Graduating in Psychology and armed with an MBA, Shubha George turned a true blue WPP-ite with a 17-year career between Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, MindShare, and currently Mediaedge:cia.

Starting as a management trainee in Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai, George’s training ground included a spectrum of clients such as Unilever, Asian Paints and Cadbury’s. She moved to Bangalore and JWT in 1995. Since 1997, she headed the media function at JWT, Bangalore and became Associate Vice President & Media Services Director in 2001.

With the launch of MindShare in India in 2001, George, as General Manager, had set up MindShare in Bangalore. She managed a portfolio that included IBM, SAP, United Breweries, United Spirits, Infosys and i-Flex.

In April 2003, George moved back to Mumbai as Director - Strategic Planning for GroupM. In this role, she had the opportunity to work on a diverse set of brands such as Diamond Trading Corporation, Bajaj Auto, Ford, Murugappa Group, Boots, and Hutch, to name a few. She was also part of the new business development team and successfully pitched a number of businesses such as Britannia, Titan, HSBC, Boots, and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

When WPP launched Mediaedge:cia in India in 2004, George moved in September 2004 as Managing Director, MEC India. Since 2005, she has grown the new entrant MEC to a leading media specialist with $250 million billings and 115 staff across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. Notable business wins include, Sony Ericsson, Beiersdorf (Nivea India), Henkel India, Cavinkare, Accenture, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Citibank, DHL, Singapore Airlines, Michelin, Tata AIG General Insurance, and Xerox. Moving beyond traditional media, MEC has in 2008 launched specialised services divisions MEC Interaction (Digital media) and MEC Access (Entertainment, Sports, Content, Activation).

Beyond managing media, George is a keen movie buff, avid reader (strictly fiction) and is always ready to take a crack at a crossword puzzle (strictly cryptic).

 
Shubha George, SMD, MEC India

What, according to you, would be the first milestone of you career, the breakthrough
moment?

I cannot pinpoint any one moment. I think what has worked for me is consistency and adapting to and changing with the times.

Amongst all the assignments that you have handled, which is the one work that you would always cherish as your best work – a lifetime favourite?

Again, there is more than one over the years. If I have to put it chronologically, being part of the Ogilvy team that crafted the life-changing Cadbury’s Dairy Milk campaign in the first half of the 90s. At the second stage, there was a lot of lovely work for the Unilever beverage brands, especially the first branded train that ran for 3Roses. The passion with which we ensured that the first ever co-branded movie tie-up went on air for McDowell’s Bagpiper with the film ‘Dum’. Being part of the core pitch team at GroupM and successfully pitching for Britannia and Titan, which went a long way in building Maxus then.

And last, but most definitely not the least, building MEC in India literally from start up to a Top 5 agency today. The many new business wins, starting with HDFC Standard Life, which will be special as the first win; building a team from scratch and attracting talent to a hitherto unknown agency.

Most recently, I am very proud of the work the MEC team has done with Citi in the last edition of IPL, for Nivea currently with Femina Miss India, a large scale on-ground activation for Honda Motors and the SpellBee for HDFC Standard Life Insurance.

On a personal note, I am happy to have demystified digital media for myself and now feel at home with the young talent in being able to mount an online campaign with all the rigour of off-line media.

What would you say are the challenges for a woman leader working in the advertising industry?

Probably fewer challenges compared to other industries. Advertising and media have a more open culture, which makes it easy to sort out any issues quickly. I have found the industry to be very much gender neutral. Of course, there are the usual challenges of travel, work life balance, but that applies to both men and women.

What is the one thing that a woman ad professional can bring to the table that the male counterpart often lacks?

I think women by and large are more empathetic in inter-personal relations and have a greater intuitive ability to understand people. This helps a lot in people management. Though, I am told by my colleagues that women are usually either very good at this, or very bad and there is no middle path!

Two other important qualities are the ability to multi-task, which comes more naturally to women, and remaining calm in crisis. Both of these I see in many women professionals and are very useful qualities, especially in our industry.
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