"The challenge lies in building on BBDO's strengths": Deepa Kakkar

It's official. Deepa Kakkar has joined RKSwamy/BBDO as executive national creative director, and will be overseeing the agency's creative product. Speaking to agencyfaqs! this morning, minutes after moving into her new office, Kakkar revealed that she had taken the decision to go with BBDO "very, very recently".

agencyfaqs! has gathered that in the three months that she was out of advertising, Kakkar had been approached by quite a few high-profile agencies. When asked why she had opted for BBDO over the rest, Kakkar replied, "I am not into badge brands. I am a join-these-people kind of person, not a join-this-agency kind of one. It's very important for me to work with like-minded people. All the people I met from RKSwamy/BBDO seemed very bright and passionate. Besides, the agency has exciting brands, so there's great potential." She, however, adds that what ultimately swayed the decision was Srinivasan K (Sundar) Swamy, managing director, RKSwamy/BBDO, "an honest-to-goodness human being, who came across as a CEO who is totally committed to building a great team".

Speaking about her expectations from her new assignment, Kakkar says, "I am excited about working on new brands and meeting new minds. I would like people to see BBDO as a ‘thinking' agency - one that does intelligent creative based on powerful brand-building ideas." However, she doesn't harbour any illusions about the challenges ahead, neither is she willing to be drawn into making grandiose statements about her plans for the agency. "I am not going to flap my wings and wave a wand and say, ‘I am going to change things.' I think the challenge lies in building on BBDO's strengths. Creating solid brand building ideas. Unearthing hidden potential. Getting together a great team. And making it an agency that people are proud to belong to… and happy to return to every morning."

Answering the most obvious question on whether her move to BBDO was influenced by ex-JWT colleague Sunil Gupta taking on the COO's role at the agency, Kakkar smiles. "At the risk of making him (Gupta) preen, a large extent. It made the decision that much easier and quicker. We have worked well together. And the comfort level is high."

Many in the industry - and at JWT - agree that Gupta and Kakkar were responsible for a lot of the good work that came out of JWT (then HTA), Mumbai. Kakkar is certainly hoping that their partnership at BBDO will come out as good. "In the two years that we worked together at HTA, we shared a salt-and-pepper kind of partnership," she says. "Both were needed at the table. Both complemented each other. There were no turf battles, only mutual trust and respect. And there was a common goal to create a product that everybody would be proud of. We did win a number of national and international awards, but what was more rewarding was that we managed to change attitude. "

BBDO, which holds a majority stake in RKSwamy/BBDO, is certainly placing its bets on Gupta and Kakkar making a potent combination. From what agencyfaqs! hears, BBDO is extremely bullish on India, and is eager to make up for lost time in this country. The appointment of a national-level COO and an executive NCD within three days of one another bears out as much.

© 2002 agencyfaqs!