Mumbai: Abhik Santara and VR Rajesh will take on the responsibilities of Mumbai Office Head and Managing Partner, respectively. As part of their responsibilities, they will also oversee the growth of our Kolkata office.
As Ogilvy India continues to drive aggressive internal transformation to stay at the top of our game, we constantly endeavor to put the right people in the right roles, driving change. This is a move in that direction.
Abhik started his career in Delhi and worked with JWT before moving on to lead offices for Rediffusion Y&R and the Lowe Lintas Group. He managed a range of brands in his time with these companies, including Nokia, Pepsi, Airtel, Adidas, Dabur and LG. He joined Ogilvy Mumbai a few years ago and has quickly become part of the fabric of this company, reflecting Ogilvy values, building strong client relationships and agency partnerships. He leads the business relationships across Unilever Beverages, Bajaj Auto and Marico and, along with the Mumbai EXCO, will now focus on driving this office forward.
VR Rajesh was rejected by Ogilvy three times before he was finally taken on by the company 15 years ago. We obviously did a lousy job of the interview process because we cannot think of a person with a greater cultural fit with Ogilvy, a person who has grown to become a passionate Ogilvy leader and ambassador. In his long career with Ogilvy, VR has worked across a range of clients and brands including Asian Paints, Tata Sky, ITC, Unilever Beverages and Star Plus. Along with our talented agency leaders in Kolkata, he has also helped energise and grow our Kolkata office through a very tough market environment. Many of our clients in Kolkata – Bandhan Bank, ITC Kwiknic, Greenply, MP Birla and Yatra – have also felt his great passion and influence. VR will partner Abhik to lead Ogilvy Mumbai.
Kunal Jeswani, CEO, Ogilvy India: Abhik Santara and VR Rajesh are the new captains at Ogilvy Mumbai. With these appointments, Ogilvy Mumbai now has a stellar business, creative and strategic leadership team in place. They, along with the Mumbai EXCO, will drive our transformation agenda together, leading India’s best modern marketing communications agency office to new heights.
