He has taken FCB to great heights and is now prepared to pass on the baton with a smile, while he readies himself for fresh global challenges. Rohit Ohri, Global Partner at FCB is one amongst only three in the network worldwide to get this role. He talks about why FCB is family and not just a workplace, why he is nowhere close to hanging up his boots, whether the new CEO-CCO partnership at FCB India will click just as well as his and Swati Bhattacharya's; and how Dheeraj Sinha, his successor has an army of experts waiting to support him at FCB

Before you, advertising leaders like Tarun Rai moved to an APAC role and then retired in a year, but Piyush Pandey moved to a global role and continued to play his inning at Ogilvy. For you, is this a step towards retirement or are you stepping into a bigger playground?

This is a real job and task for the network. Growth is slowing down in the western part of the world and coming from APAC instead. Our Global CEO, Tyler Turnbull's vision is quite clear that this is the job he wants me to do, primarily because of my previous experience. What I found exciting was that after contributing to the country specific role, now I could contribute across the network. I have a deeper connection with FCB, Susan Credle and Tyler. It is not just a place of work, it's a place where I'm valued, and I want to continue here.

If I were to draw a comparison, Leo Burnett’s winning entries at Cannes Lions were always fundamentally different from FCB’s. The former was more innovation and tech-driven while FCB was more emotion-led. Despite the difference in approach, what really made you believe that Dheeraj Sinha can build on what you have left behind and will be the ideal successor?

I first met Dheeraj at Goafest, when I had just spent a few months at FCB. He was on the panel I was moderating; it had crossed my mind back then that he would be a great successor at some point. I have been in touch with him ever since then. He is very intelligent, knows his business and is a great person. While this search for the CEO was a global one with Susan and Tyler taking the final call, I fully supported it.

As far as the difference between the agencies we have both led is concerned, the creative brilliance of Swati and Robby is still there, and our vision for the future is creativity powered by data and technology. Thus, it will be a happy marriage by bringing in Dheeraj to work with Swati Bhattacharya and Robby Mathew. Exciting times ahead.

Dheeraj has had a great partnership with RajDeepak Das and you have had a great one with Swati. Are you just as positive about a great partnership between Dheeraj and Swati, which is imperative for the success of a network?

When I came into this agency, I didn’t have a partnership with Robby, but I have a really good one with him now. We are an industry which manufactures ideas and our machinery is the creative department which is thus the most important part of our business. Swati made us believe that impossible is nothing. We started off with Sindoor Khela, which people thought was a fluke and then she delivered hits year after year. And then Robby’s flaming torch was ‘The Punishing Signal’ and this year ‘Tr. for Teacher’. They have both truly pushed the creative agenda and now we are waiting for Dheeraj to bring in the tech/digital side with him to combine with the emotional side. And then it’ll be a force that nobody can beat.

During your watch at FCB, you put FCB India on the world map for the first time in decades, but many Golds and years with the highest metal tally later you nursed this desire to win that Grand Prix for FCB India. Are you going to pass on the dream and the pressure to Dheeraj Sinha?

Yes, I think so and I would like to. but I am still part of the FCB family and now I am on the global team. So, getting a Grand Prix becomes easier. But while that is the next big thing that we want to do, Dheeraj and I both don’t chase awards. As Susan Credle says, ‘Give me campaigns that will make the brands famous, then we will see if they can win at Cannes’.

What is the biggest challenge for FCB in APAC that you have been tasked with solving? What are the key focus areas within this region for you?

I am tasked with creating a plan for 6-8 months, starting January, for the APAC region which we will present to IPG in Q3. Singapore is a big market and we have a very good presence in Malaysia, then there is Thailand; and Vietnam where we are rather small right now. The network has been dominated by North America. We have pockets here which are very strong, like India and New Zealand. There are many strategies that we are considering right now, which is an intersection between acquisition, pulling some capabilities that we have across the world into the region, and taking some part of our big brand, which is FCB/SIX to launch there. For example, what form should we take if we were to create an offering in Singapore? How to make Kinnect bigger? They are already doing a fair degree of work with FCB global agencies in Chicago, Canada, UK, etc. I am also working on a very large project to define our network, to have consistency the world over.

You've spent a significant amount of time building cultures in three big organizations - JWT, Dentsu and FCB. When you look back, did you adapt to the existing culture of these agencies or brought your own ideas, thereby making sweeping changes which then became the culture of these organisations?

I'll share an example of what somebody told me when she talked about the effect I had on her as a senior leader at FCB. That sums up the transition I brought in. She said, "There was a lot of change but we didn't feel as if we had to get off from one horse and climb another; the changes were pretty much on the same horse. We almost didn't realize that we were asked to change; it was so organic". The fact is that I was ready to understand what needed to be untouched and what required a change. Keeping that balance and stability is important because it was a strong agency with a rich heritage and long relationships with clients. You have to cleverly balance that, energize the existing talent and rally around one big collective goal.

What is your relationship going to be with Dheeraj in this case because both of you will be independently reporting to Tyler?

I will work collaboratively with all the CEOs in the network. As a global partner, that’s the role we have. We don’t do business, we don’t do PNL management but build capabilities and knit them together. So that’s going to be the way I will work with Dheeraj in India, Katy in the UK, or Emma who heads New York.

What must be done to make sure that things work just as smoothly, once you have done away with your India-centric responsibilities at FCB? When you look back at the agencies (JWT and Dentsu) that you once helmed, what do you feel?

I truly believe I have left both my previous agencies, JWT and Dentsu, in a much better place than where they were when I joined. And they did well for a period of time after that. Now obviously, what happens in a longer stretch of time cannot be controlled. FCB is a solid organization as far as talent is concerned, each of the agencies now has a solid C-suite like Ulka with Nitin Karkare leading it, Joe Thaliath and Robby in Interface and Swati in FCB India. From a digital perspective, we have Kinnect and are a 1200 people strong agency network here. You must not have to change when change is needed, you should think ahead and anticipate the change. My deepest satisfaction is that this transfer of responsibilities is coming at a time when the organization is really doing well and I can proudly hand it over to someone else. The market is changing and Dheeraj has the right kind of skills to take the agency to the next level.