Adman Piyush Pandey to step down, transition into advisory role at Ogilvy

The 41-year-long association between Pandey and Ogilvy began in 1982 when he started his career as a client servicing executive

Piyush Pandey, Ogilvy's chief creative officer worldwide and the executive chairman of its India office, will step down after a 41-year-long association with the agency, according to a report by The Hindustan Times. On Tuesday, Devika Bulchandani, Global Chief Executive Officer of Ogilvy, announced Pandey's departure from the company, adding that he would continue in an advisory role.

Hephzibah Pathak will take on the role of executive chairperson of Ogilvy India. Group President VR Rajesh will take charge as CEO. The new change will come into effect from 1 January 2024.

"David Ogilvy, our founder, used to say, 'Hire giants if you want to create a company of immortals.' Among our 15,000 employees, there is one giant who is the most legendary of them all, and that is Piyush Pandey," Bulchandani said at the event.

Agnello Dias, former chief creative officer of Taproot Dentsu, told HT that if one were to chronicle the history of Indian advertising, Pandey would be a marker of time. His biggest achievement is that he defined a period, rather than merely being the creative head of an agency. One could say there is a before-Piyush and after-Piyush era in advertising. Because of him, and along with him, copywriters changed the way they communicated with the Indian public at large.

Pandey's exit from Ogilvy's day-to-day affairs marks the end of an innings for one of India's most celebrated figures in advertising.

The 41-year-long association between Pandey and Ogilvy began in 1982 when he commenced his career as a client-servicing executive.

Pandey stated that he was given the role only because television had expanded rapidly, reaching into people's homes, and other copywriters were not prepared for it. It was not easy for people to accept someone from client servicing in a creative role, so they assigned him the accounts they did not particularly favour.

The veteran advertiser added that one of those accounts was Fevicol, describing it as a lottery ticket handed to him.

Pandey, who played cricket for Rajasthan at the Ranji level, is renowned for creating iconic campaigns such as Cadbury's 'Dancing Girl', Asian Paints' 'Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai', 'Chal Meri Luna', and Madhya Pradesh Tourism's 'Hindustan Ka Dil Dekho'. The 'Dancing Girl' advertisement was so successful that it was recreated in 2021.

Regarding his decision to step down from active duties, Pandey clarified that he would not be moving to Goa or the Himalayas, as many in the industry might presume. He indicated that there was no burden earlier, and there is no relief now.