The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the Think Lecture Series with Mr. Ambi Parameswaran on 17th August, 2018 at The Bengal Lounge. M. G. Parameswaran, or Ambi as he is known, is a brand coach, brand strategist and founder of Brand-Building.com, a brand advisory.

In a career spanning for over three decades, he has handled assignments in marketing, sales and advertising with companies like Rediffusion DY&R, Boots Company and UDI Yellow Pages before dropping anchor at FCB Ulka Advertising over two decades ago. He has helped build numerous brands including Digene, Brufen, Santoor Soap, Sundrop Cooking Oil, TCS, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Indica Cars, and Zee T.V. among others.

He served as VP, then as CEO of FCB Ulka from 2003 to 2013 and finally as the Advisor, before moving out to set his own brand advisory unit Brand-Building.com. He has been contributing articles to premier business publications and has spoken at TEDx and at the Kellogg India Summit at Northwestern University and Cornell University. He is also an Adjunct Professor at SPJIMR and a visiting faculty at IIM Calcutta.

He has seven books to his credit namely: “FCB-Ulka Brand Building Advertising – Concepts and Cases I & II”; "Building Brand Value - Five Steps to Building Powerful Brands” (Winner of 2007 NTPC – DMA Book Prize), "For God's Sake - An Adman on the Business of Religion" and “Strategic Brand Management Indian Version with Prof. K. L. Keller and Prof. I. Jacob”. His latest bestseller book "Nawabs Nudes Noodles - India Through 50 Years of Advertising" was rated as one of the 100 Most Memorable Books of 2016.

The Think session marked the launch of his 8th book “Sponge: Leadership Lessons I learnt from my Clients”. The Session started with Mr. Deb A. Mukherjee, Vice President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry delivering the formal welcome address followed by a book launch by Mr. Anoop Hoon, Chairperson, Marketing and Brand Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce, Mr Pratip Kar, Former Executive Director, Securities Exchange Board of India and Mr Sabyasachi Hajara, Former CMD, Shipping Corporation of India and Mr. Ambi Parameswaran himself.

Mr. Parameswaran started by explaining the reason behind using SPONGE as a name. He stated that high absorption and greater retention has been imbibed by him much like sponges (members of the phylum Porifera) during his career spanning about four decades. His address much like that in the book was anecdotal. He narrated incidents detailing some of the most interesting interactions he has had with his clients. These interactions have also helped him evolve as a professional. He learnt that a challenging customer could actually end up enriching one's life with some of the most engaging conversations. And if each client conversation is considered as an exercise in listening and learning, it is a way to success. Some of the interesting anecdotes he mentioned were:

R.D. Aga, managing director of an engineering firm Thermax, who also happens to be an Oxford English graduate and Harvard Business School alumnus, decided to write the body copy of the ad for his own company. That was not his job but yet he offered to do it because of his interest in doing things to ensure that the job is done well. Sometimes going beyond call of duty is a good idea if it helps the larger goal.

Once, Azim Premji had asked Mr. Parameswaran to take a flight back home from Bengaluru after a meeting, instead of staying back. According to the latter, it is one lesson that stayed with him for a long time -- to finish meetings in a single day as it saves money for both the company and the client.

He also stated that a leader has to show commitment and possess the ability to be humble. It is applicable across all industries. Mr. Ratan Tata, for instance, came to personally check the colour of the car model (Indica Marina) on the venue just before the formal launch to make sure everything was in the right place.

Through the panel discussion, Mr. Anoop Hoon, Chairperson, Marketing and Brand Committee, The Bengal Chamber, Mr Pratip Kar, Former Executive Director, Securities Exchange Board of India and Mr Sabyasachi Hajara, Former CMD, Shipping Corporation of India spoke about their share of experiences with clients and their interpretation of the sponge process. The Session ended with Mr. Deb A. Mukherjee, Vice President, The Bengal Chamber delivering the final vote of thanks and Mr. Anoop Hoon, Chairperson, Marketing and Brand Committee handing over mementos to the Mr. Parameswaran, Mr. Kar and Mr. Hajara.