When Joydeb Chakravarty, managing director of JWT-Thompson Nepal (now known as Wunderman-Thompson Nepal), came to Nepal in the winter of 1993, it was a challenge to work in the country. As Nepal had limited resources, Joydeb thought of working for a few years in Nepal before returning to India. But with the worsening political and economic situation in the early 2000, nobody in his agency was willing to come to Nepal, to replace him. Now, it’s been more than 26 years since Joydeb has been working in Nepal, and his journey is filled with a lot of exciting events. He sat down with Ashim Neupane of New Business Age and talked about his career over the years.

Education
Born to a middle-class family in Kolkata, Joydeb studied at a boarding school in Hazaribagh, Bihar (now Jharkhand), run by the Australian Jesuits where creativity, originality and individuality were actively encouraged. Joydeb stayed in a hostel for all his school life that groomed him in the true Xavierian spirit. After completing his Bachelors with major in Economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, he worked for two years as a salesperson. He has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management.

Advertising Industry
After completing his MBA in the early 80s, he got a job at Grant, Keynon & Eckhardt, a medium-sized multinational advertising agency in Kolkata. Joydeb never wanted to join advertising in the initial stage of his career as he was more interested in brands and marketing.

At that time, the advertising industry had stellar personalities, and the agency had big names as clients. So, it was a well-respected profession in India. Joydeb started enjoying his job and as a young executive he could interact with top actors and actresses as part of his work! After working for a year and a half, he was posted to Delhi where he worked for a short stint after which he got transferred to Mumbai and spent almost two and a half years there.

Working with Nestle
In 1983, he came back to Delhi and joined Clarion-McCann Advertising, where he handled the Agency’s topmost client, Nestlé. Joydeb shares that he was one of the people involved in launching Maggi Noodles in India. He remembers when Maggi was launched, it was priced at Rs 3 per pack. It was a huge success, and he and the team did an enormous amount of work in positioning the brand as ‘Maggi 2-minute easy-to-cook noodles.’

Successful Campaign
Joydeb reminisces that the most significant success at Clarion-McCann was repositioning Nestlé’s Milkmaid Condensed Milk. He thinks it was one of the high points of his career. Condensed milk was mostly used in India as a tea and coffee whitener. And, the agency repositioned the brand as a packaged milk of convenience to prepare desserts and puddings. He remembers working with the CEO of the Agency, Tara Sinha, on the project. He worked at Clarion-McCann for six years and left in 1989 to join Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA) at Delhi, where he worked closely with Pepsi which had just entered India.

Coming to Nepal
Joydeb was transferred to Nepal in 1993. He found it tough to work in Nepal in the initial years. The office didn’t even have an ISD and fax line, so he had to go to telecom booths across the road to call and to send a fax.

He remembers the infrastructure was at a primitive stage, and the country was relying on India on several things, as regards to advertising. Joydeb remembers cajoling and bringing people from India to deploy in the agency. Even bringing workforce from India didn’t work for the agency as they would leave Nepal after a while. Despite challenges, Joydeb enjoyed his job as he was personally and professionally supported by all the agency’s big clients in the country for which he remains ever grateful.

Establishing Thompson Nepal
In 1997, the agency thought of establishing a subsidiary of Hindustan Thompson in Nepal. But, the advertising sector was on the ‘negative list’ of the government.

The government didn’t want advertising agencies from abroad to be established in Nepal. So, the agency had to convince the government and made presentations to the authorities regarding why investments in the advertising sector would be good for the country. He remembers the agency presenting in the Ministry of Industries. At that time, Nepal had just opened up for foreign direct investments (FDIs) and Joydeb remembers that many multinational companies were showing interest in setting up operations in Nepal.

He remembers Dabur, Unilever, Colgate, Kodak, had come to Nepal. Joydeb and his top bosses from the region convinced the government by saying, “These MNCs will look at the service sectors in Nepal, and the advertising agency was one of them.” The government was convinced after taking views from the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FNCCI), industrialists, among other stakeholders to open up investment in the advertising sector. In 1998, HTA got formal permission from the Ministry of Industries to establish the Company. The agency started the formal operations from August 17, 1998. The agency closely worked with printing presses, scanning houses, photographers, filmmakers, modelling agencies, among others, to build capacity and professionalism within these sectors

Visiting Faculty at KUSOM
He was also a visiting member of the faculty at the Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He conducted MBA/EMBA classes where he taught communications, advertising and marketing communications. He was associated with KUSOM for almost six years.

Was motivated to give his best to Nepal
Joydeb says “About 30 years back, I joined Hindustan Thompson (HTA), as JWT India was known then; I firmly believed HTA was the best advertising agency in India. I worked with some of the greatest minds who were imaginative, curious and passionate.

I experienced the mystical effect of our creativity on some of the most powerful brands in the country. When I came to Nepal, I was inspired to develop the best team, build the best brands…and build the best agency. I wanted to show that the same could be achieved in spite of the most challenging of circumstances. And, that feeling motivates and inspires me even today.”

Unforgettable Incidents    
Thompson Nepal was doing photography for a client – Surya Nepal – in the late 90s. The shooting was happening on a hot air balloon in Kirtipur, Kathmandu. Joydeb also jumped into the balloon to assist the photographer. After flying, the pilot lost his bearings, and they flew all over the Kathmandu valley, and finally landed on a rice field in Bhaktapur. “I remember we were all very scared. I can never forget that moment,” he said, adding that the 2015 earthquake also was also very defining moment in his life.

Working with Rajesh Hamal
The agency worked with the Rotary Club of Patan and Rotary International on the Disability Awareness Campaign.

He thinks the Agency was fortunate to work in partnership with the Rotary Club of Patan and rope in the actor Rajesh Hamal for the campaign. For four years, the campaign ran in Nepal. Joydeb sees Hamal as a thorough professional and extremely easy-going, with whom he enjoyed working.

Family Support a Must
When Joydeb came to Nepal, his family also came along with him. “Had my family not come with me, it would have been very difficult for me to work in a new place,” he says, adding that his family has been a motivating factor in his entire career.

Free Time
Despite being busy, he loves to spend time with his family members. His day starts at six in the morning, and he takes his dog for a walk along with him. He also loves to travel to new places with his family. Joydeb also loves gardening and cooking exotic dishes during weekends.