tepping into the shoes of one of India�s most admired advertising CEOs was the daunting task that stared John Goodman in the face back in November 2003. As the new CEO of O&M; India, Goodman would have been painfully aware of the ceaseless - and inevitable - comparisons that would be drawn between him and his predecessor, Ranjan Kapur. And it didn�t help any that Kapur, in his 10 years as managing director of O&M; India, had put the agency on the fast track, both in terms of creativity and growth.

Goodman, however, had a couple of things going for him. For one, he was an ex-pat, having moved into Ogilvy India from being head of OgilvyOne Asia/Pacific. He brought with him practically no baggage. He was, in effect, a totally unknown quantity to most people, giving him the leeway to start his Indian tenure with a clean slate. ... more