Remembering Anil Kapoor of FCB Ulka

Mahanayak and former chairman of FCB Ulka, Anil ‘Billy’ Kapoor, who died at the age of 74, died on Sunday.

Over three decades at the helm, he transformed an ailing Ulka advertisement into a thriving agency that worked closely with brands at a strategic level. Amul, Santoor, Tata Indica are some of the brands with which Meteor has a long standing relationship.

He oversees Ulka’s merger with Foote, Con and Belding (FCB), ensuring that the global agency retains the name of Ulka (shooting star in Sanskrit).

“His razor-sharp mind will inquire about business model and product delivery before thinking about communication,” says Rohit Ohri, group chairman and CEO of FCB India.

Ambi Parameswaran, former CEO of FCB Meteor, says Kapoor is very confident of the need for agencies to partner with CXO-level executives. “We were taught to engage with the most senior level in an organization, because advertising should not be left to the discretion of junior brand managers,” he recalls. Says Parameswaran, “His whole philosophy was that you should know the customer’s brand better than the customer, which means that you need to do enough spadework, so that you can guide the client in what they do with the brand.”

Amul, who has been a customer of FCB Ulka for over three decades, honored Kapoor with a distinctive punchline: ‘You will always be a part of our family!’

Kapoor’s engagement with Amul began in 1988, when Varghese Kurien asked him to reactivate dairy whitener Amulya, which faced stiff competition from Nestlé’s Everyday. Kapoor took over the reins from the founder, Bal Mundakur.

Recalling Kapoor’s engagement with the dairy cooperative, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation managing director RS Sodhi says, “There was a clear distinction between Kapoor and any other advertising head. In those days, agencies were led by people from creative fields. But, Kapoor was the person who came from marketing and sales to advertising. ”

It was coined Amul’s iconic tag line ‘Amul: The Test of India’ during Kapoor’s time and still ends today.