‘Don’t mistake tech for Big Idea’
What is the typical day for Piyush Pandey now that you have announced you will move into a more advisory role?
My typical day is not much different now from what it was earlier. I am not in retirement mode. Some people who I have chosen to take on the leadership role already took care of the agency with me. They were also responsible for running the agency with me, now they are fully responsible. I will help with the output of the agency; I will be involved with the clients… new businesses… that won’t change.
What are the biggest challenges before creative guys today — technology? Shifting customer preferences? Proliferation of media?
Look back. When was it any different? Consumers were changing all the time. It was the same with technology. Even media options were proliferating and changing fast. It may have been a different technology or a different type of media option but they were not static ever – they were different but changing. My view is that don’t be afraid of change – embrace what you can and use them to enhance your product.
How do you see technology like ChatGPT shaping advertising?
Artificial intelligence and all that is good, they enable you to do things faster, but they do not produce ideas. For that you need human beings. Take Cadbury’s Shah Rukh Khan ad. Its all about showing generosity. For the small retailer the budgets are limited and they can’t afford a Shah Rukh Khan for their ad. But here you have Shah Rukh Khan naming their shops in an ad. That’s the power of the Big Idea. AI will not come up with that idea but it can make it happen. That is the relation between idea and technology.
What I am saying is, ChatGPT is an enabler. So do not ignore technology, make use of it. Don’t get lazy and mistake it for the Big Idea. What happened during the Industrial Revolution? One of the things was mass manufacture of cars. You have the assembly line and cars were coming off the belt taka tak… But there’s a guy at the head of the belt who designed the car and the belt. Technology was just the enabler to produce faster.
That’s the beautiful relationship between idea and technology. Embrace technology but never become slave to it.
There are many small and independent agencies now that seem to be doing good work and brands are also opting for them, may be on project basis. Is the time for network agencies running out?
Things were no different in the 80s or the 90s. There were people who were getting together and starting their own agency. By and large they sold off to network agencies or just disappeared. You can’t envy them… they keep you on your toes. There nothing to fear when people want to get out to actualise their dreams.
But large networks can offer everything that a client wants. At Ogilvy I can go out and tell the client I have 50 things, what do you want?
When clients go to agencies with projects it’s like having 10 girlfriends or boyfriends but no real relationships. Clients go to them for something else, not relationships. Take our clients… they own my shower time. We build partnerships, our clients are like family. Unless the project leads to a longer relationship, I see no point. In fact, I don’t even believe in consultants. They will come and give a 500-page document and disappear. They are not responsible for execution. I would prefer a partner who will give gyan and make it happen, that is, see a project to its end. The ideal situation would be to think like a consultant, and work like a partner.
— As told to Alokananda Chakraborty
‘Pitches waste time & money’
Tell us about the recent leadership restructuring in India for Ogilvy. What is your mandate for the new crop of leaders?
Piyush is moving away from the day-to-day administration of the agency. As chief advisor, his role frees him up to be a true advisor to our teams and even our clients. He has built an incredible team that can take over the leadership seamlessly. Both Hephzibah (Pathak, new executive chairperson) and VR Rajesh (new CEO) have been here for around 20 years. Our chief creative officers are also stalwarts at Ogilvy. They have all worked with Piyush, and so we expect the transition to be seamless. The mandate to all of them is to continue to build on the legacy that Piyush created for Ogilvy, and I use the word ‘build’ carefully here. It is not about maintaining the legacy but rather to build on it and to keep moving forward. They’re already doing some fantastic work, and the priority should be to keep pushing the boundaries of creativity.
How big a role does the India business play for Ogilvy globally?
India is one of our top five markets and we have about 2,500 people approximately on our India team. Our technology capability is perhaps lesser known, but we have over 1,000 people in Verticurl (Ogilvy’s martech division) across Coimbatore and Hyderabad where we develop campaigns for clients on martech platforms. From a creative perspective too, it is one of our most important markets. We continue to do great work on brands such as Cadbury, with which we have a 40-year-old relationship. Even before artificial intelligence became a talking point, we were already using it to create award-winning campaigns like the one with Shah Rukh Khan for Cadbury.
You’ve often spoken about the need for the advertising industry to change the business pitch process….
I love being part of this industry and don’t subscribe to the doomsday prophecies involving AI and technology. Creativity is still alive and kicking, and is making a bigger difference in the world today than 10 or 15 years ago. Having said that, one of the biggest laments I have about our business is that because we are so competitive, we don’t stand up together and define our future. There has got to be a better way to conduct new business pitches. They are a waste of resources and human energy. There is no other industry that does its business pitches the way we do. But we won’t be able to change anything until the industry can come together and agree on the way forward.
— As told to Christina Moniz