Deepa Kakkar moves out of RKSwamy/BBDO

Exactly a year after she joined RKSwamy/BBDO as executive national creative director, Deepa Kakkar has quit the agency. Early yesterday morning, agencyfaqs! learnt that Kakkar has decided against renewing her contract with BBDO. We caught up with the lady yesterday evening, and she confirmed the news of her move. When quizzed about her reason for not renewing the contract, all Kakkar said was, "It has been a good experience (at RKSwamy/BBDO), my learning curve got longer, but it was time to move on. I decided (to quit) when my contract came up for renewal." Incidentally, yesterday happened to be Kakkar's last day with BBDO.

With BBDO behind her, the first question that springs to mind is what next for the professional who has spent almost her entire working life at JWT India (then HTA). "There are interesting options, but I haven't decided on anything as yet," was the pithy reply. But yes, she's almost adamant that whatever she does will have to be connected to advertising. "I am far too passionate about advertising," we finally hit the right buttons and Kakkar opens up. "I will continue searching for branding ideas. I find that very challenging. Because, when you think about it, how many branding ideas can you count? I'm not talking about great films, clever copy. I'm talking about enduring brand-building ideas. Ideas that reposition not just the brand, but also the category. Of course, executed in a manner that will get noticed."

One nagging question pertaining to her departure from BBDO: is her move linked in any way to longtime friend and colleague Sunil Gupta putting in his papers at the agency? (For the record, just over two months ago, Gupta had quit his post of COO at RKSwamy/BBDO.) "Not at all," Kakkar insists hers was an independent decision. "If that were the case, I would have left when he did. I have always followed my instincts, done what I think is right for me and for the organization I work with. I will work with anyone from whom I can learn."

Interestingly, in the interim between her tenures at JWT and BBDO, Kakkar had revealed that she was writing a book and conducting workshops on her patented creative process, called The Oyster Principle. Getting her to talk about her Principle is easy. "It is a simple creative process that helps evolve the branding idea. The process that is followed is true to the metaphor of the oyster. Like the pearl grows in the oyster, the idea evolves out of the brand. The way the pearl is born from a grain of sand that enters the oyster, the branding idea metamorphoses from an insight that is inherent in the brand or the category. It's really that simple." So will she return to writing her book? "I am writing the book and I will be writing it, but the book will not be the focus. I will do it as and when I get the time from mainstream advertising," she answers categorically. © 2003 agencyfaqs!