MAM
Cheil onboards Kaushik Datta as ECD
Mumbai: Cheil India today announced the appointment of Kaushik Datta as executive creative director. His last stint was at Leo Burnett. He was helming their New Delhi office while also managing the art and design duties for all of India. In his current role, he will report to Cheil India’s chief creative officer Vikash Chemjong.
Talking about his new role, Datta (KD) said, “I believe creativity becomes more powerful and effective when technology comes along with it, and Cheil is a great place to do that. It’s a great honour and opportunity for me. I am very excited and looking forward to doing some great work.”
Datta is an industry veteran with a career spanning more than 23 years. He has worked across a wide swath of industries, and his repertoire of clients includes marquee brands like Hutch, Seagram, LG, Bacardi, Apple, Airtel, Kohler, ThumsUp, Maaza, Limca, Minute Maid, Tinder, Fortis, Mc Donald’s, Popeyes, GM, SBI Card, GSK, Hindustan Times, Cargill, and many more.
Welcoming Datta on board, Chemjong said, “It’s exciting times for us at Cheil, not only in terms of the type of work we are trying to do but also in terms of the type of talent we are attracting, and now with Datta coming in with his talent, experience, rigor, and enthusiasm, it’s another shot in the arm for us!”
In this role, Datta’s scope of responsibilities will include upping the art and design quotient for our brands, with a special emphasis on the flagship products—the S and Z series. He will also be involved in the agency focus of thinking of ways to bring tech into our communication and add more zing to our creative product. The appointment is part of Cheil India’s endeavour to bolster its creative capabilities as it seeks to add more talent to its team.
Cheil India chief operating officer Sanjeev Jasani, said, “We are pleased to welcome Datta to the Cheil family. He is a well-known name in the industry and brings with him a wealth of experience that will help Cheil deliver the best transformational work to our clients.”
Brands
Air Canada ceo to quit over “English-only” message after New York plane crash
English-only condolence video after fatal LaGuardia crash triggers outrage in Quebec and hastens succession
MONTREAL: Air Canada’s boss is heading for the exit after a linguistic misstep collided with a national faultline.
Michael Rousseau will retire by October, the airline said on Monday, days after a backlash over his English-only video tribute following a deadly crash involving an Air Canada Express jet in New York. The March 22 collision with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport killed two pilots and injured dozens, but Rousseau’s message, bookended only by “bonjour” and “merci”, ignited fury in French-speaking Quebec.
Mark Carney welcomed the departure, calling the video a “lack of judgment and lack of compassion”. “It is absolutely essential that his successor is completely bilingual,” he said in Toronto. “He did a good job technically as CEO but as the leader of an organisation you have broader responsibilities. It’s the right decision at the right time.”
The row quickly metastasised. Quebec’s National Assembly voted 92–0 for Rousseau to quit. More than 1,800 complaints flooded the federal languages watchdog. Even Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a major shareholder, weighed in. “There is no doubt that the video should have been in both official languages.”
The symbolism cut deep. One of the dead pilots, Antoine Forest, was from Quebec. Language, long a live wire in the province, remains entwined with identity and politics, fuelling the separatist Parti Québécois ahead of an election due by October.
Rousseau, 68, had form. In 2021, soon after taking charge, he drew fire for delivering a Montreal speech largely in English and boasting he had lived there for years without speaking French. He apologised then and again last week, saying he was “deeply saddened” his limitations had “diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees.” He had logged more than 300 hours of French lessons since taking the helm in February 2021.
Operationally, his tenure was steadier. He steered Air Canada through the pandemic and its messy aftermath, though labour tensions, most notably a four-day cabin crew strike, dogged the recovery. Shares slipped more than 2 per cent after the news before trimming losses to about 1.2 per cent on the Toronto exchange.
The airline, bound by the Official Languages Act to serve customers in both English and French, said it is accelerating a succession plan already under way, with candidates to be judged in part on their French. Analysts say the next chief must pair operational discipline with strategic clarity amid fuel volatility, labour costs and fierce competition.
A dual crisis—metal on tarmac in New York and politics at home—has now claimed its most senior scalp. In Canada’s flag carrier, competence got Rousseau far. In the end, fluency finished the job.
