Sonal Dabral
Ogilvy & Mather
Singapore

Sonal grew up in a series of small towns across North India, eventually reaching Agra (home of the Taj Mahal - the monument, not the casino). Advertising being an unheard of career option at that time and place, his decision to study Visual Communications & Design was seen as a sure route to unemployment by his family.

He spent his early years in advertising at Lintas, Delhi before moving to Mumbai to join Piyush Pandey, then CD of Ogilvy Mumbai. Together they drove O&M India from the creative wilderness to become the number one creative agency in the country. Not only did they garner top awards from the National shows but also scored big at regional and international award shows like Clio and Cannes, among many others.

The next step was Malaysia, where Sonal was offered the post of ECD at O&M, Kuala Lumpur in 1999. Within 3 years, Ogilvy's KL office became one of the top creative offices in the region, with awards from regional shows like Adfest, as well as Cannes, Clio, and D&AD. In 2000 one of his spots won the Grand Prix at the Asian Media awards. Soon followed Malaysia's first One Show Gold.

In his non-existent spare time, he managed to squeeze in stints as a popular TV host and a Bollywood script writer and is currently channelling his passion for film into directing ad-films for brands such as Pond's, Pizza Hut and Dove. D&AD 2004 features a spot he wrote & directed for the MC2 Awards giving him hope that there is life after advertising.

In May 2004, Sonal took over as Chairman and ECD of O&M Advertising, Singapore, the top creative agency in the Asia-Pacific region.

Currently he is desperately trying to find the time to write his first feature film, which he plans to direct in the next 2 years.