On a day marked by seismic developments at Ogilvy with Sonal Dabral quitting as Chief Creative Officer South & South East Asia and Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy India, to pursue other interests, Ogilvy India announced the appointment of Kainaz Karmakar, Harshad Rajadhyaksha, and Sukesh Nayak as Chief Creative Officers with immediate effect.
“As we continue to drive internal transformation to stay at the forefront of the creative communication industry, we are clear that our success is built on the width of magnetic, memorable creative work we do for our clients. Across platforms. Across devices. This is what differentiates us,” the agency said in its announcement.
Highly regarded as young creative leaders in the industry, Kainaz, Harshad, and Sukesh have been mandated to supervise creative work across all markets in India while closely directing creative work at Ogilvy Mumbai.
Sukesh, who is an Oglivy old-timer, had joined the agency in 2000. Over the years, he has built a formidable body of widely awarded work on Tata Sky, Star TV, Amazon, Google, Asian Paints, JSW, Unilever, Fortune Oil, Shan Masala, Bajaj Auto, Castrol, Mondelez, Wildstone, Tata Salt, Pantaloons, UNEP, and the ICC Cricket World Cup, among a host of others. Sukesh has to his credit a number of awards, including Spikes, Effies, Adfest, AMEs, Kyoorius, D&AD, London International Awards, and Cannes. One of his most outstanding campaigns was ‘Google Reunion’ that was an instant viral and emotional hit.
Kainaz and Harshad, who joined Ogilvy a decade later in 2010, have been widely recognised for their work on Brooke Bond Red Label, ITC Savlon, and Unilever Start A Little Good. Their water conservation short film “The Shower”, released in December 2018, won a series of awards at advertising and film festivals around the world.
Earlier in 2017, the two, together, accounted for Ogilvy India’s record number of nine Cannes Lions in a year. In 2018, again, the duo’s Savlon Healthy Hands campaign won Asia’s first Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness at Cannes Lions.
Both Kainaz and Harshad have bagged many global honours, including Cannes, Clio, D&AD, D&AD Impact, One Show, Spikes, and AMEs.
“I consider myself very fortunate to have on my team three partners who have made a huge impact on Ogilvy’s creative leadership, and an even more significant difference to Ogilvy’s partnerships with clients. This promotion could not be more deserving! I am extremely proud to have Kainaz, Harshad, and Sukesh on our India team. They are the future of Ogilvy and I am confident they will be the game changers in Ogilvy,” said Piyush Pandey, Chief Creative Officer Worldwide & Executive Chairman India, Ogilvy, soon after their appointment.
Kunal Jeswani, CEO, Ogilvy India, noted: “Sukesh, Kainaz, and Harshad are powerhouses of energy and great talent. Over the last few years, their work across some of our largest clients has been modern in expression and execution, and as inspiring and memorable as any trademark Ogilvy India work should be. This is a rare and precious balance for any creative to strike. They understand the value of hard work and deep client relationships and I am sure they will do a fantastic job of driving Ogilvy India’s creative product and reputation.”
