O&M's loss is McCann's gain

Govind Pandey, ex-vice-president - management partner, at O&M's Mumbai office, has joined McCann-Erickson, Mumbai, as vice-president and general manager. He assumed office on March 8. Confirming the move, Pandey told agencyfaqs!, "I left O&M for freshness... to take up a new challenge."

This move brings to an end his eight-year association with the agency during the course of which Pandey held various positions - starting off as an account group manager in 1994. He rose quickly up the ranks to become an account director the same year. In two years he was promoted to the rank of management supervisor, and then client services director, vice-president - client services, before becoming vice-president - management partner in 2001.

During his stint at O&M, Pandey worked on a wide range of brands across categories including almost all the non-Lever businesses of Ogilvy's Mumbai office. The key businesses were Asian Paints, Cadbury's, Mattel Toys, TVS Suzuki, Philips, Onida, Titan International, Yahoo, MidDay, ESPN Star Sports, Samsonite et al. Talking about his experience at O&M, he says, "O&M is a great agency and for that it does not need a certificate from me. I like O&M. I spent eight years in the agency and that should be proof enough of that."

Pandey, an IIM Bangalore alumnus, started his career at Usha International, New Delhi, in 1985. His first brush with advertising dates back to 1990 when he joined Lowe (then Lintas India) as management trainee. And before joining O&M, he put in two years in Contract Advertising. At Lowe and Contract, he worked on brands like Tata Sierra, Tata Estate, Crompton Greaves Lighting, Philips audio systems, Nivea range of skin care products, Farex weaning foods.

Now, as in-charge of McCann-Erickson's Mumbai branch, Pandey's brief is to "catalyse the office to help it get its rightful place under the sun". He says top on his agenda is the task of converting McCann's "brand equity into market share". He adds, "I sensed a restlessness with incrementalism in this place. I sense a serious intent to galvanise the agency and to introduce a discontinuous step change in our overall product. I want to be part of this change and do my bit to drive it."

This is this challenge that has probably influenced his decision to switch. "There are more than enough reasons to choose McCann. McCann is the largest agency in the world. It can't not be taken seriously in this market also. It has a lot going for it. McCann has made huge investments and is a leader in strategic planning and consumer insights," he says. © 2002 agencyfaqs!