"Creatigies completed 21 years, and I thought it would be a good idea to be a little different, so the financial year idea popped up,” noted Navroze Dhondy, founder and managing director of Creatigies. Instead of the traditional January-December cycle, the New Delhi based advertising agency opted for the April to March format for their desk calendar.
"To be honest, the printer whom I have been using for the last so many years had a production issue, which delayed the printing too,” he added. "I had an option of starting from February or March…But then the Eureka moment happened. And it struck me why not change it to the financial year?”
Ext r: Navroze Dhondy; images from Creatigies’ "different" calendar
Dhondy says that many people actually appreciated this change: "From my clients, friends in businesses to many mothers, who found this a great idea as it also coincided with the ‘new school session’… Sometimes a problem becomes an opportunity in disguise. Innovate is the mantra at Creatigies. And so we did.”
The 12 images shot by Dhondy, selected for the seventh edition include autumn leaves on a London pavement; a rocky mound partially obliterated by a hoarding along a Rajasthan highway; shadow play at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Bangalore; an angry looking bird in Ranthambore (sanctuary).
When asked to pick his favorite from the 12 shots photographed by him, Dhondy indicated the image for the month of April which depicts five rows of birds perched on electrical wires with only one in flight above the flock. "In many ways I relate to that lone bird. A bit different from the bunch,” he commented.
Stating that the calendar has become "part of Creatigies’ DNA, and mine too,” the ad man noted that "It’s actually such a beautiful feeling when I meet people who remind me and say, ‘Hey Navroze, don’t forget me when you’re making your calendar list’ or ‘Looking forward to the calendar in a few weeks.’” Numbers have swelled from "a modest 200 odd calendars in 2017 to 1,000 calendars that I sent this year.”
Established in 2002, Creatigies is an independent, integrated marketing agency working across multiple platforms in sports, fashion, entertainment and media.