Atishi Pradhan to head planning at Contract, Delhi

Atishi Pradhan has joined Contract Advertising, Delhi, as vice-president and executive planning director. She has moved from JWT, where she was vice-president, planning.

Confirming the news, Pradhan says, “Contract has a well-known heritage of planning. Now, when the agency is being driven by a new vision and the philosophy of ‘Grow Young’, it offers me a new challenge and a different perspective of looking at brands and communication.”

Pradhan explains that as head of planning, she will specifically look at Dabur and NIIT.

Pradhan, an IIM, Ahmedabad, alumna, has spent close to 13 years at JWT. She joined JWT (then HTA) as a fresh recruit. Since then, she has done two stints with JWT, handling clients such as Glaxo SmithKline (GSK), Lipton and Yum! (owner of the Pizza Hut and KFC brands).

Pradhan says, “JWT has taught me all that I know.”

Narrating her experiences with brands at JWT, she says, “While working on GSK, we adopted a whole new approach to advertising on Horlicks. The target was shifted from mothers to kids and that changed how one looked at the brand. We gave the brand a lively and friendly outlook.”

Her take on planning? Pradhan says, “I believe that though planning has its genesis in consumer focus, planners should focus on the brand and then look for relevance vis-à-vis prevailing trends. The converse, where consumer insights and trends are drawn first and then the brand brought into the picture, should not be the strategy.”

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