Bobby Sista – A large hearted ad veteran

By Ambi M G Parameswaran

When I started my advertising career in 1979 in Rediffusion, which was then a creative powerhouse, there was one agency whose work most of us admired. Sistas. I did not know Bobby then, never had the opportunity of meeting the man, but loved the ads his eponymous agency created for a number of brands including VIP, Aristocrat and Royal Touch. I was told that he gave full freedom to his creative director who had a terrific creative partnership with the young ad film maker Prahlad Kakkar.

Their TV ads were a riot, much admired and awarded. Bobby ran the agency till he could and when the time was right found professionals to take over the agency and find an international agency tie up, pretty much like what his good friend Bal Mundkur [of Ulka Advertising] did. By the way Bobby Sista and Bal Mundkur were two of the founding members of Ad Club Bombay [now The Advertising Club] and lifelong friends.

There was a time when Bombay ad agency owners were a gentlemen’s club and Bobby was probably the most gentle of all those gentlemen. Bobby was also active in the Advertising Agencies Association of India and other industry bodies. In the late 1990s, Sistas became Sistas Saatchi & Saatchi and created some great advertising for brands like Hyundai. Bobby had by then moved on.

Instead of sitting back, or retiring to Goa, like Bal, he decided to reinvent his life around public service. I got to know him when he invited me to be part of this journey, the journey of ‘Population First’; an NGO that soon took up the cause of Gender Sensitivity in marketing communication. He, with the help of experts like Dr. Sharda created the ‘Laadli Gender sensitivity awards’ that have grown from strength to strength over the last ten+ years.

Whenever I used to meet Bobby I was always amazed at his energy and passion for the cause. He was willing to pull and push people to ensure that the show went on. When I was part of the committee at AAAI [Advertising Agencies Association of India] that selected the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2015 I was surprised to see that Bobby had not been conferred this award till then.

I remember calling him to inform him about the award and he in his own humble way told me that there he had been out of advertising for probably two decades and there should be more deserving candidates for the award. But he did finally accept the award and gave a very moving acceptance speech. There were so many of Sistas alumni in the gathering that night and it made for an evening of wonderful memories for all of them.

India has had some terrific advertising and media leaders, but I don’t think anyone worked as hard for a not-for-profit cause as hard as Bobby did, right through his 70s and 80s. I would like to argue that his second act as a communications professional working for the social sector was as impressive as his first.

Rest in Peace Bobby.

Ambi M G Parameswaran is a brand /CEO coach, brand strategist and founder of Brand-Building.com, a Brand Advisory.