It was clear from the first episode of On Brand with Jimmy Fallon that Rajesh Srivastava has the theoretical knowledge of marketing. The question was whether he would be able to put it into practice.
Sadly, after four episodes of On Brand with Jimmy Fallon, his journey has come to an end. He just couldn’t quite get there, and that’s something he talked with us about in our exclusive interview with him. At the same time, he shared the lessons he’s taking away from the series, and also how he’s looking at it with his students who take his social media marketing classes.
GeekSided: Thanks for joining me today, Raj. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.
Rajesh Srivastava: Thank you.
GS: Let’s start with how great theoretically your pitches were. Unfortunately, they just didn’t shine in the pitching. What was it like to step out and do the pitches in front of such big brands?
RS: I’m a professor. I’m used to saying, “Okay, this is a good idea. This is how you could physically do it.” I’m not used to doing it that much. The most difficult part, and I realized it, is that I’m not well-equipped to physically do things, and that’s what shows.
My ideas were good, but I’m not used to pitching. I’m used to having the idea of someone singing, but when I have to do it myself, it’s no good. I just didn’t do a good job.
GS: That’s the feedback that you were getting as well. What was going through your mind with each new pitch, knowing you had to work on that feedback?
RS: That’s right. In episode 1, I realized that I wasn’t well-equipped for this. In one episode, I’m supposed to make a drink, but I’ve never made that kind of drink. I did want to do something Indian, and I wish I had stuck to that in the end. I was just a fish out of water.
GS: Do you have any regrets in the series?
RS: No, not at all. Why regret? I had so much fun. This is a once-in-a-lifetime, unique experience. I’m a professor teaching a class, and here I am, in front of Jimmy Fallon on a primetime television program. I had so much fun doing it, and I made good friends that I got to know.
I got to know what it takes to make a program like this. We only see the front of the camera, and we never see the back of the camera, what goes on. There are so many people who make a show like this happen, so I got educated on that.
Just because I got eliminated doesn’t mean I’ve lost. I learned so much and I had so much fun. I made friends with the other contestants, and we’re in a group chat.
GS: You’re right that it’s a unique experience. What made you intrigued enough to apply and go on this series?
RS: I didn’t apply. They contacted me, and it’s marketing, my area of expertise. I teach a course called Social Media Marketing, and I thought this would be a great experience. Now, when I’m in my class, I can talk about it theoretically, but now I’ve actually done it. I teach my students to make content because I work through TikTok, which I’ve had reasonable success on. They could only look at my TikTok before, but look at what door might open for you. When you’re doing something and NBC or Jimmy Fallon contact you, that’s huge.
GS: How did you find moving from the individual pitching stage to the group work to help support someone else’s pitches?
RS: That was a lot of fun. When I teach my class, one of the things I do is divide the class into groups, and they do a group project. Here’s a chance for me to do what I’ve been teaching for years. I was very happy being part of the group. I could contribute better that way, because I’m telling people my theoretical knowledge.
GS: And now you can take everything and rework your course a bit. What’s the feedback been like from your students?
RS: The students love it. They’re amused and excited. On Tuesday, I’m teaching a class, and in the evening, I’m in the show. They’re seeing me in the class and then watching the show in the evening. It’s such a unique thing. They’ve never had any experience like that, so for that, it’s interesting for the students.
I also have stories to tell in my class. I love doing that, especially my social media class.
GS: And you have practical advice to share with them now.
RS: Absolutely, and one of the things that I was teaching my class is that you never know what door might open for you. Anything can happen if you continue to do good work. You never know whose eyes you might catch.
GS: Out of all the campaigns that you knew about going into the show, which one were you most excited to do?
RS: Oh, Marshalls. I thought my idea was really good. There are already stores in New York that have something similar, such as Ralph Lauren. You walk in, and the first thing you see is a coffee place where you can buy coffee, and then you walk around. That gets people to stay longer. Target has it, Walmart has many.
Of course, I was most afraid of the singing part. I’m going, “Oh my God! How am I going to do that?” And that’s what ended up happening.
GS: I do agree that the idea was great. A few stores by me have a Starbucks, and I can end up walking around the place purely because I’ve gone in to get a Starbucks first.
RS: Exactly. That’s what I thought, but the brand will do what they think is right for their people. And that’s fine. I tell my class that just because yours was not picked does not mean that you failed. What it means is that you need to learn. Let’s start with, “How can I make it more on brand,” right?
Your product is good if your customer wants it. If your idea is not what the customer wants, it’s not a good idea. Now I can talk about that to my class. I’m going to talk about it for years to come, so I’m very excited.
GS: As my last question, what is the one thing that you’re going to take from this experience?
RS: The most important thing: What does it take to do something like this? I saw the back, the work of the people, how many people are involved, how hard they work. We tend to think of actors as people who are there for 15 minutes and make millions. We had to be there at 7 a.m. and come back at like 7 a.m., 8 a.m. the next day. I have a better feel of what it takes to be in a show like this.
Now I know that there’s not just one camera. Ther are seven cameras from seven different angles, high and low levels, and how much work goes into making that one second of a scene. So, now I can talk about that.
Also the editing. You tape 16 hours of one episode, and they have to put that into 40 minutes. It’s a lot of work, and I’m more appreciative of the process that’s involved in making shows like this.
On Brand with Jimmy Fallon airs on Tuesdays at 10/9c and Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.