Oglivy Appoints Amritsar-Born Devika Bulchandani As Its Global CEO

Devika Bulchandani will be responsible for the creative network’s business across 131 offices in 93 countries and spanning its advertising, public relations, experience, consulting, and health units

Ogilvy, the global advertising and public relations agency, has named India-born Devika Bulchandani as its global chief executive officer (CEO), the PTI reported. Bulchandani, who has been serving as global president and CEO of Ogilvy North America, succeeds Andy Main who is stepping down as Global CEO and will serve as a senior advisor until the end of the year, the company said in a statement.

In her new role, she will be responsible for all aspects of the creative network’s business across 131 offices in 93 countries and spanning its advertising, public relations, experience, consulting, and health units, it added.

Ogilvy is part of global leading marketing and communications group, WPP. She will also join WPP’s Executive Committee as she takes on her new role, the company said.

“Devika is a champion of creativity who brings passion, purpose, and an uncompromising focus on generating impact to everything she does,” WPP CEO Mark Read said. Her love for the industry, deep understanding of clients’ needs, and track record of delivering growth for agencies and brands, make her the perfect choice to lead Ogilvy to even greater success, Read added.

Amritsar-born Bulchandani, who spent 26 years at McCann in various leadership roles, including president of McCann North America, is the latest in a slew of Indian-origin executives taking leadership role in global multinationals in varied fields.

Popularly known as Dev in the industry, Bulchandani's "proudest achievements have occurred at the intersection of the social causes she champions and brand-building efforts on behalf of clients".

She was the driving force behind Mastercard’s long-running “Priceless” campaign as well as “True Name,” a feature launched in 2019 that empowers transgender and non-binary people to display their chosen name on their Mastercard, the statement said.

She also helped launch “Fearless Girl,” a symbol of women’s equality, a campaign that became one of the most awarded campaigns in the history of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, it added. She has done her masters from University of Southern California. 

Last week, coffee giant Starbucks appointed Laxman Narasimhan as its chief executive. The list includes Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Twitter head Parag Agrawal, Leena Nair from Chanel, and Arvind Krishna - CEO IBM Group.