Padma Shri Piyush Pandey, Architect Of Advertisement, Dies At 70

Piyush Pandey, known as the architect of Indian advertising, died on Thursday, October 23. His death marks the end of an era in which advertising was more than just a promotion of products. He gave a soul to every advertisement he made. Brother of veteran singer Ila Arun, he was the Chief Creative Officer Worldwide (2019) and Executive Chairman India of Ogilvy (agency). He was also awarded the Padma Shri in 2016 to honour his excellence in the advertising world. He is also recognised for developing a unique indigenous style in Indian advertising, which was previously dominated by Western advertising and concepts.

Who was Piyush Pandey?

Born in 1955, he had nine siblings, including film director Prasoon Pandey and singer-actor Ila Arun. he studied at St. Xavier's School, Jaipur and has a Post Graduate in History from St Stephen's College, Delhi. He joined the ad industry as a client servicing executive at Ogilvy in 1982. Sunlight Detergent print ad was the first ad he ever wrote. After 6 years, he got into the creative department where he created several notable ads, such as Luna moped, Fevicol, Cadbury and Asian paints, and since then, there was no looking back for Pandey. During his 40-year tenure at Ogilvy & Mather became the largest advertising agency in India, and Ogilvy India is considered one of the most creative offices in the Ogilvy worldwide network.

Piyush Pandey's notable ad campaigns

In his career spanning four decades, he has curated numerous memorable advertisements, including:

Abki baar Modi sarkar - BJP 2014 election campaign, with the famous slogan "achche din aane wale hain"

Fevicol ad campaigns - Fevicol Bus, Fevicol Fish, Fevicol Sofa

Cadbury Dairy Milk ad campaigns like "kuch Khaas Hai"

Vodafone ad campaigns - Pug, ZooZoos

Googly Woogly Woosh - Ponds Ad

Campaigns for Indian tourism

Not just this, he has also written the Indian patriotic song Mile Sur Mera Tumhara for the National Integration campaign in 1988 and co-wrote the screenplay for Bhopal Express.

Piyush Pandey's on-screen appearance

He made his on-screen appearance in the John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri film Madras Cafe. He played the role of the Cabinet Secretary. His second appearance was in Magic Pencil Project videos, a marketing campaign by ICICI Bank.