Ravi Kiran CEO, South Asia, Starcom Media Vest Group

Had he not been into advertising, he could have been a doctor. As a child, Ravi Kiran had some aspirations of taking up a career healing bodies. But he never forgot the ridiculously-translated advertisements in the Oriya newspapers and magazines that he was exposed to. Eventually, he settled for a career healing the language. Today, he is CEO-South Asia, of the Starcom MediaVest Group.

Ravi Kiran did his schooling from Tarikund High School, a small but reputed rural school in Orissa. He went on to get a mechanical engineering degree in Srinagar, and then did a course in business management at the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University.

While at school, Ravi Kiran was a bit of a loner. During his early college years, he had full scope to enjoy solitude in the valleys of Kashmir. Contradictorily perhaps, by this time he had decided to join advertising and speak to the world.

“I wanted to join advertising so badly that in FMS, I waited for the tenth day of the placement season, by which time 95 per cent of my friends had already got two job offers each. I chose Lintas primarily because they were open to placing me in Mumbai,” he says.

Not aware that it was only an induction programme, he happily packed his bags and left for Mumbai. After a week’s induction in Mumbai, he was sent to the Delhi office, where he worked for the first six years of his career. “I started as a management trainee, as part of a 22-trainee batch,” he recalls. The job was fun, exciting and quite often frustrating. “I guess that’s what every first job is like,” he adds.

At times, when the going seemed tough, he did feel like quitting. But he stuck on and won his spurs. “I had a bunch of clients who questioned everything I said or did and kept me on my toes all the time. This would at times frustrate me. I had creative people in my team who would insist on getting briefed over a beer,” he says.

He admits that he hated many of those moments. “I was disillusioned. I was angry. This was not the advertising business I wanted to join when I was in B-school.” However, his love for communication didn’t wear off. “My first job taught me not to quit too soon, to respect experience and other people’s views and to have an open mind,” he says. Each of these lessons has stood him in good stead in his career.

Ravi Kiran has worked for Lintas, Initiative Media and Chaitra Leo Burnett, from where he moved on to the Starcom MediaVest Group. He has been with this group for the past eight years. “I have been enjoying almost every day, being part of a team that believes more in building than managing,” he says. “We have moved from a relative non-entity in 1999, to one of the most respected companies in our business now.”

Part of the enjoyment is because he has also had the time to do his own thing. Gizmos and books are at the top of his agenda. He also likes travelling, meeting new people and watching movies. “I like photography too and have just acquired a nice digital SLR camera. I maintain two personal blogs — www.free2try.blogspot.com and www.prizepebbles.com — fairly regularly and love reading other people’s blogs too,” he adds.

On being asked about his future plans, he says: “I love marketing and communication. For the foreseeable future, I see myself staying in the business, creating new disciplines and developing personalities.” However, he would like to get directly involved with some sort of social and community activity. He would also like to explore the world on foot. It may be a bit late for that particular dream, however.

Not that he is giving up. “Something I read in a book really touched me. I think it was Paul Coelho’s The Alchemist. It said that when you really want something, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve it,” he says. “So decide what you want, stay focused and let the world around you take over.”

Another piece of advice he has for young people is to remember that individually they are all quite insignificant. “So learn to play the game for your team, because teams often achieve what an individual can’t.” Success depends on the numbers, and these are not Television Audience Measurement (TAM) or Opportunities To See (OTS) ratings.

Based on a conversation with Shabina Akhtar in Calcutta