It’s Been A Privilege Working Alongside The Mad Men Of Indian Advertising: Chintamani Rao

Chintamani Rao, a revered figure in the advertising and media world, celebrated his 50-year career anniversary in June 2024. Known fondly as "Chinta" among colleagues, friends, and family, Rao's journey has been rich with professional achievements and personal milestones, influencing the careers of many prominent figures, including Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairperson of Ogilvy India, and Ashish Chakravarty, Executive Director and India Head of Creative at McCann Worldgroup.

In a candid conversation with Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of BW Businessworld and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of exchange4media Group, on the sidelines of the event, Rao recounted his remarkable journey in advertising and media, highlighting key moments that shaped his illustrious career.

Rao reminisced about discovering Piyush Pandey's creative potential during their time at O&M Mumbai. "Piyush was an account supervisor working on several brands like HUL and Cadbury. One day, he showed me a script he had written for a detergent powder campaign. It was spot on, matching the brief perfectly. We developed it further, and the scripts were presented in Hindi, which surprised our client, Sanjay Khosla," Rao shared. This pivotal moment marked the beginning of Pandey's illustrious career in creative advertising.

Reflecting on his career highlights, Rao mentioned working with iconic figures such as Alyque Padamsee, Ranjan Kapur, RK Swamy, and Mani Ayer. At the age of 27, he was tasked with turning around the Madras branch of Lintas, which had been incurring losses for eight years. "I had six months to get my act together and make the branch break even in a year. We succeeded, and that experience taught me P&L management," Rao recalled.

Another significant turning point in Rao's career came at the age of 53 when he transitioned from advertising to broadcasting. "I was happy at McCann, involved in various aspects of marketing when I received a call that led me to broadcasting. It was a big change, but it worked out well," he said.

Rao has always been vocal about industry trends and challenges. He expressed his evolving views on the role of CMOs, admitting, "I've had my views on marketing and CMOs today. I'm glad to say that if you see the recent Forbes list - the CMOs on the list and the kind of work they are doing, I was wrong and I'm glad to have been wrong."

During the celebratory event held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, on the evening of 30 June, 2024, Rao was asked about his future plans. He concluded with a reflective note, "I'm open and taking life as it comes."

Neha Kalra

BW Reporters She is the Senior Editorial Lead at Businessworld and majorly covers pieces on advertising, marketing, branding and experiential marketing. She writes closely for BW Marketing World and Everything Experiential.