I wake up every morning and tell myself I own the damn company: Piyush Pandey

On the second day of Spikes 2012, in a session moderated by Campaign Asia-Pacific editorial director Atifa Silk, McCann Worldgroup’s India CEO Prasoon Joshi and Oglivy’s South Asia chairman Piyush Pandey talked about their respective journeys in advertising, India’s ascendance on the world stage and the challenges before them.

The session kicked off with Joshi reflecting on the time he joined the advertising industry in the '90s, coinciding with the country’s economic liberalisation and a changing media landscape. “India was struggling to find her feet,” he said.

Pandey said it took the country more than 10 years to become a force to reckon with in the advertising world. “We weren’t a very consistent player until 2002 when we won accolades for the cancer patients campaign that the world took notice.”

McCann’s India chief said that advertising is an age-old profession in the country, but lacked recognition outside India until recetly. “When you talk of recognition it usually implies appealing to jury members at award functions and I have a huge problem with that,” Joshi explains. “It is about selling your products and appealing to consumers.”

Pandey differed, saying that it is only when Indian agencies started to produce original work that people started to take notice. “When I came into the industry in the '80s work was simply being translated from English,” he said.

Moving on to the topic of Indian talent on the global stage, Pandey believes, the work produced in India still hasn’t been killed by the fast-forward button. “Indian consumers love advertisements.”

However, he admits that agencies haven’t made enough effort to scout for talent outside the major metros.

Joshi agreed, “We are getting talent that comes to us, it’s high time to go to them.”

As for balancing a multinational work culture in India, Pandey, who completed 30 years at Ogilvy last month, said that India is learning processes from other countries while other countries are learning creativity from India. 

“I wake up every morning and tell myself that I own this damn company and don’t get bogged down by the fact that I work for an MNC,” Pandey said.

“Fortunately we work for companies that have understood the entrepreneurial side of us,” Joshi added.

Commenting on the numerous independent agencies sprouting in the country in the last couple of years, Joshi said there is enough work for everyone.

“It’s too early for them, brands are built over years,” added Pandey.  “I won’t write them off.”

Read Campaign India's coverage of this session.