Meet the CEOs: Ogilvy Manila's Elly Puyat

Elly Puyat (pictured) has built a career that spans banking, consulting, and advertising, now leading Ogilvy Manila with a philosophy rooted in trust, responsibility, and collaboration. From her early days as one of PCIBank’s first relationship bankers, and later a consultant at Ogilvy One, Puyat has always viewed brands as living entities capable of moving people when communications resonate.

Encouragement, teamwork, and open feedback have shaped her approach, which focuses on empowering teams and redefining leadership as service rather than status. Today, she continues to draw inspiration from the people around her, while pushing the industry to collaborate more and compete less in order to build a meaningful future.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What was your first job?

Unofficially, I was a cashier at my Mom’s canteen in Manila Bank. I was responsible for opening the cashier and closing it. I needed to make sure that the cash matched the balance in the tape. I did this the summer before I started 7th grade.

Officially, out of college, I was an officer trainee at PCIBank. We had the opportunity to go around the different departments of the bank and was tested on the fundamentals after every rotation. I was eventually assigned to be one of the first relationship bankers of PCIBank and the industry at that time.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What was your first role in advertising?

My first role in advertising was actually not in advertising. I was a consultant for Ogilvy One, the direct marketing and one-to-one discipline under the Ogilvy group.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What was your first impression of advertising?

I’ve always been in awe of brands.

Brands to me are like people. And to be able to effectively build a relationship between brands and consumers is very exciting.

Brands make us laugh, cry, doubt, act. They can only do that if their communications resonate with their consumers.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Who was the mentor who influenced you the most, and how?

My boss, Kent Wertime. He was an ad man who then led Ogilvy Interactive and then Ogilvy One. I felt he understood new media and the difficulties of keeping up and coming up with innovations. He taught me the importance of building my personal brand. He also highlighted the importance of becoming a leader and not just a manager.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What’s the harshest criticism you’ve received, and how did you cope with it?

It wasn’t so much a criticism but a disrespect. I had a client (a CEO of a multinational) who was irate during a meeting because he didn’t get what he wanted. He belittled us and told me “to crawl back where we came from.” What a shameful behavior from a CEO.

I held myself in check and controlled my emotions. It was more important for me to be an example to the rest of my team than stick one up against him.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Describe your own management style now as a leader

It’s important for me to build a team of professionals who can trust each other.

When we trust, we can give open feedback and freely communicate our points of view, dissenting or otherwise.

I allow my team to run their businesses, guided by our shared values. I want them to come to me with both their achievements but also their problems. I allow them to make decisions and to make mistakes.

Although we are very accountable individuals, we are far stronger when we come together as a team. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What’s one thing you wished employees understood about being a leader?

Leadership is not about the title, the trappings, the perks. Leadership is a responsibility.

Your most important job as a leader is to elevate the performance of your team. This entails setting a standard, pushing the output, being relentless about your goals but also being very empathetic.

To be a successful leader, you cannot treat your position as a popularity contest. Your team looks to you to set the pace, demand accountability and push for great work that you can all be proud of.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What do you do during your free time?

I’ve always been a voracious reader. I like reading and buying books. I like stories. So I also consume a lot of content, videos, documentaries. I like to try new restaurants and be with family and friends.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Where do you find your inspiration?

I find my inspiration from the people I work with. In Ogilvy, we believe in hiring giants so that we are a company of giants. I walk and work alongside them everyday. They keep me on my toes, they keep me challenged and boy do they make it fun!

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: If not in advertising, where would you be?

I would be running my own company or teaching or both.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What advice do you have for someone looking to start a career in the industry?

There’s myth that this industry is glamorous. I think that has changed drastically over the years. What it’s always been is an industry that entails a lot of hard work but is also a lot of fun. Focus on the brands and the collaboration amongst talented individuals to create great work… then you’re halfway there.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What issue would you like to see the industry change in 2025?

This industry is so used to competing with each other, whether it’s for new business pitches or awards.

As we face tougher commercial environments, it is important that we collaborate with each other more.

How can we compete yet build an industry together that is more sustainable?

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