In Ogilvy since 1993, he oversees Kolkata, Hyderabad, Colombo and a part of Mumbai. He has built brands like Dove and Ponds and launched The Economist in India. For the first time ever, The Economist is running its Indian campaign elsewhere in the world. 

Year on year, Sumanto has won prestigious international advertising awards. In 2010, he has already picked up two Cannes Lions and two Asian Adfest awards. 

What's your take on BrandPotion? 
BrandPotion is a website whose time has come. But unfamiliarity with this type of concept in India means that BrandPotion has to work hard to gain popularity. Making the look and feel of its interface more exciting and adding more ‘sex appeal' to its offering would be steps in the right direction. The association with Times of India is something that BrandPotion has going in its favour. It helps bolster the credibility of the untested talent that it represents. 

As part of the advertising fraternity, what's your take on advertising on digital mediums like the web or mobile? Do you think Indian brands are on their way to embracing digital advertising like international brands have?
Digital advertising is still a fledgling category in India. One hopes that it will quickly burgeon and hold its own in terms of creativity. Not making it to the Cyber Lions shortlist [this year] is sad but it is not the end of the world. But it is a symptom of the fact that this form of advertising is still not taken seriously in India. 

The Dove ‘Evolution' viral is one of my favourite examples of internet advertising. An interesting fact about this film is that, in a historic first, it won two Grand Prix at Cannes a few years ago, in the television as well as the internet categories. Indeed, at that instant, the balance tilted towards the internet as the medium of tomorrow. 

The mobile is clearly the medium of the future. However, the current approach to mobile advertising in India is all wrong. The recent Indian campaign for The Economist was a refreshing departure from standard mobile advertising. It got a huge response and led to a 40% jump in subscriptions. 

Apple's iAd platform is all set to revolutionise the advertising industry in the West. When will India see a similar platform set up purely for digital advertising? 
I suppose that in time there will be Indian advertisers on Apple's iAd platform. It is certainly a far more appealing and user-friendly version of advertising than the current rudimentary unsolicited text-only ads that pop up indiscriminately in our mobile inboxes. iAd and other similar platforms will come in to our country only when the number of consumers with iPhones and other high end mobile handsets reaches a critical mass. 

Take the case of Victors & Spoils. They're the world's first creative crowdsourcing agency. Do you feel this concept will change the way advertising works? 
International online agencies such as Victors & Spoils, Zooppa and Adhack have made some headway in crowdsourcing creative solutions. In times of recession there is a large pool of unemployed or underemployed creative talent to source from. It also means, for clients, a more cost-effective option to brick and mortar agencies. 

While I don't see these types of agencies usurping the position of traditional ones, if they do deliver results consistently, they could certainly give the ad network biggies a run for their money. In fact, I suspect that these ad majors would then look at starting their own crowdsourcing channels. 

One of the major problems with crowdsourcing is establishing the credibility of the designer/copywriter...
Establishing credibility is a chicken and egg story: A few high profile creative solutions need to be arrived at through the website - to create the credibility to draw in top-drawer clients. 

Where does the future of crowdsourcing lie, at least as far as the advertising industry's concerned? 
In the ad industry, crowdsourcing has been used successfully to get greater consumer involvement and brand buy-in. Perhaps, in the future, crowdsourcing would be used more and more as a replacement for ad agencies - with regular advertising being sourced from the crowd instead of from professionals. If the modalities are worked out right, then it could actually become a more cost-effective approach to ad campaigns; with the added benefit of being ‘of the people, by the people, for the people' rather than an ivory tower product.