At the e4m Golden Mikes 2025, Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO India, took the stage, not as an expert, but as a lover of radio. His keynote, titled “Radio! Someone Still Loves You,” echoed with raw emotion, nostalgia, and deep affection for the medium he described as “the voice inside your head.”
Drawing inspiration from the Queen classic "Radio Ga Ga," Paul opened with a confession: “I don’t come here as an expert on radio. I come as a lover. So, what I have for you is love, not expertise.”
Paul’s relationship with radio began in childhood, rooted in the sounds of cricket commentary. In a vivid anecdote, he recalled mimicking radio commentary in school so convincingly that a teacher confiscated all his classmates’ transistors, an act born out of envy and ingenuity.
His professional foray into radio took shape in 2000 with the formation of David, an advertising agency he founded to break norms. “Everyone in advertising in 2000 wanted to do TVCs. In David, we decided that we won't do that, we are going to make radio famous,” he said. This commitment gave birth to “Radioactive,” an internal unit dedicated solely to radio creativity.
Central to Paul’s message was the deeply personal and participatory nature of radio. “Radio is not a medium. It transfers itself into your head,” he said. “You become the medium because you’re carrying the image in your head: Every ad becomes your story. Every jingle feels like your song.”
He described radio as “an invisible magician” in a world obsessed with visuals and argued that good radio advertising isn’t an interruption but a performance.
Paul also delved into the architecture of creativity at his agency, sharing how David’s office was designed like a play school, with no second floor and no appointment letters, only resignation letters from adulthood. “You had to take on the responsibility of a six-year-old,” he explained, highlighting how this playful spirit fed their creative approach to radio.
He illustrated his dedication to radio through a story about a campaign for United Colors of Benetton. When a new marketing manager threatened to shelve a beloved radio spot, Paul disguised himself as a canteen worker to infiltrate the client meeting and personally pitch the campaign. “That’s love, man,” he said. “Where you’re willing to look stupid, be absolutely embarrassed, because you want something to happen.”
The keynote included a medley of radio ads, from irreverent pieces like “The Art of Leaving” to a poignant narration of Nelson Mandela’s life, produced for CNN-IBN. “Radio is still the whisper in your ear that feels more intimate than any screen can ever be,” Paul reflected.
He concluded with a look to the future, citing the Grand Prix-winning “Skinny” campaign from BBDO New Zealand as a modern twist on radio’s intimate and participatory nature.
In his closing words, Paul returned to the emotional heart of his message: “There’s something profoundly intimate about radio. It’s not just what is said, but how it is heard. In a world of noise, radio remains a whisper. The quietest messages are often the ones that echo the longest.”
As the applause rang out, Josy Paul left his audience with a resonant truth: “When the world shuts its eyes, radio still gets through. Radio, someone still loves you.”
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