On a higher high

Sitting in Piyush Pandey's den at the Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) India head office in Goregaon brings back memories of meeting him a few years ago. The agenda back then was on Ogilvy's brilliant showing at the 2007 Creative Abbys, then held in Mumbai.

A trade weekly, impact , ran this headline after the Creative Abbys 2007, when several agencies abstained from participation: ‘Ogilvy Reigns Again, but Abby Isn't the Same'.

More agencies participated in Creative Abby 2011, hosted as part of Goafest jointly by Ad Club Bombay and the AAAI. And after a stringent jury process, the results were out. Ogilvy continues to remain on a high, winning the only Grand Prix for integrated work on Cadbury. In the absence of an ‘Agency of the Year' title and points calibration by metal, the agency arguably shared top honours with Mudra. Ogilvy won five Gold Creative Abbys, the maximum by an entrant, besides the Grand Prix.

Pushing the Bar, Consistently

The man who has seen it all is today the Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia. In the early 80's, he recalls, Suresh Mullick created the ‘Sometimes Cadbury's can say it better than words' campaign for the same client. And a decade later, Pandey created the ‘The New Taste of Life' campaign. Two of Ogilvy's Gold Abbys this year are for work on Vodafone, and one is for Cadbury.

The many, many award trophies, over many, many years, can pose some problems. His colleagues are struggling to find display spaces for them in the office. End result? A lot of them are on the desks of team members. Been there, done that, and more: do awards still excite Pandey?

“You know what excites me? When Cadbury's wins integrated campaign of the year, it excites me. When Zoozoos win, it excites me. You can trace this over the last 20 years - my excitement has always been about whether people loved it, whether you were stopped on the road for that work. And then, when the jury also loves it, then that excites me. But it's always in that order,” he underlines.

He equates scams, while refusing to call them that, to reverse sweeps. “Everyone enjoys a little reverse sweep here and there. But, if you've not scored a 150 where you've played one reverse sweep, and you've played only two fantastic reverse sweeps and got out for eight, then it doesn't give me joy,” he notes.

His view is that in the print and outdoor categories at the Creative Abbys this year, there was one too many ‘reverse sweep', a view endorsed by several others. But overall, he's satisfied with Goafest 2011.

“Goafest and Abbys 2011 was a well conducted event, with some checks and balances. In this kind of a scenario, there is never going to be a 100 per cent checks and balances, because the area is subjective,” acknowledges Pandey.

Consistent good work on client brands helps push the creative boundary, he notes, while underlining that clients are always excited by good advertising also winning awards. The first two calls on his mobile the morning after the awards were from Ogilvy clients Anand Kripalu (Kraft Foods and Cadbury India) and Martin Peters (Vodafone).

“Clients start believing more in you, as you succeed for them with things they were not too certain of, but went ahead because they believed in you. When you succeed, they're the ones who say, ‘Okay. Play more on the front foot,'” reflects Pandey.

He recalls fondly the appreciation and support of clients such as Pidilite and Asian Paints, while quickly adding that the list is much longer.

The Next Wave Is Here

The next generation of creative leadership at the agency is firmly in the saddle. Abhijit Avasthi, Rajiv Rao and Sumanto Chattopadhyay, among others, present a formidable creative team. Pandey attributes all the success, including the awards, to the people he hired at Ogilvy, and those they hired, and of course the faith and support of the agency's clients.

An advertising agency is as good as its people. Was there a conscious team-building effort over the years?

“I didn't play to a destination. I was enjoying the journey. I found exciting people. I invited them on the team. They came in. They enjoyed it, and they invited more people in. I don't think the destination was in mind. And personally, I believe it should never be,” he says.

The affable ad man is serious when it comes to staying human. An exciting atmosphere and sensitivity are, to him, what keeps the flock together.

“Luckily, we had the right people. They learnt from me that putting an arm around somebody is far more motivating than trying to fire up somebody. They found their own gestures to interact and keep their teams going,” he notes.

According to him, the onus is on the top rungs to take time out to spend with the fresh talent that flocks to the agency. The early years are acknowledged as critical.

“I worked as a tea taster. In both tea-tasting and advertising, you learn on the job. There's very little you can be taught beforehand. How do you learn how creative each piece of creative work is? You learn on the job, as you create, as you see others who are there before you create and judge creative work, and as you see it working in the market. You pick up the gems, ignore the flops, learn from both – and then create your own, and learn never to be afraid,” he observes.

Allowing the creative flock to think beyond is his mantra, allowing them to experiment and explore. His approach is this: “Play. Kya hoga? Girega toh main hoon na? ” (Play, what will happen? If you fall, I am there.)

Time to Give Back

Having been associated with the Berlin school in several capacities, Pandey will, for the first time, play ‘Godfather' now. He will serve as an honorary industry mentor to senior executives as they complete the Berlin School's five-module global Executive MBA in a creative leadership programme. The role, mildly put, is prestigious. After the Sir John Hegarty class, it's time for the Piyush Pandey class at the Berlin School.

Pandey insists that the B-schools of India should also try and open up business managers to creative thinking, through engagement with people from creative fields. He quips, “I have a feeling that before one goes to B-school, one is creative.”

Making the case for ISB and the IIMs to open up minds of future managers through creative engagement, he says, “Call in artists or film makers to open the mind to newer ideas. It will help us, as we will have clients who are more receptive to unconventional ideas.” He also has a strategic route to arguments stemming from advertising viewed through the lens of conventional management, during such modules. He says, “In order for them not to argue too much and actually open up their minds, they should call in people from fields alien to them. Call in a Shekar Kapur.”

And as always, there's a hearty laugh at the end of the conversation.

Ad man turns ambassador

D&AD couldn't have asked for a better brand ambassador for the Indian market for its White Pencil award, introduced in the organisation's 50th year. Piyush Pandey has been entrusted with the job of waking up India to the White Pencil brief.

The award will be presented to ‘a creative idea that demonstrates the ability to influence real and positive change in the world'. While the framework allows the context to be ‘a pressing social, environmental or health issue', for 2012, the chosen cause is ‘Peace One Day' (September 21). And the communications task: ‘We want to make it impossible for anyone to ignore Peace Day.'

More specifically, where there is war, on September 21, 2012, there should be ceasefire. It's not impossible, insists the Indian ambassador. And any organisation, or even a group of people coming together to create awareness on World Peace Day leading to behavioural change, can enter. The agenda is to make three billion people aware across the world, and a sizeable number of them, hopefully, will be from India.

Pandey is palpably excited about the new challenge. He admits that it seems like a hugely audacious goal, but insists that it can be done.

He has one message to those curious about the White Pencil. And the ambassador in a rare show of persuasion suggests that we carry the URL, leading people to the cause of peace and non-violence.

He says, “There's a huge cause waiting to be achieved. It's your moment of truth. Log on to: www.dandad.org/dandad/white-pencil.”

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