The Creative Question with Himanshu Saxena: Can 3 agencies really work as one?

The advertising industry has long grappled with a fundamental tension: how to make integration meaningful when legacy, ego, and P&L sheets naturally pull agencies apart. Himanshu Saxena, now leading three distinct creative shops under one unified leadership structure, isn't interested in theoretical models. He's building something that forces collaboration by design, not by deck.

As Managing Director of BBH India and President (North & East) for Saatchi & Saatchi India and Propagate India, Saxena is orchestrating what Publicis Groupe calls its 'Power of One' model across a region that is as commercially complex as it is culturally diverse. But unlike most integration plays that remain boardroom strategies, Saxena's approach embeds collaboration into the operating system itself: from how briefs are framed to how success is measured.

Redefining what three agencies mean

For Saxena, the starting point isn't about managing three separate entities with distinct identities. It's about creating an ecosystem where each agency's creative approach serves a specific client need without operating in isolation. "We don't see this as three separate agencies operating in the market. With a unified leadership structure across Saatchi & Saatchi India, BBH India and Propagate in North & East, we've built a creative company ecosystem that offers distinct approaches to creativity depending on a client's ambition and growth objectives," he explains.

This ecosystem thinking is critical. Rather than forcing uniformity across the agencies or letting them compete internally, Saxena has structured them to complement each other's strengths. The model provides clients access to scale, depth and expertise that can unlock full-funnel impact across different mandates, powered by both horizontal and vertical capabilities. But the real shift happens at the leadership level, where the fundamentals remain constant regardless of which agency badge is on the door.

"The fundamentals of leadership, to me, are constant. They don't change with scale, history or structure," Saxena says. For him, three principles are non-negotiable. First, absolute clarity on the client's goals and how the agency is expected to drive growth. Second, accountability that prioritizes ownership of outcomes over individual outputs. "In an integrated setup, ownership of outcomes matters far more than delivering individual outputs. Every leader and team needs to understand the business effect of their work," he notes.

The third principle is perhaps the most straightforward: the quality of creative work. "Last but never the least: work, work and work is what matters in this business. If our creative product and solutions are not powerful and market-shaping, the first two fundamentals will fail to deliver a composite success," he adds. It's a philosophy that cuts through the complexity of holding company structures and returns focus to what agencies are fundamentally meant to do: produce work that moves markets.

Designing collaboration into the workflow

Integration, as Saxena sees it, only becomes real when it's designed into how people actually work, not just how org charts look. The first shift he implemented was at the leadership level itself. BBH India, Saatchi & Saatchi India and Propagate now operate with a unified senior leadership within Publicis Groupe's 'Power of One' ecosystem, which means collaboration is embedded into decision-making from day one rather than being an afterthought.

But the more critical change is in how client briefs are approached. "Challenges are framed centrally and solved collectively, with the lead agency determined by the nature of the problem, while the others contribute their strengths across strategy, creative, digital and social. This ensures that solutions are built as full-funnel systems rather than isolated pieces of work," Saxena explains.

Equally important is how success is measured. Teams and leaders are now aligned to overall client impact, not agency-specific outputs. "Collaboration thus stops being optional and becomes the fastest, most effective way to deliver results," he says. By changing the incentive structure, Saxena has made collaboration the path of least resistance rather than a nice-to-have that requires extra effort. It's a design principle that acknowledges human behaviour: people will naturally do what gets rewarded, so reward the right things.

Understanding the North & East complexity

If there's one region in India that resists simple categorization, it's the North & East. The diversity here isn't just cultural, because it's operational. Every state, city, and often every district behaves differently in terms of culture, consumption patterns, and media habits. For Saxena, this complexity is precisely what makes the region both challenging and valuable for brands that can crack it.

"North & East is a highly diverse and fast-evolving growth market, and brands can only win by combining scale with deep local relevance," he says. The emphasis on combining scale with hyper-local understanding is crucial. National brands often make the mistake of treating the region as a monolithic market, applying strategies that worked in Mumbai or Bengaluru without adapting to local nuances. "Success in this region requires a hyper-local understanding combined with integrated, full-funnel solutions that can be scaled without losing relevance," Saxena adds.

This is where the unified leadership structure becomes an operational advantage, not just a structural one. With the depth, talent, heft and expertise now available across the three agencies, brands have access to both the local intelligence needed to navigate district-level differences and the capability to scale solutions across the region. It's a balance that's difficult to achieve, but essential for winning in a market as complex as this one.

The industrial DNA of North & East

When asked about which business category is being underestimated in the region, Saxena takes a step back to reframe the entire conversation. Rather than pointing to a single sector, he highlights something more fundamental: the entrepreneurial DNA of the region itself. "One might need to pull back to re-recognize the fact that the northern and eastern regions of India have historically been the birthplace of the finest entrepreneurial spirit. In the last over 75 years, these regions have given birth to some of the biggest industrial giants in this country," he observes.

This historical context matters because it challenges the current narrative that positions other metros as the primary centres of entrepreneurship. Saxena argues that the genetic code of the North & East regions is naturally built for new ideas and breakthrough creativity for business, with proven success at scale for decades. The result is an industrial diversity that surpasses most other regions.

"That's the reason that this region has immense diversity of industries versus any other. Automotive – ICE & EV, Consumer Tech, Food & Beverage, Alco Bev, Hospitality, Healthcare, FinTech, Consumer Durables, Travel & Tourism, Construction Materials, Agri products and of course a massive government infrastructure," Saxena lists. For agencies with mature, well-oiled and deep full-funnel marketing competencies, the potential is enormous. The challenge isn't finding opportunity, but having the capability to serve such a wide spectrum of industries with equal sophistication.

Context over one-size-fits-all leadership

The question of when to push for aggressive growth versus when to protect creative craft and team morale is one that every agency leader faces. For Saxena, the answer isn't a formula. It's more about context. Different clients, categories, and teams require different pacing. Some situations demand speed and scale, while others need time for deeper thinking and collaboration.

"Balancing ambition with capability is key, but when people understand why we are pushing and can see the impact of their work, morale stays high even during intense phases," he explains. The emphasis on visibility and understanding is crucial. People can handle pressure when they understand the purpose behind it and can see tangible results from their efforts. Without that clarity, even modest targets can feel arbitrary and demoralizing.

For Saxena, sustainable growth is built on specific foundations. "For me, growth that is built on clarity, respect for craft, and trust in teams is the growth that lasts," he says. It's an approach that rejects the quarterly-results mentality that often dominates holding company cultures and instead focuses on building momentum that can be sustained over years, not just quarters.

The trap of past success

When it comes to uncomfortable truths about agency leadership, Saxena doesn't hold back. He identifies a trap that many leaders fall into when taking on expanded roles: the unconscious bias to replay the same toolkit that brought them success in their previous position. "Any leader that takes on any new or expanded role, involving new geographies, people and clients, often tends to have a natural unconscious bias to play through the same toolkit that brought him or her to success so far. Unfortunately, this is the biggest mindset shift that is needed and is also the hardest to achieve," he admits.

This self-awareness is rare in an industry where confidence is currency and admitting uncertainty can be perceived as weakness. Saxena acknowledges that in his own context, recognizing that what brought success in the last three to four years may no longer be fully or partially valid in new circumstances is an intentional, ongoing effort. "Embracing this uncomfortable truth is the biggest task and challenge in my new role," he says.

It's a warning to any leader taking on expanded responsibilities: success creates patterns, and patterns create blind spots. The ability to question your own playbook, especially when it's been successful, requires a level of intellectual humility that's difficult to maintain when you're being promoted precisely because of that playbook.

From managing agencies to working with a growth partner

If the 'Power of One' model truly works, the client experience should fundamentally change. Saxena believes that shift will become visible in the next 12 months through faster decision-making, clearer prioritization, and full-funnel solutions that are designed as integrated systems rather than assembled from separate parts.

"Our unique 'Power of One' model engages with a unified leadership and delivery model where everyone works together from the onset. This translates into faster decision-making, clearer prioritization, and full-funnel solutions that are designed as one system rather than in parts," he explains. The operational benefits are clear: brand thinking, content, experiences, and performance working in sync, all aligned to defined business outcomes.

But the deeper shift is relational. "The real shift for clients will be moving from managing multiple agencies to working with a single, integrated growth partner that is accountable for impact," Saxena says. For clients tired of playing referee between brand, digital, and activation teams, this promise is compelling. The question, of course, is execution. Can the agencies consistently deliver on that promise across different clients, categories, and market conditions? That will be the real test of whether the model is a genuine evolution or just another repackaging of holding company assets.

Building institutional legacy, not personal glory

When the conversation turns to legacy, Saxena's answer reveals his leadership philosophy most clearly. Rather than positioning himself as the architect of transformation, he places the focus on institutional success. "Firstly, we are only focused on building a legacy for the agency brand. Personal legacies are a natural outcome of it and not the starting point ambition. Moreover, we will be more satisfied if this legacy is built on the shoulders of many, not just one," he says.

The ambition is specific and measurable: to be among the top five agencies in India within five years, measured by economic scale, creative reputation and talent depth. It's a goal that can only be achieved if the integration model works, if the North & East strategy delivers, and if the agencies can consistently produce work that moves markets. "Everything that I have spoken so far will remain our focus and priority to be able to get to this position," Saxena adds.

Whether Saxena and his unified leadership approach will succeed remains to be seen, but it is likely to attract attention within the industry. The model he is developing offers a different perspective on how integration can be structured and managed.