Who could be the BBDO India CEO?

Readying for its launch in the country, BBDO India is all set to announce the name of its CEO. agencyfaqs! talks to some senior industry professionals to speculate who the CEO could be

Last week, BBDO India announced its launch in the country. Now, it is readying to make another announcement – its India head.

Till recently, BBDO’s presence in India was through its joint venture with RKSwamy/BBDO. But now the Omnicom group agency has entered the market independently after winning the PepsiCo brand, 7Up; it handles 7Up globally as well.

It is learnt that BBDO India will try to get in its custody all the businesses that it looks after globally.

Meanwhile, agencyfaqs! spoke to some senior industry professionals to speculate who the new BBDO India head could be.

On condition of anonymity, a senior executive at Mudra, which is also part of the Omnicom Network, said, “BBDO India has just kick-started with its first account, 7Up. But the agency has some longterm plans up its sleeves and needs to make its presence felt in the Indian market. In the course of time, BBDO will try to grab the other PepsiCo brands as well, for which it has been the creative agency for the last 18 years. In this case, it is most likely that the agency will get a person from outside India to head the Indian operations.”

In India, the PepsiCo business is handled by JWT, and a section of industry professionals feel that the likely candidate would be someone who has worked on the Pepsi business earlier.

However, the industry seems to be completely divided on this front. Another senior industry professional from an Omnicom group agency said, “Why should they get anyone from JWT? Especially if the idea is to look for a fresh perspective? BBDO India is here for a longer game. They are in all probability going to pitch for new business. In that context, a guy who has worked on the Pepsi account seems an unlikely choice.”

Kaustav Das

Kaustav Das, managing director, Orchard, who recently moved from TBWA, another Omnicom group agency in India, said, “The launch of BBDO India is to bring the agency’s global values to this market and the agency. So, it is likely that the agency will look for a person who knows about the BBDO philosophy and not the RKSwamy values.”

Alok Agarwal head of Bates David Enterprise Delhi said, “A lot depends on BBDO’s strategy for the Indian market. Still, to my mind, an ideal candidate would be one who brings in the BBDO values, and has been on the BBDO network for some time.”

Suman Srivastava

Suman Srivastava, CEO, Euro RSCG India, said, “I am sure a lot of professionals who have worked with large agencies and then become the CEOs of small agencies will be ready and willing to take the job. Even agency heads of medium sized agencies will be looking at this space.”

The new agency will start operations from November 1 and headhunting is on currently.

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