Publicis Indonesia nabs FCB creative lead Ravi Shanker

Publicis Groupe Indonesia has appointed Ravi Shanker as its new ECD. He (pictured) last helmed the role of ECD at FCB Jakarta and was with the agency for five years.

During his time at FCB, Shanker was the regional creative lead for SEA on Mondelez's Oreo brand. Heading up FCB Jakarta’s creative department, Shanker handled clients such as Beiersdorf, Fonterra and Levi's. According to his LinkedIn, he aided in bagging the regional account for iron supplement brand Sangobion.

Prior to his stint at FCB, Shanker was with Creativeland Asia as its creative director. Based in India, he worked on brands such as Mango Frooti, Homeshop18, Kalpataru, She, Medimix and AppyFizz. He spent two years and five months with the independent creative company. Shanker has been in the adland since 2004, and worked with the likes of Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, McCann Erickson and BBDO.

In an exclusive statement to Marketing Interactive, Shanker said in his position with the agency, he aims to grow creatively as well as business wise. "Apart from doing meaningful work for clients and the consumers, I hope I can grow the business by becoming proactive to find new solutions for the clients which may not be a part our scope. After and during this pandemic, a lot of things are going to change in the communication industry and the scope of work for any agency. In this tough time, my aim will be to explore new solutions since the behaviour of consumers will going to change now," he said. Shanker said:

The current pandemic will 'force' the Indonesian and the global advertising industry to look at problems differently.

According to him, the industry will collectively have to change the way it works and the work it does. "For example, for a long time we will not be able to do any on-ground consumer engagement or activation, then what do we do? The answer might not be as simple as ‘digital’. Virtual reality or perhaps even advertising in space? We have to explore new ways together," he explained. 

In this challenging time, Shanker said clients are looking for a complete integrated solution under one roof and he strongly feels Publicis Groupe is doing it the best. When Shanker first met Publicis Groupe Indonesia's CEO, Brian Capel, Shanker was really motivated to know Capel's vision, passion and ambition for the group. "During the conversation, I felt that ‘Power of one’ is not just an inspiring thought but it’s the agency model of the future," he said.

Meanwhile, Ali Shabaz, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe Indonesia said Shanker not only brings with him valuable experience on some of the brands but also good understanding of how the market works. "Delighted to have Shanker join our team in Jakarta. I’m sure he’ll help us take the work to the next level," he added.

Shanker joins former MD of FCB Jakarta Sony Nichani in her move to Publicis Groupe as managing director. Nichani was tasked to run and handle the international businesses, as well as support the CEO on running the group P&L along with the management team. She was with the agency since 2011.

Publicis Groupe Indonesia has also been making new heavy-weight hires in 2020. The agency brought on board Ali Shabaz as chief creative officer last year and bagged clients NIVEA and Mondelez. In an exclusive statement to Marketing Interactive previously, Capel said clients were and still are facing tremendous challenges when it comes to delivering work that is effective and efficient. Hence, Publicis Groupe looks to deliver against these challenges with the right talent in place as well as the right structure and model. According to Capel, the Power of One model helps to build the right pool of talent for each client and create mini agencies within its system to put together dedicated teams that ultimately answers the most challenging business issues.