'Those who understand humans well will win in advertising'

Devika Bulchandani, Global CEO of Ogilvy, and Piyush Pandey, Chairman-Global Creative and Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India, talk about the evolution and future of advertising, data, and the potential for campaigns that have a long-term impact

- Krishna Gopalan

Devika Bulchandani, Global CEO of Ogilvy, and Piyush Pandey, ChairmanGlobal Creative and Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India, are part of one of the world’s most respected advertising agencies. A part of the £14.43-billion WPP, Ogilvy, across the world, has been the brains behind some of the best advertising campaigns. India is no exception and its work on Asian Paints, Mondelez, and Pidilite, among others, is testimony to its creative prowess. And New York-based Bulchandani, 54, and Mumbai-based Pandey, 68, are two of the biggest names in the field. The advertising veterans, in an interaction with Business Today’s Krishna Gopalan, talk about their work, what advertising will look like, the Indianness factor and of course, that word called data and what comes with it. Edited excerpts:

Q: Devika, you are now on an already long and growing list of Indian-origin CEOs in the corner office. And you are not one from the world of technology…

DB: Once a week I get an infographic of that list. Honestly, I would just ignore it and move on. One day, I decided to take a close look at it. I realised it was predominantly tech and then there was Starbucks’ CEO or someone from biotech. There was not one name from the creative world, except me! Yes, seeing my name was a moment of pride though I still wonder why I am next to Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft) or Sundar Pichai (CEO of Alphabet) since they are at a very different scale. The realisation did set in at that point and that really meant something.