Ogilvy India has launched its consulting business in the country, marking the return of Neeraj Bassi to the agency as the India Head of Consulting Practice.
He will be based in the Ogilvy Gurugram office, from where he will also serve as the Head of Strategic Planning for Ogilvy India (North).
Globally, Ogilvy Consulting focusses on solving three key strategic business problems – Growth and Innovation, Business Design and Digital Transformation. Ogilvy Consulting brings together the best of Ogilvy capabilities across Brand Strategy, Customer Engagement and Commerce, Partnership, PR and Influence as a single, integrated offering for clients.
Over his illustrious career spanning 28 years, Bassi has donned many hats, the last of which was as the Chief Growth Officer for Cheil X, the specialist division of Cheil SWA focusing on expanding the client portfolio across the full service offering. He has previously served as CSO at Publicis, Havas and Cheil India. Neeraj started his career in 1997 with McCann Erickson and has also done an international stint with JWT in Dubai.
Bassi’s last stint in Ogilvy was till 2015 when he was the President – Strategic Planning for Ogilvy, Gurugram.
Talking about the appointment, Prem Narayan, Chief Strategy Officer, Ogilvy India said, “‘Neeraj is back in Ogilvy’. That’s a feeling that many of us in Ogilvy have been wishing for quite some time. I have always admired Neeraj. He is one of the finest strategic minds in the country. His rich experience across consulting, advertising and driving growth make him one of the rare few who excel at intersecting consumer x culture x brand x business x modern media landscape to deliver business impact and transformation. There couldn’t have been anyone better to lead and launch the Ogilvy Consulting practice and drive excellence of the strategic planning function for Ogilvy India (North), Neeraj will make us sharper, stronger and sweeter.”
Neeraj Bassi added, “I am really excited to lead the Ogilvy Consulting practice in India. Globally we are getting good traction in this space and I am looking forward to offering independent, unbiased advice for full funnel management of marquee brands – right from fuelling desire to demand conversion at point of sale. Ogilvy Consulting would address the issue of distributed brand narrative that is happening because of domain experts working in their silos. Championing the cause of one brand, one narrative, Ogilvy Consulting will help clients integrate the domains at a strategic level. It’s a homecoming for me and coming home is always special.”
