MUMBAI: Advertising Company Ogilvy has announced that chairman of Ogilvy India, Piyush Pandey will be promoted to the role of worldwide chief creative officer. He will be replacing Tham Khai Meng who was discharged in July. Pandey’s role will commence from 1 January 2019.
Pandey will also hold on to his responsibilities as the chairman of Ogilvy India and will remain based in Mumbai. From next year he will be working in cooperation with Ogilvy’s global chief executive John Seifert and will look after the creative standards at the company.
Ogilvy also announced that it will expand its Worldwide Creative Council from 12 members to 20; the 20 members—of which half will be comprised of female creative leaders—will be announced in January of 2019. At last year’s Cannes Lions, Ogilvy announced its commitment (in partnership with the 3% Movement) to recruit 20 senior women in creative globally by 2020.
Ogilvy Worldwide chief executive John Seifert said, “We could not be more thrilled that Piyush will be serving as our chief creative officer, worldwide and my creative partner. Piyush is a true industry icon who is uniquely suited to lead our global creative efforts. Creativity has and will always be at the heart of the Ogilvy brand and culture. Piyush is the perfect leader to shepherd that legacy as we continue to focus on making brands matter as the leading creative network in the world.”
Seifert told Campaign India that he had considered both internal and external candidates for the global creative role. He said, “I wanted someone who would be a real partner to me and who would be true to the creative spirit of our founder David Ogilvy, But it was very clear that Piyush was the right candidate for the role.”
Seifert continued, “Piyush is deeply rooted in society and culture and the humanness of our world. He’s also someone who doesn’t look backwards, only forwards, and who is enthusiastic, excited and humble. He’s someone everyone can be inspired by.”
Seifert believes that his working partnership with Pandey would become a model for Ogilvy offices around the world, as he said, “To date, we hadn’t really galvanised our network to ensure creativity is the lifeblood of everything we do, Piyush will now help me drive that.”
Meanwhile, Ogilvy US CCO Joe Sciarotta has been appointed as deputy chief creative officer, worldwide and will report to Pandey and Seifert.
MUMBAI: Ajay Gahlaut, the deputy CCO of Ogilvy India and CCO of Ogilvy North has resigned from the company.
Gahlaut leaves Ogilvy to pursue his own interests.
He first joined Ogilvy in 2001 and was with Ogilvy until 2005. He then rejoined Ogilvy in November 2007 and between his first term and the second, he has spent a good part of his career with Ogilvy. In the last ten years, Gahlaut has worked to help build brands such as Pernod Ricard, BMW, KFC, Taco Bell, Dabur, Perfetti Van Melle, Mother Dairy, Pizza Hut, Sprite, Best Foods, HT Mint, Philips, to name a few.
Ogilvy India group CCO and vice chairman Sonal Dabral says, “Ajay did some excellent work in his decade long innings in Ogilvy Delhi. I'd like to thank him for building a great team and wish him all the best for all his future endeavours.”
Ogilvy south Asia executive chairman and chief creative officer Piyush Pandey adds, “Ajay is looking for life beyond advertising and for that reason, I cannot stop him just like I couldn’t stop Abhijit. If Abhijit was going to another agency, I wouldn’t have let him go. Everyone has a dream and unfortunately, I can’t fulfil that dream. He has done a stellar job and I am very proud of him. He worked very closely with me and I will miss him. He is a very dear friend.”
MUMBAI: Health and hygiene brand, ITC’s Savlon on World Sight Day has introduced Braille enabled packs of Savlon Antiseptic liquid.
In line with ITC’s commitment towards an equitable and inclusive society, the first of its kind braille enables packs have been designed not just to enable access but also in its simple way help the visually impaired to identify and access the product easily. This proactive initiative exemplifies the brand’s commitment to an empowering consumer experience.
National Association for the Blind (NAB) executive director Pallavi Kadam says, “It is an incredible step forward and I would like to thank ITC Savlon for this initiative. Many of us have the gift of vision and not often do we realise the everyday struggles of the visually impaired especially when everything around is designed for people with vision. A braille pack is not only enabling but also makes it easily accessible for all.”
The genesis is a simple life insight – Everybody gets hurt. And individuals who are visually impaired are no different. But access to an antiseptic liquid is perhaps not that easy and they would have to wait for somebody to help tend to the wound. This forms the core of the new Savlon film and is the genesis of this initiative – “Agar chot aasani sey lage, toh madat bhi aasani se milni chahiye”. The TVC narrative brings alive this simple insight through some everyday situations and is designed to provoke thought and encourage inclusiveness.
ITC chief executive for personal care products business Sameer Satpathy says, “In line with ITC’s commitment to serve a larger societal purpose and to create enduring value for all stakeholders, Savlon celebrates World Sight Day with this unique first of its kind braille enabled packaging in the FMCG space. The initiative is a determined step forward to create a more equal and inclusive society by enabling access.”
Ogilvy India executive chairman Piyush Pandey adds, “It is not commonplace to find clients like ITC Savlon who are not only rooted in the realities of their consumer but also have a heart that believes in inclusive and positive change. The concept of making the antiseptic bottle easily accessible through Braille, to the visually impaired, is extremely empowering.”
As conceptualised by Ogilvy India, ITC Savlon leverages its power of design thinking to launch the braille enabled Savlon Antiseptic liquid packs, today. The new packs are being made available across retail outlets beginning today and will soon be available across India. On World sight day, Savlon is gifting the braille packs to NAB centres in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
MUMBAI: India’s leading electrical goods company Havells has launched a new ad for its ts most well-known product – heat resistant, flame retardant wires.
Moving ahead with their famous product attribute ‘Wires that don’t catch fire’, in its debut film for Havells, Soho Square (an Ogilvy Group company) has stuck to the brand’s popular emotional story-telling space but with a very refreshing take.
Ogilvy South Asia executive chairman and creative director Piyush Pandey said, “In our first Havells ad, wires that don’t catch fire prevent a young heart from getting hurt. A memorable film for a memorable brand”
Soho Square, chairman and CCO Sumanto Chattopadhyay, “It is a challenge and a pleasure to work on an iconic brand with a history of memorable advertising. We believe that this latest refresh of the Havells wires campaign has the right ingredients to catch on with consumers”
Commenting on the same, Havells India Ltd vice president marketing Amit Tiwari said, “Havells has been an image and market leader in the wire category business, and communication has been integral to the brand. Havells Wires that don’t catch fire has been an iconic campaign over the years. This year the task was to take it further and strengthen our positioning. We have always chosen emotional stories to convey our message and this time too we were looking for a story that is universal”
“Soho Square India shared a beautiful story of children, which had the innocence that we think will make it appealing across, stories from childhood that we can all relate to” he added.
The film has been directed by Amit Sharma of Chrome Pictures and shot in Himachal Pradesh. The campaign will go on air from 7 August.
A charming tale of friendship or perhaps the innocence of first love call it what you will, but the ad set in a children’s camping trip has many heart-warming moments.
MUMBAI: Fevi kwik’s Khushiyon ke chand pal and Swiggy’s No order to small won the top honours at the Star Re.imagine Awards, yesterday, for the excellence in creativity (Best Creative Campaign) along with the use of integrated media (Best Integrated Creative Campaign) respectively in campaigns during the recently concluded Vivo IPL 2018 on Star India. Fevi kwik’s Khushiyon ke chand pal was conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather and Swiggy’s No order too small, conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, Bengaluru.
“We instituted the Star Re.Imagine Awards 2018 as a platform to enthuse the incredible marketing and advertising talent of India to create magic and disruption this IPL. We heartily congratulate all the winners for having created extremely engaging and inspiring narratives. These campaigns seized the imagination of the biggest ever audiences in an IPL across TV and Digital screens combined and contributed immensely to making the Vivo IPL 2018 a truly delightful experience for all. A very special thank you to all the members of the elite jury who helped immensely in creating a brand for the future – the Star Re.imagine awards” says Star India Managing Director Sanjay Gupta.
Additionally, eleven campaigns across nine brands have received special mentions. Star India Managing Director Sanjay Gupta, and Guest of Honour, M S Dhoni, under whose leadership CSK lifted the trophy felicitated the two winners with spectacular bespoke glass trophies designed by the grandmaster of British Glass studio, Peter Layton.
The winners and other meritorious campaigns were selected by jury members comprising Sir John Hegarty, Piyush Pandey, Raju Hirani, Vibha Rishi, Rahul Welde and V Sunil. They assessed over 300 campaigns from 125 brands that had played during the Vivo IPL 2018 till May 25 on Star TV Network and Hotstar. The judges selected campaigns that excelled in both in creativity and in leveraging the power of multi-platform TV and Hotstar.
There were brands across television and digital from various sectors like Telecom, Consumer Durables (Handset), Retail and Lifestyle, Food Delivery and Restaurant (Hospitality), E-commerce, Online services, Automotive, Gaming, Online Payment Wallets, Paints and Adhesives FMCG.
Partnering with Star India in this initiative are Sideways and Kyoorius. The brands that received special mention from the juries were Amazon, Coca Cola, Flipkart, Future Group- Brand Factory, Pidilite, Peter England, VIVO, Vodafone and Tata Sky
MUMBAI: Star India introduced the Star Re.imagine Awards this year, an award that will recognize creativity and innovation in the use of integrated media in advertising campaigns aired during the VIVO IPL 2018 on Star India Network & Hotstar.On Saturday May 26th a bespoke independent jury including advertising legend Sir John Hegarty, Piyush Pandey, acclaimed filmmaker Raju Hirani, marketing veteran Vibha Rishi, digital evangelist Rahul Welde and adman V Sunil deliberated on the winners. Over 300 campaigns by 120 brands were vying for the awards, these campaigns are the ones that were aired during the entirety of the VIVO IPL 2018 until Friday, May 25th, on Hotstar and the Star India Network
The jury chose two top awards that cut across sectors, for ‘Best Creative’ and for ‘Best Use of Integrated Media’ that will be announced in June 2018. The awards will not only celebrate creativity but also recognize and appreciate teamwork. Two winning teams of 24 members each will be hosted for a premier global sporting event outside of India. The magnificent winning trophies have been designed by Europe’s pre-eminent glass artists Peter Layton, the award itself is a celebration of creativity and enduring art.
Gayatri Yadav, President Consumer Strategy & Innovation, Star India, said, “Sports is a great platform to connect with consumers and the Star Re.Imagine Awards is about recognising great advertising that truly leverages the power of the biggest canvas of them all – the IPL. The awards celebrate inspiring creativity and the integrated use of television plus digital on display this season of VIVO IPL. I’m truly thankful to the bespoke talented jury – who painstakingly went through all the work, whose expertise, attention and focus on quality will help set the standard and build the Star Re.ImagineAwards as a brand for the future.”
Sir John Hegarty said, “Instituting the Star Re.Imagine Awards has been a great idea because rewarding good work with recognition is the best way to keep the creative juices flowing. We’re judging and showing great, real work that’s been seen by the public who have responded to it in many different ways. This will encourage other clients to be brave and create work that stands out and engages. For me that is the more important part.”
Piyush Pandey said, “I think Star Re.Imagine Awards is a fantastic idea. It’s a wonderful step that Star has taken in terms of encouraging creativity. I hope it will grow, become bigger and more attractive to people and give a boost to IPL advertising.”
Acclaimed Filmmaker Rajukumar Hirani: “It’s a good initiative because for anyone who is making any kind of films, ads or documentaries, if there is an appreciation of the work, it motivates them to do better. Star Re.Imagine Awards will give the opportunity to a whole lot of people to see the kind of good work that is being done in advertising.”
Marketing Veteran Vibha Rishi, “IPL is watched by hundreds of millions and IPL advertising is all about showcasing what you are capable of. It is a huge big platform for creativity and innovation. The Star Re.Imagine Awards will definitely go a long way in ensuring better quality and more imaginative work.”
Adman V Sunil said “I think the Star Re.Imagine Awards is an excellent start. It will give the advertisers and creative people the next level of pressure to do better work. Hopefully, it will be a platform inspiring great work on a great scale.”
MUMBAI: Fevicol, the largest selling adhesive is known for its innovation in products as well as marketing, especially its entertaining TVCs. The brand has introduced many innovative products which have transformed the woodworking industry in India and has now rolled out ‘Fevicol Ezeespray’ – an innovative format of spray adhesive which offers convenience and speed for pasting laminates.
Fevicol also unveiled a TVC to highlight the salient features of Ezeespray. Created by Ogilvy, the film conveys the message in a witty and humorous manner.
The film opens in a studio where a deodorant ad is being shot. We see a girl drooling over a boy as he uses the deo. As the director calls for the break, a woodworker appears to laminate a table with Ezeespray. The girl in the background is impressed by the woodworker. The film concludes with a voiceover – Fevicol Ezeespray – wohi majboot jod spray mein bhi.
Pidilite Industries CMO Vivek Sharma says, “Continuing its tradition of innovation, Fevicol introduces Ezeespray that offers convenience of use, increased speed of pasting and reduced setting time to our end-users. This means faster completion of work and increased peace of mind for them. Ezeespray TVC communicates this technological superiority of Fevicol in its signature humorous way.”
Ogilvy South Asia executive chairman and creative director Piyush Pandey adds, “Fevicol has been known for its innovative product profile. Ezeespray is yet another testimony to this legacy. The idea was to present the product application in an eye-catchy and humorous manner so as it stays with consumers for long.”
The TVC will be aired in Hindi speaking markets. The campaign will be on air for six weeks including IPL. It will be supported by an integrated marketing campaign. The communication will be extended through various below the line activities such as outdoor advertising, high visibility and innovative point of sales, demand generation activations and dealer certifications.
MUMBAI: Most people believe that waterproofing their roof is enough for a leak free home. Dr.Fixit, from the house of Pidilite, has launched a new TVC campaign featuring legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan. The TVC aims to create awareness among home owners about the need for five-point waterproofing.
Dr. Fixit commercials are known and loved by audience for their lightness and sense of humour. The new campaign stays true to this approach with Amitabh Bachchan bringing his own trademark style and wit to it.
The TVC opens with the owner of an under construction house showing Bachchan around with great pride, when their tour is very rudely interrupted by the appearance of a strange character spouting water everywhere from his mouth, arms, torso, etc. The owner wonders and questions about him to which, Bachchan introduces the character ‘Leakage Bhaisaab’ to the bewildered owner who is getting his house waterproofed. At this point Bachchan explains how water can seep in through not just the roof but also the bathroom, water tank, foundation and even the outer walls. Those who don’t get their house five-point waterproofed with Dr. Fixit products, are setting themselves up for a never-ending battle with leakage, warns Bachchan in conclusion.
Pidilite Industries chief marketing officer Vivek Sharma says, “The fivr point TVC further expands the awareness amongst consumers about the criticality to do their home waterproofing in the right way, that is through Dr. Fixit 5 point waterproofing.”
Ogilvy & Mather executive chairman and creative director of South Asia Piyush Pandey adds, “When I look at the commercial, I think of all the problems that one has faced during our lives when water seepage troubles you in the most surprising fashion. I am sure that this interesting TVC will enable a lot of people to plan their homes in a better fashion of waterproofing them.”
MUMBAI: Ogilvy South Asia chairman and creative director Piyush Pandey, the man behind notable campaigns that include Fevicol, Fevikwik, Cadbury Dairy Milk, The Hindu, and Asian Paints, has been a stalwart figure in the progress of the Indian advertising industry for close to four decades. A recipient of the Padma Shri in 2016, Pandey’s contribution at Ogilvy & Mather made it the third largest ad agency in the country.
His brother Prasoon Pandey, on the other hand, directs advertising films. Advertising Age listed him among the top 100 advertising film directors of the world. His ‘one black coffee’ ad for Ericsson was the first Indian commercial to win at Cannes.
The duo has collaborated on a number of campaigns bagging national and international awards in the process.
But the world has transformed significantly from the time they joined the advertising industry. The digital savvy world won’t rest unless it gets an engaging story. Traditional media is making first-time entry into interior India. Being creative but keeping the brand messaging intact is a tough nut to crack for most agencies today. While Piyush believes agencies should not consider the audience as being naive, Prasoon opines the first thumb rule of advertising is to always remember that the audience is more intelligent than the creative minds at an agency. He has always made sure to leave the creative communication open-ended and let the audience figure out their takeaways from the ad.
Piyush joined Ogilvy & Mather in 1982 when advertising on television was in the early stages. The medium had just entered India and the creatives were highly influenced by the West. He points out that it was only towards the late 80s that India started coming up with its own creative storytelling and making stuff that was not adapted from the world. “Today, there are a number of youngsters who are doing very good work. Indians who travel abroad always come up to me and say that our advertising is much better than it is abroad. It feels good that people accept what we do,” he says.
Recalling the advertising feel in 1980s, Prasoon adds that advertising was a little plastic back in the day and people were scared as it was a new medium. The team’s Fevicol egg was a gamechanger. “Before that notable Fevicol egg ad, there was a lot of emphasis on making a commercial look good but we were lucky to have a client that asked us to keep it real,” he adds.
Ogilvy India is also popping open bottles of champagne and the reason for the celebration is its big boss Piyush, along with Prasoon, will be honoured with the Cannes Lions’ Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lion of St Mark. The brothers are ecstatic about the Cannes win and feels it is a recognition for India and puts a little more responsibility on them to work hard.
They will be the first Indians to receive the prestigious award on 22 June 2018. The Lion of St Mark is the highest honour that the Cannes International Festival of Creativity bestows on creative geniuses within the communications industry. In the past, it has been awarded to David Droga, John Hegarty, Lee Clow and Marcello Serpa, Dan Wieden, Joe Pytka and Bob Greenberg. This is the 8th Lion of St Mark awarded by the Cannes Film Festival.
The Pandey brothers do seem to agree that India’s creativity is on the rise but can still be scaled up. A majority of work is great work but the percentage of good work has increased in the last 10-15 years.
Ogilvy & Mather recently announced its new consulting arm OgilvyRED, which will bring together senior strategic specialists to consult on digital transformation of brands in India. The agency will help tackle the toughest business, brand and innovation challenges of its clients to drive growth and enable digital transformation while enabling the clients to find solutions in a disruptive world where brands are struggling to connect with consumers. OgilvyRED consulting has been hugely successful in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
It will offer digital transformation consulting, data and marketing analytics consulting, marketing technology consulting, innovative and e-commerce consulting services to its clients. While the new division is headquartered in Mumbai, it does have an office in Bengaluru. Comprising five people at the moment, the team is set to expand next year and will have as many as 50 people on board. Since the consulting agency is new, its only client is Aditya Birla Corporate Group but is out to bag more clients by March 2018.
Now, more than ever, brands need to take a transformative approach to connect with consumers. There are many challenges that clients face today that cannot be solved by a traditional agency approach. Ogilvy has a long-standing history of helping clients stay ahead of the curve when it comes to all things digital. The difference with OgilvyRED is that it is a digital transformation consulting that is deeply tied with Ogilvy’s ability to execute with creativity, impact and speed.
It is generally believed in the industry that recognition and awards lead to having bigger and better clients but Piyush seems to disagree. He says that you won’t lose clients just because you don’t bag awards but they do motivate you to do better.
Piyush concludes that though India is a late starter on digital, we cannot satisfy ourselves by just ‘being’ on the medium but need to be great.
MUMBAI: Ogilvy South Asia executive chairman and creative director Piyush Pandey and film director Prasoon Pandey will both be honoured with the Cannes Lions’ Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lion of St Mark.
In an email addressed to Piyush and Prasoon Pandey, Ascential Events CEO Philip Thomas wrote, “Next year we would like to honour you both, as two brothers who have changed the face of creativity in India and far beyond.”
Piyush Pandey says, “This is a huge, huge honour. I am humbled and immensely grateful to the people of India. It is the richness and diversity of this nation that gave my brother and me the opportunity to learn and create good work. I am also indebted to my clients, my colleagues and Ogilvy who gave me the support and the freedom to fly. Thank you, Cannes Lions, for giving every creative professional in my country a reason to believe that if Prasoon and Piyush can do it, so can they.”
In addition to the innumerable accolades that have been awarded to Piyush, he is the first Asian to be jury president of the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, in 2012 he was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award from CLIO, the lifetime achievement award by AAAI and in 2016 he became the first person ever in the advertising and communication sector to receive the Padma Shri, an award conferred by the president of India.
The Lion of St Mark is the highest honour that the Cannes International Festival of Creativity bestows on creative geniuses within the communications industry. Previous recipients have included David Droga, John Hegarty, Lee Clow and Marcello Serpa, Dan Wieden, Joe Pytka and Bob Greenberg.
This is the 8th Lion of St Mark awarded by the Cannes Film Festival. The award will formally be given to Piyush and Prasoon Pandey at the Cannes Festival on 22 June 2018. They will be the first Asians to receive the Lion of St Mark.
