Bobby Sista championed gender nuances in Indian advertising
Guest Column: Ramesh Narayan, Founder of Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd, Director Strategy, remembers adman Bobby Sista's efforts to bring gender on top of the creative agenda
Bobby Sista leaves behind a legacy that the industry will be grateful for. He ran his advertising agency very professionally. He was friendly and kind to everyone he met.
He was probably the first person in our industry to think of gender nuances in advertising. Along with Dr Sharada, he campaigned hard to reach out to content creators in advertising and the entertainment sector and explain to them the need to bring gender on top of the creative agenda.
While Sharada was the face of the Laadli initiative, Bobby Sista was the solid moving force behind the effort.
He used his goodwill with senior people and helped the industry realise that gender nuances are truly important while creating content.
Much later, young consumers began to demand gender equality in advertising and the industry was glad they were already familiar with what was right and what was needed.
Though he was about 20 years older than I was, he was very young at heart and the many discussions we had in my office, on building the Laadli brand, always motivated me to do something for this meaningful initiative.
He will always be remembered for the difference he made to our industry.
