I have had an eventful and rollercoaster ride of a career: Colvyn Harris

The Advertising Agencies Association of India conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award 2022 to Colvyn Harris for his contribution to the advertising industry in Mumbai on Friday, January 20, 2023. It is the highest honour that is given to an individual in the space of the advertising industry.

While accepting the Award, Colvyn James Harris said, “I have had an eventful and rollercoaster ride of a career. There has never been a dull day. I’m proud to be part of the team that ensures brands they partner with become market leaders and are considered the best in their categories.”

He spoke about his eventful 40-year-long journey in advertising that commenced with humble beginnings. He shared that over the course of more than 40 years, he has had a successful and lengthy career in the Indian advertising sector. His career was established at JWT, a WPP Group company, where he held various management positions in both India and Sri Lanka. His career began at Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA), where he later held the positions of CEO Contract and CEO JWT South Asia. During his time there, he established the most formidable full-service firm, which was well regarded for its originality, size, and standing. Harris has worked with several renowned brands in India, including Hero, GSK-Horlicks, Boost, Citibank, Ford, Airtel, and Nestlé.

He was Executive Director Global Growth & Client Development at JWT when he bid adieu to his advertising career.

He had also held the position of Managing Director (Marketing) at L Catterton Singapore, a Worldwide Private Equity Company that is a division of LVMH, where his responsibility was to assist their investee companies in attaining their global growth and branding goals by working with the CEOs and CMOs.

Colvyn Harris showed a keen interest in issues related to the industry. He served on the Effectiveness Category Jury at the 2015 Cannes Lions. In addition, Colvyn Harris served as Chairman of Goafest in 2009 and 2010 as well as President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India in 2010. Goafest expanded much more quickly under his directorship and was acknowledged as India's largest event for the celebration of creativity. Colvyn Harris has spoken at the London Business School, the Wharton India Economic Summit, Spikes Asia 2010, and has served as the chairman of a number of forums, including the World Economic Forum India. He served on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Development Council for four years as a WPP nominee.

On receiving this award Colvyn Harris said, “I'm really happy to receive this prestigious award from AAAI. It is a real honor to get recognized by my peers in this wonderful industry that I have been privileged to be part of for nearly four decades. I look forward to continuing giving back to the industry through various industry forums for the benefit of younger and upcoming professionals."

Sharing about her memories of working with Harris, Tista Sen, former Regional Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson South Asia, said, “The last to leave the party and the first to make sure that you have a drink in your hand.” She further continued, “It is about Colvyn, not for advertising but for the person who I know, the person behind the persona. I was privileged to work with him, he was my CEO. His PA used to call me on my extension saying ‘Boss wants to see you’, what's the mood I used to ask ready to face whatever he wants to say, its Colvyn he said, he is always in a good mood, come out of it. That was a leadership lesson right here. How do you make your people feel, how do you make them at ease, how do you refuse the potential disaster meeting. I have seen Colvyn with clients, big CEOs, brand managers, I have seen him with his colleagues, his people, and he is absolutely the same and I think that leadership lesson I learnt which is ‘You stay true to who you are irrespective of who you are speaking to’, Colvyn knows everybody, and everybody wants to know him.”

Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Madison Media & OOH said, “There was a time when advertising was the most fun, you could have it at your own zone, business also meant money those days. That was also a time when sharp intellect, big wit, a hefty those with common sense, entrepreneurial energy, these were really the core factors defining success. Colvyn really helped epitomize this phase of advertising.” Sakhuja further shared, “I think it’s a good time to take some time out and just look back at the legacy that he left behind, so that it can be inspiring for us. There are few things I would like to share, the first is relationships. I think Colvyn was not only interested in brands that he was working on, he also invested in the people who built those brands. The second is about business acumen. Third was the sense of personal character, it is very rare to see a good character coming out of the silver screen.”

Reading the citation basis which this award was given, Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India, noted, “The Advertising Agencies Association of India legislature, Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Colvyn James Harris, for his amazing leadership and contribution to the advertising industry, for the best interests of clients, consumers and employees. For turning JWT into a globally recognised powerhouse of strategy, and creative, for his stylus energy and fashion in championing key industry projects. He richly deserves this award for his extraordinary contribution.”