5 Minutes with… Dheeraj Sinha
At the intersection of creativity, technology, and purpose is FCB Group CEO for India and South Asia, Dheeraj Sinha. As a strategic planner, Dheeraj believes that this decade, the world will be divided into people rallying behind creativity and humanity, and those rallying behind data, technology, and AI.
The dynamic leader has worked extensively in the region for Publicis before making the move to FCB, and intends to bring expertise and experience to an FCB team he already has high praise for.
Speaking to LBB, he unravels his motivations for moving to FCB, and envisions a future where creativity, business, and technology converge. Dheeraj aims to elevate the agency to new heights, harnessing their robust legacy and client relationships. Dheeraj emphasises his leadership philosophy, collectivity, and setting global benchmarks to achieve excellence.
LBB> Moving to FCB from Publicis is a significant shift. What was the primary motivation for taking the role and making the move?
Dheeraj> I believe the world this decade will be divided into people rallying behind creativity and humanity and those rallying behind data, technology, and AI.
My firm belief is that the business we are in is about creativity, and using creativity to solve business and human problems. Everything else is to the service of creativity. So technology, data, AI, and everything is a tool for creativity to solve these larger problems.
FCB has a huge commitment to creativity as an economic force, and that's where it resonated a lot with me.
LBB> Do you think there are some transformation strategies you'll be able to bring to FCB, leveraging your experience?
Dheeraj> I started as a strategic planner and wanted to build everything around the product. Right now is the best time to be in the business because of the tools at our disposal. You can play with data, you can play with technology, you can design a product, you can do an intervention at the point of sale; you can do so much in the consumer's journey.
FCB is a very solid organisation. There's a fantastic roster of clients, in an Indian context, it would today be the largest integrated creative agency. And with Kinect coming in as a digital agency in the ecosystem, the relationship FCB has with some of its brands is four decades old.
If you look at the scale of the agency, if you look at the product, I think there's an immense opportunity to take that and harness all of that and become the best creative company in the world.
LBB> Can we expect a new evolution in your work as you move into this new role?
Dheeraj> I'm great when it comes to purpose-driven work, but we as an industry have only explored purpose in a few shades. Purpose-driven work can be funny and humorous, and it doesn't always have to be very heavy.
LBB> How do you balance maintaining creative excellence with ensuring tangible results for your clients and business?
Dheeraj> One of the things I’ve learned in the last decade is that absolutely fantastic, world-class work on everyday business is good for the client’s business. So in my mind, creative and business excellence are one and the same.
I think at FCB our creative pieces have been fantastic. They've won awards across multiple platforms, which means that we have a muscle of creativity which is globally benchmarked.
LBB> What leadership principles do you think will be most important or crucial in steering FCB through its next growth period?
Dheeraj> One of the most important things I have learned is that this business is about building a sports team – a team that plays for each other, a team which can take a bullet for each other. So, for me, one of the creative organisation's biggest principles is collectivity. It's about the ‘we’, and not the ‘I’.
I think it takes a village to build a great idea. Most of the work I've done in my past has taken at least 100 people to bring it to life in the way that it has come out. A sense of collectivity is very important.
We have to make sure that whatever we're doing is globally benchmarked. FCB is a very human agency, people like each other and we care for each other. So a lot of the ingredients of this culture are already there as green shoots in this organisation.
LBB> How will you navigate FCB’s campaigns in the area so that they resonate across diverse groups of people?
Dheeraj> Globally I think there's a certain sense of disdain and envy for work which is bland and similar at a global level. So we are looking for content pieces, entertainment pieces, and brand pieces which are local in nature, which are authentic, grassroots, and fresh.
Even if you look at work which is winning at Cannes, if you look at the pieces of content, which are winning globally, there is an increasing pattern of local, authentic, and accessible work.
That's how we will balance our work to be truly authentic, whether it's India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, or any part of this region.
LBB> Finally, how are you planning to build on the FCB legacy?
Dheeraj> We just did a leaders workshop and had some 80 of our top people come together across departments. The theme for the year was growth, glory, and guts.
I think it's a fantastic organisation. We have a large client base – one of the very few agencies I have seen in my lifetime which has such a deep relationship with clients and such a deep stack of talent. I think these are the two things our industry is losing at a very fast pace.
So my endeavour is to take the core of what this organisation already has, and then accelerate that on growth and glory aspects. That's the strategy.
