Yo ho ho and a few bottles of rum!

"I want to do a don’t drink and drive campaign"
"But that’s been done,innumerable times."
"I know. But just do it. Just make it a bit different."

This enlightening conversation was the client brief. We decided to do some research into the topic. An evening at a pub and a severe hangover later, we realized that once you’ve had a drink too many, you tend to see hazy and your reflexes slow down. Yes, we already knew that, but it’s important to ‘feel’ your product.

So we created a banner that invited the consumer to have a drink the way a friend would. The webpage gets fuzzier with every drink while the cursor loses all control of its actions.







Simple and effective the banner makes an impact. Without the use of dramatic visuals or text, the banner drives home a simple point - drinking and driving fuzzes not only your view but also your reflexes.

Sex Pays!

The cause of safe sex came to my aid many a time. The 2 best examples are given below:

PART I - Protection Money




I earned a lot on this one. No hard cash, but accolades aplenty.

A client wanted to promote the cause of safe sex on world’s AIDS Day. Safe Sex on the web? Easy!

Webizens are always cautious and require assurance that a site is ‘protected’ before they enter it. So, we decided to create a page that refused entry to sites without a condom. Users were given the option to choose from a variety of condoms and asked to protect their cursor before they entered a site. The message was clear. No condom. No entry.

By the end of World Aids Day, over 50,000 people were protected online. And we walked off with with a few awards, including a One Show.

Part 2 - FIRE!!!



This one is my personal favourite. The content had me stumped for many days. It’s tough to write well, it’s a 100 times tougher to write clichéd and corny content. A website for a condom company, www.firecondoms.com was designed like a porn, or to be politically correct ‘adult’ site. The content was written from the point of view of a small town man and detailed his lust life.

Extremely pleasurable.

A Free World Tour

The client wanted to promote international deals. Now, while a holiday abroad is both aspirational and appealing to most travelers, there are a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ associated with it. Where do I go? What to do? What are the costs involved?

The solution was obvious. Allow users to travel to a variety of destinations online and give them all the information they will need. As a bonus, real time costs were provided. Users could just choose and book.

Loved the work. Loved the result.

BEING HONEST

My name is Chaitali and I cannot lie. My first post, kept me awake whole night, so I decided to come clean for the sake of blissful sleep tonight.

This blog is not about writing, good or bad. It’s simply a platform for me to share, and at times boast, of my work. The ulterior motive here is of course to find like minded people and better job opportunities.
For the latter, here is a little bit about me in bullet points. (Yes, I hate them too, but I can hardly expect busy Creative Directors/HR Consultants to go through my autobiography)

• I was always academically challenged (disinterested rather) but managed to graduate with honors
• My naiveté led me to pursue a career in journalism. I was going to change the world with the power of the pen. Needless to say I failed miserably and gave up on the task after 2½ years.
• Advertising drew my attention as the only profession that I could actually have fun in. And that’s what I am still doing.
• My 8 year advertising sting is equally shared between online and mainstream advertising. Worked on some great brands, won a few awards...

Achievements include:

2007 - Finalist at the One Show Interactive Awards
2007 - Finalist at the New York International Advertising Festival 2007
2007 - Awarded the Webbys People Choice Awards 2007
2008 - Honoree at the Webbys Awards 2008
2009 - Bronze at the Goafest
2010 - Shortlist at Goafest


Examples of work will be uploaded on a (fairly) frequent basis. Meanwhile you can mail me for a detailed resume at dasgupta.chaitali@gmail.com

And of course, if you like what you read, please share.

Food Rules!

I love food. True I eat like a bird, but the bits I peck, I relish. And it’s food that binds people together in this country. Ask anyone to choose between shahrukh khan and a cheese burger (orr khakra, or vada pao – depending on where you are) and most people will opt for the latter. This insight gave rise to this innovation.

When Sri Lanka Airlines asked for an online application that proved how well they knew india – we gave them an application that allowed each Indian to find the food of their choice in their city as well as the city they planned to visit.

Bullet Points:
Choose where you are from
Indicate your favourite cusine
Choose your destination
Bingo! See the eating outlets available in both cities.

Result: Hits for the client and an award for the team!

Thanks for the applause.

An Apology to Begin With

Samuel Jackson once said, "What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure.” While I usually don't hold with quotes from big stars, this one just encapsulates what I believe in.

The reason I commence with this quote is that it validates why my blog might not be updated very frequently. Writing or even posting something that others might like to read, requires effort which in turn requires time. So give me time and stay tuned in, I promise whatever I post will be worth your time.

However, I am not so conscientious always. Not-thought-through raves and rates are available on http://nothingsane.blogspot.com and http://whiskeypegs.blogspot.com.

Munch on them while you wait for the delicious bytes coming up.