Copywriter Aahana Pereira travels the world doing what she loves

Aahana Pereira was born in Mumbai, India, but has lived all over the world. Her work has taken her from New York City to Paris, from Hong Kong to Malaysia, to name a few. Very few people have had the opportunities she has had, and at only 31, her work will likely take her to many more exotic locations throughout her career. Already she has impressed many around the globe, and millions worldwide have seen her work. As a copywriter in advertising, she uses her gifts in storytelling to connect to audiences, allowing them to see a product in a different way than they may be used to.

“There is nothing to complain about when you get to travel to do what you love. I have met some very good, some very creative, some overrated, some underrated, some very passionate and smart people. To me, every move was a learning experience. I have grown so much as a human being. My thoughts, my ideas, my writing, my friendships and all the exposure only had an upward graph. I have met people from so many different cultures and backgrounds that I not only have great stories from various places, but I have also got to know the countries and their political situations. All of this influences how I write,” said Pereira.

Pereira’s resume is both extensive and impressive. At one point, she worked alongside none other than Former First Lady Michelle Obama on her Drink Up campaign, an initiative by First Lady, Michelle Obama in partnership for a Healthier America that encourages people to drink more water. In Hong Kong, she worked with Palmolive, promoting their various shampoo lines with a list of impressive celebrities. In Malaysia, she collaborated with well-known Asian DJs to promote Motul Rhythm, and in Mumbai she got to use her storytelling talents to help create comic strips for the Poppins Ram and Shyam comics for children that were featured with the popular Parle Poppins candy.

“I love my job. People think if you know English you can be a copywriter, well that’s not true at all. First as a copywriter you need to be a strong conceptualizer. Writing comes second, ideas come first. I like writing but what I enjoy more is the pressure to come up with ideas and then do justice to it by crafting a good copy. I like this process even though it keeps me awake at night,” she said.

Again working in Hong Kong, Pereira worked with the toothpaste brand Colgate on a series of commercials. They were for Colgate’s “Face2Face” campaign, promoting the benefits of having a shining smile and fresh breath when meeting people “face to face”. Pereira and her team wanted to encourage people to have conversations “face2face”. They created content using a known celebrity where she surprises her friends whom she hasn’t met in a long time. With this campaign, they created happy and touching moments that connected with audiences and consumers.

“It’s always nice to see the work published and that people actually reciprocate to it. When the brand does well, it’s the cherry on top,” said Pereira.

To come up with the concept, Pereira and her team began with discussing the current trends that would stop shoppers in the aisle and have them not only take a look at the product, but also pick it up from the shelf. At that time, hashtags were very popular, so they decided to come up with a creative hashtag that would promote the product and get people talking about it. It had to be a punchy line that would fit in the limited advertising space in the aisles of supermarkets. Slowly, it developed into #Face2Face. They then went even further by making this idea into a mini engagement idea, where one consumer could win a trip to meet friends “Face2Face”, creating a Call to Action.

When working on the brief, it proved to be more difficult than anticipated. They had to figure out how to visually show a scent, in this case being fresh breath. They had internal discussions within the team and the bosses. Pereira and her team had to crack the brief by overcoming this obstacle. They went through rounds of rejections, but eventually came up with a solution that not only worked but was also endearing.

Pereira’s inputs within the team helped to shape their idea. She then wrote a series a copy that would work in retail advertising and posters. Later, the idea was transformed into a commercial with a celebrity endorsement, amassing almost two million views on YouTube alone, none of which could have been possible without Pereira’s initial contributions. She truly helped bring the idea to life.

“I liked the fact that the brief was tough. The idea came from the Shopper side and in my opinion it worked on different levels. It was trendy, it asked people to talk “Face2Face” and have the confidence to do so and the brand blended in perfectly,” Pereira described. “We are so used to texting each other that we rarely talk, we rarely open our mouths, so Colgate Fresh Confidence toothpaste became this bridge urging people to converse more by using a digital element – the hashtag,” she said.

The Colgate #Face2Face campaign was one of Pereira’s last at Red Fuse Hong Kong, and she wanted to close out her time there in a memorable way. Her work on her final campaign impressed all those she worked with, from her colleagues to the client, a trend that occurred many times with her work at the advertising agency.

“It was great working with Aahana. She is a talented writer and always comes up with well-structured and innovative ideas. While she was at Red Fuse, I remember she came up with this idea to help child victims of the Nepal earthquake 2015. She entered it in the Y&R Future Sparks competition and it was honored as one of the top five ideas that year. She always made an impression on the team,” said Sindy Ng, Senior Regional Account Executive, RedFuse Communications (Y&R Group).

Needless to say, Pereira is a tremendously gifted copywriter, and can be expected to remain a leader in her industry for years to come.