Mumbai : J. Walter Thompson India has promoted its national creative director Senthil Kumar to chief creative officer. Senthil Kumar will be partnering Tarun Rai, CEO. J. Walter Thompson South Asia, to lead the overall creative mandate for India, across its six offices.
Kumar has, over the years, consistently connected with millions of consumers in the digital, social and mobile space through his path breaking ideas. Kumar considers himself to be a new generation creative person, one who understands the digital ecosystem really well. It is, therefore, not surprising that Kumar has won India’s first Cyber Lions and Branded Content Lions at the Cannes International Festival.
Announcing the development, Tarun Rai said, “It’s a new world of communication. Creativity is no longer only about the 30 second TVC but has to work across various platforms. For this New World of communication, I needed a New Age creative chief—someone who thinks Digital First.”
“Senthil is extremely talented, is focused on work and always leads from the front. His passion for excellence and his boundless energy is infectious. He will partner me in raising the bar of our creative product, building our clients’ brands and attracting the best talent in the industry,” he added.
Kumar will be working closely with Matt Eastwood, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, J. Walter Thompson and is on the J. Walter Thompson Global Creative Council.
“Senthil is the definition of a modern ideator and leader who thrives on constantly exploring the power of new technologies and platforms to create truly pioneering work, said Eastwood.
“His boundless energy and enthusiasm for his craft, clients and employees alike, will serve him well in guiding and building our creative brand in the region,” he added.
A decorated creative, Kumar’s work has won him over 300 International and innumerable National Awards, including 10 One Show Pencils, 7 D&AD Pencils, Film Grand Prix and Lotus Roots Grand Prix at Asia Pacific Adfest and several Golds at Spikes Asia, Clio and Goafest. He holds an unparalleled record of 16 Cannes Lions, aptly giving him the title of ‘The Lion Hunter’.
“I am thrilled to lead J. Walter Thompson India as its Chief Creative Officer. The opportunity to partner Tarun in steering India’s largest agency into the future, challenges and motivates me,” said Kumar. “Am proud of our current creative firepower across the country and our collective ambition will be to spearhead marketing success stories for our clients with world beating ideas. The way forward is not just language neutral and media agnostic ideas, but to invent platform specific creative solutions that solve business problems.”
“The journey is never over in this business of ideas as we continue to push harder on the creative front and attract the best talent from within and outside the industry. Our Creativity should leap from deep human insight and be driven by Curiosity and Collaboration while we build our Capability to generate ideas that engage with millions of consumers”, he added.
As someone who reflects the true pioneering spirit, Kumar believes the digital and mobile spaces are most fertile as people are still discovering new possibilities and new media. He is keenly watching and exploring the endless opportunities that exist on the mobile platform, given the extensive reach it has over television or any other media, across the world today. In fact, Kumar is the only creative director on the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) board.
Kumar’s work stands out not only for its creative brilliance but also the way he harnesses technology to create award winning campaigns. His ideas and narratives have often crossed over language barriers and earned unparalleled international creative glory for India and for the agency.
Kumar started his journey with J. Walter Thompson close to 15 years back when he joined the agency’s Bangalore office. Over the years Kumar has worked in all the offices of J. Walter Thompson South Asia (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nepal and Sri Lanka).
