MUMBAi: TBWA today announced major management changes to its group of agencies across India. Vineet Bajpai, currently Chief Executive Officer of Magnon\TBWA, one of India’s largest and most comprehensive digital agencies, will assume the role of CEO for the entire TBWA\India Group with immediate effect.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sethuraman, erstwhile CEO of TBWA\India Group, has decided to move on from the company, triggering the changes. Sethuraman joined TBWA in 2008 as CEO, moving from Ogilvy Paris, where he was MD since 2005.
Bajpai’s new responsibilities will encompass TBWA\India, Magnon\TBWA, Magnon E-Graphics, a digital outsourcing agency that serves clients across five continents, as well as The Integer Group, the network’s retail and shopper marketing arm, across the Indian continent.
At the same time, TBWA\India Group has established a new management board, which reflects the roles that key individuals have played in the agency’s growth over the past year. Nirmalya Sen is appointed President of Advertising for the TBWA\India Group; Parixit Bhattacharya’s role as Chief Creative Officer will encompass the total creative product for the group, including Magnon\TBWA; Nitin Naresh is appointed Managing Director of the domestic digital agency, Magnon\TBWA; Vivek Merani is appointed Managing Director of Magnon E-Graphics; Ketan Desai is appointed Managing Director of The Integer Group India; and Manosh Mukherjee as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
In order to more closely align the India Group with TBWA\Worldwide, Philip Brett, TBWA’s President of South and Southeast Asia, is named Chairman of TBWA\India Group.
“We are now very focused on driving our integrated offering in India forward and accelerating its growth,” said Keith Smith, President – International of TBWA\Worldwide. “We’re delighted that Vineet will be leading this offering. Over the past year, since we acquired the Magnon Group, Magnon\TBWA has become a global digital offering, delivering world-class, innovative solutions for our clients.”
Smith noted that the management restructuring in India is very much in line with TBWA’s structures in major markets around the world, where the leadership team’s responsibilities cover a range of different communication disciplines.
Bajpai founded and led Magnon for 14 years before and after its acquisition by TBWA at the end of 2012 and has spent the last 15 months working closely with the network’s agencies in Mumbai, Delhi, Los Angeles, New York, Singapore and Dubai.
Bajpai said, “I am very proud to be taking on this additional responsibility for the TBWA Group in India. My focus will be on providing the structure to help the group deliver the best, integrated offering of any agency group in India. We are extremely lucky to have such a skilled, professional and successful team in place, along with global network support, to make this happen.”