MUMBAI: Piyush Pandey was the odd man out at a RedInk Awards panel discussion soon after Prime Minister Modi was voted in for the first time in 2014. As an advertising creative executive, he didn’t fit into a panel of popular news anchors Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami, and Star chief Uday Shankar.
Not surprisingly, he drew fire for his catch line: Aab ki Bar, Modi Sarkar — a slogan that moved the anti-incumbency wave. He laughed it off. “We have to deliver the message of our clients. We have nothing to do with politics.”
Pandey’s creative campaigns for Ogilvy — the ad agency he started with in 1982 and ended his career and life with at 70 as Chief Creative Officer — grew it to an industry leader even as his creative skills dominated advertising in India for over three decades.
He carried his walrus mustache, his broad grin and infectious sense of humour everywhere; but it was his pioneering effort in changing Indian advertising from borrowed Western idioms to campaigns rooted in the language of our streets and villages that made him a legend.
Remember the Mile Sur Mera Tumhara in 1988? It was a jingle for national integration written by him. It took the country by storm as it worked up a pride for unity in diversity.
He also made some big brands daily, household names. Like his 1993 Cadbury’s campaign, Kuch Khaas Hai ham Sabhi Mein, which used local imagery to convince adults there is no sin in enjoying chocolates.
The power of ‘gifting’ is another tack Pandey used successfully. He pushed Cadbury (now Mondalez) chocolates as a way to say thank you — Kuch Meetha Ho Jai; as he did with Titan timepieces — ‘The Joy of Gifting’.
But who can ever forget Pandey’s incredibly creative Hutch (now Vodafone) campaign with the pug ZooZoo from 2010? The pug was used when ‘Hutch’ was transitioning to ‘Vodafone’; and in a quirky, simple manner the dog symbolised loyalty and connection. The pug campaign became so popular that for years the Chinese ‘pug’ breed became a favourite in India!
For his contribution to advertising, Piyush Pandey was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016. He made his mark in advertising using a simple, storytelling style. As a person, he was never the corporate bigwig. An unkempt, easygoing guy, he was everyone’s man.
