In conversation with Ajay Gupte, Wavemaker
Ajay Gupte is the CEO – South Asia, Wavemaker. He joined Wavemaker India in 2018 from his previous role in Wavemaker Indonesia, where he was serving as managing director. He comes with more than two decades of industry experience and has worked across diverse brands and markets such as India, Africa, and Indonesia.
Agency Reporter- Congratulations on Wavemaker India’s 3rd anniversary and your appointment as CEO earlier this year. How has your journey been like at Wavemaker India?
Thank you, it has been a truly wonderful journey. Wavemaker is a truly special agency. It was born from the merger of two exceptionally strong agencies, MEC and Maxus with the vision to create an agency armed to support our clients to manage the challenges in connecting with today’s consumer. An agency that brings together the best of Media, Content and Technology. We used the combined strength of the two agencies to invest in areas we are aware will be of importance to our clients in the future. Very rarely does an agency get an opportunity to reset its business and restructure itself to lead into the future. In the last three years, we have built on our vision and strengthened our capabilities by investing in data, technology, and content. We now have the tools and the people to launch ourselves into the future. Wavemaker India is a powerhouse. We are fortunate to have an enviable roster of clients and a top-class team. It is a privilege and has been very exciting to lead Wavemaker India.
I can safely say that the journey hasn’t been exactly as I planned! However, we have managed to take advantage of adversity to accelerate on the journey to achieve our ambitions. In many ways, Covid 19 has brought the future closer. The consumer journey has been altered. Digital plays a much more integral role in brand discovery to purchasing. This has enabled us to bring into play the investments we have made in better understanding the consumer journey, in delivering meaningful engagement with the consumer, and in effecting the purchase.
The work we have done this year has helped us add that much more value to our clients, thereby strengthening our relationship with them.
AR- In just 3 years, Wavemaker India has worked with an array of clients. What were the challenges initially faced as the agency began its journey in the country?
Wavemaker was born with the merger of 2 media giants – Maxus and MEC. Both agencies were fortunate to have a strong base of clients built over years of partnership and trust. With such strong relationships and leadership, honestly, there weren’t many challenges which we faced in bringing together the client base from both the agencies. Our clients continued to support us and that was the most important thing for us. The challenges were more in bringing together the people and the cultures to create one unified team. It was an exciting journey and today I look at this powerhouse that we have built with a lot of pride
AR- Have you observed any interesting consumer trends specific to the Indian market that set it apart?
India has of late been at the center of global attention due to our massive base of consumers. Ours is one of the most vibrant markets from a media point of view. On one hand, while we have digital growing at breakneck speed, on the other hand, we have Television, Print, and Radio holding their own. Some key trends that I have observed are 1. The continued rise of the three V’s – Voice, Video, and Vernacular. 2. The growing importance of health and wellness across categories. 3. The increased willingness to pay for good content. 4. Willingness to purchase online and 5. Sharing of brand experiences online.
AR- Coming to 2020, it must have been a rollercoaster ride at Wavemaker India given the key leadership appointments and some notable campaigns. Could you please shed some light on the same?
2020 has been a roller coaster ride for all of us and for the industry. For Wavemaker, it has been a great year starting with the changes in the leadership team. We were fortunate to get on board, the hugely experienced Premjeet Singh Sodhi as our Chief Strategy Officer, Mac Machaiah, who is one of the strongest client leaders around; joined us as Head ITC and President Special Projects. Kishankumar Shyamalan, our powerhouse leading our South operations took over the additional responsibility as Chief Growth Officer. Mansi Datta, who has been a consistent powerhouse, was promoted to head our North and East operations as CCO and Head North and East. Last and not least, Sandeep Pandey was promoted as Global Head of Analytics at Wavemaker which has been a very proud moment for all of us.
We have rolled out some great campaigns in midst of this pandemic starting from ‘Maa ka Haath Ka Khana’ with the famous stand-up comedian Zaakir Khan for Mother Dairy, Thank You campaign for Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk, Myntra Fashion Super star, Iss Saal Har Ghar Pandal for Gemini Oil to the latest Cadbury Celebrations to help the local businesses those who suffered during the pandemic. All these great pieces of work have been pulled off successfully while the teams were working remotely.
AR- What was it like to work on rebranding Vodafone-Idea into Vi, amidst the lockdown?
It was a privilege to be a part of this massive rebranding exercise. Working on the launch of the Vi rebranding campaign was one of the most challenging and yet satisfying campaigns. Vodafone and Idea were two such powerful brands. We had to find a way to make consumers aware of Vi in one day. We pulled off what looked impossible, that too while working virtually in the midst of this pandemic. I am grateful to Vi for the opportunity and I am massively proud of my team that pulled off this wonder!
AR- In your opinion, what are the major changes that the pandemic has brought about in the way media agencies work in India?
The pandemic has massively impacted consumer behavior right from brand discovery to purchase. Consumer media consumption has also seen movement right through the pandemic, constantly evolving with the situation on the ground. The role of digital in the life of the consumer, right from brand discovery, to engagement and finally purchase has seen a dramatic uplift. What is clear is that some of these changes are irreversible and as a media agency, it is incumbent on us to be agile to adapt to these changes. Innovation, agility, and expansion of services will be the main trends that will emerge strongly in the near future. Our early investments in data, analytics, content, and technology have enabled us to ride this wave and stay ahead of the pack.
AR- What are your broad targets for Wavemaker India in 2021?
The target is to engineer growth by positively provoking our clients, business, and people. We will continue to bring to bear our investments in data, analytics, content, and technology to enable our clients to win in the current market scenario and to be future-ready.