Prathap Suthan

Prathap Suthan (പ്രതാപ് സുതന്‍), known in Indian advertising industry circles as Pat, is the Managing Partner of Bang in the Middle, an India based Advertising Agency. Pat is also the Founder and Chief Explorer of The Advisory - a brand consultancy and creative boutique based out of New Delhi. Besides, Suthan concurrently holds the position of Chief Creative Officer for iYogi Technical Services. Pat also initiated and presently mentors Alt Del (The Delhi Alternative) - a non-profit networking platform for professionals from communications industry.

Early life
Prathap was born in Thiruvananthapuram (then Trivandrum), Kerala where he spent his early years of life. He did his schooling from Loyola School and went on to do B.Com from Mar Ivanios College in the same city. Prathap Suthan started his career as a copywriter for a company called Reflections in Thiruvananthapuram. Thereafter, he went to Philadelphia, US where he sold coir carpets. But the creative passion inside him brought him back to his native town in India where he joined a local ad agency called Stark.

Advertising
Prathap’s ad career was set on right track when in 1987 he joined Mudra Communications as copywriter. At Mudra, he got a chance to work on brands like Ajanta Clocks, Dhara, Rasna, and Vimal. Success of these campaigns won Pat a lot of accolades in the Indian ad fraternity. After serving Mudra for nine years, Pat in 1996 joined Grey (then known as Trikaya Grey), Kolkata. Subsequently he moved on to head Grey’s operations in Delhi and later in 2004 he was made company’s National Creative Director. One of the high points in Pat’s career at Grey was when he - in consultation with Indian Finance Minister Jaswant Singh - ran the $20 million India Shining campaign for the NDA Government. India Shining campaign triggered the beginning of a new era of political advertising in India. Subsequently, Pat quit Grey in 2007 to join Cheil Worldwide. One of Pat’s biggest achievements during his stint with Cheil was the "Next is What?" campaign for Samsung Mobiles. The campaign played a key role in raising Samsung’s share in the Indian handset market tenfold from a meager 2.1% to 20%. Pat quit Cheil in 2011 as its National Creative Director and setup his own consultancy firm, The Advisory. Besides heading The Advisory, Prathap is also the Chief Creative Officer for iYogi, a Gurgaon India based remote direct-to-consumer tech support company. At iYogi, Pat headed company’s in-house creative agency Bang in the Middle, which in May 2012 was branched out of parent company as an independent brand advisory and communication design entity with Prathap as its Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer

Achievements and recognition
Pat has won, and led work that won many awards at the Abbys, CAG, Euro Effies, Cannes, GoaFest, Spikes, LIA (London International Awards), and OneShow. Some of Pat’s successful campaigns in India include: India Shining, Incredible India, Samsung, ONGC, Domino’s Pizza, SBI Credit Cards, GE, General Motors, Indian Airlines, Haier, Revlon, Pedigree, Suzlon, Hyundai, Hindustan Times, India Today, Business Today, Vimal, Ajanta Clocks, NDDB – Dhara Oils, Kerala Tourism.

The much hyped India Shining Campaign came under criticism from various quarters and was even banned by Election Commission of India until general elections. Some experts even blamed it as a wrong move by BJP that led to its defeat in 2004 parliamentary elections.

Besides, Prathap has been regularly contributing with his stories and views on Indian National Dailies and advertising journals.