Leadership Series @ SIIB ( 12th September 2009 )

Chairman: Contract India network.

Mr.Ravi Deshpande, Started his career in 1985 as an art-director with Clarion followed by Ogilvy & Mather. In 1987,he joined Contract, a newly formed JWT company. Within 10 years, he turned the place into a melting pot of the best creative minds in India, and led the agency to win over 400 local awards for creative excellence along with awards at Cannes, One Show, D&AD, and the other international festivals.

Contract went on to win Agency of the Year at the Advertising & Marketing national awards four times and the Agency of the Year in Ad Club Bombay, in 1999. This resulted in Contract being the best creative force in the country.

At an individual capacity, Mr.Ravi Deshpande has won numerous awards including Art Director of the Year Award twice at the Advertising and Marketing national awards. In 1999, he was awarded Creative Professional of the Year at the Strategic Marketing Management programme organised by McKinsey & Co.

He was also awarded for "Outstanding Contribution to the Advertising Industry in India" by one of India’s top management institutes.

After a long and successful inning at Contract, in August 2001, he started "Lemon" in alliance with Euro RSCG Worldwide. Alongside, did the job of guiding Euro RSCG Indian Subcontinent and the Middle-East, as Chief Creative Officer in an advisory capacity. In 2005, he was invited back to Contract as Chief Creative Officer for the region, in order to set a new direction for the agency.

He crafted the Contract way of working through recent book: “Grow Young”. A theory based on the belief that un-boxed ideas reverse the ageing process of brands making them younger and more desirable.

He has also been a judge at major international award festivals like the One Show, Cannes Advertising Festival, D& AD and Clio. He was Honoured as one of six living legends of Indian advertising in the last 50 years by the Advertising Club, Madras (India).