tepping into Santosh Desai's shoes? It's a tall order, most people would say. But not the man who has actually taken over.
Sanjay Nayak, who was heading the Delhi branch of McCann-Erickson for the past six years, has been elevated to the post of president, McCann Worldgroup. Of his 23-year-long career, Nayak has spent 16 in advertising with stints at O&M;, TBWA Anthem, as well as McDowell.
Nayak, born and brought up in Patna, is a classic IIT-IIM combo. He graduated from IIM-C in 1983 and started working with McDowell as a management trainee. But his first advertising job - at O&M;, Bangalore - came in 1991 as account director. Contrary to most other success stories, it was not the charm of the field that lured him to advertising.
In the late 1980s, Nayak, who was scouting for a new job, found his lack of experience in advertising repeatedly getting in the way. "I decided to learn advertising," he says, "and the best place to learn was to join an agency. At a very basic level, there was a big hole in my resume that I needed to fix." Chintamani Rao, who was then heading the Bangalore and Chennai operations of O&M;, hired him. "I remember asking him why he was hiring me. He told me, 'Why are you worried? We are carrying all the risks. Give it a year or two. If you like it, there's no reason why you should leave. If you don't, there's no reason why you should stay."' Grins Nayak, "I am still here."
What followed was - judging by advertising standards - a really long stint at O&M.; After multiple shifts within the agency, Nayak went to Singapore for a year as the regional management supervisor in 1998. He, however, does not seem to have very pleasant memories of that. As he puts it, "I didn't believe it used my skills too much. The job was like an inverted pyramid. It was a staff function and I had to earn my credit. We know what we think of the regional guys who come to India and give us gyaan..."
Sure enough, he was back in India, a year later in 1999, as the president of Speer, which was acquired by O&M.; Though the agency had a national presence then, it was still very small. At least not big enough to retain Nayak, who left Speer within months to join TBWA Anthem, marking the end of his eight-year-old association with O&M.;
In a field like advertising, where even the seven-year itch is an unheard of thing, how did he manage to stay in the same agency for eight years? Was he not afflicted with wanderlust? "Before I spent eight years in O&M;, I had spent about seven at McDowell. I did not decide how long I was going to stay. There comes a time when you feel you are not enjoying yourself, or are not getting rewarded or are not feeling challenged enough. I never felt that way. At least not till I left," he says simply.
When a dotcom venture with a friend, launched after his exit from TBWA Anthem, went awry Nayak was left without a job for about a month. Funnily enough, it was Rao who called again - this time from McCann. In another renegade move, Nayak joined McCann as senior vice president and general manager of the Delhi branch, a step down in designation from TBWA Anthem, where he was the president and COO.
Nayak was there to see the chrysalis of McCann, which ranked way below on the ad agency reckoner, to becoming one of the most admired agencies in the country. But he doesn't forget the tough times they faced, with mass exodus of talent as well as accounts.
In light of the new restructuring that has taken place at McCann, Nayak states that his immediate priority is to create stability and reassure clients. Much as it may sound like a clich�, is it not daunting to step into Santosh Desai's shoes? "Should it be?" he shoots back. "Clearly, there are expectations from this role, but I haven't really thought of it as a daunting task. A great momentum has been built with Santosh and Prasoon's leadership, and McCann has taken serious strides on the business as well as, profile front. That has put us on a path where there is a whole culture of succeeding, and that culture does not go away if some of the founder architects leave."
When questioned about his guiding philosophy and learning from the industry over the past 16 years, Nayak has simple things to say. "I place a lot of premium on the fairness of personal action and intellectual honesty and have an enormous appetite for awkward conversations. You have to have the ability to not just distinguish between right and wrong, but also have the communication skills to put it in a way that is not confrontational; yet make space for dissent."
Nayak lives in Delhi with his wife, and has two kids who are studying. An active cricketer till a few years ago, Nayak loves watching sports for leisure.
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