As consumer desires continue to shape demand, the sales process will no longer end with a transaction, according to Hephzibah Pathak, Executive Chairperson of Ogilvy India. Brands, she says, will need to find ways to engage customers continuously, keeping their attention in an “always-on” environment.
Pathak emphasized the importance of first-party data—information collected directly from customers and audiences—as a crucial tool for identifying new opportunities and insights. This data, she explained, fuels personalized branded experiences and helps optimize content throughout the consumer journey.
In a conversation with Storyboard18, Pathak also discussed the role of AI, highlighting that, while it opens up a world of possibilities, it has become an essential collaborator in the creative process, enhancing rather than replacing human ingenuity.
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What were the key highlights for you and your teams in 2024?
There has been a lot of momentum. We have had very healthy growth on a large base. We would have added a mid-size national agency to our business this year. We have won many new businesses from clients like Google, Adani, Indriya Jewellery from Birla, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and Kurl-on to name a few. Grateful to have got many more assignments from many of our existing clients like Unilever, ITC, Pernod Ricard, Tata Motors, Nestle etc.
We are driving a culture of innovation. Our transformation agenda continues to accelerate and scale – with our Content Force, Ogilvy One, our digital experience business, driving one-to-one engagement, right from customer acquisition, service design, CRM & modern loyalty, to continuous commerce. Our creative tech force has scaled and doubled. We are doing more and more work for global brands across the world.
We recently launched a Luxury and Beauty Hub, that will focus and build more specialisation and expertise in this area.
On the creative front, it continues to be exciting and very satisfying. Recently, we put up a very strong performance at the APAC Effie’s in Singapore, winning more awards than our previous year for our work across clients and brands like Cadbury, 5 Star, Dove, Taj Tea, Sprite, ThumsUp, ITC and Vi. We won big at the recent LIA awards as well.
This year, our work across brands, Dove Mothermonials, Coke Pujo, Titan Eye Plus, Clinic Plus, Lakme Rouge Bloom, to name a few, has created great impact. Much of this work was designed for social, influence and commerce, helping us create content that counts and wins in culture.
82.5, our second agency has got new leadership and they have won a spate of businesses like MG, De Beers and Vadilal to name a few.
We have significantly strengthened our senior strategic, creative, account management and transformative talent.
This year has been particularly delightful as we have had a lot of Boomerangs – great talent coming back to the agency.
What defining trends (brand, business, marketing, media, consumer) stood out for you in 2024?
Much of this is not new, just gaining more importance and scale for consumers and brands. Premiumisation is gaining huge momentum across brands and categories.
The experience economy is booming and consumers are increasingly prioritising experiences over material possessions. Memories over materialism, and brands are pivoting to deliver that.
Social is the front door of culture, content on reels is driving consumption in real life.
Brand collaborations are a hot new way to change the game. Collaborations with pop-culture and social icons are a surefire way to leverage existing fan base, while also strengthening social cred for the brand.
Brands are coming out to play, not rigidly shackling themselves to rules. Lot more fluidity. And humour is making a comeback.
We see Niche-ification of culture. Subcultures are emerging. Social algorithms are driving more personalised experiences, fragmenting mainstream culture into infinite silos.
It’s been a season of community, from cat lovers, to brat dressers forging a style tribe. Consumers across the globe are seeking belongingness in diverse communities.
How did the rise of AI and generative AI impact your industry this year? Can you sum it up in 3-5 points?
We all know how AI expands possibilities. We are able to create distinctive, imaginative experiences by leveraging AI to win attention and retention in culture.
It is a collaborator to creative thinking. It will get you started and get off the ground fast, helping you imagine and represent ideas.
Generative AI will bring down perspiration but create more space for inspiration. Technology will always be an enabler and support to the human mind. Human imagination is the most essential currency. AI enables anyone to participate but without human imagination, it can homogenise the creative process.
AI helps us get actionable intelligence quickly and trans-create ideas to ensure peak relevance, with custom creatives at an unprecedented scale and speed for different cohorts.
What disruptive trends will take the spotlight in 2025?
Desire is demand. Desire is fuelling development in big categories like fashion, beauty and smartphones. This is different from the early days when brands were looking to educate to drive consideration. Mindful hedonism is the new code of premiumisation – eCommerce, Quick commerce to NEXT commerce. The selling won’t end with the sale and brands will have to find ways to hold the user’s attention on an always-on basis via strategically selected adjacencies or moments.
First party data will help to identify opportunities and insights, fuel branded personalised experiences and optimise content throughout the consumer journey. Planned interventions that tap into behaviours in moments that matter.
Consumers are no longer passive recipients of marketing messages but active participants in shaping brand narratives. With the rise of social media and user-generated content, consumers are taking the reins, co-creating brand identities and influencing purchasing decisions. The era of centralised brand control is waning.
Gaming is rapidly evolving from a niche hobby to a mainstream cultural force and will be a huge platform. With 520 million gamers, we are the second largest gamer base in the world.
What are your new year’s resolutions on a professional and personal front?
Learn something new and then some!
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