Mumbai: In the first quarter of 2019, AVDS unveiled its plans to compete aggressively in the big league and has undergone a major restructuring of its senior management with announcement of veterans of the advertising industry joining the team.RupinJayal of Beneffect Consulting joined the AVDS board in late 2018, and now, Anil Kumar takes on the role of Chief Executive Officer. Earlier in 2019, AVDS had announced the elevation of Deanne Fernandes as Associate Creative Director.
Rupin has over 30 years’ experience in advertising and brand strategy and planning with Contract, Lintas, Everest, Rediffusion, Dentsu, Young & Rubicam, JWT and was a co-founder of M&C Saatchi.Beneffect Consulting is a brand strategy and visioning consultancy headed by him.
Anil Kumar is a seasoned marketing professional with over 25 years of experience with leading advertising agencies such asFCB, Grey, TBWA, Contract and Lintas.More recently,he was the EVP and Branch Head – Delhi, ofDentsuWebchutney. He also had a five year stint as Executive Director – Marketing and Sales with Millennium Spire, a Singapore based FDI fund that he helped grow from $20 million to a $1 billion operation.
Commenting on his joining AVDS, Anil says,“Having spent nearly three decades in marketing, consulting and digital media, it feels a bit like homecoming – back to your first love – advertising, and pure-play, idea-centric thinking. There could not have been a better opportunity for me than working closely with team AVDSwhose work I have observed and admired for the last 15 years.I look forward to leading this team of young, yet inspired dreamers”.
According to Rupin Jayal, “AVDS has brought innovation in ideation and excellence in execution when working with our clients. This includes a wide range of categories from liquor, mobile phones, HR media, and internet services,to the world’s largest philanthropic organisation. Anil taking a leadership role in AVDS will significantly augment its already strong credentials, especially in digital strategy and engagement.”
Closing the conversation, Arun Verma, Founder and Creative Maven at AVDS said, “AVDS turned 15 last November. And now, as we get set for the big leap in a new avatar, it just makes sense in every way for the best in the industry to take over the reins of what we’ve passionately created– one of India’s finest creative thinking companies, and one of the best creative places to work for. I am extremely thrilled about being able to concentrate more on our core – our creative product. Also, I am super excited about having Anil lead from the front. His business intelligence and marketing skills will give us the impetus to better impact the growth of our clients. And Rupin’s acute understanding of consumers and the vast sources of insights will elevate us to a unique position where the brands we touch will, without a doubt, become successful businesses.”
