Bold ideas need fearless selling with deep conviction: Himanshu Saxena

Himanshu Saxena, COO & MD, BBH India, with over 30 years of experience in advertising, has seen the industry transform in ways few could have predicted. From navigating the rise of digital marketing to witnessing the shift in client-agency dynamics, he has been at the forefront of these changes. His leadership philosophy, built on staying curious, learning from every generation, and facing rejection head-on, has made him a resilient force in a fast-evolving market. At BBH India, Saxena combines these lessons with a sharp understanding of today’s fragmented and data-driven world, helping brands craft creative, culturally relevant campaigns that stand out.

In this conversation, Saxena shares how agencies must embrace AI and data, evolve to meet shifting client expectations, and foster inclusivity not just in campaigns but within their own ranks. 

Saxena was also on Social Samosa’s 30 under 30 jury. He shared a message of inspiration for the winners. For young talent in the industry, his advice is clear, stay curious, stay humble, and never stop pushing boundaries.

Edited excerpts: 

Over 30 years in advertising, you’ve witnessed many changes in both business and creativity. Can you share a pivotal moment or challenge that significantly shaped your leadership philosophy? How do you continue to evolve your leadership approach?

In my career, there are only three simple principles I have tried hard (almost always) to stay tuned in to the most contemporary as well as futuristic trends in our society, business and audiences.

First is to ‘Be interested’ in life, work, people, culture, language, literature, politics, gossip, fashion, cinema, music, technology and everything else in between. Being interested is far more important than being interesting. Hence, always be this sponge with deep and immeasurable ability to soak everything around you.

Second and more important principle is to always acknowledge that ‘Generations before you and generations after you knew or know more than you’. This genuine humility goes a long way in ensuring that you don’t suffer from any generational bias when trying to solve a problem.

And finally, learn to be face rejection and yet never stop pushing for your conviction – despite resistance, strong personalities and opposing viewpoints. ‘Always stay away from working with people who either always agree with you or always vehemently disagree with you’. Simply because in either scenario, you stop growing and improving.

Having learnt the above principles over the years, I don’t have a magical moment of transformation as such because this constant evolution in our belief and value systems is like seeing your children grow everyday…They grow every second and every day but it is only after many years you realise that how you have shaped them and how they shaped you as a parent.

You have worked at some iconic agencies and seen the advertising world change over the years. At BBH India, how do you use the lessons from your earlier career to lead in today’s more complex and fragmented market? Are there any specific principles from your past that you still rely on?

As they say, hindsight is the most convenient way to answer most things in this world. So, I will do the same.

I was fortunate that my work life exposed me to an extremely diverse set of industries and functions – sales, marketing, product management, advertising, PR, digital marketing, and consumer research etc. Also, I happened to work across many organisations, geographies, cultures, and languages in India and overseas. All this combined has deeply impacted me during my career journey so far - making me more adaptive, empathetic and versatile in my mindset and skills.

Honestly, while going through this journey, I had my moments of anxiety about watching many professional counterparts sticking to straight and narrow and often faster paths while I was seemingly meandering in my choices. But looking back today, I can say with utmost surety that I don’t regret those choices at all.

As it is evident today in our business, people who have wider full-funnel marketing knowledge and orientation are the ones who have a real ability to make a deep business impact for their clients as well as agencies. I’m glad that I was exposed to some of the most amazing organizations, and mandates as well as amazing mentors which helped me grow professionally and personally in this sphere.

With the rise of in-house marketing teams and digital transformation, the client-agency relationship has changed a lot. What have you noticed are the biggest shifts in what clients expect? And how has collaboration become even more important? What do agencies need to do to keep strong, long-term partnerships?

I think there are two sets of companies that chose to build their own in-house teams for communication and content. The first ones want their go-to-market communications to be extremely agile, cost-efficient and deeply embedded in business imperatives. 

The other set doesn't rely on agency expertise and typically sees less value in strategic consistency, idea-based content and brand building.

In both cases, a common challenge arises they often find themselves lacking the expertise, time and resources to effectively manage this. The first group is increasingly considering this option because agency ecosystems have struggled to meet their needs. This has brought in both new challenges and opportunities for all agencies. 

Unlike in the past, we have entered a new era of ‘Agency-Off-Record’. Today, there are almost no guardrails, ethical, economic or legal, that restrict any client from engaging with an agency or talent who is officially not the AOR (agency of record). This becomes a huge opportunity for non-AOR agencies to demonstrate better value on any project and take away more than a fair share of business from the club agency. But it is also a constant challenge for the incumbent agency to constantly be on their toes to deliver results with consistency, adapt to evolving client needs and stay accountable as well as cost-efficient.

This is perhaps the most fundamental shift in the agency-client ecosystem globally in the last few years and is likely to remain so, perhaps for posterity. 

As for the long-term partnership potential in the client-agency relationship, I think a high objectivity around the effectiveness of the work is the only sustainable value to drive long-term relationships. And there are some outstanding examples of this focus around us. But surely, agencies can work even harder to build a culture of effectiveness, much more consistently and deeply across functions.

Balancing creative ideas with what clients want has always been tricky, but now with data and ROI being so important, it’s even tougher. How do you protect creative freedom in a world where clients are focused on measurable outcomes? Can you share an example where you found a good balance?

If there is a collective commitment to achieving effectiveness on both sides, this will never be a point of contention. A great creative idea in this business should deliver measurable success and ROI. What could be debated is the short- or long-term trajectory of the effectiveness curve. 

So, if we are willing to agree that we are in the business of delivering effectiveness for our clients, the questions around creative freedom, pressure of delivering ROI etc. become irrelevant.

Having said that, bold ideas need fearless selling with deep conviction. Not all clients at first glance may feel the asymmetric potency of a powerful idea. But that’s the job of the agency leadership to partner with the clients in this assessment and share their conviction about the idea’s potential to drive effective results.

It’s not fair for me to be specific about BBH's experience in this regard but I can easily say that some of our best work in the last one year has passed the litmus test on this parameter and as anticipated, came out with flying colours.

You've said before that branding today is about more than just a good idea—it has to make a real impact. In markets where products are very similar, how can brands stand out? Can you share examples of how BBH India has helped brands create deeper emotional connections with consumers?

In a market that’s fighting category parity, the only antidote is to build strong cultural superiority in the audience’s mind. 

In today’s attention deficit and product parity world, cultural relevance and affinity is the backbone of building brands and businesses. With democratisation of access across technology, design, capital and talent, it has become nearly impossible to build a business on tactile product differentiation. The only way to build a differentiated brand is to own the perception of the most unique ‘role in life’ that a brand and product play in consumers' lives. And that brand role identification can be discovered only in the cultural milieu of the consumer. Some of the most iconic brands that have stood the test of time are testimony to this.

At BBH India, some of the most notable recent examples of our brand partnership in this space have been CaratLane (#WearYourWins), upGrad (#AageKiSocho), Garnier Black Naturals amongst many others.

The advertising world has changed massively with digital platforms, AI, and data-driven strategies. What do you think are the most disruptive forces shaping the global and Indian markets right now? How do you think agencies can future-proof themselves against these disruptions while staying true to their core creative ethos?

Firstly, I don’t think AI and data are things that need to be feared as negative disruptors. On the contrary, we need to be fearless in embracing them. All agencies struggled initially but eventually embraced and mastered when television became a dominant force. So was the case when local FM channels with city-specific curated content as well as social media became mainstream channels for brand communications. 

The infusion of AI and data is yet another layer of sophistication in brand communications that will make brand engagement hyper-personal, super-disruptive and massively agile. Agencies simply need to wholeheartedly embrace it because there was never a better time to be in creative business than it is today.

Agencies need to invest time and resources in learning and mastering all that’s coming our way. That’s the simple prescription for these times.

BBH India has led many Diversity & Inclusion campaigns. How does the agency make sure that inclusivity is part of both its creative work and its internal culture? Can you share an example where this approach made a real difference, either for the agency or a client?

Brands and businesses have recognized that DEI is one of the most essential and authentic societal and business needs today. BBH India has been fortunate to have contributed in this effort significantly in the past year. Our work for brands like HDFC ERGO and CaratLane particularly delivered on this front. In both cases, the consumers, internal employees and key opinion leaders (KOLs) of the respective categories shared an overwhelmingly positive sentiment for the brands through various DEI initiatives.

Within BBH India, we are committed to cultivating a diverse, inclusive and equal environment that inspires our employees and enhances collaboration. This is reflected in many of our specific initiatives across multiple dimensions.

With very specific intent and deliberate actions, today the overall gender ratio at BBH India stands at 47% in favour of women. This is significantly higher as compared to previous years as well as above the industry benchmark. At BBH India, among the top 25 leaders, 55% are women leaders. 

We conduct regular DE&I workshops across offices aimed at fostering inclusion by embracing unique perspectives, cultures, linguistic capabilities and ethnicities encouraging deeper teamwork and collaboration. 

Our commitment to the community is also reflected in our celebrations including Women’s Day and festive celebrations, which bring our teams together and celebrate our unique backgrounds.

To support and encourage mental health wellness and awareness, we adopted the Publicis Groupe’s initiative to announce ‘Mental Health Day’ by giving a day off to all our employees across levels on a working day, beyond the statutory public holidays every year.

The advertising industry is becoming more inclusive, but there are still challenges, especially when it comes to diversity in leadership. What do you see as the biggest barriers to true diversity in the industry? And what can agencies do beyond surface-level efforts to create real opportunities for everyone?

Our experience at BBH India has taught us to build an environment of empathy and respect for each other’s diverse skills, backgrounds and social strata. We are focusing solely on building ‘a merit-based culture’ in the agency. 

A culture that thrives on intently disregarding identities based on gender, age, socio-economic status, linguistic capabilities, experience, organizational hierarchy etc. Of course, it is easier said than done given our past conditioning and personal biases. But I truly believe if the senior-most leadership acts on these principles in a transparent and demonstrated manner, this culture of meritocracy travels goes far. 

Can you share one message for the Social Samosa’s 30 under 30 winners?

Stay hungry. Stay humble.