The art of conveying a message to the masses is called Advertising. It is one of the chief divisions of any industry, ensuring the brand’s influence and competitiveness in the corporate setting. In today’s rapidly growing Indian economy, a career in advertising is highly lucrative and extremely competitive. If you are an enthusiastic, independent, and optimistic type of person, you will feel right at home in the advertising industry.

In recent years the focus of advertisers has greatly moved to cater to the youth. 60% of the population of India is under the age of 30 and roughly half of the Asian population is in that group. This statistic hasn’t changed for about a decade now and doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. More than the statistic, it’s a mindset. The world is getting younger through the internet. Brands and companies are morphing their traditional methods to better suit the current environment and to be creative is to be current.

One such company promoting its content to a youth-centric audience is CreativeLand Asia (CLA). CLA is a multinational advertising agency looking to promote creative content through advertising, film production, branding, and licensing. Founder and Creative Chairman, Sajan Raj Kurup has been adamant about positioning his content to cater to a younger audience. His belief is that a younger audience provides us with better metrics for the future. In advertising, you need to be constantly positioning yourself to the current and most relevant environment, you can't be rigid in your thinking as the terrain is ever-changing and ever-evolving. In Sajan Kurup’s own words, “there are no long-term horizons in marketing only medium-term horizons”

Kurup also believes that there is a high level of interest in the youth of India to partake in the creative industry. As a budding entrepreneur himself, he started CLA on his living room dining table with 4 other people. CLA commenced its operations back in 2014 and has since been recognized as one of India’s leading advertising agencies. Kurup believes that there is no shortage of young talent in this industry, he says that India is a very creative environment and Indians have always been taught to think ingeniously which is an important aspect of creativity. Alongside creativity, an interest in brand design and communication is very inherent to the youth of India. Kurup has always been an advocate of promoting and motivating young talent to start their careers in advertising. In 2014, he set up youngcreative.org, a student arm of CLA that promoted and offered guidance to up-and-coming young talent. He says its more than a responsibility to share experiences and knowledge with the people trying to get their foot in the door, Kurup was quoted saying “When I was young I didn’t know who to learn from, I think I learned from all the accidents that have happened to me along the way. All I’m doing is sharing that with a few people if I can, and giving them a chance to nurture their creativity”. He also launched a scholarship program called Creativeland Fresh Picks. CLA proposed to send one final year student from art and design schools to attend the seven-day festival at Cannes. The student will also be awarded a one-year contract to work with CLA. The objective of the trip is to hone modern talent at a very young age and familiarize them with the way of work done internationally, which is otherwise hard to get. An experience like this is sure to get the student’s career in advertising kickstarted.

Sajan Raj Kurup has been a great promoter of young talent in the advertising industry as he sees the future of this industry ride on the backs of these youngsters. He has been an inspiration for many young talented people that have a keen interest in creativity and advertising.