I find it difficult to wrap my head around the concept of retirement: Rohit Ohri

Rohit Ohri and advertising have been synonymous in India, given that he has spent close to 40 years in the industry. The announcement that he is retiring from his role as global partner at FCB, a year after he was elevated to this position, came as a surprise to some, but an eventuality to others.

A day after news about his retirement broke, Campaign caught up with the veteran to learn more about this development and how he views it. “I have retired from FCB, not from advertising!” he laughingly stated, adding, “The term 'retirement' feels as if you are retiring from life, which is not the case.”

Ohri steered the global advertising conglomerate for eight years as chairman and CEO of FCB India and moved into the global role last year to work closely with global CEO Tyler Turnbull. “I moved to the global role to do some internal projects, which had already started while I was in the role of chairman and CEO of FCB India and as those got completed, I felt it was time for me to do something fresh and new,” he shares.

Sharing his fondness for FCB, he said that he thoroughly enjoyed his journey with the company. "I feel FCB Six and FCB Kinnect are going to be the growth engines for FCB India in the next five years,” he predicted.

Having spent over two decades at JWT India, the iconic agency’s closure saddened him; a sentiment that was echoed by several others who played key roles in the journey of Hindustan Thompson Associates or JWT’s 94-year old presence in India.

“I was really disappointed that JWT was retired as a brand. We are a business of building brands and we have to recognise the true value of great brands and JWT was a great brand. It was really sad to see it die," he rued.

In a free-wheeling chat with Campaign, Ohri looks back at his long-winding journey, shares his first feelings on entering the next phase of his career, handing over the reigns to Dheeraj Sinha as FCB India chairman, the challenges eyeing the advertising industry and also spills beans on his “next avatar.”

Watch the full video interview.