AD Agencies
Dentsu Impact expands its footprint to Bangalore
MUMBAI: Dentsu Impact, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) headquartered in Gurgaon, has expanded its footprint to Bangalore. The agency has set up a team of business, creative and strategy leads to run its operations in the city.
While Montu Sangha has been roped in to head business, Amish Sabharwal will head creative. Krittika Chakraborty, meanwhile, has been promoted to head strategy for Dentsu Impact in Bangalore. As part of their new mandate, the trio will not only be in-charge of the existing businesses at Dentsu Impact, especially IKEA, but will also look at opportunities to expand the agency’s offerings and thus, revenues.
With more than 14 years of experience in the business of communication, Sangha has worked across agencies in consulting and with the marketing teams of global brands such as HP and GE in India and the UK. During her stint with agencies, she has worked on the launch of brands for Unilever and ITC Foods. In her last role, she was the South Asia lead for advertising and promotions in GE Healthcare.
On joining the Dentsu Impact family, Sangha says, “I am very excited and look forward to my new role at Dentsu Impact, Bangalore. It is a great opportunity to partner with an iconic global brand like IKEA for their successful launch in India which is a key market for them. In the coming months, my focus will also be on identifying new areas of growth for Bangalore operations and to build a team that can offer a bouquet of services in the coming years.”
For Sabharwal, this is his second stint with Dentsu Impact. He joins back from JWT where he was taking care of the Pepsi business. There, he was also involved in the revamp of Gatorade and the launch of Sting.
Sabharwal adds, “IKEA is not just another brand. It’s a culture. And it is great to be involved in scripting the India chapter after being an integral part of the pitch team. Both Montu and Krittika are great professionals and human beings to work with, and we will make sure that the impact is both heard and seen. I really thank Amit and Soumitra for the faith that they have shown in us.”
Chakraborty has been with Impact for the last six years. She has nearly a decade of experience across marketing, branding and communication strategy. She has worked for a variety of categories such as automobiles, publications and home furnishings. She has been instrumental in leading strategic thinking on large scale businesses such as Maruti Suzuki and IKEA and is a keen believer in insight mining and storytelling for the digital age.
Commenting on the expansion, in a joint statement, Dentsu Impact president Amit Wadhwa and chief creative officer Soumitra Karnik mention, “We have picked the best talent from inside and outside our organisation to take care of our Bangalore operations and IKEA is a very important part of this. We are sure that with Montu, Amish and Krittika at the helm, we will build a strong statement in the market.”
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
