In the news Portfolio I CV I Home   INTERVIEW IN KREATIV, THE HUNGARIAN ADVERTISING MAGAZINE, MAY 2005 Intro: Dalbir Singh returns for the first time to a country, where he was working before. The creative director of Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) Budapest says he loves Hungary and his work. His objective is to get his company known in the international arena.    Kreativ: Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) Budapest is not known, as the agency that cares about its PR. Since the former Creative Director Alex Szénássy has left last September, we can not find a person who could really represent Ogilvy. We don't see you to often on certain events, you don't speak too much &endash; but in your case you came with concrete ideas, i.e. what kind of portrait you want to see on the cover. Are you working on changing the impressions, we got from the agency?    Dalbir: It's true, when the most creative agencies are to be meant, most people would say &endash; Leo Burnett, DDB or BBDO &endash; and just a few would mention Ogilvy. One reason is that we are not good at self PR, or I would say we do not brag our achievements. I would also blame the media for not highlighting out achievements. For example no one really knows that we won gold at NY Festival, but everyone knows that Leo Burnett got a bronze. I am going to change that. I personally am against a single person as the face of the agency. I would like Ogilvy to be known for it's creativity as a result of its team and not just for one person.    Couldn't it be more efficient, when an agency in Hungary is identified by on face? The branch might be not big enough to keep more faces within a company alive.    Does anyone know which creative is behind Adidas ads? Everyone knows it is 180 Amsterdam. Fallon is not known for one person. I would like Ogilvy to be known by its work and not a single person. Of course people on the business would always know who is behind the ads.    But why are concerned with developing the image? Does it belong to your scope of activities?    Not really, but an agency is adjudged by its creativity, so this makes it my job. Generally people when they have a choice, would like to work with the best and this case one of the ways to measure an agency is by its creativity.   You stress very hard, that you take other competitions much more serious, than other creative in Hungary. Does it make sense to compete if the clients care only about festivals, which are well known in Hungary?    In my opinion, there are 6 really important creative festivals in the world: One Show, Cannes, Clio, D&AD, Communication Arts and the London International. The local awards (Arany Penge) are also important as it represents your creative standing in the country. Here in the region everybody goes gaga for Portorozs (Golden Drum). But I don't think that over the borders of Central-Europe anybody knew, or care about it. This festival has no credibility in my eyes and we not going to enter it again.     Yes, but your working field is the Hungarian market. How can you convince your clients, that it is good for them, when you win prizes unknown for them?    This is exactly our job, to educate them. Clients are taking more interest in international awards as you could see so many of them at Cannes. But what is sad is that even so many creative from so called „creative agencies" here are ignorant about the big awards. They do not even know the 3 most important agencies in the world. It was similar in Ogilvy but it is changing now. Nobody was there to tell them.    Did you carry out such evangelizing work in other countries to?    There was no need for that, because the people working in the agencies already know about this. In fact I learned from them a lot.    What does the international market think of the „scam ad" problem that occurred in the last months again (Kreatív, 2004. December)? It is thought by many people in the international scene, that an agency can show its qualities really though those materials, which aren't made by a brief concept and there is no problem with this.    It is very important to define what a scam ad is. An ad by Nike could be a scam if it was not produced on brief and it happens a lot. Since they have the money the clients are willing to accept these jobs and publish them. This is why they call them proactive work. Here in Hungary because of limited budgets we can not do pro active work and which is why some creative channel is to smaller clients. Cannes has a lot of these proactive/scam ads. That is one the reason they have special category for Zoo, Ballet School, Restaurants etc. So the Zoo ad by Leo Prague should not be a problem. I have a problem when agencies are only concentrating on these and ignoring the real paying clients. I would not generally do an ad for a flower shop, but I am always looking for opportunities for Public Service advertising.    It is said that you need an assistant who speaks Hungarian. So this means that you feel disadvantages of not speaking the native language?    It is not a disadvantage not to know the local language as we are working on ideas which can be translated in any language. Everywhere I worked except US, they did not speak English. I am looking for head of copy as I would like to improve our copywriting as I am an art director and we are stronger on the Art side.    India, Bahrain, Hong Kong, United States &endash; to mention some of places you lived. Did you always get acclimatized fast? It couldn't be easy.    Acclimatization was the smaller problem, because there are very extreme temperatures in Delhi. To get the right meal was a bigger problem. But I am lucky with Hungary. Hungarian cuisine is similar to ours in India. In Hong Kong was very hard for me.    Why do you wondering so much? Do you want or merge the pleasure with profitability? So you know, that can make a real career only in the international scene? Or is just because you like traveling and to get know other cultures?   I would not call wondering around as I was not. Most places I went were only after I got a job offer and was carefully planned. In most cases I went somewhere, when they called me. I like the changes, because I had different things to learn in different countries. In Hong Kong TV was more important, in Minneapolis they needed more new ideas and here in Hungary I have to shake up the smaller domestic market which is focusing more on little regional cases.    When I started working in India, I never thought I was spending the next decade with moving from a country to another. After my first job abroad I fell in love with the changes and after a few years I wanted to see new places. I realized that my contacts can help me to get me further in my career. I had to cope with some hard decisions: Between Hong Kong and Australia, Hungary or Taiwan. I choose Morocco over Russia as had already worked in an Eastern European market and Morocco would give me North African French experience. Now that I am a creative director, I think I have to stop moving around. As long as I was young and I wasn't in leading positions, I could leave without any consequences. Now I am responsible for a team, and our clients deserve that I last. Also I can use all the knowledge from my experience and put them to effective usage in Hungary.    Did you never feel that you would stay forever in a place?    When I lived in the United States everybody told me, this is the best place in the world, you should never leave! Well, I didn't feel myself American, as I didn't feel myself in other countries belonging to another nation. I handle the world global and me inside too. Probably that's why it is not too hard to me to live in another country next day. When I met someone from Hong Kong, U.S. or from India I connect to all of them. This is what I believe in within my job: we must think global and act local.    It is the second time you came to Hungary. Maybe you start to twit somewhere?    Really, Hungary is the only place, where I am working for the second time; this is even new for me. This is my seventh agency and the sixth country yet. I try not to make this usual, but I couldn't refuse that offer from Budapest Ogilvy, especially from Alex Szénássy. I was a creative director at Young & Rubicam Casablanca, I didn't want to change my position, and I didn't want to step back. Now I have the opportunity to change, almost re-build the creative, which is a big challenge. Alex told me that the artwork of the agency would need some new blood, so came in as the head of art, later they offered me the chair of the creative director. It was a big help for me to remember the first time in Hungary, which was a very successful period of mine. I knew that I know the country, the market and they offered me a big chance. I couldn't say no. I will make Ogilvy the most creative agency.    Where are you on your way?    We got a shortlist at One Show, since I came here. We are the only one to get it in Hungary. This festival is hardly known in Hungary, even in Central-Europe, despite it is an important event. We got gold at the New York Festival last year, also Hungary's first.    Did you recognize your crew? I have heard that you want to engage more newly graduated inexperienced creative.    It would be ideal if I could engage many-many beginners besides 2 or 3 senior creative, but this can't be realized in Hungary yet. It is easier in the US if you get trainees from Miami ad school etc. Creative trainings here is not as good, to engage an associate without any experience. Well, I keep on trying and have faith in this. Until that we try to train the newcomers among us.    It is said, only laziness can make you angry. Are you strict?    Not really. I give my fellow-workers free hand, because it is my conviction that fear doesn't inspire and you can't create great ideas. I don't want my colleagues to think twice, whether they want to knock on my door. I am very touchy on deadlines and bad creative, and I hate it, when just because we are short on time, I have to give bad works out of my hand.    D&AD result    We got the news after the press deadline, that O&M is short listed on D&AD with an Amnesty International BTL ad. None of the Hungarian agencies have ever been short listed on this event. The art director and creative director of the ad was Dalbir Singh.   BACK