MUMBAI: In a recent development at Ogilvy India, Abhik Santara and VR Rajesh have been handed over the responsibilities of Mumbai office as head and managing partner, respectively. As part of their responsibilities, they will also oversee the growth of the Kolkata office.

The move is in the direction of Ogilvy India to drive aggressive internal transformation to stay at the top of the game. Ogilvy India CEO Kunal Jeswani says, “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.”

Santara 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 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.

Rajesh was rejected by Ogilvy three times before he was finally taken on by the company 15 years ago. 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. He has also helped energise and grow the Kolkata office in a tough market environment. Many of the clients in Kolkata - Bandhan Bank, ITC Kwiknic, Greenply, MP Birla and Yatra – have also felt his great passion and influence. He will partner Abhik to lead Ogilvy Mumbai.