed a unique skill set that champions creativity, bringing it to life through unique thinking that is married to clear strategic execution. This approach has allowed him to create world class campaigns.
Dhruv sat down with LBB to look back on the work that has most influenced him and his career.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Dhruv> Oh man, music videos are a passion of mine. Like many other teenagers at the time, MTV was our social media, and music was and still is a passion of mine. One video that stuck with me was ‘Freak on a Leash’ by Korn.
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Dhruv> The truth here is that my entry into advertising wasn’t a conscious choice. I was playing football very seriously at the time, and advertising was initially a job. I had no idea what I wanted to do. But what kept me hooked was working on the Nike account. I distinctly remember watching the famous ‘Just Play It’ ad that was made in JWT Bangalore (where I was working), and there was no looking back from there.
The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Dhruv> I'm an avid gamer, and for the longest time I was obsessed with ‘Tony Hawk’s Underground 2.’ There were just so many good things going on in that game that appealed to me, from character customisation to the free gameplay to the brilliant soundtrack. There was also a real skate culture appeal that I loved, and I was always watching the X Games. To see some real legends in the game itself just made it so much cooler to me.
But there’s so much work that I do revisit very often. I love the silly crazy part of advertising that makes you literally LOL or go, ‘WTF did I just watch?’ Like all the Skittles ads or the Kayak ads. And some of the work that has come out of Thailand is just brilliant, like the Gecko couple ad or for the fat burner Sure. I loved the Mailchimp campaign that Droga5 did, along with Twitter Beef by Wendy’s. These last two pieces have been foundational for me, because they’re great examples of how cool the digital world can be.
My first professional project…
Dhruv> It was actually as a model. I used to do a few shoots and shows when I was in college. My first professional project in advertising was a product shoot for Nike when I was still in the client services department.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Dhruv> There’s no space in my brain for bad work. I’ve optimised my memory for work that matters. Jokes aside, honestly, I can’t remember a piece of work that made me mad enough to make a vow. That being said, ads for products with messages of making skin more fair or whiter always pissed me off.
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Dhruv> This list is huge!
‘Write the Future, Find Your Greatness’ and the tagline Just Do It.
‘Shoplifters’ – Harvey Nichols
The creative project that changed my career…
Dhruv> Two of them, ‘Bleed Blue’ and ‘Make Every Yard Count’. Both for Nike.
The work that I’m proudest of…
Dhruv> The time I have invested in people who have worked with me. Nothing quite as rewarding to see a budding creative director who was once part of your team now heading an agency.
I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Dhruv> Hahaha I’ll never tell … OK, I will. It makes me laugh more than it makes me cringe.
I was writing simple promos for an alcohol brand, and the offer was to buy a six-pack and you could win a pass to a David Guetta concert.
So I wrote ‘Buy a 6 pack Guetta pass for free!’ Everyone loved my dad joke. We got it released, and we still laugh about my copywriting prowess.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Dhruv> I’m the kind of guy who can get excited over a single post for a brand. I think that advertising presents us with innumerable opportunities to do cool work.
Honestly the last project I was involved in that had me really excited was for a pitch for a BFSI client. We really presented some fresh stuff that hadn’t been explored at all in that sector.
