Saurabh Saksena on Friendship and Looking to the Future at VMLY&R India
When Saurabh Saksena was offered the chance to head up WPP network VMLY&R in India, he jumped at it. A long term WPP man himself, having joined then-JWT in 2009, most recently he ran the Indian office for Red Fuse, WPP’s global integrated agency for Colgate Palmolive. So, the opportunity to get stuck into VMLY&R’s ambitious and future-facing blend of creativity and technology was a proposition he simply couldn’t resist.
Saurabh jokes that the reason the role appealed to him was “for a very selfish reason: I wanted to future proof myself.” Someone who is constantly looking to learn and grow, at Red Fuse he’d finally had the opportunity to bring both media and creative together, after years spent on the creative agency side - and VMLY&R’s proposition presented a “larger canvas” and an irresistible opportunity to grow.
Having joined as CEO in December 2022, since then, he’s been rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck into the business. His initial priorities have been to accelerate the agency’s growth and to focus on diversity and supporting the 450 people that make up VMLY&R in India.
“The people that we have are a talented and diverse set of people. In fact, just on diversity, we are a 53-47 split, which I'm told is very, very healthy for India. Of course, there's a lot more opportunity to keep growing that diversity into not just gender - for example, socio-economic background, which I think we do a solid job of as well,” says Saurabh.
India, like almost every other market in the world, is seeing a fierce battle for creative talent with digital and data smarts. Indeed, India’s thriving startup culture means that the lure of the tech world is particularly strong. But, Saurabh says that the diversity of opportunities within the wider WPP family has been a valuable counterpoint and has helped retain talent that craves, and indeed thrives on, fresh challenges.
To this end, Saurabh draws from his own experience at WPP, where he feels he’s had the chance to grow and explore new opportunities internally. “For my own example, I've been at WPP for a really long time. I think I’ve remained because every three years or so, I get an opportunity to do something more and build on my overall credentials and experience. That's something that we keep offering; somebody who's working in Mumbai and wants to work on, let's say, a CX business in some other city, will have those options. What we encourage our people to do is to raise their hand. Talk to us and tell us that, ‘hey, this is what I want for my career’. And if you can deliver that solution, why not? We love to retain our good people,” he says.
But, it’s not just a case of attracting and retaining a diverse talent-base. Saurabh’s also keen to ensure that said talent is able to collaborate and connect across capabilities. Within VMLY&R India, there are several specialist groups, for example digital content powerhouse, Glitch, WPP’s specialist agency for Ford GTB, and VMLY&R Commerce. And so Saurabh will be drawing on his previous experience to help bring teams closer together.
“In my previous role, I was in charge of collaborating across WPP, and that became a priority. I've seen the power of connected teams and connected collaborative efforts in delivering business results to clients. So, that is something that became an immediate priority, at least for our top clients,” he explains, adding that connecting the teams will not only drive better solutions, but also makes it easier for clients that are looking for more.
Saurabh’s vision for VMLY&R India is ambitious. He wants to build a team known for its connections and solution-first mentality while at the same time nurturing a warm and human culture. “There's always opportunity to grow. The fact is that we'd like to be known as a connected team that builds connected brands. At the same time it's about being biased towards creating solutions for brands, and not just think of the media. Our big ideas should be about solutions to business problems, and that's where we want to harness our creativity,” he says. “I think happier people make happier brand outcomes for clients. So, you know, this really is what we’d like to drive towards.”
Creatively, Saurabh joins the agency at a time when it’s on something of a roll. At last year’s Cannes, VMLY&R India took home the Health and Wellness Grand Prix for ‘The Killer Pack’, biodegradable packaging that kills mosquito larvae as it breaks down in stagnant water. Another killer creative idea from VMLY&R Commerce India, ‘Smart Fill’ for Hindustan Unilever, was a mass market take on sustainable retail and took home a Gold and Bronze Lion.
These successes certainly fuel Saurabh’s fierce championing of both the creative team, and chief creative officer Mukund Otely. “The truth is that we have a fantastic creative leader, Mukund Otley, and he’s the one who has a bias for solutions. You take a problem to him and his team and they jump to a solution - not just a media solution - and that has stood us in good stead.”
From a growth perspective, Saurabh sees real opportunities in commerce, customer experience and brand experience. Particularly, he argues, VMLY&R is one of the few agencies in the country that can span offline to online commerce - something particularly vital for India.
“Commerce is really an outcome for us… we’d like to not just do the good stuff, but the good stuff that really helps clients grow their business,” he says. Ultimately he and the team want to help create connected brands that work across CX, D2C, first party data acquisition and social media, bringing them to life and driving commerce.
Strategically, from a new business perspective, the team has been keen to create a variety of entry points for brands looking to work with VMLY&R . Because of the agency’s particular specialisations in CX, Saraubh says they love to work with service industry categories like hotels and airlines, as well as banking and financial services (they’re already doing a lot of business with IDFC First Bank). Already they’re doing extensive work with the likes of Coca-Cola, Glitch has built up a reputation within the fashion and beauty space - particularly with Unilever brands - and the agency has built up a solid reputation in shopper marketing and activation for CPG brands. Saurabh also points out that a number of clients come to them because they want help with premiumisation of unification of brands.
It’s been a busy few months for Saurabh, but make no mistake. He’s confident that the agency is heading in the right direction, and is thankful for a strong leadership team that was in place before he joined. And while there’s plenty of momentum on the business front, what’s been particularly rewarding is to see the human element come to life.
Saurabh’s only been in the role for three or four months, but already he’s forged fast friendships within the team. They’re so deeply meaningful to him that it’s the first thing he mentions when asked about his best moments in the short time since he’s joined. “We built friends among the leadership team, and that's a value I believe is underrated in many organisations. Yes, you don’t have to be friends and can have a healthy mutual respect. But, if you’re friends, it really helps. I think that's been useful to us!”
