Jim Morrison, the frontman of the famed rock band The Doors, once said, “I see myself as a huge fiery comet, a shooting star. Everyone stops, points up and gasps ‘Oh look at that!’ Then - whoosh, and I’m gone... and they will never see anything like it ever again... and they won’t be able to forget me – ever.” Piyush Pandey, the rockstar adman of Ogilvy, for all his humility, will never speak such words. But after four decades of being the poster child of advertising in India, he has sealed his position as a rare comet or a flaming shooting star. Reputed as the torchbearer of Indian advertising, the man who made it possible for brands to reach out to the masses, Pandey will touch the finishing line of his marathon run at Ogilvy this year-end, marking an end to a golden chapter in the history of Indian advertising.
Essentially, the Piyush Pandey saga will be remembered as an epoch that paved the way for advertising folks and is set to inspire future creative professionals in the field. The story of an ‘account man’ becoming the most important creative lead in the country is as they say, ‘stuff of legends.’ But it is not just his rise to stardom as a leading adman that has catapulted him to the status of a rare comet. It is his understanding of human emotions, grasping the pulse of Bharat that made him stand out from an anglicized crowd of creative men and women. Amid a Print advertising boom, Pandey made Television advertising the most sought-after. ‘Har Ghar Kuch Keheta Hai’ could have only been written by someone who has a deeper understanding of the country and its people.
Pandey is not an ordinary creative, as evident from Chintamani Rao’s account of Pandey’s beginnings as a creative man. Rao, who is currently a Strategic Marketing and Media Consultant, used to work at Ogilvy and Mather in those days. An overdue response to a Sunlight Detergent Powder brief sparked the creative in Pandey, who to Rao’s surprise, wrote the script in Hindi. This was a rarity in those days.
From that to becoming the man behind BJP’s successful campaign in the 2014 Indian General Elections that resulted in Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister of India, Pandey’s creative genius is spread across industries. Unsurprisingly, he is the man behind the slogans, ‘Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkar,’ and ‘Janta Maaf Nahi Karegi’. The Presidential-style election campaign was a roaring success; but before his first political campaign, Pandey worked with Modi for three and a half years on the ‘Khushboo Gujarat Ki’ campaign.
As Pandey decides to take a bow this year-end, and the reigns of Ogilvy are getting handed over to Hephzibah Pathak from January onwards, it is an ideal time to look back and celebrate his work, ideas, and the passion that he holds for Bharat and its people. They say history repeats itself, but we must remember that people don’t. Piyush Pandey will forever remain that one genius adman whose anachronistic moustache and masterful storytelling will evoke curiosity and inspire talent for ages. Here’s hoping that he continues to dazzle us with his creative brilliance, one way or the other.
