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
Senior leaders exit Deloitte India amid shift in M&A strategy
Rival firms gain ground as Deloitte refocuses on high-value mergers and acquisitions
NEW DELHI: Deloitte has seen a series of senior departures in recent weeks, marking a period of transition as the firm recalibrates its mergers and acquisitions business, according to an Economic Times report. These exits follow a strategic shift in the firm’s advisory approach, which has increasingly focused on larger, high-value transactions.
The executives who have resigned include Rajesh Aggarwal, head of debt advisory, Ruchi Sarna, national head of consumer investment banking, and Suresh Atal, a senior partner in transaction advisory, according to the report. Industry sources indicate that Rajesh Aggarwal and Suresh Atal are likely to join PwC, while Sarna is also expected to move to a competing firm.
This movement follows a significant change in Deloitte’s leadership and focus over the past two years. After Rohit Berry joined from KPMG as president of the vertical, the firm began prioritising deals valued at over $250 million. Berry was accompanied by senior executives Vivek Gupta and Manish Aggarwal, leading to a larger migration of over 200 professionals from KPMG to Deloitte.
The competitive landscape remains fluid. PwC recently appointed Anmol Bhandari, a former Deloitte executive, as head of its transaction services vertical, reinforcing its dealmaking ambitions.
In the professional services sector, senior departures often trigger further team movements, suggesting that more staff may follow these leaders to their new firms.
Despite these exits, Deloitte is actively looking to rebuild its ranks. According to the report, the firm is currently looking to hire between six and nine partners to address gaps in its debt advisory team as it aggressively seeks fresh talent to maintain its market position.
As the major accounting firms continue to compete for leadership, the hierarchy of the Indian advisory market is shifting. While Deloitte has successfully recruited heavily from its rivals in the past, it now faces the challenge of retaining its own senior experts as they are courted by competitors like PwC.
