Profile- Tushar Vyas: Innings 2.0

afaqs! caught up with Vyas, who has recently joined Group M as managing partner, South Asia, to explore his journey in the advertising world so far

Self-starter, solutions provider, team leader, relationship builder, strategic thinker, persistent, down-to-earth, keen listener and a go-getter. No, you won't find these mentioned in Vyas' CV. These are a few adjectives picked up from various recommendations written by various media professionals - associated with Vyas - on his Linkedin.com profile.

His recent move to GroupM as managing partner, South Asia to head the digital business is his second term with the agency. His first stay was seven years long.

Born and brought up in Damnagar (Gujarat), a town with population of about 17,000 people, Vyas followed the ritual of pursuing engineering (electrical and communications engineering from Shantilal Shah Engineering College, Gujarat), after finishing higher secondary. Instead of learning the science of communication, the engineering course helped him develop an interest in the art of communication. "While studying engineering, my interactions with marketing professors built my interest in advertising."

In 1996, Vyas got admission in MICA. After finishing the course, he secured a media planner's job in the Kolkata branch of Bates Clarion. There he was assigned the task of creating media plans for various international cigarette brands like Benson & Hedges and 555, which ITC was planning to launch back then. In mid-1999, he moved to HTA Fulcrum, the WPP agency for Unilever accounts.

Vyas started taking an interest in digital media during the late '90s, when the digital industry experienced the dotcom boom. He began his experiments with internet advertising while working on brands like Close-up, Axe and Sunsilk.

The boom - which motivated many people to start their own ventures - encouraged Vyas too, to come up with his own company. While at HTA Fulcrum, he teamed up with his old MICA classmates Kedar Lele and Ruchira Gupta to devise a business plan. "We wanted to create a media trading and exchange platform, which would ease the process of buying and ordering of advertising (TV and print) inventory through the internet medium. Then the bust happened and our idea died on the paper itself," recalls Vyas.

When HTA Fulcrum became Mindshare, Vyas was asked to set up and handle its digital division. He kick-started the operations with a team comprising Madan Sanglikar (now with Mindshare Interaction) and M V Rajesh (now with OnMobile). "Mindshare Digital happened immediately after the dotcom bust and there were less expectations from digital at that time."

In late 2007, Vyas' decision to quit GroupM and partner with digital media technology start-up Surewaves came as a surprise to many. "I am a start-up person at heart. I would have regretted for the rest of my life if I had missed it in 2007. There was an opportunity to apply internet technologies to other mediums. I happened to meet Rajendra Khare, who was earlier with Broadcom India Research, and Surewaves happened."

What made him quit Surewaves? "All the while at Surewaves, I was in touch with GroupM folks as many of them are beyond just ex-colleagues. There was an unwritten pact that I will review my decision after three years of joining Surewaves." Despite his exit, he still owns some stake in the company.

Now that he is back with GroupM, what are his plans? Says Vyas, "There is a famous quote: 'Experience is not what happens to a man, it is what a man does with what happens to him.' There are many things you go through in start-up environment which will have immense relevance in high growth or established businesses. Only time will tell what I have done with my experience."