Piyush Pandey, the man who gave Indian advertising its heart, passes away

Indian advertising lost its brightest star on Thursday with the passing of Piyush Pandey, the man who taught brands how to speak to the heart of India. At 70, Pandey leaves behind a legacy of stories that made millions of Indians smile, laugh, and feel truly seen.

For over four decades at Ogilvy India, he worked on some of the most memorable campaigns the country has ever seen. Campaigns that became part of everyday vocabulary and culture.

Born in 1955 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, Piyush was one of nine siblings, growing up in a vibrant household where creativity and divergent viewpoints were part of the air. Before entering advertising, he played cricket at the Ranji Trophy level for Rajasthan and even worked as a tea taster, two unlikely prefaces to a career in creative communications.

He joined Ogilvy India in 1982 at the age of 27, starting as a client-servicing executive. Just six years later, he moved into the creative department and began crafting the ads that would come to define modern Indian advertising.

Building a voice for Indian brands 

From early on, Pandey believed that advertising in India should reflect Indian voices — not simply adopt Western templates. In his words, “If someone stays in a job for a long time, that means they are passionate about their work… When you enjoy your job, you don't even count the years.”

Among his first memorable works were for Luna’s ‘Chal meri Luna’campaign, in the 1980s; giving Fevicol this iconic tagline — ‘Fevicol Ka Mazboot Jod Hai Tootega Nahi’  and Asian Paints ‘Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hais’. 

In 1993, his campaign for Cadbury, featuring a girl running onto a cricket pitch to pick up a chocolate bar, was credited with repositioning the brand as an indulgence for adults too.

Through these and many other campaigns, Pandey built a distinctive idiom for Indian advertising which was full of warmth, local language, humour, and emotion. He was known for bringing Hindi into the mainstream of advertising at a time when most campaigns featured generic product descriptions in English that failed to connect with India’s masses. Pandey transformed that landscape with his creative finesse and deep understanding of how India speaks and feels.

At Ogilvy India and beyond 

In 2004, Pandey became the Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India. Later, he was appointed Global Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy Worldwide, effective January 2019, making him the first Indian to hold this role.

He also served on global boards and mentored creative talent across geographies, turning the agency into a hub of Indian-rooted creativity with global reach. Under his leadership, Ogilvy India was consistently ranked of the top creative agencies in the country.

In September 2023, Ogilvy announced that from 1 January 2024, Pandey would transition into an advisory role, stepping away from day-to-day operations, capping a remarkable 41-year run at the agency.

An everlasting legacy

Despite his towering professional stature, Piyush Pandey was known for humility, a characteristic laugh, a willingness to give credit to his teams and a love for Indian culture in its many forms.

Piyush Pandey did more than craft memorable taglines or clever ads. He gave Indian brands their voice. He showed advertisers how to speak the language of the Indian heart.

As the advertising industry today mourns the passing of its most luminous figure, it also recognises that Indian advertising has changed forever because of him. There will always be a before Pandey and an after Pandey in India’s creative history.

The industry mourns his departure. But the stories he told, of India, its people, will endure as living memorials to the ad-man who wasn’t just selling products, he was speaking to people’s souls.

Farewell, Sir Piyush Pandey. Your voice will echo in India’s advertising for generations.