We learnt so much speaking to Aporva Baxi, founder and ECD of branding agency, DixonBaxi. Aporva has an amazing career working as a creative director across the world and is now running the agency for more than 18 years. We chatted about what it was like to drop the career of a creative director in high demand to start your own agency. And how important it is to always stay creative.
Here are some of the juicy segments from our conversation:
AB: We both had great careers by this point: creative directors, working with large scale projects like Nike, Levi’s, Ford, board directors thinking about business and sales and growth. But there came a pivot point. Simon was very keen to do the next thing and he asked me whether I want to join him on that journey. And it's kind of positive opportunity that if I don't do, I'm going to kick myself. So that was our tipping point and we said 'Right, we're gonna start a business'.
AB: The first months and years were very much focused on a couple of things. One is that we scribbled down a set of I guess, values or principles, the things we would do and things we wouldn't do. Like 'Let's just focus on creativity' or 'let's work directly with clients', 'let's not do this type of work'. It was very defining moment for us.
AB: We were lucky to have MTV as our first client. And we didn’t want to pitch for free, those were our terms. So we were asked to just share some thoughts on what the future of MTV would look like.
And rather than going in with a PowerPoint or keynote we actually did a painting, a triptych, consisting of fly posters, bits of sneakers, a broken Walkman. We were trying to capture the spirit of what it's like to be a 16-year-old guy in their bedroom, listening to rock music. So the painting with all those things was our presentation. And we ended up getting the gig and that was our first project.
AB: There was a large scale, really important project that we were doing that had a lot of pressure attached to it. And there was a moment where I'd lost touch with my instincts.
When this happens I try and step away from the computer, from the problem and give it perspective: what am I doing and why am I doing this.
Then going back to the brief, to the things that are the anchors that got me to this point.
The second thing to do is take time to step back and relax, give yourself the liberty to try some stuff. Sketching or writing some stuff, making things, having a conversation with your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, friends.
CB: We talked a lot about that when we did the work with AC Milan. It has 120 years of heritage, but we want to take that heritage and transport it to the future. So we have to bring ourselves on that journey. But we also have to think about the 400 million fans in the world and to create something that they ultimately feel proud of and feel that we've respected what they love.
So I'd say put yourself into it 110% but also think about who you're doing it for and why and find something that's true to that brand or business.
AB: The difference is simply focusing on building a business that is, hopefully, one of the best creative agencies in the world. And building something that lasts and using creativity to design a better future. If we can do that with the work that we're doing, then hopefully we add just a little bit of positivity to the world.
If you want to hear more of Campbell and Robyn’s entertaining branding stories, listen to the full interview on our Creative Capes Podcast:
If you’re more of a visual learner, head over to our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy
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