: Comebacks aren’t easy, my wife thought I should decline the offer politely: Dr. Sandeep Goyal #IndiaNEWS #Featured Life comes in full circle and it has for Dr. Sandeep Goyal who returns to his

Comebacks aren’t easy, my wife thought I should decline the offer politely: Dr. Sandeep Goyal #IndiaNEWS #Featured
Life comes in full circle and it has for Dr. Sandeep Goyal who returns to his “karma bhoomi???, Rediffusion. Dr. Goyal shares his plans for the agency, giving us an inside view of what went behind the decision of his comeback.

In his time away from Rediffusion, Dr. Sandeep Goyal tried his hands at many things and currently in addition to his role at the agency is also the Principal Secretary to the Punjab Government. He is Chairman of Snapchat’s India Advisory Board; and Chief Mentor of the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB). He is also the Chairman of the Forum for Ethical Use of Data (FEUD). This year Dr. Goyal is also Co-Chair of Assocham’s Marketing & Branding Council.

Not much will change, Dr. Goyal tells us in a candid conversation as he explains that the idea is to keep doing what the agency is doing right keeping “awesome advertising??? at the heart of things. In conversation with Social Samosa, Goyal shares his plans for Rediffusion while commenting on the changing nature of the Indian ad world in the face of a global crisis.

Edited Excerpts:

What does your current role look like? Please take us through the specifics of the decision

I took over as Managing Director two weeks ago. Mr. Arun Nanda remains Chairman. Navonil Chatterjee and Rahul Jauhari continue to be Joint Presidents. So nothing much changes beyond my induction into day-to-day management.

What was the one element that motivated you to take the leap? Could you give us a peak in terms of what went behind the doors during the meeting? What did homecoming feel like as you signed it & made it official?

I had withdrawn from operational management at Mogae since 2018. I had started to spend more time on writing and doing some teaching. I even agreed to take on an important government assignment in my home state, Punjab where I am CEO of the state CSR Authority, in the rank of Principal Secretary. But still somewhere deep down, I was restless and a bit bored.

So, when Mr. Nanda called me a few weeks ago and suggested that I come back and run Rediffusion, I was intrigued. My wife thought I should decline politely. Comebacks are not easy. The ad agency business has only gotten tougher in the years that I have been away. But the more I thought about it, the more the idea of going back to Rediffusion excited me. So, I took the plunge. And I’m already loving it.

From a P&L front, what was the rationale behind this decision? Please take us through the math-ness & madness that went behind this decision

Too early. I am still getting to understand nuances of current client businesses.