Title: Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Contract Advertising, India
Ravi Deshpande had 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 a few years, Ravi 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, Clio and other international festivals.
Contract went on to win Agency of the year at the Advertising & Marketing national awards four times and Agency of the Year in Ad Club Bombay, in 1999. This resulted in Contract being one of the best creative houses in the country.
At an individual capacity, Ravi Deshpande won numerous awards including Art Director of the Year Awards twice, Creative Professional of the year for Strategic Marketing Management Programme organized by McKinsey & Co., awarded for “Outstanding Contribution to the advertising industry in India”, and honored as one of the six living legends of the Indian advertising industry within the last 50 years by the Advertising Club, Madras (India).
After a long and successful relationship at Contract, in August 2001 he started “Lemon” in alliance with Euro RSCG Worldwide. He guided Euro RSCG Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East as Chief Creative Officer in an advisory capacity.
In 2005, 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 his most recent book titled “Grow Young”. A theory based on the belief that un-boxed ideas reverse the ageing process of brands making them younger and more desirable.
In 2008, was elevated to the position of Chairman for the Contract network in India and has been a judge at major international award festivals like the One Show, Cannes Advertising Festival, D&AD, ADFEST, Dubai Lynx, Malaysian Kancils and Clio.
Under his leadership, Contract has been blessed with a fresh lease of creativity that’s drives the agencies prosperity with a steadily expanding roster of national and multi-national brands.
