Ranjan Kapur, country manager, India - WPP Group shared his memories of the late Mani Ayer (pictured) with Campaign India. "I joined the agency in 1966. I remember Mani Ayer as a professional who displayed a shrewd financial mind throughout his time at O&M. Although he wasn't a banker, he could definitely have made an excellent one, with his kind of financial accumen."

Further, Kapur remembers the time Ayer took over the agency as its MD. "When he took over O&M as the managing director in 1974, he literally turned over a loss-making company in the space of year, something that would not have been possible without his skill as a financial strategist."

Kapur relates another interesting anecdote about Ayer. "He took just a half day's leave when he had to go get married. In fact, he actually came back to work post his own wedding!"

"He was a sharp, shrewd person who was very close to creative people and gave them their space. He had all the making of the perfect client-servicing person," Kapur reminisces.