MAM
Rediffusion Y&R India names Rahul Jauhari as chief creative officer
MUMBAI: Rediffusion Y&R has appointed Rahul Jauhari as chief creative officer. The group will relocate Komal Bedi Sohal to Y&R Singapore as chief creative officer.
Jauhari is no stranger to the Rediffusion YR Group. His team created memorable work for the Tata Group on brands likes Tata ACE and Magic. His work was responsible for the successful repositioning of Kaya (Marico) and Onida, to name a few. Prior to Everest, in a seven-year-long stint at Rediffusion Delhi & Mumbai, Jauhari led the creative work on the agency’s biggest account – Airtel.
Rediffusion Y&R president India Dhunji Wadia said, “Rahul has done a stellar job within the group. What I admire most is his passion and collaborative style of functioning and unending quest for creative excellence. Komal remains an ally within the network and we will continue to take full advantage of that and I wish her the very best in her new role.”
Jauhari added, “Rediffusion YR Group is home to me. And I’ve enjoyed a great partnership with Dhunji over the last few years. Both Dhunji and I believe creativity is the pursuit of the entire agency and not just a department. For now, we’d like to put our heads down and focus on just that. The work comes first. Everything else will follow.”
On the other hand, Sohal has spent the last two years as CCO at Rediffusion Y&R India, during which time the agency has undergone a resurgence, with a run of 16 new business wins and a return to The Economic Times’ list of India’s top 10 advertising agencies.
Commenting on her new role, Sohal said, “In the past two years Rediffusion has emerged as the top ten agency, won new business, awards and recognition. I am extremely thankful to our clients who have supported the creative and the teams who have tirelessly executed it. After two decades in India and Middle East, I am now ready to explore the exciting and emerging markets of South East Asia. I look forward to taking on new challenges at Y&R Singapore. I’m confident it will be equally thrilling and fulfilling.”
Y&R Singapore managing director Melvin Kuek said, “Komal’s track record of both new business and awards success make her an ideal creative partner at the helm of Y&R Singapore. Having also ramped up the agency’s strategic planning team we’re very optimistic for 2015.”
Over the past four years, Everest Brand Solutions under Jauhari’s leadership added accounts like SAB TV (Sony Entertainment), CNN IBN, Kotak Mutual Funds, India First General Insurance, Onida, Catch Spices (DS Group), Aditya Birla Retail & more. In addition to this, the agency added multiple brands from its largest account Parle Products.
Jauhari and his team helped building SAB TV from scratch to a powerful brand in the Indian GEC space. ‘Asli Mazaa Sab Ke Saath Aataa hai’ a line coined by Jauhari, was a campaign that has stood the test of time. Under his watch, Everest has rolled out significant work for Parle. From a most unusual set of five second TVCs for Parle G titled ‘Pehle Wali Baat’, to visible campaigns for Londonderry, Parle Marie and recently launched Parle Simply Good.
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
