My biggest competitor taught me to always play on the front foot: Josy Paul

Josy Paul, chairman & chief creative officer, BBDO India

Claim to fame

Paul is as famous for a hat fetish as he is for ground-breaking work on P&G brands like Gillette and Whisper

The lesson

When Paul and his team started BBDO India from the backseat of his car in 2008, they identified their biggest competition as news television channels, not advertising agencies. " NDTV, CNN-IBN, Times Now and others were creating content that was travelling at the speed of social media," he says. "Watching them we learnt an important lesson - what if we could create ideas that generated news for our brands. Action-oriented ideas that help our brands stay relevant and be part of the social conversation. That's how we began with newsworthy ideas." However, on a personal note, when we ask Paul who from among his competitors has taught him the most valuable lesson, one he applies in life and work every day, he doesn't name the person but gives us a clue as clear as day. "He is my biggest competitor," says Paul, "but he is also my friend and mentor. And the greatest lesson that I learnt from him is 'Always play on the front foot'.

He taught me to fear nothing. By watching and interacting with him, I am now able take on many of the bouncers and unpredictable balls that life throws at me." There's only one adman known for peppering just about any and every conversation with cricket analogies and he is Ogilvy's Piyush Pandey.

(As told to Delshad Irani)