Advantage Ogilvy

Life's been good to Ogilvy & Mather's Mumbai office. As news came in that the agency's Mumbai operations had been declared "the most effective individual agency office in the world" in the Effie Effectiveness Index, its top boss Piyush Pandey flashed a smile so wide that even his handlebar moustache could not hide. "The little things you do for me and nobody else, make me smile like no one else could," he told employees.

The results of the Effie Effectiveness Index were arrived at after Effie Worldwide and Warc analysed finalist and winner data from 39 worldwide Effie awards competitions over the past year. According to Hephzibah Pathak, president, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai, the recognition was another testimony to "the twin peaks of creativity and effectiveness" that Ogilvy cites as its guiding principles.

En route to the top, Ogilvy had formidable competition. At No. 2, there was a three-way tie between Sancho BBDO (Bogota), Lowe-SSP3 (Bogota) and Ogilvy & Mather (New York). The Ogilvy recognition comes close on the heels of the Hindustan Unilever brand, Lifebuoy and its agency Lowe Lintas which picked up India's first Global Effie at New York in end-May.

When many in advertising believe that outstanding creativity is not equal to high effectiveness, has Indian advertising found the magic formula?

(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 02-07-2012)