The Hindu Business Line : "I'm a playing captain"

It featured as the top-ranking agency in the ACNielsen ORG-Marg Agency Index last year, and this year, right from becoming the Agency of the Year at the Abbys to being recognised at several international fora such as the One Show and Campaign Brief Asia, Ogilvy & Mather India is at an all-time high under the leadership of its Chairman, Piyush Pandey. The agency's Mumbai office was ranked as the Agency of the Year 2006 by WPP, and it is reportedly the first time an Indian agency has been felicitated with this distinction.

In fact, agency insiders believe O&M has witnessed the healthiest ever growth under Pandey's leadership. Pandey, however, is modest and says he really didn't have to do much as he inherited an agency which has been in great health for last many years. "I took over a very healthy company in terms of results, client list, talent and expertise. I didn't have to re-invent anything, all that I did was to grow the healthy base. The agency has grown year on year beyond our projections and ahead of the industry growth."In an interview to BrandLine, Pandey reveals the secret behind the agency's growth path, its talent retention strategy and its future plans. Excerpts:

Ogilvy & Mather has been consistently tasting success not only at awards events but also in terms of winning big-ticket clients. How have you contributed to the agency's success?

I consider myself to be a playing captain of this team rather than a Chairman or administrator. I roll up my sleeves and play along with the boys and girls. Sometimes I lead from the front and at times I support from the back. I never forget that I am one of the team players.

The last two years has seen some great creative work from the agency. In fact, we have scored well on every parameter, be it creative or account planning. Our direct marketing division has done exceedingly well and so has Ogilvy Outreach. All our batsman are scoring. Now, we have to raise the bar and do even better.

Which are the campaigns you think are exceptionally good?

Our work is not about one or two campaigns. I will not single out a campaign, as our work is phenomenal across clients.

What, according to you, is the mantra for this success?

We informally tell ourselves that if we are passionate about the work we do, we will grow. Our guideline is not to lose the bigger picture because of our success, and to continuously strive to raise the bar. We want to be ahead of the industry at all points of time. We are certain about one fact — that if we think of the growth of our clients, we will keep growing. If we think of just our growth we will stagnate.

How important is it to win awards in order to be successful?

Awards are definitely a morale-booster, but they can't be an end in themselves. If you ever ask armed forces personnel if they value the medals on their uniforms, they will definitely say yes. But if you ask them if they have to kill enemies to win those medals, the answer would be `No.'

Talent retention has been a major concern for the industry at large. What has been your experience at O&M?

As we are a very successful agency, our talent is quite vulnerable to poaching.

But I am happy to say that most of our best people are still with us and those who have left have changed industries and have not joined the competition.

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