Ogilvy & Mather

Rank: 1

This is one of the leading advertising companies in India which inculcates a notion that devotion to the brand defines the profile of their company. This advertising firm is a subsidiary of WPP Group plc having offices in major metropolises including, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, New Delhi and Bangalore. The objective of the company is to build brands.

Top Executives:

Piyush Pandey, executive chairman, SN Rane, co-executive chairman and COO, India and South Asia,  Madhukar Sabnavis, country head, discovery and planning, regional director,

thought leadership, Abhijit Avasthi and Rajiv Rao, national creative director(s) 

Clients:

ACC Cement, Adidas, Coca Cola  - Retail, DLF Estates, Future Group, International Cricket Council - ICC, Tata Steel,

J Walter Thompson India

Rank: 2

Considered one of the premier advertising companies in India that has the objective to make advertising a part of the life of the consumers. This is also world's best advertising brand with about 200 offices in 90 countries. JWT is the first ad company to introduce pioneer careers in ad for women, sex-appeal ads and also produced the first ever sponsored -TV program.

Top Executives:

Colvyn Harris, CEO; Rohit Ohri, SVP and managing partner, JWT Delhi; Adrian Miller, chief creative officer, Delhi; Atika Malik, SVP, executive planningdirector; Tarun Chauhan, SVP and managing partner, JWTMumbai; Tista Sen, SVP and ECD – creative head, Mumbai;

Clients: Airtel,

LIC (empanelment),  Google, Fedex, Nissan, Unicef – HIV and Youth, Polio Project, United Spirits Limited,

Mudra Group

Rank: 3

Another major player in India’s advertising industry is Mudra Communication, which has been in operation since its establishment in the year 1980 at Mumbai. Recently the advertising firm declared the addition of public relations, rural marketing, and event management.

Top Executives:

Madhukar Kamath, group CEO and MD,  Pratap Bose, COO, Mudra Group and CEO, Mudra Max and Ignite Mudra, Jude Fernandes, executive director,  Mudra Group and CEO, Mudra India, Sandeep Vij, executive director and chief knowledge officer, Mudra Group

and CEO – DDB Mudra, Ajit Menon, executive director, organization development, Mudra Group,

Client:

L&T Mutual Funds, Philips Electrolux, Kerala Tourism (empanelled), Femina,   Lonely Planet, Emami

FCB-Ulka Advertising Ltd

Rank: 4

One of the best Indian advertising companies in this arena is FCB-Ulka Advertising Ltd. Ranking tenth in the world the ad agency has about 188 offices in 102 countries. Their aim is to reflect the needs of the brand and not the personality of the brand. It has about 500 professionals and does not entertain prima donnas.

Top Executives:

Anil Kapoor, chairman emeritus, Arvind Wable, executive director and CEO - Delhi, M G Parameswaran (Ambi), executive director & CEO - Mumbai, Nagesh Alai, executive director & CFO,

K S Chakravarthy (Chax), NCD,

Client:

Tata Indicom, Godfrey Philips, ICICI Bank RLG, Air India, Hero Honda, Common Wealth Games (CWG) 2010 Campaign,

Redefussion DY&R

Rank: 5

This advertising company of India has created a benchmark in the field of creativity. India's 5th largest advertising company is Rediffusion, which offers a wide array of integrated pr services for external and internal communications. The primary strength of the company lies in the media relations.

Top Executives:

Diwan Arun Nanda, chairman and MD,  D Rajappa, president, Arvind Mohan, CSO,  Minakshi Achan, CCO, N Padmakumar, NCD.

Client:

MTS, Pepsico, Bombay Realty, ITC (Digital), Kingfisher Airlines (Digital), Hometown (Future group),

 

McCann-Erickson

Ranking: 6

The prominent name among the best advertising companies of India is McCann-Erickson India Ltd. They define work in relation to the impact that advertising has on the lives of masses. The testimony of the company in which it firmly believes is the campaign of Coca -cola-'Thanda Matlab Coca Cola'.

Top Executives:

Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman,  Sanjay Nayak, president – McCann Worldgroup,  Govind Pandey, president – McCann Erickson,  Manoj Singh, CFO.

Clients:

Britannia (Cookies, Healthy Start, Dairy products), ESPN Champions Trophy and ICC world Cup, Zee News, Videocon Mobile handsets, Greenply, Dabur (new product), Tata Motors (CRM programme)

RK Swamy BBDO

Rank: 7

It maintained the record of remaining consistently among the top ten advertising agencies in India. Established in 1973, this advertising reached great heights. This is also India's No.1 research company in the market sector and is fully run by Indians. Brand Equity is an integral part of the company.

Top Executive:

Srinivasan K Swamy, chairman,  Shekar Swamy, group CEO, V S Chakrapani, director, K L Venkatasubramanian, CFO

Client:

LIC Nomura (empanelment), Valvoline, Shriram Capital, MTNL Mumbai, DELL Internal Communications, Jindal Steel & Power,

Grey Worldwide (I) Pvt. Ltd.

Rank: 8

A significant contributor in India’s growing ad domain is Grey Worldwide (I) Pvt Ltd. The company is primarily based in Mumbai and has offices in Kolkata, Ahmedabad,

Bangalore and New Delhi. It is a subsidiary of Grey Worldwide. The company specializes in advertising and marketing services.

Top Executives:

Nirvik Singh, chairman and CEO, Grey Group Asia Pacific, Jishnu Sen, COO, Grey India, Bindu Sethi, CSO, Asia Pacific, Malvika Mehra and Amit Akali, NCDs, Sudhir Nair, VP and head, Grey Digital,  Tara Kapur, VP and head, Grey Public Relations

Clients:

Reliance Communications, Dabur (Fem Bleach and Oxybleach) , Pepsico, Killer Jeans, Intex Technologies, Motilal Oswal,

Leo Burnett

Rank: 9

It has a noteworthy presence in about 96 offices in 10 countries. This advertising agency was awarded the 'Worldwide Agency of the Year' in 2004.They are proficient in explaining how a single image is worth thousand words and can break the barriers of language but not at the cost of the ad's emotional power.

Top Executive:

Arvind Sharma, chairman of Indian sub-continent, Nitish Mukherjee, MD, K V Sridhar, national creative director, Rajeev Sharma, national planning director, Samir Gangahar, executive director-Delhi

Client:

Vedanta, McCain Foods, Kohler, Tata International, CavinKare Digital - Carrefour India website, HPCL racer 4, Procter &Gamble Wella India website, 

Contract

Rank: 10

This is among the leading advertising agencies in India. It is one-to-one customer lifecycle management advertising agency. It was founded in 1992 at Mumbai and it has been offering a wide range of services like online marketing and strategy and many others.

Top Executive:

Ravi Deshpande, chairman and chief creative officer, Umesh Shrikhande, chief executive officer,  Rohit Shrivastava, executive VP (planning), K Vivek Kamath, executive VP (finance), MS Balaji, executive VP (Bangalore and Chennai head), Kumar Subramaniam, executive VP (Mumbai head),

Client:

Muthoot Finance, Sun DTH, Excel Soft, LAVA International, Tara Jewells, Jindal Steel,

EURO RSCG

Rank-11

Euro RSCG started the year with a development on the global level, when the agency found itself on the Unilever digital roster. It was in the news for campaigns for HDFC Bank’s ‘My Favourite’ offering, Geojit BNP Paribas, Max New York Life ‘Shiksha Plus’, Bharat Petroleum corporate campaign, MAK lubricants, and INQ Mobile

Top Executives:

Suman Srivastava CEO Satbir Singh, CCO Sandeep Gupta, CFO Sanjoy Gupta, directors Narayan Devanathan, skill leaders

Clients:

IBM – digital Bharat Petroleum MAK lubricants - advertising, India Times – advertising Max New York Life - Digital, CRM Baskin Robbins - advertising

LOWE LINTAS

Rank-12

It’s been a robust year overall for this IPG agency, with an enviable portfolio of work across brands and categories as diverse as telecom, FMCG, Personal care, Media, Jewellery, Automotive and Fashion accessories.From the point of view of the quality and number of films that have emerged from the Lowe stable, it’s been a tremendous year. Idea Cellular, Surf Excel, Maruti Suzuki, Havells, Hindustan Times, Tanishq, Fastrack, Bajaj Auto and Johnson & Johnson to name a few. As far as award shows go, Lowe only supports the Effies, where they stood second this year. The agency announced plans to venture into tier 2 and 3 cities, with the opening of their Kochi office.

Top Executive:

R. Balakrishnan (Balki), chairman and CCO Charles Cadell, CEO Joseph George, deputy CEO Fali Vakeel, COO Arun Iyer, national creative director Amer Jaleel, national creative director

Clients:

Micromax, HP Tourism DLF Grasim Industries Wipro Ego Somany Ceramics

LEO BURNETT

Rank-13

Leo Burnett left its impression across all the major awards this year for their Tide Magnets campaign. Across categories, the agency collected two silvers and a bronze at the Cannes Lions, a silver at Clio, two gold and one silver at the New York Festivals Awards, and managed two silvers and four bronzes at the Ad fest 2010. The agency managed five bronze awards at Spikes and two silvers at London International awards. Among the Indian awards, Leo Burnett ended their quest at Goa fest 2010 with three silvers and eight bronzes.

Top Executive: Arvind Sharma, chairman of Indian sub-continent Nitish Mukherjee, MD K V Sridhar, national creative director Rajeev Sharma, national planning director

Samir Gangahar, executive director-Delhi

Clients:

Piramal Supractiv HPCL racer 4 Vedanta Procter &Gamble RIM Blackberry Activation

SCARECROW

Rank-14

Scarecrow’s 2010 has been more than a little disappointing. Much of the work that they have in their kitty today are projects whether that’s Shriram Transport Finance, Orbit Constructions, Bharat Petroleum Corporation. You might argue that it is natural for independent agencies to start their relationship with smaller chunks of a business. They reiterated that the agency had merely worked on a one-time retail project in Delhi. So there is a need to separate the reality from the hyperbole. Religare has been the most visible and we have to say, the work is fresh. A good take on the financial services sector.

Top Executive:

Manish Bhatt Raghu Bhat Joy Sengupta Vivek Suchanti (all founding directors)

Clients:

Religare Health Insurance Jindal Power Bharat Petroleum Corporation Shri Ganesh Jewellers Shriram Transport Finance Corp Orbit Constructions

CREATIVELAND

Rank-15

Winning the Audi lead business against larger networks was a significant statement to the market and that will undoubtedly be the agency’s defining moment this year. On the business front, Creativeland had three major campaigns for the summer from the Parle stable- Hippo, Frooti and LMN. In addition, the agency won the mandate for JM Financials

Top Executive:

Sajan Raj Kurup, founder & creative chairman

Chetan Desai, CEO New Ventures Vikram Gaikwad, partner and ECD Anu Joseph, ECD, Sajiv Kurup, COO

Clients:

Audi India JM Financial Coffee Day Square Coffee Day Lounge Hippo baked Snacks

CRAYONS

Rank-16

Crayons Advertising was empanelled for the Air India and MTNL accounts. ITC’s Welcome Heritage has given its creative mandate to the agency as well. The agency had a fairly stable year without any major changes in the senior management. 2010 was a safe and steady year for Crayons. Business was normal, most clients grew organically and no accounts were lost. Air India was a big win, but its effects on the financials will be seen only in the next year.

Top Executive:

Ranjan Bargotra, president Kunal Lalani, MD Gurjeet Singh, head, Crayons OOH

Clients:

Air India (empanelled) ITC Welcome Heritage Khyber Cement MTNL (empanelled) Andaman & Nicobar Tourism

BATES

Rank-17

It seemed a good year, with wins at Cannes, Spikes Asia, and Goafest. The Virgin Mobile ‘Indian Panga League’ campaign won the Yahoo! Big Idea Chair award at the end of the year. Other campaigns created by the agency were for Zen Mobiles, Fiat Linea T-Jet and Monte Carlo. There was good, visible work for Max Bupa. The agency also opened an office in Bangladesh to service the Marico account.

Top Executive:

Sonal Dabral, chairman Sandeep Pathak, CEO

Manosh Mukherjee, COO Dheeraj Sinha, CSO Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, NCD Vijay Singh,MD

Clients:

Colgate Palmolive MTV Max Bup Monte Carlo Fortune India TVS Motorcycles

PERCEPT

Rank-18

In 2010, Percept/H managed to win major accounts like Gitanjali Group’s Asmi and Shuddhi brands, along with Carlsberg and the Unique Identification Authority of India (Aadhar). The agency continued its work for Toyota and launched the campaigns for Fortuner and other MUVs from their stable. However, the agency also lost some key businesses like MTNL and Beetel.

Top Executive:

Prabhakar Mundkur, CEO

Clients:

Unique Identification Authority Of India (Aadhar), Carrier Toshiba Air Conditioners ONGC Force Motors Mahagun Real Estate

TBWA INDIA

Rank-19

In 2010, the agency produced campaigns for Visa, Standard Chartered, Loop Mobile and Nissan. These are all positive stories. The big negative story is the adidas story. While TBWA India continues to be Adidas’s lead agency partner globally and in India. Attrition seems to be a continuing story. The Kochi office was closed in the year. Still, a better year than last year from a ponds-shillings-pence perspective.

Top Executive:

Shiv Sethuraman, CEO Niraj Dadoo, CFO Nirmalya Sen, MD

Rahul Sengupta, national creative director

Clients:

Loop Mobile Star Health & Allied Insurance Hygrevar

EVEREST

Rank-20

The agency won the T-Series mobile phones account, and was reported to be “chalking out creative and brand building investments of over Rs 100 crores for its launch”. Everest says it chose not to participate in any of the awards, and hence there was no news on accolades won. All in all, with the new leadership in place, we need to see what happens next after first a steady, then a tumutous year.

Top Executive:

Dhunji S Wadia, president Naveen Saraswat, COO Dr Vinita Suri, VP and director strategy planning Sanjay Sakharkar, ECD Samir Chonkar, ECD Romeen Yarkhan, ECD

Clients:

Akai Emami Parle Actifit Parle Clovemint T-series mobiles Tata Housing