Sonal Dabral

Based in Mumbai

Sonal Dabral is currently a self-employed creative consultant and film director—working under his own banner of 'Tribha', with over 40 years of experience defining the Indian advertising landscape.

A graduate from the National Institute of Design, Sonal started his career in 1985, as an art director at (then) Lintas, where he designed the logo of NIFT, the renowned National Institute of Fashion Technology. Over a four-decade career, Sonal has established himself as one of Asia’s most respected creative leaders, renowned for transforming agencies into industry powerhouses across multiple markets.

He first made his mark at Ogilvy Mumbai in the 1990s, partnering with Piyush Pandey to elevate the agency from relative obscurity to India’s No. 1 creative shop. In 1999, he moved to Ogilvy Kuala Lumpur, where within three years he helped the agency become Malaysia’s most awarded and one of Asia’s hottest, delivering Malaysia’s first One Show Gold and a Grand Prix at the Asian Media Awards. His next chapter was at Ogilvy Singapore, which under his leadership became the No. 1 creative agency in Asia and ranked as the world’s third most awarded office at the Cannes Lions 2007—a first for any Asian agency.

After nearly two decades with Ogilvy, Sonal returned to India in 2011 to head Bates, later serving as Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of DDB Mudra Group. In 2017, he came back “home” to Ogilvy as Vice Chairman and Group Chief Creative Officer, before eventually moving independent to pursue his passion for writing and filmmaking.

Some of Sonal's most notable pieces of work are Hindustan Unilever 'The Shower', ICICI Lombard 'Do the Difficult', Cancer Patients Aids Association 'Anti-smoking', MP Tourism 'MP Mein Dil Hua Bacche Sa'.

Beyond advertising, Sonal has been a prime-time TV host, Bollywood scriptwriter, and ad film director. A popular international speaker, he has addressed festivals like Spikes Asia, Dubai Lynx, LIA, Cristal Festival, and TEDx, as well as moderated the Agency Heads' panels at the Good Ads Matter Roundtable—often delighting audiences with his trademark spontaneity.

Honoured as the Creative Leader of the Year (IAA India, 2017), and earlier recognised by the Times of India as one of the “50 young Indians who will lead India into the next century”, Sonal is also a passionate teacher and mentor to young creative talent.

Social Media Handles:

- LinkedIn - Sonal Dabral

- Instagram - @agracadabra