MAM
Assembly gets its first India CEO: Alap Ghosh steps up to the plate
MUMBAI: In a move that’s set to assemble a formidable force in the Indian media landscape, Assembly, the global omnichannel media agency under the Stagwell network, has appointed Alap Ghosh as its inaugural CEO for India. Based in Mumbai, Ghosh will officially take the reins on 1 August 2025, reporting directly to Matt Adams, global chief operating officer of Assembly.
Ghosh, a digital doyen with over 25 years under his belt, brings a wealth of expertise across the digital ecosystem, having navigated the intricate worlds of advertising technology, marketing technology, and programmatic platforms throughout his illustrious career. He joins Assembly after a stint at Google India, where he was the head of data and technology partnerships, a role that saw him spearhead marketing technology and digital innovation for Google’s enterprise partners and clients. His resume also boasts leadership roles at Jellyfish and even a successful data consultancy he founded himself, giving him a panoramic view across supply, demand, innovation, and revenue functions. With a proven knack for building teams, scaling operations, and driving digital advancement, Ghosh is clearly the right fit to usher in Assembly’s next phase of growth in India.
In his fresh new role, Ghosh will be tasked with knitting together Assembly’s media operations across Mumbai and Bangalore, forging a unified offering that spans media, creative, technology, and commerce. His leadership will be pivotal in accelerating growth and crafting more interconnected omnichannel experiences that promise to make brands truly perform across the region. It seems Assembly is all set to build something truly special.
“Alap’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for Assembly in India,” said Assembly Global CEO Rick Acampora. “India is an important growth market for Assembly and for many of our global clients, and we’re committed to realizing its full potential. Alap brings the right mix of crosssector experience and proven leadership to help us build something genuinely differentiated in this region.”
“I’m excited to join Assembly at such a pivotal moment for Assembly and for India,” said Ghosh. “By bringing our teams together, with one vision and voice, we can create something bold, unified, and fit for purpose for what’s next for India. India is moving fast creatively, culturally, and digitally and we have a real opportunity to build an offering that delivers for today’s clients and sets a new benchmark for what’s possible in this market’s future.”
AD Agencies
Fevicol releases its last ad campaign by the late Piyush Pandey
The adhesive brand’s last campaign by the late advertising legend Piyush Pandey turns an everyday Indian obsession into a quietly powerful metaphor
MUMBAI: Fevicol has never needed much of a plot. A sticky bond, a wry observation, a truth that every Indian instantly recognises — that has always been enough. “Kursi Pe Nazar,” the brand’s latest television commercial, is no different. And yet it carries a weight that no previous Fevicol film has had to bear: it is the last one its creator, the advertising legend Piyush Pandey, will ever make.
The film, released on Tuesday by Pidilite Industries, fixes its gaze on the kursi — the chair — and what it means in Indian life. Not just as a piece of furniture, but as a currency of ambition, a vessel of authority, and a source of quiet social drama that plays out in every home, office and institution across the country. Who sits in the chair, who waits for it, and who eyes it hungrily from across the room: the film transforms this sharply observed cultural truth into a narrative that is, in the best Fevicol tradition, funny, warm and instantly familiar.
The campaign was Pandey’s idea. He discussed it in detail with the team before his death, but did not live to see it shot. Prasoon Pandey, director at Corcoise Films who helmed the commercial, said the team needed five months to find its footing before they felt ready to shoot. “This was the toughest film ever for all of us,” he said. “It was Piyush’s idea, magical as always.”
The emotional weight of that responsibility was not lost on the team at Ogilvy India, which created the campaign. Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, group chief creative officers at Ogilvy India, described the process as “a pilgrimage of sorts, on the path that Piyush created not just for Ogilvy, but for our entire profession.”
Sudhanshu Vats, managing director of Pidilite Industries, said the film was rooted in a distinctly Indian insight. “The ‘kursi’ symbolises aspiration, transition, and ambition,” he said. “Piyush Pandey had an extraordinary ability to elevate such everyday observations into iconic storytelling for Fevicol. This film carries that legacy forward.”
That legacy is considerable. Over several decades, Pandey’s partnership with Fevicol produced some of the most beloved advertising in Indian history, building the brand into something rare: a household name that people actively enjoy watching sell to them.
“Kursi Pe Nazar” does not try to be a tribute. It simply tries to be a great Fevicol film. By most measures, it succeeds — which is, in the end, the most fitting send-off of all.
