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Eyeing International Awards

“We have been clearly the Number 1 agency in India at award functions,” says Ogilvy Delhi Chief.

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BestMediaInfo Bureau
New Update

New Media Has Potential But Unlikely To Replace Traditional Media

Sanjay Thapar

Group President, North & East, Ogilvy

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Group President Sanjay Thapar has been with Ogilvy, Delhi from last 7 years, and ensuring business growth in Northern India. In a conversation with BestMediaInfo.com, he talks candid about culture at Ogilvy.

Q) From selling shoes to selling almost every thing, journey had been really long. What actually made you shift from sales to hard core advertising?

Trust me but I really don't know. Life made some opportunities come by and I evaluated them on their merits and this is where life has taken me. If you asked me when I started my career where would I be, maybe I would not have said “the communications business”. Today if you ask me, all I can say is that I am loving every moment of it and am glad that life showed me the path to this place.

Q) Let it be Hutch's Pug or Vodafone Zoozoo, Ogilvy is all known for its unique style of advertising. With someone stepping into Piyush Pandey's shoes, being deprived of his style, what all changes can be seen?

Ogilvy is an institution that breeds creativity. This is a culture that Piyush has helped instill in the organization and I do not see any reason why that will change. Creativity is at the heart of our business, that's what makes us what we are and will remain a prime focus area for us.

Q) Humor or emotions, which one of you think is more captivating?

Both have a role to play and both work. Much depends on the task to be achieved and the category that the Brand operates in.

Q) What about award functions?

Look, no matter how Indian Advertising industry doing, we made sure that we participated in various “relevant Award shows” and have been clearly the Number 1 agency in India for over a decade now. However from past few years we decided not to participate in every local award and go international to represent India.

Q) According to IMF reports the economic depression is almost over. Is the change visible in the advertising industry too?

I personally think it's too early to say that things are fine with so much confidence. Yes there seems to be an upward swing in consumer sentiments, but global cues can still shake things up so I would say let's be cautious for another quarter or so.

Q) There is a strong approach developing for 360 degree advertising (Synergy of all media) in India. How do you see it growing in India in coming years?

360 Brand solutions are already integral and important for Brands to consider. This will only gain more in importance with time to come.

Q) How much capable is new media in terms revenue generation, do you think it can ever take over conventional modes of advertising?

This is a bit funny. To put things in perspective, if we had a marketplace with just one shop it rarely does well. However, when more and more shops (even if they sell similar things) open up the market gets more visited and all shops do better. What I mean is that new media will certainly grow exponentially and become a critical part of any Brand Plan but will it substitute traditional media, my belief UNLIKELY.

Q) What prospects does Ogilvy find in new media space?

New media, digital in particular, is of prime importance for the Ogilvy Group. It's a critical part of our long-term plans and we see ourselves investing to grow and take the lead in this field.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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