<font color="#000000">Obituary:</font> Mani Ayer passes away

SR (Mani) Ayer, Ogilvy India's ex- head honcho, was unwell for a while now. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter

Ogilvy India's ex-head, SR (Mani) Ayer, passed away on February 8. He was 75 years old.

In his last role at the advertising agency, Ayer was the managing director before he quit in January 1994. Ayer is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Ayer joined Ogilvy, then known as SH Benson India, in 1958 as a copywriter and took over the reins of the agency in 1973 as its managing director when he was only 38 years old and continued for the next 20 years. Ogilvy was the only agency that the legend worked with in his 36 year long advertising career. Before joining Ogilvy, he was a journalist with the Free Press Journal.

The most recent accolade won by Ayer was the Hall of Fame recognition by AAAI.

Ayer, who was living in his home town Chennai, had been ill for a while now and the past few days were reportedly difficult, requiring special care in an ICU. The funeral rites will be held today.

Ayer was responsible for bringing in talented individuals such as R Sridhar, Piyush Pandey and many others to Ogilvy. It was Ayer who turned Suresh Mullick to a creative professional. Mullick had joined the agency in the servicing team and was shifted to the creative side because Ayer saw the creative spark in him. Mullick went on to create history with the 'Freedom Films', which include Mile sur mera tumhara, Freedom torch and Desh Raag.

The late Suresh Mullick had described Mani Ayer thus: "Mani was, and always will be, a gifted all rounder. As well as being managing director, India, of a very fine agency, he is a philosopher, raconteur, political analyst, economist, a film and music buff…a Gary Sobers, if you know what I mean."

Even David Ogilvy had only the best to say about him, describing him as "the most outstanding individual in the Ogilvy network".

Piyush Pandey, who was hired at the agency with Ayer's signature on his appointment letter, remembers him as a tough and sincere person. "He was the creative light for us all these years," says Pandey, executive chairperson and creative director, Ogilvy South Asia.

His other colleague at Ogilvy, R Sridhar, who now heads Ideas RS, says, "He gave me the opportunity to grow as I wanted to at the agency." Sridhar particularly remembers the time in 1976 when Ogilvy's Chennai office lost four of its core members in an air crash and Sridhar was the only person who survived. Ayer, who operated out of the Mumbai office, visited the Chennai office every week and along with Sridhar, met the bereaved families. "It was an eye-opener for me," he says about the man with a razor sharp brain and a large heart.

Among Ayer's peers, Alyque Padamsee, who headed the creative function at Lowe Lintas, was shocked to learn of Ayer's death. Speaking to afaqs!, he says that Ayer was one of the nicest gentlemen he has met in advertising, "and that is a rare commodity".

"He not only ran the agency but also contributed creatively to almost every aspect of advertising," adds Padamsee.

Roda Mehta, who has had a stint at Ogilvy, attributes Ayer with grooming her for this industry. Mehta speaks of how Ayer gave a long rope to those who wanted to grow in the industry. "He was more than just an MD or a boss," she says, adding, "He was a friend, mentor, guide and a very good person."

afaqs! also had a word with Nargis Wadia, who is better known as the first woman in India to have started an advertising agency - Studio One. Wadia grew up in the same locality (Dadar) as Ayer and they shared many moments in their childhood. Wadia, however, was quite surprised to learn that Ayer took up a career in advertising as she always envisioned him to be a finance person, "or maybe even a lawyer," says Wadia.

Ranjan Kapur, who took over the baton of managing the agency after Ayer stepped down, lauded the ex-MD of Ogilvy for his skills of managing money, calling him a "financially sound man". Reiterating Wadia's thoughts, Kapur says, "For an ad man, he thought like a banker."

Kapur says, "Ayer handed over a very healthy and profitable agency that gave me the perfect platform to build O&M from there on." He is grateful to Ayer for teaching him to manage the finance side of the business and the meticulous handling of clients.

Wadia, who admired Ayer for his acumen and straight forwardness, hopes he, too, admired his childhood friend.

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