In June, Mukund Olety, former chief creative officer, VML India, stepped into what he calls his 'dream role' within the WPP ecosystem - joining the global creative leadership team for The Coca-Cola Company in Europe. He now oversees creative excellence across the company’s 55 brands in 42 countries.

In a free-wheeling conversation with Manifest, Olety reflects on his journey, sharing how diverse market experiences from Bengaluru to Beijing helped shape his creative vision and tech-driven thinking.

Speaking about his move to Madrid, he said, "WPP has a great campus there, where all the agencies are housed. We also run the operations for Coca-Cola in several centres in Europe, and Madrid has a significant pace. My role as a regional CCO is to up the creative excellence for all things Coca-Cola, which entails working on campaigns for 55 brands in 42 countries.”

The mandate is also about driving collaboration between different WPP agencies with different capabilities, and bringing them together, he said.

“It also entails creating both fame and fortune, as Coca-Cola is the biggest client in the region. And it involves all the markets within Europe. So it’s very exciting, and I’m hoping to continue doing great work.”

Emphasising his belief in the synergy of technology and creativity from the outset, he said, “I have always wanted to incorporate tech in my creative thinking. I have shaped my portfolio in a way that it always had a bit of a tech edge to it – never one-dimensional, or just limited to films or print."

Over the years, Olety has navigated multiple international markets, including Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, and Beijing, apart from Bengaluru and Mumbai.

"It has been quite a ride. I started in Bengaluru. Spent some time in Delhi before returning to Bengaluru. Then I headed to South East Asia, where, based in Kuala Lumpur, I worked across markets like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore. After that, I took a leap and moved to China – first in Beijing for about a year, then nearly five years in Shanghai. I eventually returned to Mumbai for my most recent role. And now, I’m heading to an entirely new continent - one I have never lived or worked in before."

Olety explained how each chapter has influenced and shaped his creative identity.  "Each place has been a different exploration, and one takes different things out of it. Bengaluru set the foundation for my thinking. I started in a very different era: My first job was at a digital agency back when smartphones didn’t even exist. It shaped my future-thinking mindset.”

He highlighted how working with multicultural teams - where each member contributes their own perspectives, skill sets, and strengths - teaches one a great deal, both in terms of people skills and in understanding how an idea can manifest in different executions.

"Even within India, each city offers a different cultural experience. The same distinction applies internationally as well – be it KL or Shanghai. It also gives one a fresh perspective that provides an advantage because one has an external lens to see things differently," he said.

“How to use all this know-how is something nobody teaches you in B-schools, colleges, or universities - it’s something that you need to experience, and learn on the job. And KL, for me, was a great place to do that.” Speaking about his stint with Leo Burnett there, he added, “That was again a great exposure. It’s not just the place - it’s also the people you meet along the way. You learn from them, observe them, and absorb from them.”

Olety further shared that understanding local nuances and spending time in a region helps one see how best to bring an idea to life, and which style of storytelling or execution will resonate in that language or culture.

“That’s where your team becomes essential to guide you on how to land the idea with the right expression and cultural inputs. But the core thinking is universal. Beneath cultural differences, there’s a base layer of human insights and shared emotions. As an outsider, one also brings a unique perspective - a fresh way of looking at the problem. And I’ve learned to be unafraid to put across that point of view,” he observed.  

He also labelled working across these cities and countries bold. “One thing that’s been common across my journey is that I’ve been brave. Brave enough to take calls that probably felt crazy at times. But those are the leaps one needs to take."

Olety remarked, "It’s easy to walk into a client meeting and champion the bravest idea in the room. There are creative people who go to presentations and sell the boldest idea to clients, but they don’t want to do anything brave with their own lives. I have applied it in my life.” 

“Moving to China was a bold move - I knew nothing about the country, culture, or the language. No Indian creative person had worked there before. So it was a leap of faith that I took, and it paid off fantastically," he revealed. 

Read the full chat with Olety in our August issue. Click here to get your copy!