Management Changes For Saatchi & Saatchi India
18 FEB 2008
Mr. Patrick Brett, Chief Executive Officer, South East Asia and India today announced a few significant changes in the operating structure of the Indian agency.Mr. V Shantakumar, the present Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer moves into a new role as Chairman of the company.
Mr. S Ghosh, Executive Director of Saatchi & Saatchi will focus on Celsius 100, the independent consultancy division of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide.
Mr. Kamal Basu presently Executive Vice President, Mumbai, takes over as Chief Executive Officer of the advertising agency. He will be supported by Sanjib Dey, Executive Vice President, Delhi and Mr. Ayan Chakraborty, Vice President, Bangalore.
Ms. Malavika Harita, Executive Vice President of Saatchi & Saatchi Direct will operate independently of the advertising company and will report directly to Shantakumar.
Talking about these changes, Patrick Brett said that this was a planned organizational evolution which has been in the works for some time now. "Shanta, SG and myself all felt that it is the appropriate time for us to hand over operational responsibilities to Kamal for the advertising agency and for Malavika to expand and reinvent the already robust Saatchi & Saatchi Direct operations. The knowledge and intellectual space occupied by Celsius 100 will be our respect engine and SG will lead this as well as our initiatives in the emergent digital domains. Shanta continues to be the mentor for Saatchi & Saatchi India and will be our key evangelist for our world changing 'Lovemarks' philosophy."
Mr. V Shantakumar said that it was his privilege to have been able to lead the agency to this space where it is now. "I intend to devote more of my time in reinventing Saatchi & Saatchi as the Lovemarks Company as well as to provide inputs, along with SG, to our key clients in India. I am very excited for Kamal Basu and Malavika Harita and I am confident that they will take an already strong offering to the next potent level."
