I don’t talk about clients at dinner. I talk about food: Kainaz Karmakar, Ogilvy

A fun and light-hearted Q&A series with India’s biggest creative folks. We start with Ogilvy’s CCO.

Ogilvy chief creative officer Kainaz Karmakar has won some of ad land’s biggest metals, created India’s most popular ad campaigns, and in September 2023, she along with co-chief creative officers Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Sukesh Nayak joined the Ogilvy India board. 

That's big news, like her work and her credentials. Now, she answers some of the most light-hearted and fun questions this festive season on and around her life in advertising.  

A Cannes Lions or a less than 10-minute commute to your office from home?

A Lion. Every time.

Political advertising. Yay or nay?

Yay, if I’m convinced about their integrity.

What is your guilty pleasure on Instagram?

Watching reels of New York life.

Which client story would you love to regale your guests at a dinner party a decade from now?

I don’t talk about clients at dinner. I talk about food.

The most scandalous story you have heard at your present or former workplace.

By mistake, an account planner projected porn at a client meeting instead of a presentation.

What is your presentation hack at pitch meetings?

The only hack is great work.

What is the tea on working with celebs?

I try to reduce my face time with them as much as possible. Speak to them only when necessary. I never ask for autographs or pictures. I never try to ‘manage’ or ‘handle’ them. I surround myself with people who can do that. My job is to make sure I get the result I want.

Drinking on the job. Cheers or not at all?

I don’t.

What is your career in an alternative universe?

Psychotherapist.

OTTs, audio streamers, magazines, websites, to whom do you willingly subscribe?

Most OTTs. I am not into magazines. I read loads of books but no newspapers or magazines.

Your most expensive purchase on an advertising person's salary?

My house.