MAM
TI Cycles enters into licensing tie-up with Nick
NEW DELHI: Giridhari Mohanty has succeeded Frank Noronha as DAVP director-general.
Noronha has moved to the Press Information Bureau as Director General. Both officers are from the 1982 batch of the Indian Information Service.
Mohanty, who takes charge of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), was in All India Radio news as director general, a post he held since July 2010. Since September 2011, Mohanty was also a member of the Advisory Group on Media and Human Rights established by the National Human Rights Commission.
Coming a year before the General Elections, the DAVP post becomes significant as the Government will use all the resources at its command to send out advertisements to news media about the government’s achievements, particularly in the programmes related to the rural areas. Mohanty’s experience in AIR will come in useful in this regard.
DAVP currently sends out ads worth more than Rs 7.50 billion every year. Some of the autonomous bodies also route their advertisements through DAVP.
Noronha, who was appointed Director General of DAVP in 2009, told indiantelevision.com that the transfer was normal since he had completed four years in DAVP.
AD Agencies
Prakash Nair reportedly quits Ogilvy after 23 years
One of the agency’s longest-serving leaders has moved on, with his next destination still unknown
MUMBAI: After more than two decades at one address, Prakash Nair has left the building. The president and head of office, north at Ogilvy has moved on from the agency, according to highly placed industry sources. His next move remains unknown. Ogilvy did not respond to requests for comment.
Nair spent over 23 years at the agency, making him one of its longest-serving senior figures. He was elevated to lead the Gurugram office in April 2022, a role that put him at the helm of Ogilvy’s northern operations at a time of considerable churn across the advertising industry.
Before taking charge in the capital, Nair served as associate president at Ogilvy Mumbai, where he worked on some of the agency’s most prized accounts, including Mondelez, Tata Motors, and BP Castrol. Over the years, he built a reputation for driving modern, integrated, and award-winning work, the kind that wins metals at Cannes and keeps clients from straying.
His departure was marked in style. A farewell gathering was held in Delhi, attended by senior figures from across the advertising fraternity, a signal of the regard in which Nair is held in an industry that does not always pause to say goodbye properly.
Where he goes next is the question the industry is now asking. After 23 years at one of the world’s most storied agencies, the answer, when it comes, will be worth watching.
