Mumbai: Renowned advertising veteran Santosh Padhi, popularly known as Paddy, has announced the launch of his independent creative agency, ‘Into Creative’. Paddy, who co-founded Taproot in 2009 before its acquisition by the Dentsu Group, is now embarking on a new journey to reinvigorate creativity in the industry.
Paddy will serve as the Chief Creative Officer and Chairman of Into Creative, alongside Ayesha Ghosh as CEO and Co-founder. The leadership team also includes four other Co-founders: Yogesh Rijhwani (Creative Lead), Tania Dey (Strategy and Digital Lead), Namrata Gosavi (Design and Digital Lead), and Gargi Vegiraju (Business Lead).
Into Creative is founded with the vision of bringing back the bold, fearless, and big-impact creative work that the industry has been yearning for. With an approach that transcends traditional and digital platforms, the agency aims to focus on “Big Directional Ideas”—concepts that are deeply embedded in a brand’s universe rather than mere communication lines.
The agency is structured into key verticals:
- INTO Brands
- INTO Insights
- INTO Ideas
- INTO Design
- INTO Tech
- INTO Digital
- INTO Content
- INTO Collabs
Each vertical will focus on a unique aspect of brand building, ensuring a holistic and impactful creative strategy.
The founding team brings together a wealth of experience and a dynamic blend of creative perspectives. The six have previously worked on high-profile brands such as Jio 5G, Hero Vida EV, Hero Cycles, Jindal Steel, Jockey, and Zoya. Their camaraderie was built during their tenure at Wieden+Kennedy India, which ceased operations in December 2024. Additionally, Paddy, Ayesha, Yogesh, and Gargi share a history at Taproot, further strengthening their synergy.
Paddy retains a majority stake in Into Creative, with the other founding members also holding equity in the company. With a shared history of challenging conventions and crafting impactful brand narratives, the team at Into Creative is set to redefine the landscape of advertising and branding in India and beyond.
Santosh Padhi (Paddy), Chief Creative Officer & Chairman of Into Creative said, “I would have easily retired on an island but the calling from adland is loud and clear. This industry has given me everything and it is time for me to give back. Our focus will be on doing brave, fearless, creative brand work. Indian brands and platforms have grown in number, but creativity hasn’t. Oddly enough, brands are being built on creativity. Somewhere the passion of creative agencies to push boundaries has been lost. In a world where anything is now creatively possible, we are here to fill this vacuum.”
Ayesha Ghosh, CEO of Into Creative said, “More experiments happen when independent. And experiments often fail but every now and then give birth to a gloriously unexpected, triumphant discovery. We’re here for that. We see ourselves as multipliers. When one collaborates with high creative integrity, respecting every platform, that’s when true magnification of ideas happens.”
Paddy and Ayesha will be involved with all aspects of the agency. The agency will be open to adding other heads to champion further specialist verticals as and when needed, with stakes assigned to them as well.
The Big Directional Idea will be the guiding light for all possible brand requirements; from advertising campaigns to media properties to social content strategy to app design to tech-led innovations to in-game content to PR and so on and on. These kinds of ideas only come to life through deep collaboration. The team will work with a diverse range of thinkers, makers, creators, coders and partners who bring fresh perspectives and help push ideas further.
Into Creative will officially be launching in Mumbai on 30th March 2025, the day of Gudi Padwa/ Ugadi festival, which is celebrated as a new beginning in most parts of India, also the day when Lord Brahma had created the universe.
They have been in talks to come to closure with a few clients. These will be announced subsequently. This launch marks a significant moment in the advertising industry, promising a return to bold, innovative, and groundbreaking work in a rapidly evolving market.
