MAM
Orchard Advertising picks Kishore Karumbaiah as creative director
MUMBAI: Orchard Advertising has appointed Kishore Karumbaiah as creative director.
Based at the agency‘s headquarters in Bangalore, Karumbaiah will partner Orchard Advertising creative director Sagar Prajapati in leading the creative function in Bangalore.
Karumbaiah‘s last stint was with JWT Bangalore as creative director.
Orchard Advertising chairman and national creative director Thomas Xavier said, “Kishore brings with him the perfect mix of youthful exuberance and skill to lead a young team of creative enthusiasts. We expect his contribution in upping the creative standards of the agency further, making our brands and clients benefactors of this progression.”
Karumbaiah added, “I was looking for a hungry agency, and in Orchard, I found my match. Orchard and The Leo Group are known for their creative prowess, and have produced some of the best work the country has seen. This gives me an opportunity to fuel this trend and further the creative standards of this agency. I‘m also excited about gaining from the collective experiences of the team here and thrilled about getting an opportunity to groom and nurture some really good young talent we have here.”
Karumbaiah comes with over 12 years of experience in the business having worked on brands like Airtel, ITC stationery, Nike, Infosys, Microsoft, Lenovo, Tanishq, Fastrack, Kingfisher, Citizen Watches, Levis and TVS. Prior to joining JWT, he had also worked with Rediffusion-Y&R, Ogilvy & Mather, Hakuhodo Percept, MAA Bozell and Lowe Lintas.
Orchard Advertising is part of The Leo Group, which also includes Leo Burnett and Black Pencil. Some of the agency‘s clients include Wipro, SAB Miller, Essilor, Godrej, BlackBerry, WaterHealth India and Piramal Healthcare.
Brands
Ekart expands IKEA partnership with EV deliveries in Chennai
3PL to handle 600 plus products with 48 hour delivery via EV fleet.
MUMBAI: Flatpacks are going electric and your sofa might now arrive with a smaller carbon footprint. Ekart has expanded its partnership with IKEA to power last-mile deliveries in Chennai, doubling down on speed, scale and sustainability in one of India’s key urban markets. Under the collaboration, Ekart will manage end-to-end large-format deliveries for IKEA across the city using a 100 per cent dedicated electric vehicle fleet. The move makes Chennai the second major market after NCR-Delhi where Ekart handles IKEA’s last-mile logistics, signalling a broader rollout of EV-led supply chains.
The mandate is no small load. Ekart will oversee deliveries for over 600 products from IKEA’s catalogue, ranging from furniture to home décor—categories that demand specialised handling and precision logistics.
Backed by its technology-driven fulfilment network, Ekart is targeting deliveries within a 48-hour window, offering real-time tracking and end-to-end visibility from warehouse to doorstep. The focus is clear: faster turnarounds without compromising on control or customer experience.
The EV-first model also aligns with both companies’ sustainability goals, as urban logistics increasingly shifts towards zero-emission solutions. For IKEA, which continues to expand its omnichannel presence in India, reliable and eco-conscious last-mile delivery is becoming central to scale.
For Ekart, the partnership reinforces its positioning as an enterprise-grade logistics player in large-format commerce. The company already supports over 1,800 retail, D2C and enterprise brands, spanning last-mile delivery, part-truckload services and warehousing.
As India’s logistics ecosystem evolves, this collaboration highlights a growing trend: delivery is no longer just about distance, it’s about efficiency, experience and increasingly, emissions.
