Industry honchos indulge inner child through Channel V

Vikram Sakhuja, R Balki, Anupriya Acharya and Abhijit Avasthi talk to their 16-year-old selves, advising them not to be so hard on themselves and do what they feel like because that is 'Correct'.

What message would you give to your 16-year-old self, if given a chance? Not worry much, life is unplanned, take it easy, and go with the flow? While you keep thinking, media agency and creative agency stalwarts have already indulged their inner child through Channel V's trade activity.

Channel V has done an unusual activity to engage the industry honchos with their 16-year-old selves in what is called 'Dear 16-Year-Old Me'.

The STAR India channel has collated a light yet emotional montage of nostalgic adults connecting with their teenage selves, advising them to not be so hard on themselves and that their problems are not as bad as it currently seems. They should do as they feel, and not fear the consequences.

The first video that the channel has rolled out features Vikram Sakhuja (CEO, Maxus Worldwide), Anupriya Acharya (group CEO, India at ZenithOptimedia Group), Abhijit Avasthi (NCD, O&M India) and R Balki (chairman and chief creative officer at Lowe Lintas) who talk to their 16-year-old selves, telling them not to worry about looks, follow their hearts and do what they really feel like doing.

The B2B communication aims to disseminate the channel's new brand philosophy of 'Correct Hai' through known media personalities. It urges youngsters to liberate themselves from the fear of consequences and listen to their gut feeling because what one feels at heart is worth giving a try and it's "correct".

The channel will continue with the activity and feature more people from media agencies, creative agencies and marketers talking to their younger selves. The activity allows the much wiser, smarter and more mature 'ME' to talk to the younger, gullible, slightly confused 16-year old 'ME'.

Channel V has also created a Twitter handle, #Dear16YearOldMe, that encourages people to write a note to themselves.

For the record, Sony Max had also done a trade activity in September this year with a Bollywood twist called 'No Talkies'. This property was specially designed to appeal to media agencies across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. 'No Talkies' was a concept wherein registered teams from the media agencies played 'Dumb Charades' on Bollywood films using hand motifs to emote and communicate with each other.