Will the Indian Advertising industry evolve with these new leaders
With the start of 2020, Indian advertising has new leaders in Gautam Reghunath, Anusha Shetty, Heeru Dingra and Preetham Venkky that have a job to redefine the industry
By July 2011, cancer had spread to his bones and other parts of Steve Jobs' body. He knew that the day has come when he will have to step down from the CEO role and select someone to lead Apple. “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come,” read Steve’s letter as quoted in his biography by Walter Isaacson.
The letter also suggested Tim Cook will replace him and he will serve as the chairman of the board.
It was heartbreaking news for everyone who was associated with him or Apple. Besides the world was unhappy and unsure if Tim would be the perfect replacement for Apple. Cook definitely didn’t have charisma like Jobs and he was the extreme opposite. “He knew, when he chose me, that I wasn’t like him, that I‘m not a carbon copy of him,” Cook later told Charlie Rose in an interview.
“I knew, the only person I can be is the person I am. I’ve tried to be the best Tim Cook I can be.”
I see a parallel to this story with Dentsu Webchutney’s journey and the recent decision of Sidharth Rao being promoted as chairman of its creative agency Happy Mcgarrybowen and Dentsu Webchutney. Gautam Reghunath who has been with the agency for a decade now has been announced as the new CEO.
Gautam Reghunath CEO at Dentsu Webchutney
Before you start yawning and cursing me I am not trying to equate anyone here. But trying to draw similarities between personalities. Gautam is the extreme opposite of Sidharth and is known to be a calm and composed leader. In fact, in an earlier conversation with me, he referred to himself as a people developer. “Today my work is 50% HR, 30% Finance and 20% Advertising."
Gautam is a homegrown leader who on his own developed the Bangalore unit from scratch. With a big laugh, he said to me, “In 2014 we were a big agency in Bangalore of three people.” Today Webchutney Bangalore is one of the most reputed and performing units in India. Last year the agency won one silver, five bronze and 17 shortlist at Cannes Lions for its work on Swiggy, Uri, and Flipkart. The majority of award-winning work has been executed by the Bangalore center.
With the start of a new decade, the 20-year-old agency needed someone to take it to the next level and Gautam is an ideal choice. Even Sidharth knows that his successor has everything that today’s business requires. “He is a homegrown leader, someone whose impact on our people and business is unparalleled. He has more than an eye on the future.”
In his so-called, the first interview after being announced as the CEO with Business Insider Gautam talks about the vision, focus area in 2020, his strategy as the CEO and challenges. What caught my attention was his continuous emphasis on nurturing talent, and how the agency’s talent will make all the difference.
He further mentions the talent digital-first agencies like The Glitch, Schbang, Kinnect, etc have is a natural advantage in comparison to the older agencies.
“Well, it’s our time! All of us ‘digital’ first agencies have graduated from getting those last 10 minutes at client meetings to now leading complete brand mandates.I’d say our collective opportunity is in sustaining this relevance and making the most of it.”
The last decade witnessed the emergence of social media marketing and by the end of the decade, the medium was adding value to businesses. Mainline agencies finally accepted that they need to revamp their thinking and the consumer has finally become the decider.
With the dawn of 2020, agencies and brands are no longer looking digital as a different entity because the consumer isn’t. Digital is no more good to have, it is a must and now you roll the ball from here on to see how well can you create value for the consumer. Agencies who realise this are already making the required changes in leadership and vision.
Anusha Shetty CEO at Grey Group India
On January 8th when the world was slowly getting back to work after the year-end break, WPP Plc owned Grey Group India announced that Anusha Shetty is the new chairman and CEO. With 20 years of marketing and advertising experience, Anusha after working with well-known agencies started Autumn Worldwide in Bengaluru with Abhay Rajankar in 2005. After staying strong and growing for 13 years the agency was acquired by Grey Group India in 2018.
Grey in India has been the traditional advertising agency that was late in realising the value of digital. It struggled when it came to digital and so it was a smart move by acquiring the homegrown digital agency.
But how do you take the agency to the next level? The current leadership has struggled and it was an obvious choice to make Anusha the CEO. She understands the business and moreover she knows what role digital plays in marketing and how it can bring value to businesses in India. Besides being a charismatic businesswoman she is also a people’s leader. The recent work from the Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi centers gives a sneak peek of the talent agency has cultivated.
Preetham Venkky president 22feet Tribal Worldwide and CDO DDB Mudra Group
By the end of 2018, all the three co-founders of 22feet had exited DDB Mudra Group. Vineet Gupta, Brijesh Jacob, and Deepak Nair the three co-founders were part of the management team DDB Mudra inherited in 2014 when it acquired digital agency 22feet and merged it with Tribal. Vineet moving out was a shocker for the industry because he was considered as the torchbearer for the group after Madhukar Kamath, the group CEO and MD decided to hang his boots. Vineet left to peruse another entrepreneurial venture leaving a vacuum in the agency.
However, with the dawn of a new decade, the DDB Mudra Group has found a replacement in Preetham Venkky - the new president for 22feet Tribal Worldwide and CDO, DDB Mudra Group.
My first interaction with Preetham was over a call in 2011 while I was writing about “Prestige Smart Kitchen Wishlist - Facebook App of Prestige.” These were the days when brands would engage with fans on Facebook Apps. Preetham helped me understand Facebook App guidelines. Since then he became my go-to man for any Facebook related stories.
In the same year, I met him for lunch at Koshy’s Restaurant. He was heading KRDS Singapore and was on a vacation break in Bangalore. Today when I read the 2011 interview again (what a pathetic storytelling) I am not surprised why Preetham has been selected for the role.
“You can’t sell social media on specs. You need to give the fan an experience to enjoy and think of ways to open communication channels. I think every social media agency should think over this.”
Heeru Dingra CEO at WATConsult
Dentsu Aegis Network had one more announcement for one of its agencies WATConsult. Founder and CEO Rajiv is stepping down and it has elevated Heeru Dingra as the new CEO.
This was the most surprising development for me since the industry is well aware of how Rajiv on his own built WATConsult and eventually sold it to Dentsu Aegis Network. Insiders in the industry regard the sale of the agency as one of the most successful stories of an Indian entrepreneur from the advertising world.
But who is Heeru? For close to a decade she has been working as chief human resources officer and chief financial officer. Which obviously means away from the limelight, keeping the young task force happy and letting Rajiv bask in the glory. I met Heeru once when I had gone to interview Rajiv on the occasion of WATConsult celebrating 10 years. Obviously Rajiv was doing most of the talking and Heeru was sitting silently in one corner listening to his brother.
It would be interesting to see how she performs as a CEO and carries forward WATConsult’s growth story. Not just her, it is a litmus test for the rest of them. How the set of new leaders take their respective agencies forward and most importantly shape the Indian advertising sector in the coming decade.
But how will these leaders be judged?
Not by winning awards for the best place to work but retaining and grooming the core team - the backbone of the agency.
Unlike the last decade, the new decade will not just be about working hard and making money. Today leaders are talking about the importance of sleep and personal well being. Health is once again the biggest priority for the new India. For our parents and my generation, it was all about having a secured job, a beautiful home and living the entire life mostly by paying loan installments.
The young generation which is driving the maximum agency workforce has a different mindset. They are not irresponsible but are smart to prioritise their personal life. They want to live their life first and then comes the rest of responsibilities. For them, experiences matter more than promotion and hence we see the increasing drive to be independent personally and professionally.
It isn’t happening in massive numbers but the move has already been made. That’s why we see the growing community of entrepreneurs and freelancers who are hustling because they don’t want to live in the comfort zone.
Maybe quite a few will fail but they will be stronger than my generation who never had a clue or the balls to look beyond monthly salary.
Half of January is over and the industry already has 4 massive developments in the Indian advertising world. It is a great beginning to tell you the Indian advertising sector won’t be a copy of the last decade. The culture will change and people like Anusha, Heeru, Preetham, Gautam and the other digital-first agency leaders will make the impact.
I am not saying that everything will change - TV is and will be the big player for the next few years but digital will no longer be your stepchild. We will see more exciting work which is not medium depended and solving business problems to get the attention of consumers.
Talent is the biggest problem for the industry. Agencies are aware and they will have to invest and retain talent. Only serving free beers and doing ethnic days will not solve the problem.
I am a hopeful human being and I see these 4 new big moves by leading network agencies a move to redefine advertising in the new decade. The future is unknown and all we have is the present and it looks damn good.
Don’t prove me wrong :)