PAUSE FOR THOUGHT: ROLL DOT AGENCY’S YOUNG CREATIVES TURN A SIMPLE SYMBOL INTO AN AWARD-WINNING IDEA

A striking outdoor campaign built around the universal pause symbol has earned Roll Dot Agency’s Brizel Pinto and Meher Arunika first place at the OAC Young Creatives Outdoor Competition. Their winning concept, PauseBoards, secures them a trip to AdFest 2027, showcasing the power of curiosity, collaboration and creative ownership.

A simple idea, executed with clarity and imagination, has earned two young Indian creatives a place on one of Asia-Pacific’s biggest advertising stages. Brizel Pinto and Meher Arunika of independent creative agency Roll Dot Agency have won first place at the OAC Young Creatives Outdoor Competition with PauseBoards, an innovative campaign created for Continental Speciale. Their victory also includes a trip to Pattaya, Thailand, to attend AdFest 2027, one of the region’s leading advertising festivals.

The competition challenged participants to help Continental Speciale “Own the Pause”. Rather than producing another campaign encouraging people to slow down, Pinto and Arunika reimagined the outdoor advertising medium itself. They transformed two towering vertical billboards into the universally recognised pause symbol, allowing the installation to communicate the idea before viewers even read a single word. The concept demonstrated how visual simplicity can often be more powerful than lengthy messaging.

The award is also a reflection of Roll Dot Agency’s creative culture. The independent agency encourages young professionals to think beyond traditional job roles and contribute across strategy, design, copywriting and execution. Instead of following rigid hierarchies, the agency believes that ownership and curiosity produce stronger ideas and more confident creatives.

Founder Tejali Shete says responsibility is the key to unlocking creative potential.

“We don’t measure potential by experience alone. We measure it by curiosity, initiative and the willingness to own an idea. When people are trusted with real responsibility, they stop thinking about completing tasks and start thinking about creating better work.”

For Pinto, who prefers the title “Creative”, the project reinforced the importance of beginning with an idea rather than simply writing advertising copy.

“The biggest lesson wasn’t learning to write better copy. It was learning to think in ideas,” he said. “Before I wrote a single line, I immersed myself in visual research because I knew the idea had to be seen before it could be read. The strongest ideas aren’t written or designed. They’re built.”

His experience across account management, strategy, design and copywriting has shaped a multidisciplinary approach to creativity. He believes successful ideas emerge when different perspectives come together rather than remaining confined to separate departments.

Winning the competition, he says, is only the beginning.

“To be in the same room as people who’ve spent decades shaping our industry is a privilege. I want to create work that wins because it moves people, and matters because it leaves something behind. I’ll never be younger, hungrier or more curious than I am today.”

Designer Meher Arunika says the project helped her understand how powerful creative systems are built.

“This project taught me that great design isn’t about adding more. It’s about executing an idea with clarity and consistency. Being part of the entire process gave me a much deeper understanding of how ideas evolve into complete creative systems.”

The opportunity to attend AdFest 2027 has also strengthened her confidence to pursue more ambitious work.

“It feels like a door opening onto a much bigger stage. It’s validation that our work holds up globally, and it has given me the confidence to take bigger creative risks instead of playing it safe. I want to build work that’s bold, clear and unafraid to be different while exploring AI as a creative accelerator for new-age storytelling.”

The success of PauseBoards reflects a broader shift within India’s advertising industry, where independent agencies are increasingly producing globally recognised work by encouraging collaboration across disciplines. As advertising evolves, young creatives are expected to think strategically, visually and technologically rather than specialising in a single area.

For Roll Dot Agency, the award represents more than a competition victory. It highlights the value of trusting emerging talent with meaningful responsibility and creating an environment where ideas can grow without being limited by hierarchy. For Pinto and Arunika, the journey now continues to AdFest 2027, carrying with them not only an award-winning campaign but also a creative philosophy that proves great advertising begins with a fresh way of seeing the world.